Chinese electronics manufacturer Oppo has unveiled a 6.85mm thick smartphone that it claims is the world's thinnest that comes with a 4x optical zoom lens for the rear camera. In addition, there will be a version with sapphire glass on the front for extra screen protection.

Regardless of the classy sapphire glass and slim build, the R1C is actually a mid-range handset, with a 5-inch 720p display and 1.5GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 64-bit processor. There is 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage though, with microSD expansion for up to an additional 128GB, and as it will cost 2,499 yuan, that does put it around £260.

The front-facing camera is 5-megapixel - no doubt with the "selfie" buzzword attached - and the rear is a Sony IMX214 module with an f/2.0 aperture, coming in at 13-megapixels.

A 2,420mAh powers the device and Oppo's own Color OS 2.0.1 is layered on top of Android 4.4.

The Oppo R1C is a 4G handset with support for dual SIM cards and a white version without the sapphire glass will also be available. Its available in a weird auction style pre-order scheme at present, with the possibility of buying the device from as little as 0.01 Chinese yuan.

There's no word on whether it will make its way out of China.