OPPO Find X5 Product Review | OPPO Ambassador - OPPO Find X5 Pro General

This is my review of the OPPO Find X5 black colour that I received. The body of the device is crafted beautifully yet it performs like a beast. My expectation is, this OPPO Find X5 would sacrifice its performance due to the thickness of its body which is really slim and curvy at both sides of the device. Yet, the design did not compromise anything and I did not find any major issues when I am using the device as my daily driver.
Let’s talk about the build quality and the design of the OPPO Find X5 that captured my attention for the first time I unboxed it. There are only two colours that are available for OPPO Find X5, white and black. The colour I received is my favourite colour, black. But this is not like the boring same old black. It is matte black which does not leave any fingerprints at the back of the phone. The streamlined curve is possible with the frosting matte glass, creating a silky glass which feels amazing to touch. The height of the device is about 160.3 mm and the width is about 72.6 mm which feels just right when it is in my grip and pockets. Not only that, the thickness of the phone is just about 8.7 mm and the weight is about 196 g which can be considered lighter than other flagship smartphones from other brands. Even though it is lighter, it did not compromise from the performance perspective and still deliver the same or better performance like any other flagship smartphones. The smartphone also comes with a unique camera design like no other phone where the camera bump or camera cut out was fused together with the body creating a smooth and nicer look and feel. From the aesthetic side, the curved screen display somehow indicates whether the phone is a flagship or not and yes, OPPO Find X5 comes with a curved display at both sides.
Let’s move on to the display of this flagship smartphone. The size of the screen is 6.55” which can be a bit tall but does not disturb your watching experience. The screen ratio is about 92.70% which covers almost the entire screen. The resolution is FHD+ (2400 x 1080) where you can utilize it to the fullest while watching movies or tv series that support the FHD+ function. The refresh rate for this beautiful-designed phone comes with 60Hz which can be turned on at the settings to save your battery and another one is 120 Hz which can be switched on for you to enjoy the smoother experience with the smartphone. The volume button and power button feels premium with the chrome colour and without clicky sound which is really cool and comfortable to click.
PERFORMANCE/GAMING
For the past one month with the phone, I have already played some demanding graphic games which push the performance to its peak. I have tried playing Mobile Legends Bang Bang using ultra settings and overall the experience was magnificent without any hiccup or lag. The graphic looks stunning and the game fps just sitting at 60 fps and no hot issues found. After that I tried to download and play Pokemon Unite which is super smooth and has no lag and no fps drop during my gaming session. The games launch speed was superb as it did not take too long and just took a few seconds to load the games. The colorOS performance setting just do the justice for this device as it pushes the device to its limit without compromising any performance which I think should be praised. During my gaming session, the 120 Hz really made a difference and it was so smooth and gave the best gaming experience during the session. The display of the phone is the main attraction where the colour and the detail of the icon really stands out/pop up and give a nice vibrant colour. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G embedded into this monster, my daily usage of the device feels as smooth as silk and switching between apps and tabs just gives another level of satisfaction.
BEST COLOROS FEATURES
Some of the colorOS features that are really helpful and I like the best is the Always On Display. The features actually come with a lot of customization such as you can select the option of information that you want to display over the phone while the phone is in a lock mode. You can select the time, date, battery and notification to appear on the Always Display Mode and you do not have to unlock the phone to check on these information. You can just lift up your phone and all the selected information will appear on the screen. Not only that, you may choose the Omoji to appear on the screen during Always On Display, portrait silhouette, text and images, text only and custom patterns which give you freedom to customize the display. This is so cool because OPPO gives the users freedom on how the phone looks to our heart's content. The system also provides with selection of digital clock, analogue clock and also images. Wow! There are so much more that you can do with these features.
Another feature that I found useful for me is O Relax. It is an application pre-installed in the phone where it offers various types of comforting natural sound to relax the body and mind. It helps users to sleep better, breathe better and stay alert and focused. There are tons of music and ambient sounds that you can choose from. It can be used to meditate and it comes with Dolby Atmos which provides better sound and crystal clear music. In my experience, I already use this application to help me to get through the nights whenever I have sleeping difficulties. Enjoying the soothing music really gives me a better and quality sleep.
OPPO Omoji is surreal where you can customize your Omoji with tons of options from the colour of the skins to the selection of accessories. It can be used to send messages with selfie emoji to your family or friends. The application needs to be downloaded first and you may start to customize your own Omoji and share it with others.
At the settings, you can find personalizations where you can choose wallpapers. Always On Display, Icons, Quick Setting and other user interfaces. For me, I customize my wallpaper using colours from any pictures and it will automatically give options to a lot of patterns based on the colour itself. You can choose live wallpapers which is really exciting because whenever you unlock your screen, the live wallpaper will move on its own. I also choose to customize the icons based on my preference. You can choose the material style, pebble or you may customize it yourself. The quick setting also can be customizable where you can choose the window, rhombus, square, squircle 1 or 2. You can always change the colours, font and display size, fingerprint animations and the edge lighting where every time you receive notification, the edge lighting will glow that indicates there is a new notification coming in.
CAMERA OVERVIEW
For photography, the OPPO Find X5 comes with 50MP Wide-Angle Camera that utilize the Sony IMX 766 sensor, 1/1.56” sensor size, f/1.7 aperture and All-Pixel Omni Directional PDAF which give you the best camera to capture moments in any light situation. The second camera is 50MP Ultra-Wide-Angle Camera that utilize the Sony IMX 766 sensor, 1/1.56” sensor size, f/2.2 aperture, Native 110.3 degree field of view and All-Pixel Omni Directional PDAF where you can shoot and focused on more subject in one picture. The third camera is a 13MP Telephoto Camera that comes with f/2.4 aperture, 5x hybrid zoom and 20x digital zoom where you can zoom and focus on long distance subjects but still maintaining the detail of the subject.
Another new addition to the OPPO Find X5 is the MariSilicon X. It is NPU Powered Elite Imaging where you can shoot night videography without any worries. You can capture videos at night that are bright, rich in detail and awash in captivating colours. The 4K Ultra Night Video really pop ups the subject at night with their natural colours, clear and realistic image processing and without overexposing the entire scene.
With MariSilicon X, you can shoot the Ultra Dark Mode without turning on the lights. You can still see the subject detail and colour by just lighting up a candle and shooting the video of the subject without losing all the detail and colours. OPPO also co-develop Hasselblad Camera for Mobile. The camera comes with iconic leaf shutted sound and XPan mode in the camera setting to give the DSLR feel and quality into the flagship phone. Hasselblad Natural Colour Calibration provides more natural and accurate colours. For the XPan, you can capture panoramas and vintage-style photos in this format.
BATTERY REVIEW
The OPPO Find X5 also comes with an 80W SuperVOOC charger where it can charge the phone from 0-100% in just 34 minutes. That is super cool because in my experience, I play a lot of mobile games and watch videos using the phone but with this SuperVOOC, I need not to worry about draining my battery. This is something that I am looking forward to for OPPO in their upcoming smartphone. The phone also comes with a customized cooling system where the heat-dissipation system with a super-large vapor chamber and 3D graphene films ensures that the phone stays cool during my gaming experience or heavy usage tasks.
At the battery setting, you can find the percentage of the battery left and the estimation time until the battery drains out powered by Battery Booster. Not only that, there are recommended optimisations where you can turn off certain apps that can drain the battery. There are also power saving mode and super power saving mode options where you can turn it on or off to maximize the battery longevity and usage.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the OPPO Find X5 really is a beast inside but a beauty on the outside. The overall design is not too strange or weird but still acceptable with an excellent performance pushed to its boundaries powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, MariSilicon X, 80W SuperVOOC also comes with 4,800 mAh battery that can runs through all day without any hiccup or compromising its performance. It is packed with new technology from OPPO and collaborates with a prominent brand Hasselblad which gives users the premium feels and quality. It is truly a smartphone that checks all the boxes for your needs in the latest addition of your preferred smartphone.

