Realme takes on the iPhone 15 Pro, hints at a periscope zoom camera

"Not only Max can zoom", reads a recent social media post from Realme Global's account. They are certainly not talking about Mad Max, that's for sure. Realme is taking on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and in particular - its all-new periscope camera system.

Realme's social media post is accompanied by an abstract image of a water-like scenery for a background (via GSMArena). The main accent is the drawing of a multiple-camera system array on a smartphone. There are two "regular" circular lens holes, and the third one is rectangular, screaming unequivocally: "Periscope aboard!".

This is the main clue as to who (or what) Max from the "Not only Max can zoom" represents. Mind you, the periscope zoom lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features a circular front element lens, not a rectangular lens like the one teased in Realme's post. On a side note: the periscope camera scheme delivers solid zoom capabilities by using a prism (or angled mirror) that reflects and redirects the light to the side. The light travels through the adjacent lens element and finally hits the sensor, enlarging the image, thus making it "zoomed in".

That's not Realme's first time messing around with a periscope camera. In mid-2020, they launched the Realme X3 SuperZoom that packed a quad-sensor setup with a 64 MP main one, an 8 MP periscope zoom lens (with 5x optical zoom), one ultra-wide camera, and one dedicated for macro shots.

Back to the current periscope tease: there's absolutely no information about the device that's to allegedly house the exotic zoom system. Rumors have it that a periscope camera could be found on the Realme GT5 Pro, that's allegedly coming towards the end of 2023 and maybe - just maybe - could pack the yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip...