The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is a phenomenal smartphone – arguably the best of 2026, at least where camera tech is concerned – but that experience can be even better.
That’s because, as well as offering a built-in 10x periscope lens – the first smartphone to do so since the days of the Galaxy S23 Ultra – Oppo is also offering what it calls the Earth Explorer Kit.
Within the kit, you’ll find not only a camera-focused case that brings a dedicated two-stop shutter button and zoom controls for a more natural, analogue shooting experience, but also a new 10x teleconverter.
The concept isn’t new; the company also released a teleconverter for its Find X9 Pro late last year, and rivals like Vivo are also offering optional zoom lenses with the likes of the X300 Ultra, but Oppo’s latest kit really takes things to another level.
So, I did what any tech reviewer trying to find the best camera phone would do; I took it to my local deer park and tried my luck as a wildlife photographer – and the results are much better than I expected.
Not just zoom, but DSLR-level zoom
You might assume that, having released a teleconverter lens for the X9 Pro, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra’s equivalent would be near identical – but you’d be wrong. Yes, the concept is the same, attaching the teleconverter to the high-res 200MP 3x zoom lens to seriously boost magnification, but the Ultra’s lens is an entirely different beast.
For one, it’s much bigger and heavier than the X9 Pro’s alternative, but it’s not just size for size’s sake.
Oppo has used the extra length and width to include more glass elements – a grand total of 16 according to Oppo – to not only boost the level of zoom on offer, but the quality and clarity of shots taken from the lens. That’s immediately apparent when comparing shots taken with and without the teleconverter, even with the same underlying hardware.
That’s because, as a general rule of thumb, the more glass elements in a lens, the sharper, more colour-accurate the results are. It also allows for fewer optical imperfections, a big issue with ‘cheaper’ zoom lenses, for results that look closer to a professional DSLR than what you’re used to getting from a phone.
When attached to the Find X9 Ultra’s 200MP 3x camera, it’s instantly converted into a native 13x (300mm) lens, though with so many pixels available, it can zoom in to 30x (800mm) or even 60x (1380mm) without much in the way of digital artefacting.
There is some, but it all depends on the shooting scenario – as I found out when I took the lens to Dagnam Park, my local park that has hundreds of resident deer, to try my hand at amateur wildlife photography.
It completely changes the look and feel of your photos
Now, even with an abundance of deer in my local park, they’re still not the easiest animals to take photos of; they’re deer, after all, and despite growing accustomed to living alongside humans, they’re still skittish.
That means that, if you’re rocking a smartphone like the Galaxy S26 Ultra or even the iPhone 17 Pro, you’re not going to capture those good-looking close-up shots. Case in point; here are a few of the shots I took using the Find X9 Ultra’s built-in lenses:
Now, they’re not bad photos per se, but they can’t get quite close enough to the action to look like anything more than a quick snap for social media. For anything more impactful, you need to get closer – and that’s where the teleconverter truly shines.
Yes, it can be a bit of a faff to set up. You need to first attach the camera case, and then attach the lens to that – and it’s a big old unit when all put together, but the quality speaks for itself. Take another look at what was possible in the above gallery, and compare those to the below shots I captured using the teleconverter:
It’s safe to say that there’s a big difference in the overall look and quality of the shots. Despite being quite far away, the deer are in sharp focus as if I were right next to them, with a natural bokeh not only in the background but foreground of shots – not a ‘fake’ bokeh like those used in regular phone portrait shots, but an actual, honest-to-god, bokeh as you’d get from a mirrorless camera.
It helps give the photos some much-needed depth, which, combined with the gorgeous colours and hair-perfect details, really adds to the overall impact of the shots.
And the best part is that it wasn’t just the case at the native combined 13x zoom – a lot of these shots were taken at 20x or even 30x, yet look just as good – if not better – than the majority of photos taken by phones’ main cameras.
Not perfect, but a genuine alternative to a dedicated camera for some
Oppo’s Earth Explorer Kit is fantastic, and it really does completely change how you shoot with your smartphone – but it’s not exactly an easy-to-use system.
As noted earlier, you need to first attach the Earth Explorer Kit case to fit the lens, and the actual case isn’t all that great compared to the competition. Most others, like Xiaomi and Vivo, offer larger camera grips that can be attached and detached, allowing you to keep the case on, even when not taking photos.
With Oppo’s built-in alternative, there’s essentially a big block at the bottom of the phone that you can’t remove without taking the case off altogether. It also means that Oppo’s system relies on Bluetooth instead of a direct USB-C connection; Xiaomi’s alternative not only gets charge from the phone to work, but the grip’s built-in 2000mAh battery can also give your phone a boost in overall battery life.
The lens is also a certified Big Boy; it’s both big and relatively heavy, and that means it’s a bit of a faff to carry around unless you know you’re going somewhere that you’ll need it. That’s not exactly unique to Oppo’s system, but some kind of small carry case for transport and storage would’ve been nice – especially at such premium prices.
And, despite all the fancy high-end tech, there’s no automatic detection of the lens when attached; even more frustrating when you need to use a specific teleconverter mode to use the lens on the phone. The latter also means you’re locked out from using the Teleconverter in conjunction with most shooting modes, including the pro-level Master mode.
That all said, it’s great to see some genuine innovation in the smartphone camera space; while we’ve seen increases in megapixel counts and the like in recent years, what Oppo – along with the likes of Vivo – is doing is really taking things to the next level. It won’t be for everyone, and that’s fine – sometimes focusing on a specific niche is exactly what a brand needs to succeed.
It’s certainly the first phone that I’ve used where I feel I don’t need to carry my mirrorless camera around on days out – and that’s saying something.
Instead, the big catch is availability. It’s not available in all regions, including the UK, and pricing is a little confusing too, with bundles appearing online consisting of the phone and camera kit for around $2,299, suggesting the kit itself would retail at around $800 if it were available separately.
That said, if you’re in a region where you can pick up the Earth Explorer kit alongside the X9 Ultra without breaking the bank, I’d highly recommend it.