Related

My comparison between OnePlus One and Honor 6 Plus

Hi All
This supposed to be subjective comparison between OnePlus One and Honor 6 Plus. I will not get into too much of technical details as internet is full or such reviews already. It is written based on my usage style and you will clearly see what is important for me. I am open for debate but just in case of any fanboys from either camp would like to argue with me – let me stress it out – this MY and SUBJECTIVE opinion and you can have yours as well
It will concentrate on main aspects as:
1. Overall build quality;
2. Screen quality;
3. Speaker quality;
4. Overall subjective speed;
5. OS;
6. Battery life;
7. Camera quality;
There will be no summary saying that OPO or H6+ is better as there are different aspects each of us takes into account and I would prefer each of you get its own conclusion.
1. Overall build quality.
Honor 6 Plus
H6+ feels solid, it reminds me very much small brick my iPhone 4 was. In various reviews I read that silver band around edges was metal but I dare to doubt. In my opinion it is plastic imitating metal. But it does a good job. You don’t fear that H6+ will fall apart in your hand. Some of my previous Samsung devices had this fragile feeling (especially this flimsy battery cover bending under fingers). Here we have very solid build mobile.
Still quality is not ideal – in my case the black plastic lip between screen and silver band is not even. Not something you will notice but as I am freaking perfectionist I do (believe me) check construction quality with my nose almost touching the mobile under each angle. Some reviewers complained about large gap on the back of the phone between back glass and black plastic. On my phone this is not an issue and glass seems to be glued perfectly. As you see these are not major drawbacks and I believe that they are totally acceptable on the sub £300 mobile.
OnePlus One
Oh boy I love the feeling of this mobile – this may be a bit of fetishism but I love the black back feel it’s “like sand paper meets velvet” feeling. It has great grip and its silver frame around display adds this elegant look. I have been using OPO for around 8 months and it still looks as new. Really I can’t say a bad word about its construction quality.
Both phones are quite different in terms of design and really which one you prefer it’s down to your preferences.
2. Screen quality;
Both mobiles have the same screen resolution and as far as I understand both are IPS displays with Gorilla Glass on top. Having them side by side I noticed that my OPO has much colder colours (I know that different batches of OPO had different colour temperatures on their screens). Even setting coldest colours on H6+ they were still bit warmer than OPO screen. Personally I don’t mind either as if you don’t have reference next to screen you really will not mind this.
Viewing angles horizontally are very good and almost equal on both mobiles. Horizontal viewing angles seems to vary and on my units - H6+ had better viewing angle from top and OPO from bottom but this has been only visible at angles above around 150 degrees.
3. Speaker quality;
If you use mobile phones speakers for what they have been meant for (ring tonnes and loudspeaker) then both phones are suit for this purpose.
If you are a young sadist who loves to torture passengers on public transport with “bumbumbum” music from tiny mobile phone speakers – then both phones will also suit this purpose – I mean torture.
Let’s be honest these tiny speakers will not play quality music. They can make quite a noise but if you have any respect to your (and other passengers) ears you will use quality headphones.
Still I did check both of the speakers and I must say that in terms of volume H6+ seems to have linear scale and OPO logarithmic. This mean that both phones create similar noise at max volume but at 50% H6+ is much louder.
It terms of sound quality at 50% I much rather prefer H6+ which sound was cleared and less tin like but it ended up with larger distortion at the top of the range which sounds just like tones on both end of the scale have been cut. OPO still had this tin like sound but at the top volume it was reproducing larger spectrum than H6+.
Again personally there are no forces on Earth which can make me to listen music on mobile speaker and call this pleasure. Therefore as long as mobile phone has loud ring tonne which I can hear and I can understand the other side during conversation over the loudspeaker I say it’s OK and suits its purpose and from this perspective both phones pass.
In terms of front speaker I didn’t noticed any significant differences between them as I could hear the other person loud and clear even in noisy environment.
OPO has 3 microphones while H6+ has 2 - still people claimed that they could hear me slightly louder on H6+ than on OPO – this could be due to different noise cancellation algorithm or just due to their subjective judgment.
4. Overall subjective speed (no benchmarks here);
Both phones are working great and I didn’t suffer any shutters of freezes during normal use. Still some games i.e. GTA III plays better on OPO, Riptide GP2 crashes on H6+ when I try to turn shadows on, but other demanding games like Reckless Racing 3, Modern Combat 5 or Deus Ex are working like a charm on max settings therefore it is hard to judge if H6+ really lacks a bit of steam under the hood or it’s just an issue with games optimisation for Kirin processor.
I know that most of you will refer me back to benchmarks and charts stating that this is obvious as SD 801 is better (just a bit but still) than Kirin 925 but honestly how many apps in the play store uses your processors, graphics and memory in 100%? C’mon let’s stop this MPix, MB, MHz race and let’s check real life performance.
I have been using Tegra 4 and Tegra K1 devices and beside these few great exclusive titles like Half-life 2, Portal or recently released Doom 3 (which probable would work on other SoC’s as well) for the most of the time it was a steam in the whistle – there are no apps able to use this power.
5. OS;
Both mobiles runs custom ROMs – Cyanogen in case of OPO and EMUI in case of H6+ I will not concentrate on general descriptions on both of these releases as there are plenty discussion and debates about both of them. I would rather say a few words how they feel in day to day usage.
OnePlus One
As you would expect it is highly customisable and I did enjoy this. It is full of small add-ons and features that you find handy. Still it manages to keep this vanilla feeling of Android OS.
For me it was like using a Linux distro on PC you can do everything you want but you have to know what you want and where to look for the feature in the menu.
It provides best vanilla experience of Android I experienced and all its add-ons we actually useful – for me most frequently used options was equalizer which managed to convince me that I actually hear bass on my in-ear headphones
Honor 6 Plus
This is as much iOS on android as you can get. In a good way. I love power management, memory management system management it’s almost like heaven if you like me like to keep your system as clean as possible – this is first time I didn’t have to install my standard set of third party management apps as all of the settings are built in the ROM.
Lack of app drawer wasn’t any issue for me as I usually ended up with all the shortcuts in the folders on desktops either way. Possibly if you have just few icons on the desktop you may find this change annoying but its 100% subjective.
In terms of user friendliness I must say I do enjoy all those little tips the system is giving you like – “oy! this app is working in the background and is eating battery are you ok with this or you want to close it”? This is very useful if you experienced before “google services” battery issue before. Personally I found myself spending less time looking for functions and access to them seems to be quicker.
H6+ has micro SD slot (up to 128GB) and despite KK limitations it somehow manages to squeeze apps onto micro SD card. Currently my system shows more than 20GB free space (out of 25GB total available for the user out of the box) in the main memory having 14GB apps installed!
I was using 64GB version of OPO so I didn’t experience memory problem there either 
Micro SD also doubles as second sim slot (nano SIM) and from what I understand from menu description is 2G only. You can fully control default actions like from which card phone calls or messages will be initiated by default as well as set independent ringtones for calls and messages – useful feature for some but I didn’t have the need to use it nor spare nano SIM with credit on it to test – therefore I will not be able to comment on this feature.
OPO comes as vanilla as it can really be without any rubbish on it. H6+ has some fermium apps on it BUT most of them are shortcuts not really installed on brand new phone (0B size) and the rest is not embedded into ROM and can be fully uninstalled not hidden!! I would love this solution on my Samsung tablet which not only has mere 16GB of storage but is packed with tonnes of crapware.
6. Battery life;
I am a heavy user – my typical scenario: wake up, unplug mobile, check weather forecast, browse news over my morning coffee while streaming music over LTE, commuting =more web browsing and music streaming over LTE to my BT headset, a lot more of this during work and commuting back, evening more browsing over WiFi. I would estimate that I browse internet 2h – 3h a day over LTE + 2h music streaming over LTE with BT on and another 3h-4h with BT off;
Monthly mobile data usage is between 10GB-16GB.
Using OPO I had to limit myself as battery was around 15% at 5-6PM with H6+ I still have around 40% at the same time. Recent H6+ record 8.00am to 1.00pm next day. Normal users will get more than one day from both phones.
7. Camera quality;
I will not get into technicalities here – as far as I know both OPO and H6+ uses Sony sensors – OPO 13Mpix and H6+ 2x8Mpix.
First if you are looking for high quality camcorder OPO is the phone you should look at. It doesn’t mean that video from H6+ is bad but OPO not only has Full HD video recording but it goes further up to 4k. Still since I have no device to play back 4k videos or memory to store them (and they are huge) it is not a very appealing feature. OPO also can record slow motion video at 120fps on 720p! This is the features I miss mostly on H6+.
Again I am really crappy cameraman and my videos looks like first person view from drunken fly flight so I don’t bother that much about those H6+ limitations (ok I will miss slow motion video a lot ).
Now, the feature most important to me – camera photo quality.
Comparing both cameras on auto mode I have noticed that H6+ has wider tonal range, photos are not overexposed. Shooting photo of the bright sky and the ground contrast differences are much more settle between them on H6+. OPO usually (like most cameras) chooses one or another (sky or ground) to set exposure on. End result is nice sky and black ground or nice grass and white sky.
Now looking at the photos with correct exposure and comparing them site by site 1:1 it seems that grain and noise is visible at similar levels – colours on the other hand are better handled by H6+ as they look more natural and bit more saturated. Photos from OPO are bit colder and have tiny blue hue. Nothing major and most photos look very good on OPO - unless you are shooting landscapes in full Sun. Of course this can be mitigated by using HDR on OPO but still H6+ does the job without using such improvements.
Now where H6+ shines is low light performance – as both OPO and H6+ lacks OIS it may be tricky to get perfectly steady shoot. Using auto mode I took photos with both cameras in the dark room without flash with only bit of light seeping through partially open doors. On photo from OPO you are able to recognise shapes but that’s it – colours are lost and noise level is extremely high. H6+ photo is much better shapes are much sharper, noise is definitely lower and there are even some colours on the photo.
OK this was quite an extreme shot and probably compact camera wouldn’t produce much better (if at all) results.
Therefore I moved to something more subtle – lets simulate “party shoot” – rather dim light indoor in the evening – photos taken free hand without flash – oh boy this where you can see true benefit of dual camera setup – let’s be honest there still is bit of noise on H6+ photos and this is not an DSLR quality but for sure this is the best quality I saw on mobiles I owned (and it was quite a number). Comparing quality between OPO and H6+ you can see much more details on the latter, photo has significant less noise and photos are much sharper.
There is super-night setup on H6+ but really you will need tripod to use it as it set’s lower ISO and increase exposure time.
Good news is that on both mobiles you can gain full access to manual settings via my favourite app Camera FV-5. On H6+ you can change ISO setting and WB within standard camera app but since these functions are hidden on the bottom of settings menu I prefer to use Camera FV-5 as it not only brings these functions on the main screen but additionally allows to manually control exposure time and EV compensation.
It’s worth noted that OPO has ability to save files in RAW format which is missing in H6+
Wide aperture mode – it’s nice function/gadget, something you saw on HTC M8 and also mimiced by few apps on app store (i.e. google camera) – my advice – don’t buy H6+ solely for this feature.
It does work but it has serious limitations and end result is not always perfect. I haven’t tested M8 to confirm but from what I heard this function is working much better on H6+ than on M8 (M8 had to be disaster then ). To get decent results on H6+ make sure that your object is at least 2m from camera and background is fair distance away from main subject of the photo – this way you have the best chances that algorithm will “understand” photo depth correctly. Otherwise you may end up with some errors on the blur edges. Also don’t take photos of the objects with holes in them as blur will be applied outside the objects but not on “see through” parts.
As you see there are some serious limitations and don’t let anybody to tell you that you can leave your DSLR at home – still saying this I have quite a fun with this function. As long as you are aware of these limitations and have in mind “do’s” and “Do not’s” you will have as much fun as I do.
8. Summary
I hope you found this useful and if you considering any of these mobiles hopefully this will help.
Both have its strengths and weaknesses and as always there are no perfect devices the key is to find one perfect for you
Personally I like both mobiles very much – I chose to use H6+ as a main phone because of camera quality, speed and low light performance. From this perspective it serves me very well in deed.
Of course if you have different priorities you may chose differently.
I have planned to do some further comparison between OPO and H6+ cameras in full manual mode but as it will take quite a bit of my time I will do it only if there will be such interest.
Mean time if you have any specific questions please ask I will do my best to answer them.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Huawei P20 Pro, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Huawei P20 Pro is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Just got the phone today, overall it's ok, coming from mate 9 I would say the camera is impressive but I need more time to test it out.
P20 Pro First Impressions
Got the phone this afternoon and have had an initial play.
I came from the Mate 10 Pro so know the EMUI system fairly well and many of the P20 Pro features are similar.
Saw a tip from a reviewer to use night mode for all shots and gave that a go with some amazing results, really sharp with good colours in poor light indoors.
I have listened to audio on the speakers and in landscape when it changes to stereo the sound is good, nothing like a Razer Phone but good. Sound in portrait mode through the one speaker is only average.
The Bluetooth audio seems so far to be an improvement over the Mate 10 Pro which had a horrible compressed almost 128k sound even playing 320k files through Deezer. The P20 Pro seems much closer to the quality on the iPhone 7 which is great news so far but I will report back once I have tried some FLAC files on the internal audio app.
Other than that the phone seems slightly quicker than the Mate 10 Pro, possibly due to the newer EMUI version.
Updates to follow after more time with it :good:
Love this handset overall. Battery life is great, camera is great, screen is great, sound is great (which was a big bone of contention with me coming from LG V20!).
Please add section on real-life review for Audio Quality! Both speaker and headphones (wired and wireless!).
Just received my P20 pro yesterday and must say I'm quite impressed. The design & build are fantastic, I would prefer the fingerprint on the rear like the Porsche design (but not a huge issue).
Emui is a decent skin as far as skins go, it's easy to get used to and has a few nice features baked in without being to intrusive.
Camera looks very impressive but need a bit more time with it, but I'm happy so far with the results.
Performance is on point and everything runs smoothly.
So far so good and my first ever Huawei device and I'm overall very content with my purchase.
Duncan1982 said:
Just received my P20 pro yesterday and must say I'm quite impressed. The design & build are fantastic, I would prefer the fingerprint on the rear like the Porsche design (but not a huge issue).
Emui is a decent skin as far as skins go, it's easy to get used to and has a few nice features baked in without being to intrusive.
Camera looks very impressive but need a bit more time with it, but I'm happy so far with the results.
Performance is on point and everything runs smoothly.
So far so good and my first ever Huawei device and I'm overall very content with my purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.
Hopefully we can get some 1080p 60fps EIS and 4K EIS in the future
So far so good, a few strange things like changing lock screen wallpaper and also updating widgets which I hope are simply bugs that will get fixed.
What with the leather texture design of the camera ui....I hate it.
Jamestdd said:
What with the leather texture design of the camera ui....I hate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It remembers the leica legacy
mcall_r said:
Love this handset overall. Battery life is great, camera is great, screen is great, sound is great (which was a big bone of contention with me coming from LG V20!).
Please add section on real-life review for Audio Quality! Both speaker and headphones (wired and wireless!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed sound in headphones was a big concern for me before buying the phone as my previous Huawei's have not performed well in that regard and I have a V10 that I use when listening a lot to music. Though the P20 Pro surprised me it has good dynamic range and spacious sound. Not quite up to par with my V10 but good enough that it will not bother me at all really.
I love this phone. I love the camera. I can see the display out in the sunny day unlike the other phones I have which are hard to see outside on a sunny day. Phone feels good in the hand. I have dark mode on and it looks great. It is also really fast, no lags so far.
