Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo may still be an unfamiliar name for most Australians, but that could be set to change soon.

On Wednesday the company launched two new premium handsets, including the world's slimmest smartphone, the R5, hoping to undercut Apple and Samsung.

The N3 and R5, improved versions of Oppo's previous Chinese flagships the N1 and R1, respectively, are due to go on sale in Australia in early 2015, before the US, British and other Western markets.

Oppo is the leading 4G smartphone manufacturer in China, with a market share of 15.2 per cent, although overall it trails other brands such as Chinese competitors Xiaomi and Lenovo, and South Korean manufacturer Samsung.

Like the N1, the N3 is aimed at the "selfie" generation and includes an improved 16-megapixel, Schneider lens camera that rotates 206 degrees, claiming the highest-quality front-facing camera available. Other smartphones typically include a high-quality, rear-facing camera and a lesser quality, front-facing camera.

Automatic camera rotation via either screen swipe, a touch panel at the rear or via the "o-click", a remote control included with the device, can capture panoramas horizontally or vertically.

The N3 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, 32GB ROM, 2G RAM and 5.5-inch toughened Gorilla Glass screen.

The R5, at just 4.85 millimetres thick, sports a 5.2-inch AMOLED screen and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm MSM8939 processor. Its stainless steel chassis, available in silver or gold, is hand polished.

Oppo's Finder, released in 2012, was also the world's thinnest smartphone at the time.

Both the N3 and R5 run on Oppo's Android-based operating system, Color OS, featuring a music player that looks like a vinyl turntable, and a "global gestures" drawing function, which instantly launches apps when an assigned shape is drawn on the screen.

Both handsets also include Oppo's Pure Image 2.0 technology - which can track moving targets, focus a photograph after it has been taken, and more - and can charge from zero battery power to 75 per cent in half an hour using Oppo's VOOC rapid charger.

The N3 is priced at $US649 and the R5 at $US499, with Australian pricing is yet to be announced.

Oppo international product director Joey Gan said the company was able to undercut competitors' costs by designing, developing and manufacturing the vast majority of its product components in-house.

The Singapore product launch, attended by 1300 international delegates, comes less than two months after the company launched into Australia with four of its popular handsets: Find 7, N1 Mini, Find 7a and Neo 5, available locally via its website. They will be sold through Allphones shops from December.

Oppo marketing director Michael Tran would not disclose sale figures in Australia to date but said they had exceeded expectations.

The company was in negotiation with major Australian carriers and the response had been positive so far, he said.

It was also discussing the prospect of opening its own branded stores in Australia, as it has done in other countries including India and Indonesia.

"We have discussed about opening [our own] stores in Australia, but it's all up for discussion at the moment," Mr Tran said.

However Mr Tran confirmed Oppo was setting up an Australian services centre and looking to expand the team. Oppo Australia employs 16 people currently and supports global operations.

Founded in 2004, Oppo (pronounced "oh-poh") manufactures consumer video and audio equipment, including high-end Blu-ray players.

It began making smartphones, which now make up the majority of its business, in 2008..

The Oppo brand first launched internationally in 2010 when it expanded into Thailand. It has continued to expand throughout south-east Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, and is now available in 17 markets.

The company recently opened  a store in Singapore, with more coming in Mexico, where it has 1 per cent market share.

The writer is attending the Oppo event as a guest of the company.

CORRECTION: a previous version of this story said a car charger was also included with the handsets. It is not.