Anyone looking for the best camera in a phone form factor has increasingly been turning in recent years to the top-end Leica, Hasselblad, or Zeiss camera systems from Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. But these Ultra camera flagships may soon stop making financial sense and could potentially face discontinuation. At the very least, further price increases are expected starting in 2027, according to reports that have been circulating more frequently recently.

Samsung has apparently already settled on a specific launch date, this time for three different models. The planned summer lineup includes not only the Galaxy Z Fold8 and the Galaxy Z Flip8, but also a dedicated iPhone Fold rival that is set to launch as a wider yet more compact foldable.

Two well-known leakers have provided more details on the next generation of Leica-branded cameras, which is already set to launch in China in a little over five months. It already seems fairly certain that it will use two 200MP sensors, but in the details as well, Xiaomi apparently is taking more cues from Oppo's and Vivo's current Ultra phones.

Even Samsung’s 2026 foldables pale in comparison. If LG had not decided to exit the smartphone business, we could have seen a first rollable smartphone as early as 2021, one that was already more innovative five years ago than anything the foldable phone segment has produced recently, as a teardown shows.

Among all the AI fakes currently circulating around Hasselblad’s flagship camera phone, there are still a few highlights that appear to be real after all. That includes a first short hands-on video of an apparently powered-on Oppo Find X9 Ultra in a phone store.

200MP photos from what is currently probably the best camera flagship phone on the market go up against 24MP shots from a Sony Alpha A7 III setup with a Sony 24-70 lens. Which one comes out ahead in which areas can be judged by anyone based on the available original images.

The Xiaomi 18 will take over sometime in the future, but one final model in the Xiaomi 17 lineup is still on the schedule, and it is not one of the Xiaomi 17T variants. Instead, the huge Xiaomi 17 Max is expected to launch soon with Leica camera upgrades in tow.

This year's Easter surprise is not coming from Oppo itself, but from various leakers in China who have published several hands-on images in the past few hours of what is supposed to be the ultimate Hasselblad camera flagship phone of the year. That said, we have doubts about the authenticity of at least some of them.

A second price leak points to a slightly different euro price for the global Vivo X300 Ultra with 1TB of storage, suggesting Vivo may have changed its plans at the last minute. An initial euro price has also surfaced for the bundle with the 400mm Zeiss tele extender.

Just a few days after the official Vivo X300 Ultra launch event, it is becoming increasingly clear how fans of the ultimate Zeiss camera phone can save a lot of money. Anyone primarily looking for the best camera in a phone form factor and willing to live with some day-to-day limitations as a smartphone should go for the China version. Here is an overview of current import prices and some tips for dealing with a China phone.

Alongside numerous other Oppo phones, tablets, and wearables, Oppo today revealed in both global markets and China the official launch date for what is likely to be one of the most exciting camera flagships of the year. At least in China, the Oppo Find X9s Pro, the Oppo Pad Mini and Pad5 Pro, the Watch X3 Mini, and the Enco Clip2 earbuds will also launch at the same time.