This is my first Huawei or China made phones. I have to say I am impressed. EMUI is not bad really, still missing some features but overall it's a solid contender. The night mode is insane...never seen a camera phone that can do this! Overall I have no regrets buying this. :good:
Definately satisfied, especially since fw 120. Best buy for me!
Let me first set the context. I am currently using an iPhoneX and Galaxy S9+ (Both 256gb model). Therefore, whatever I write here about P20 pro is against the experience of the existing phones (Both are top notch). Now Here we go about P20 Pro...
Camera: I was blown away by some photographs I casually took today both night and day (Auto mode). There are plenty of of options and currently the best camera (phone) in the market that money can buy.
IR Remote : None of the flagship has it. This was another reason to choose P20 pro after lot of dilemma. It's amazing. You can control almost any devices like TV, A/C, Music System etc including your home, office and public places!!!
Screen : Nothing less than iPhone X in terms of viewing experiences. HDR10 fully supported and its awesome.
Android Auto: Perfectly working (Flawless) with my Skoda.
Battery : 4000mah capacity, yet to be tested
Software: Plenty of good and garbage. You can remove garbages what you don't want. I use Nova prime. Supe fluid.
Kirin 970 + 6GB RAM: Flagship experiences but iPhoneX and S9+ does little better here.
Music: Excellent Bluetooth audio. With an active external amplifier the Huawei P20 Pro had the perfectly clear output that befits its flagship standing. Stereo speakers with dolby digital.
Fingerprint & Face Unlock : Fastest (Fast like hell!!)
I know resell value will be hopeless for this brand but I am fully satisfied with my purchase of P20 pro.
What else you want to know... ask
Overall reasonably impressed
I changed from a much loved S5 to the P20 Pro and so far I find it an upgrade in terms of speed and responsiveness (obviously!) but a downgrade in terms of a few other things.
Here are the things that are bothering me about it. If anyone knows how to help with any of them that would be great. Otherwise I'm likely going to return it.
I know some of the items are me being fussy but really I "upgraded" from a 4 yr old phone that has none of these issues.
Issue with screen dimming in some apps (IE: open WhatsApp, screen brightness drops, exit WhatsApp, screen brightness goes back up in seconds)
Edit 1: I have used a rubbish workaround of enabling auto brightness to stop this. However Huawei have confirmed this will be fixed in a future release.
Email notification icons don't show (and also, if you have 2 email accounts you only know if you have emails in the other if you access it separately)
Edit 1: I think I have resolved this by going to Notifications Management >> Batch Management >> Toggling All off and on >> 3 dots >> Badges >>Badge display mode to something other than current and then set to "Unread Messages" >> Toggle all off and on
Google find my device doesn't work on it (works via the app on the phone itself - not very useful as you wouldn't have it with you if you were trying to find it!)
Edit 1: Search for "App launch" in settings >> access app launch >> set google play services, maps, find my device to manual and enable all 3 items within the sub menu (you may need to download find my device - not sure if required)
Camera 16:9 is low resolution (7MP resolution from a 40MP sensor is very poor)
Camera 16:9 photos do not appear to be true 16:9 aspect ratio (it produces black lines at the top and the bottom)
Notification light tiny (ridiculously small, can't be rectified now obviously)
Notification light blinks soooo slowly (I feel like I need to look at the phone for a few seconds to decide if it has a notifcation)
Always on display doesn't show third party notifications like WhatsApp (can't understand why this would be the case)
Infrared only works with some apps (IE: doesn't work with AnyMote)
Edit 1: In AnyMote enable "User Alternate IR Commands"; this fixed it for me!
Infrared requires nearly direct line of sight (older phones I have used work when pointing upwards or downwards slightly, P20 Pro needs almost direct straight line)
Limited on-screen zoom in to gallery photos taken
If screen-on notification are on the notification light won't stay lit to notify (having issues identifying when this happens as it isn't all the time)
EDITS: I'm going to try and edit these as I find a fix for them.
So far I love it! The camera has been amazing, to the point where I'm not feeling anxious if I see something cool and don't have my DSLR with me. The battery life feels liberating.
WhiteSquirrel said:
I changed from a much loved S5 to the P20 Pro and so far I find it an upgrade in terms of speed and responsiveness (obviously!) but a downgrade in terms of a few other things.
...
Camera 16:9 is low resolution (7MP resolution from a 40MP sensor is very poor)
...
Limited on-screen zoom in to gallery photos taken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a quick headsup, you can change it to shoot 40mp, it just defaults to outputting 10mp (not sure how you got on 7mp?) just like other high megapixel phones never really shoot full size 'out of the box', this is to both make it feel more speedy/snappy, aswell as to simplify the task for the phone (usually things like tweaking light after taking the photo, but in this device some 'ai' is apparently also altering filters shutter-speed etc on the fly based on what you try to take pics from, so im sure that benefits from lower res<->speed tradeoff too)
(edit: #1 wow my signature still works #2 its outdated )
suicidal.banana said:
Just a quick headsup, you can change it to shoot 40mp, it just defaults to outputting 10mp (not sure how you got on 7mp?) just like other high megapixel phones never really shoot full size 'out of the box', this is to both make it feel more speedy/snappy, aswell as to simplify the task for the phone (usually things like tweaking light after taking the photo, but in this device some 'ai' is apparently also altering filters shutter-speed etc on the fly based on what you try to take pics from, so im sure that benefits from lower res<->speed tradeoff too)
(edit: #1 wow my signature still works #2 its outdated )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello there, the 7mp refers to my comment about the max P20 Pro resolution for 16:9 aspect ratio.
16:9 could easily utilise a 40mp photo with the top and bottom removed to make it widescreen-viewing suitable. Obviously I can edit this myself but that will be tedious when you've taken 100's of photos and want to view them nicely on every modern TV and laptop without big black bars at the sides due to 4:3 aspect ratio. The S5 allowed 16mp photos at true 16:9 which were absolutely fantastic and perfect for viewing on the phone's full screen, the full TV screen and full laptop screen with no large black bars at the sides.
nice phone, but won't be buying another Huawei device - software compatibility is appalling, they can't even get their own widgets working on 3rd party launchers, we are nearly 4 months behind with security updates, there's been no update on the mate 10 pro since march, so doubt if will see this phone get any regular updates - overall 5 for hardware, -5 for software and updates
Oh? I have just received the .131 version with June 18 security patch, the camera has been improved, as well as the smoothness, and the stand by battery stats. Hope you get this update on your unit soon, it's a good product.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Nokia 9 PureView, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Nokia 9 PureView is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
I wanted to love this phone. The design and screen are super solid. Taking it out of the $7 clear case that I got just to make sure I didn't scratch it in the first week, to appreciate how solid and smooth the phone felt, was a real joy. The clarity and color of the screen are quite impressive. I was constantly looking for the camera to impress me, and once I finally had come to the conclusion that every photo was good enough that I could tweak in editing to make it how good I wanted it to be initially, I was really happy to have it. But then with the constant frustration of the fingerprint scanner and the terrible sounding speaker, I decided that the camera was not good enough to keep me holding on to this one, even for the very good $599 price. Packed the phone up and thinking hard about bringing it back today.
I love the fact that this phone produces raw DNG files that i can actually use.
My P20 Pro on the other hand spits out useless raw files that suffer from vignetting in both brightness and color cast. And the jpg files are horrible overprocessed , The P20 Pro, photo wise, was a bit of a disappointment for me. It still baffles me how it was able to achieve such high scores.
From the few pic's i already took with the Nokia , i can say that i finally have a phone again that can take normal looking pictures.
I love this phone. Ofc i could be bias, since im coming from a Windows phone. However since my first nokia, i've always liked their phones on a unconscious level. After owning the 920, 1020 & 950, moving from windows to Android was so much better. 7 was my favorite but im starting to feel like Pie is my new fav now. So maybe i am loving the android one experience more than the phone itself.
There are a couple annoyances, as with any phone, luckily most of the Nokia 9's can be fixed via software.
