Earlier this week, Oppo announced the Reno 16 series, and along with it came an all-new magnetic accessory, the Oppo Bubble. It is a smart second screen for your phone that attaches to the back of the device, like a MagSafe accessory. You can then use it to preview the framing when using your phone’s rear cameras. It also double as a wireless camera remote, or serves as a place to interact with cute animated characters. It’s a fun add-on and can be genuinely useful, but is held back by the lack of Qi2 charging on supported models.
The Oppo Bubble is like a puck with a display (1.73-inch circular OLED touchscreen), a battery (550mAh cell), and a Type-C port. At 7mm thick and weighing just 27.5 grams, it is slimmer than a hockey puck. It supports a handful of Oppo devices, including the new Reno 16 and older Reno 15 and 14, as well as the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, alongside the Find X8, X9 and X9 Pro.
The Bubble runs its own user interface, which asks you to pair it to a phone as soon as you start the setup process. My Oppo Reno 16 showed a popup and connected with a single tap, which is one of the advantages of limited compatibility. Once connected to the phone, it takes you to the settings. Here, you can customize your Bubble with cute animated characters, learn how to use the device, and toggle other settings.
The Oppo Bubble allows you to access your phone’s camera app even when the device is locked. It can help you frame shots while taking a photo or recording a video using the rear cameras, as well as access basic settings like zoom, camera modes, and more. Inside the box, you get a magnetic sticker and a case to add it to a keyring or a lanyard.
Oppo’s Bubble doubles as a remote shutter button, and it’s been my most-used feature. I can keep a phone inclined against a wall and take photos or videos without needing to hold the device. Oppo says it can stay connected up to 33 feet, but I couldn’t test the claimed range because I live in a city where, if I leave my phone that far away, it’ll probably be gone by the time I’m ready for my shot.
I used the new Oppo accessory for a couple of days, and while it was fun, I missed a few things. First, there’s no tap to focus. While it can recognize your face most of the time, I missed the ability to tap and lock the focus and exposure.
Second, the Bubble only supports a handful of Oppo phones – none of which come equipped with Qi2 charging. It can attach to the back of an iPhone (MagSafe) or a Pixel (PixelSnap), but won’t connect to those devices.
To use the Bubble with your supported Oppo phone, you need to add a magnetic sticker (included with the Bubble) to the phone’s case or get a supported magnetic case. It is too much friction for an accessory that should simply work out of the box. If you end up permanently adding the sticker to a case, Bubble’s magnets are too weak to hold it in place. It slides off too easily.
Then come the digital pets. You get a few options to choose from. You can add one of them to the Bubble’s home screen.
These animated characters are cute and dynamic but cycle through a handful of same animations, which brings me to my third point: I’d have loved them more if they were interactive.
Like, on the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro, you can unlock multiple different animations of a panda if you finish 15-minute workout sessions (it also works out with you to guide you through exercises). I’m not asking for a similar approach but there are ways to make animated characters more interesting.
At €129 or INR 7,999, the Oppo Bubble magnetic accessory is just too expensive in its current state. If Oppo wants the Bubble to go mainstream, it needs to adopt Qi2 wireless charging and be more thoughtful about the experience. The Bubble is fun and cute, but its lack of polish ends up dismissing it as a gimmick.
