The image sensor in Huawei’s latest phone accessory is bigger than any sensor in the phone it attaches to. That alone sums up the Ruiying Z10, a 24-240mm zoom lens for the Mate 90 Pro Max that carries a sensor of its own.
In practice, the Z10 is a camera in its own right. The phone’s job is to provide the power, the processing and the software.
A teleconverter with its own sensor
Snap-on “teleconverter” lenses have been around for a while. In recent years, Chinese Android brands have taken Vivo’s lead and sold add-on lenses for their flagship phones, giving those handsets reach that their built-in cameras can’t manage.
Earlier add-ons were nothing more than glass, and each was locked to one focal length. The Z10 brings a 1-inch-type, 50-megapixel RYYB sensor, larger than anything inside the Mate 90 Pro Max. Attaching it doesn’t just put better optics in front of the phone’s camera. It swaps the camera out entirely.
It is also a genuine zoom. With a 24-240mm range and a variable f/2.0-f/4.5 aperture, one piece of hardware covers a spread of focal lengths rather than one fixed reach.
Big, but smaller than a mirrorless camera
Size is the clear drawback. Even compared with other teleconverters, the Z10 is huge, and no pocket will hold it.
There is another way to see it, though. At 346g, it is still smaller and more portable than most mirrorless cameras. It will also likely get past the door at concerts and sports matches that ban dedicated cameras. Bringing a true 240mm reach into a venue with a camera ban may be the strongest argument for buying one.
Huawei also appears to have built the lens to mount directly onto compatible phones. No separate case is needed to give it an attachment point, so there is one less item to carry.
It costs as much as a phone
The Z10 is priced at ¥5,999 (around $895). That is more than some flagship phones, and it comes on top of a handset that already sits at the top of Huawei’s lineup.
Compatibility is limited as well. According to Huawei, the Z10 works with the collector’s edition of the Mate 90 Pro Max and with the Mate 90 RS variant. They are the only two models in the new Mate 90 series with a screw-mount around the camera island.
The phones are already well equipped
Neither of those phones needs much help in the first place. Their main camera is a 50-megapixel unit with a variable f/1.4-f/4.0 aperture and a 1/1.28-inch-type sensor. Alongside it sits a 200-megapixel 4x periscope telephoto using a sensor of the same size, as well as a 40-megapixel ultrawide.
The rest of the spec sheet is on the same level: a 6.9-inch OLED display rated for 12,000 nits of peak brightness, a 6,800mAh battery and Huawei’s in-house Kirin 9050 Pro chip. The standard Mate 90 and Mate 90 Pro are a little smaller and have scaled-back specs throughout. Neither has the screw-mount, so neither can use the Z10.
That leaves the Z10 with a small audience: owners of one of the two top-end Mate 90 models who would sooner take 346g of zoom lens to the stadium than a mirrorless body that could be refused at the gate. For everyone else, the phone’s own 4x periscope will handle most of what they shoot.
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