Here are my two little annoyances:
-Finger Printer reader...need i say more...check my post under 'Can anyone get the fingerprint scanner to work most of the time' for a possible workaround.
-Can't remove Google assistant or date on home screen without 3rd party launcher or rooting; this is because of Android One experience.
Other than that, i love the phone because i've been on a deprecated pos that was Balmer's ugly-headed step-child.
I really love this phone. Mine came yesterday morning so these views are based on this short time with the phone.
Keep in mind that I was coming from a Galaxy Note 4 which I bought on release day. I thought this was a great phone and it has served me well, but nothing since has really given me the push to replace it. I saw the Nokia 9 when it was announced at MWC and pre-ordered the next day.
Highlights so far:
Android One - After coming from a Samsung experience this is a breath of fresh air.
Design - I think notches and hole punches (the new Samsung method) are ridiculous. I have a real hate of them because they are unnecessary and this phone proves it. I've seen reviewers mention the top and bottom bezel as a negative but I'm yet to find an actual person who has actually identified them as a problem. I've wrapped this phone in a TPU case and fitted a glass screen protector to protect it against my kids and my active lifestyle and it still feels amazing in the hand. It looks stunning as well. Yes, I'm aware of its similarity to the Note 4.
Camera - My experience of the camera so far has been fantastic. I've taken a number of photos in different conditions and it has performed excellently. Processing times haven't gotten in my way. I've taken a few snaps, put it in my pocket and come back to it later. I've had loads of fun with the post shot depth adjustment which is very impressive. And the monochrome sensors on their own give you something special.
Battery life - Battery life has been excellent. My day starts at 6am which is when I unplug my phone from where it is charging. I'm sat here typing it 17 hours later and its still on 67%. During this time I have used GPS for about an hour to track my ride to and from work, its been paired with my smart watch all day so the radios have been running for that. And beyond that its just been general browsing and messaging.
GPS - When I opened Strava it locks on instantly.
Negatives:
Fingerprint reader - It needs work. I hope they can fix this with software. It works most of the time with my forefinger. And sometimes with my thumb. For something like this. If it doesn't work first time, most of the time then it doesn't work.
Switching between camera modes - Seems to be a bit of lag switching between modes.
I'm really looking forward to spending more time using this phone, Ill post photos in the photo thread when I have a decent selection.
Not recommending
Touch sensitivity is very poor, often requiring 2 or 3 touches to register. Feels like a low end phone with resistive screen from 6 years ago. Not a flagship. Not even a mid-ranger. I had cranked up the pointer speed to maximum in the keyboard and language section of Settings but that made no difference. My typing accuracy has also plummeted from my previous Nexus 6p. Seems like a recurring problem across Nokia phones. Come to think about it my touch screen percentage echoes my fingerprint success. Perhaps the issue is not the reader but the overall touch registration.
Using Snapseed instead of Lightroom to edit Raw but there is a real eye opener on the web where the camera is compared to previous generations of Nokia Pure Views. Not pretty. And unlike others, I do not expect improvement with the camera. Light and HMD Global have worked on this camera array for years. What is 6 months more going to achieve except for better stability and less aggressive sharpening? The low light is truly horrendous.
Not recommending to friends. Still, I will keep because I dislike returning and not too many Android One offerings.
---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 AM ----------
Besides well documented issues with fingerprint reader and camera, phone suffers from awful touch sensitivity. One fallout is wildly inaccurate keyboard accuracy. Unpleasant to use for surfing or social media.
Choice of cases is limited. For example, I have not been able to find a real leather wallet case; just PU cases with magnetic closures. This seems to be an issue for any phone that is not an Apple or a Samsung Galaxy.
On the other hand, voice quality is fine. So at the end if the day, it's a phone.
Left17 said:
Touch sensitivity is very poor, often requiring 2 or 3 touches to register.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That almost sounds like you have a hardware problem that most don't have. I have no sensitivity issues on the screen itself. It's been very accurate for me, and I've had it for a month now with no complaints on that end. The fingerprint reader sucks, but the sensitivity of the screen itself has been flawless.
Likes:
Image quality, very nice useable raw files
Look and feel
Screen
Speed
Battery (if you don't use the camera to much)
Dislikes:
Unprotected lenses , yes it looks cool flush to the body. But it also means scratch prone. Now I need to use a ugly case. Normally I never use a case as it's at bulk and looks not very nice.
Updates, Android one suppose to be secure by giving you monthly updates. It's April, still has the February security update. Both Sony xz3 and note 9 got the March update at the beginning of March both are not Android one. So at the moment I'm not impressed at all by Android one
Camera crashes sometimes. Suppose to be fixed in an upcoming update (whenever it may arrive)
All in all it is better in my view than the xz3 or mate 9 . Especially considering the price, but I'm a bit pissed about the update situation (you might have noticed it )
Really have tried with the phone, and wanted to like it, but to me it just seems un finished to me, the finger print sensor is just hopeless, even with the recent update and re enrolling, it really doesn't seem to work, even with wet or dry hands, Whilst an impressive camera, I've missed many moments waiting for it to load, or process (wanted the phone for a new New born baby we've had) even though shes not moving much yet, I've missed various photos. Sadly its now in a draw, and I've purchased a p30 pro from ebay, its like a breath of fresh air, the camera is astonishing, nice to see how an optical finger print sensor should work too!
Got it for 230$ used ... Can't complain ?
But it's unfinished product.
Back to the stone age and using pin code to unlock.
Camera takes too long
Speaker is bad
In another word ... I would never buy it for 600 or 500 dollars nor count on it as main device
I bought the Nokia 9 (single SIM) two weeks ago as a portable replacement for my Canon 80d and it does not fail me a bit. Here is my reflection on the two cameras:
Disclaimer: I am an architecture student with an interest in photography, not an expert photographer.
First I would like to acknowledge that it is always problematic comparing a DSLR and a camera phone due to the built-in mechanical difference which is always more robust on the former. That's why people buy DSLR in the first place. However, one can appreciate the Nokia 9 camera because it offers a very unique photographic rendition and experience (plus other perks of smartphone cameras).
Favorite settings: both camera at 100 ISO, on tripod for night photography. For Nokia, Snapsneed for JPEG, Lightroom mobile for RAW. For Canon, RAW in Lightroom Desktop.
Price: I got my 80d brand new with lens kit for 990 CAD in 2019 and Nokia 9 for 375 CAD 2 weeks ago.
Pixel size (similar): Canon 80d is 24 MP at 3.7μm pixel. Nokia is 12 MP at 1.4μm. If you downsize the 80d to 12 MP, the pixel size becomes 1.8μm which is quite close to the Nokia's. Larger pixels equal less noise and a brighter image.
LCD preview (Nokia): The Canon 80d's photos look great on the camera LCD screen (due to the added color tint) but when you view the actual JPEG on PC, the quality tapers out. The Nokia 9 is polar opposite, the resultant jpeg usually much better and brighter than the image shown in the viewfinder.
Video recording (Canon): the Canon 80d is fine-tuned for video recording whereas the Nokia 9 is for taking photos so there's no surprise that its video recording is really really bad, nuff said )
Audio recording (Nokia): Nokia's OZO system is much better than the Canon built-in audio recorder. To take full advantage of this feature on Nokia, use a tripod when you record your video. For audio recording, I would recommend the recording app on XDA which enables the OZO when you record audio (intended for Nokia 7.2 but should work on the Nokia 9). Link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-7-plus/themes/mod-nokia-recorder-ozo-support-t3917232
Shooting mode and speed (Subjective): Manual on the 80d is equal to Pro Mode in Nokia 9 (manual shutter speed and ISO, auto exposure compensation). Most of the time, I leave the white balance on both to auto. While the interface on the Nokia is very basic, it is faster to adjust and preview for quick manual snaps.
