Huawei's Ruiying Z10 add-on lens packs its own 1-inch sensor for the Mate 90 Pro Max

According to The Verge, that sensor is larger than any inside the phone itself, so attaching the lens is not simply a change of glass but an overhaul of the camera's capabilities. Where earlier teleconverters had fixed focal lengths, the Z10 is a true zoom covering 24-240mm with a variable aperture of f/2.0-f/4.5. The lens relies on the phone for power, processing and software, functioning close to a camera in its own right.

The Z10 mounts directly onto compatible phones rather than requiring an intermediary case to provide a mounting point. Its chief drawback is size: even by teleconverter standards it is very large and will not fit in a pocket. At 346g, however, it remains smaller and more portable than most mirrorless cameras, and the report notes it may be allowed into venues such as concerts and sports matches where cameras are not permitted.

Huawei says the Z10 works with the collector's edition of the Mate 90 Pro Max and the Mate 90 RS, the only two models in the new Mate 90 series with a screw mount around the camera island. Those phones carry a 50-megapixel variable-aperture main camera with an f/1.4-f/4.0 range on a 1.1.28-inch-type sensor, a 200-megapixel 4x periscope telephoto using a sensor of the same size, and a 40-megapixel ultrawide. The 6.9-inch OLED display reaches 12,000 nits of peak brightness, and the phones run on a 6,800mAh battery with Huawei's Kirin 9050 Pro chip. The Mate 90 and Mate 90 Pro are slightly smaller, with streamlined specifications across the lineup.