Oppo Brings AI Photo Editing Tool to Affordable Phones

Oppo is adding a new generative AI photo-editing tool to its midrange Reno phone series. The Chinese company announced the new tool on Friday, following the lead of Samsung and Google's mobile AI push.

AI Eraser lets you remove unwanted objects from images in your photo gallery by drawing a circle around them. The AI can then refill the leftover space. According to Oppo, the AI Eraser can accurately identify objects from over 120 categories, including people, pets, buildings and flowers. Some of this functionality can already be achieved with third-party apps, such as Adobe's Photoshop, but AI Eraser allows you to perform photo-editing tasks natively on Oppo phones. This tool launched on newer OnePlus phones earlier this month.

Read more: Google Pixel 8's AI Blurs the Line Between Reality and Fantasy

Google kicked off something of a gen AI arms race late last year, debuting a bevy of AI-powered features on its Pixel 8 series, including photo-editing tools such as Best Take Swap and Magic Editor. 

Samsung followed in Google's footsteps unveiling a suite of generative AI features first to its flagship Galaxy S24, packaged under the Galaxy AI umbrella. Among the features was Generative Edit, which similarly uses AI to remove or move objects in a photo and generate realistic-looking content to fill the space. However, the price range of Oppo's Reno 11 series is significantly lower compared to its competitors, with the Reno 11F starting at £259 (converts to roughly $324). Oppo is expected to debut more AI-based features on its phones in the coming months.

Smartphone companies are betting on gen AI, hoping it'll be the next big thing to encourage people to upgrade their phones. Gen AI, which uses trained language models to create content based on prompts, has surged in popularity since ChatGPT's viral success back in 2022. Major players like Microsoft, Google, Samsung and Amazon have integrated it into some of their most popular products. Apple, which is perhaps the last major Big Tech holdout, is rumored to bring gen AI features to its next-gen iPhone this year.

Looking for expert, hands-on perspectives on AI products? Check out CNET's new AI Atlas guide, which includes rated reviews of ChatGPT, Copilot, Dall-E, Firefly and more, along with AI news, tips and explainers.

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