Manual focus (Canon): Due to its fixed lenses, in Pro mode, Nokia 9 sometimes keep the background out of focus when there's a much closer subject. Refocusing in Pro mode, however, messes up your settings. There's a very simple workaround: just enable flash in Auto mode, switch to Pro mode, refocus, you will see the flash light up, snap your photo and all the ISO & . It is that simple. Or you can refocus later using Blur in Gphotos. Ofcourse, the Canon is better at manual focus. You can tap on the screen to focus and take the picture at the same time which is very convenient.
Color science (subjective): Famed for its beautiful color science, I expect the Canon 80d to excel the Nokia all the time but to my surprise, in many instances (30%), the colors produced by the Nokia 9 are more interesting and cinematic than those snapped by Canon 80d (probably due to its fusion of B&W + color sensors). For JPEG, Canon has a warmer and buttery color than Nokia which is understandable. For unedited RAW, Nokia produces a cooler image than Canon. But again, all RAW's temperature and color channel can be adjusted in post.
Dynamic range (similar): Canon 80d has 13.2 stops at base ISO (theoretical) and 12.8 at ISO 100 (usable). Nokia 9 has 12.4 stops at ISO 100. What is incredible is that at ISO 100, the Nokia 9 produces a much brighter image than the 80d. Its dynamic range is comparable to the Canon Mark series(refer to photos by Tuomas Harjumaaskola for more info). Most of the details in the overexposed objects can be salvaged in RAW. If you don't want to touch RAW, increase the shutter speed until the brightest spot in the picture is well-exposed. Then, increase the scene brightness later in Snapsneed.
Tonal range & Texture (Nokia): Nokia is better than Canon on this one due to its fusion technology between B&W + RGB channel. Subtle textures and curves on clothing 10-15 meters away are visible on the Nokia's JPEG. Incredible! Imagine layering B&W + RBG photos of the same scene in Photoshop. That is how the Nokia 9 do.
Sharpness (subjective): Canon 80d's sharpness is medium - high depending on the lenses you use. Many people complain about the Nokia 9's overshapened look which I can understand. However, for me personally, the sharper the better since architectural photography on Nokia is amazing. High-end dslr lenses are expensive because they produce sharper image (+ less distortion + let in more light). At first glance, the Nokia 9 looks sharper than the 80d. However, when you zoom up full scale the Nokia's sharpness degrades much faster than the 80d. This is because Nokia uses its tonal range to compensate for the lack of sharpness far away while the Canon relies on its sensors and lenses.Tip: if you don't like the Nokia 9 jpeg's sharpness, use the RAW file.
Noise (Canon): Canon 80d has minimal noise due to the built-in noise reduction which also means you sacrifice some of the sharpness. However, since I always use a prime lenses, this is not noticeable. For JPEG, Nokia 9 has more noise on reflective surface far away. Nokia 9 noise at 100 ISO is similar to 80d noise around 500 ISO. For RAW, noise level on Nokia is similar to the 80d but it has less sharpness. For best quality JPEG and RAW on Nokia, always shoot in Pro mode at 100 ISO.
B&W photography (Nokia): Canon 80d is converted B&W whereas Nokia 9 has B&W sensors (not true monochrome) but is nonetheless on par or even better than 80d's B&W at times.
Night photography (Subjective): This is probably area where most people trash the Nokia 9. I think after an update some time this year, the camera has been able to take 5 or more snaps per lenses. I was able to get a RAW at around 30-40 MB for each night shot. Previously, it only takes 1-2 snaps which from my research, produces abysmal results. In my experiment, I set the ISO to 100 and the shutter speed to 8 seconds on a tripod and the amount of detail it captures is astonishingly good. Noise and RAW quality are similar to day shots although JPEGs does a bad job at capturing the nuances of direct street light. In comparison, Canon 80d at 100 ISO and 8 seconds shows a pitch black scene. A good result is achieved on a tripod at 20 - 25s shutter speed. However, there's no denying that the picture produced looks fantastic. Both cameras complement each other in a way.
Special effects (personal): Canon has a lot more customized modes for specific scenes built in but I think the Color Pop/Blur effect by the Nokia is more useful (enabled by the incredible depth map). The 1200 layers are not a gimmick, you just need to keep the camera sight line parallel to the ground. Since the ToF sensor travels straight, whatever object it hits first is the foreground.
RAW post-edit support in Lightroom (similar): similar but Canon has a slight edge.
Processing time (personal): Images on Canon 80d takes a larger learning curve + longer to edit but it produces a very good final result. Nokia 9 images take less editing time and consistently produces nice looking images for social media.
I really wanted to love this phone, the hardware is impressive, the display in particular is the nicest!
But it's the software that's a disappointment, every now and then I have to restart my device to have the notifications to play sound again, and frequently after plugging my phone in to charge the display stops working and I have to soft reset.
The camera software is slow, kills battery, over heats, and the torch/flash rarely functions giving the error message "can't use torch, camera is in use"
GCam is not an option unfortunately
Have been thinking about switching phones but HMD hasn't offered a proper replacement yet, my patience is almost over!

A Detailed Review | OPPO Find X5 | OPPO Ambassador

INTRODUCTION
Hello all. As you might know, I received the OPPO Find X5 last week and did an unboxing and first impressions post which you can find here.
Ever since I've received the Find X5 my sim card has been in it and I've been using it as my daily phone.
It's been a couple of days and I think I've fairly used this device to give my thoughts and share with you all my detailed review on the device.
The subjects that I will be reviewing in detail are,
• Design
• Camera
• Software & Performance
• Battery & Charging
I will try my best to share an unbiased and detailed review of the device and in the end, will share a verdict. If you have any questions or doubts about the device, feel free to ask.
Now let's take a closer look and find whether the Find X5 lives up to its expectations.
DESIGN
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Starting my review with the design, this is probably the most interesting-looking phone design I've seen in a while.
I just love what OPPO has done with the colour and finish on the Find X5, especially the one in white with the black camera bump which gives it a very distinctive look.
The back of the device is glass, feels very smooth to the touch, and is very elegant & premium while holding. Since it's a matte finish, fingerprints and smudges are non-existent.
At the back, you find "OPPO | Hasselblad" branding, and since the device is an EU model you also get all the regulatory information.
I also really like the seamless slope design they've done around the camera bump.
The frame is aluminum however, if I had to nitpick, I would've loved it if the frame was black instead of shiny silver which attracts some fingerprints. Again that's only visible when you look for it at a certain angle.
It weighs 196 grams and does have a heft to it but the weight is well balanced. It isn't top-heavy, never felt that the device might accidentally fall from my hand.
At 6.55 inches in screen size, it is still decently large, but because it is quite narrow, the phone felt a little easier to use.
The button placements are done well and are placed at a reachable position.
Volume buttons to the left, power button to the right which has OPPO's signature green colour embedded inside. Buttons are very clicky and have good feedback.
Up top there's a microphone and below lies the Type-C port for charging and data transfer, a loudspeaker, another microphone, and a sim slot.
There's an IP54 rating for protection against dust. However, the sim tray does have a rubber ring. So the seals are present and should save it from occasional water splashes.
The sim slot does take in two sim cards. No SD card expansion, however, OPPO does offer the phone in a 256GB storage configuration, which should be more than enough storage for most.
The X-axis linear motor for the haptics is also quite good. The feedback is strong and during my test, I've never missed any calls or notifications.
The bezels surrounding the display are thin except for the bottom chin which is ever so slightly thicker compared to the top bezel.
The phone does come with a pre-applied screen protector which should last for a couple of months. Also, there's Gorilla Glass Victus used for display protection.
Moving to the display, it's a very good quality curved AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400×1080. The refresh rate is 120Hz with a touch sampling rate of 240Hz due to which scrolling felt quite smooth and never felt any lag during touch input. However, I wish the display panel was LTPO instead of regular 120Hz which can only drop down to 60Hz when the display is idle.
There's an in-display fingerprint sensor that is placed in a position where your thumb might naturally rest. Unlocking was pretty quick.
The display is 10-bit which means it can produce up to 1 billion colours. The default colour mode is set to Vivid however you can select other available colour modes that are Natural & Pro Mode to tune it as per your preference.
vivid, natural & pro-mode for display calibration.​
The display gets bright enough with 500 nits of default peak brightness which can go up to 800 nits and boosts up to 1,000 nits while watching HDR content. Visibility is great under direct sunlight.
There's an earpiece up top which also doubles as a secondary speaker. The speakers are loud enough and I did not find any distortion at high volumes.
I'm impressed with the device, OPPO has done a great job with the overall design and build quality of the Find X5.
CAMERA
I was really curious to test out the cameras on the Find X5 since this is the first device to have OPPO's self-developed chip, the MariSilicon X for better image processing, and their partnership with Hasselblad for natural colour calibration.
MariSilicon X is built on 6nm process technology that helps capture 20bit Ultra HDR, 4K night video, real-time 20bit RAW processing, and many more.
The primary lens on the Find X5 is a 50MP shooter with a Sony IMX766 sensor. The aperture is f/1.8 and it does have Optical Image Stabilisation.
Interestingly, the ultra-wide angle lens is also the same 50MP Sony IMX766 camera. The aperture though is f/2.2 with a field of view of 110°
The third lens is a 13MP telephoto camera with an aperture of f/2.4 that has a 2x optical zoom.
The camera app is quite straightforward to use. You get the Hasselblad coloured orange shutter button and the modes can be arranged by pressing the edit button which can be found in the more section. OPPO has also incorporated Hasselblad’s iconic leaf shutter sound.
user interface of the camera app.​
I did my camera testing under different conditions such as outdoors, indoors, and under low light, and here's what I have to say about the camera on the Find X5.
In case you don't want to read the whole review part and just want to check out the samples then click here.
Outdoor shots with the main camera are very good. Colour reproduction is quite natural looking and pictures have a good amount of contrast. The Find X5 handles dynamic range better most of the time and the pictures are well detailed.
pictures shot from the main camera.​
The white balance is correct, never encountered any weird colour shifting.
Also, due to the sensor being large, the pictures have a natural depth to them even without using the portrait mode.
Pictures from the ultra-wide angle camera are also quite good. Being a 50MP camera and having the same IMX766 sensor as the main lens, the details, white balance, and contrast levels of shots were quite consistent and similar to the main lens.
pictures shot from the ultra-wide angle camera.​
There are very minimal chromatic aberrations around the edges.
The phone can also shoot close-up macro shots. The camera switches itself to macro mode whenever you take the phone up close to the subject.
pictures shot with Macro mode.​
The 2X telephoto camera is also quite close when it comes to white balance consistency. The details are good but not as good when compared with the main & ultra-wide. Also, I did wish that the telephoto camera had more zoom capabilities, maybe a 3X.
pictures shot from the Telephoto camera.​
White Balance was mostly consistent between all the three lenses in the outdoor shots.
lens comparison - outdoor conditions.​
Under indoor conditions, pictures from the main camera are bright and detailed with very less noise. Shots from the ultra-wide camera are also very good with very less noise and good detail levels. Pictures from the telephoto camera also did a good job and details are quite close compared to pictures from the other two lenses. The white balance between all the three lenses was quite similar.
lens comparison - indoor conditions.​
The same goes with the low-light shots. The main camera takes good shots with plenty of light and very low noise levels. Pictures from the ultra-wide camera are also very impressive. It is as bright as the pictures from the main camera & the detail levels are similar. Pictures from the Telephoto camera are again good but compared to pictures from the other two lenses they are a bit soft and less detailed.
lens comparison - low-light conditions.​Now I noticed that during low light conditions, the Telephoto Camera uses the Main Lens which is cropped to 2X instead of the actual Telephoto Lens.
Using the main camera during low light conditions is better since the aperture and resolution of the main camera is better than the aperture and resolution of the Telephoto Lens.
Here's a side-by-side comparison of pictures shot on Telephoto & Main Camera with 2X zoom. Zooming in you can see the keyboard is quite detailed in comparison with the picture shot on Telephoto.
The colours are also off on the picture shot from the Telephoto camera.
There's Pro Mode that lets you have full control over ISO, Shutter speed, White Balance, Focus, and Exposure Values.
You can use all three lenses in Pro mode and all three lenses support shooting in "RAW" format. However, I do not like the position of switching the lens which is at the top instead of keeping it at the bottom. The bottom instead has a 1x and a 2x zoom which is a crop from the main lens. I would've preferred the actual lens switching option at that place.
There's a new "RAW Plus" mode that captures more details & a better dynamic range than the standard RAW mode. I loved the RAW Plus mode. Having dynamic range already on a RAW picture means that the shadows and highlights are already worked upon meaning editing these pictures in Lightroom took minimal effort.
Here are some pictures shot in RAW format & edited with Lightroom.
pictures shot with Pro mode.​One thing I do not like about the Pro Mode is that it does not remember your last used shooting format. The shooting format resets back to JPG after some time. This was very annoying as I have missed shooting in a RAW format a couple of times. Even if I did remember, it was still annoying to enable RAW format every time.
The front camera is a 32 Megapixel with an aperture of f/2.4. Now I'm not a selfie person but the pictures coming out from the front camera are good.
The Portrait mode worked great with animals and humans in daylight and also at nighttime. Edge detection was pretty good and skin tones were accurate.
There's a Long Exposure mode that you can use to capture motion shots not just at night but even during the daytime. Quite useful for those who do not know using Pro mode to shoot such motion shots.
OPPO has also introduced XPAN mode co-developed with Hasselblad which shoots panoramic images in two profiles, color mode, and a unique B&W mode.
shot with XPAN mode.​
All the cameras can shoot up to 4K with 1080p & 720p as options at 30fps or 60fps. However, you cannot change the lenses while recording which is a bummer.
Video samples with max settings can be found here.
There's a dedicated Film mode that lets you shoot in a cinematic ratio and has options to manually set shutter speed, ISO, white balance, manual focus, and exposure values.
film mode feature.​
The mode also supports shooting in LOG format. This is great for those Pro videographers who want to later color-grade the footage. The Film mode supports all three lenses.
Here's a sample footage shot on Film mode and color-graded.
Overall OPPO has done a great job with the camera on the Find X5 and I can definitely recommend someone looking for a phone with a very good Primary & Ultra-wide angle camera with a decent zoom range.
There are some software annoyances & limitations like the Pro mode switching back to JPG format & also not allowing to switch lenses while recording. These are software-related issues so I hope OPPO fixes them soon by pushing an update.
SOFTWARE & PERFORMANCE
OPPO has come a very long way when it comes to it's software. Over the years, OPPO has refined ColorOS with each version, making the user experience better.
Starting with the Android version, the Find X5 comes with Android 12 out of the box with OPPO's ColorOS 12.1 skin on top. ColorOS over the years has changed quite a lot. OPPO's objective with ColorOS 12 is to refine and simplify the whole UI making it cleaner and easier to use. All of its system apps have been updated to cleaner UI and are easier to use with one hand by placing important menus at the bottom.
There's a good amount of customisation option for the launcher that people will appreciate. From the option to change the icon shapes & sizes, grid layout, to the option to change transition while switching pages & more.
customisation for icon, grid layout & page transition.​
OPPO also has introduced its own wallpaper-based theming similar to Google's theming which extracts colours from the wallpaper and applies them across the system and apps.
Unfortunately, OPPO's theming is only limited to the system settings, notification panel, and its own apps, Google apps do not adapt to the theme.
Edit: The device received an update with March security patch. The update now supports theming for Google apps. Good to see OPPO making the user experience better.
There are also tonnes of customisation options for Always-On Display where one can add custom patterns, text & images including system-provided clock & image options. Customisation also includes Font & display, Fingerprint animation, Edge lighting & more.
portrait silhouette feature.​
There's a new Portrait silhouette feature that basically draws an outline around the face and lets you set it as the background of the always-on display.
ColorOS 12.1 also includes all of the Android 12 features such as quick settings toggle to turn off Camera & Mic access to all the apps, option to give an approximate location instead of a precise location, privacy dashboard for checking what permissions were being used by the apps.
OPPO has also worked on animations on ColorOS 12 which they call "Quantum Animation Engine 3.0" adding more lifelike & seamless transitions.
There's an Icon pull-down gesture that can be used by swiping up alongside the edge of the display to bring down the icons close to your thumb and select an app to launch.
icon pull-down gesture, flexible windows & smart sidebar.​
Another feature I really liked is Flexible window which has the ability to turn any app into a floating window for quick multitasking. Smart Sidebar was another handy feature to quickly access functions and apps.
OPPO has done a great job in implementing haptics with the ColorOS. You can feel subtle vibrations across the system while dragging your finger or reaching the end of the page after scrolling. O-HAPTICS under settings lets you turn off system haptics, adjust the haptic intensity, and select a haptic style that has two options, Crisp and Gentle.
Talking about pre-installed apps, the phone did have a good amount of bloatware like Amazon, Facebook, and more. However, most of these can be easily uninstalled.
Another issue I want to address is that the folders do not adapt to the selected icon shape. This makes the home screen look a bit inconsistent.
folder shape does not change to a circle.​
Performance was also quite solid even though it has the last year's chipset, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. I did wish it had the latest 8 Gen 1 processor, though adding last year's Snapdragon 888 to cut costs without sacrificing performance makes sense after all Snapdragon 888 SOC is quite a capable chipset and can handle everything you throw at it.
During my usage, it performed exceptionally well. I did not face any stutters or major slowdowns. 8GB of RAM was sufficient for multitasking and keeping the apps running in the background. If 8GB of RAM isn't sufficient then one can expand the RAM through the RAM expansion feature which utilizes the phone's storage space.
With a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate the phone felt quite smooth to use and apps and games opened very quickly.
I don't really play games on my phone but I did install some games like BGMI & Asphalt 8 to test out its peak performance and it ran those games quite well with high graphic settings. The phone did get a little warm after running the games for about an hour but did not get abnormally hot.
Software experience has been mostly positive with the Find X5. Even though not having the latest 8 Gen 1 processor, the performance of the phone was pretty solid.
BATTERY & CHARGING
The battery size on Find X5 is a pretty respectable 4,800 mAh split between two cells allowing it to charge at a very high speed.
In terms of charging the Find X5, the device supports 80 Watt SUPERVOOC wired charging which charges the device instantly. The device also supports AirVOOC wireless charging at 30 Watts & Reverse Wireless Charging at 10 Watts.
Unfortunately, I couldn't test AirVOOC wireless charging as I did not have the wireless charger with me. However, Reverse Wireless Charging worked quite well with my OnePlus Buds Pro.
I did test the wired charging speed and the phone charged to 50% in about 15 mins & 100% in just about 40 minutes which is quite impressive. The device did not heat abnormally while charging the device at such high speeds.
I also briefly tested the battery life and in my moderate usage, I was getting somewhere around 7-8 hours of screen on time. Under heavy use expect the screen on time to be around 5 to 6 hours.
battery life with heavy and moderate usage.​
My usage generally includes apps like YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, and Reddit, taking a lot of pictures, and editing pictures in Lightroom.
There's Power saving mode which is nothing but Battery Saver mode. You can enable it manually or set it to enable automatically based on specified battery levels from 5% to 75%.
Power saving mode also includes options to control screen brightness, screen time-out, background sync, and screen refresh rate.
There's also a High performance mode under battery settings which increases device performance. I did not feel any need to enable it since the performance was quite good even without this mode being enabled. Other features include standby optimisation and optimised night time charging for preserving battery health.
Overall I would say OPPO has done a great job in terms of Battery and Charging department.
VERDICT
The Find X5 is a solid flagship with a little compromise.
Even though having last year's Snapdragon 888, performance will be more than adequate for the majority of users. The software did impress me more than I expected it to be. There are some minor software issues that can be easily fixed via a software update. The display & build quality is great, the charging speed is more than adequate, and battery life is also great. The overall camera performance is great, except for the decent zoom range.
And that's all I have to say about the OPPO Find X5. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'd be glad to answer them.
I'd like to thank the @OPPO Ambassador Team again for giving me the opportunity to review OPPO Find X5!
Looking forward to what OPPO brings to the table next year with the Find X6!

UK OPPO Find X5 Pro - An in depth review

INTRODUCTION
As some of you will be aware, my name is Glenn, more commonly (around here) known as LennyUK. I was chosen to be an OPPO Ambassador and have been playing around with the OPPO Find X5 Pro for a few weeks now.
Before I dive into this review I want to make clear that I have a pretty extensive history of reviewing devices and software, I have written for many Android websites over the years and have been a very long term member of XDA Developers and was once a recognised Developer. On top of all this I have owned an awful lot of devices right from the beginning of Android.
Why am I reminding you of this? Well, there appears to be an apprehension from some people to the Ambassador programme, thinking we have been told what we have to say, and will be inherently bias as a result of having use of the phone for free - all I can say is that everything I say will be my own honest, unfiltered opinion on this device and its software.
So let's get into it - The device I have been using is the OPPO Find X5 Pro. The colour I have is Ceramic White. It has 256GB of onboard storage with 12GB RAM. This is a UK build and I can tell you already (SPOILER ALERT!) some features do differ from the devices available elsewhere including mainland Europe.
https://imgur.com/OfCER3k
I also own the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, so I have a current generation, arguably the pinnacle of Android devices to compare this OPPO Find X5 Pro with.
PROS
Aesthetically this device looks stunning, I am struggling to think of a nicer looking device, comfortable to hold too.
Very smooth performance for normal use and gaming
ColorOS functions and apps are largely useful and well made
SuperVOOC charging is a game changer
The camera is very good especially in low light or night scenes with decent features for pro photographers but its telephoto options are not quite as good as some competitor devices
CONS
Beauty of the device is mostly lost when using a case, which most people will want to (and one is even provided for you)
In indoor settings/shade the display loses a lot of its magic, unless you choose to substantially increase the brightness level
Accessing the devices power menu is clunky and unintuitive
Audio Speakers are not great at louder volumes
Battery life is good but not exceptional
CONTENTS
UNBOXING - Post #2
SETUP - Post #2
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN - Post #2
DISPLAY - Post #3
SOFTWARE (ColorOS) - Post #3
CAMERA - POST #4
PERFORMANCE/GAMING - POST #4
AUDIO - POST #4
ANDROID AUTO - POST #4
BATTERY - POST #5
CONCLUSION - POST #5
UNBOXING
I won’t go into too much detail here as I have already published an unboxing video that you can find on my YouTube channel (LennyUK TV).
The key points to note is the box includes the phone, a Super VOOC 80W charger, a USB lead (USB A to USB C) and a soft touch phone case.
SETUP
Setup was a breeze. I used OPPO’s clone app to move my data from my S22 Ultra to the Find X5 Pro and whilst it took some time to do, it worked on my first attempt and without issue.
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN
As stated above, the device I have been provided is the “Ceramic White” colour variant. It is also available in “Glaze Black” - is the rear of the device that is coloured with the front being a full edge to edge screen design that we have come to expect from any half decent or higher smartphone these days.
I have owned white devices previously, but not all too often, with the vast majority (which I am sure you can all agree) have been black, or at a push, silver. White is a nice refreshing colour to have, however, you lose most of the impact when you use a case, which many people choose to do, especially with flagship devices, as these are not cheap!
https://imgur.com/MMX2Txs
The back of the phone looks stunning, the white really pops and it is silky smooth - maybe too smooth (refer back to needing a case…) but in terms of looks this phone has something that many others do not - the Samsung S22 Ultra as a comparison is a big rectangular shape that has certainly been designed from a functional perspective rather than considering aesthetics at all. This was certainly not the case with the OPPO Find X5 Pro, it is clear a lot of thought has gone into its design (as well as its functions).
The back is made of ceramic (yes, the name of the colour gave that away), which you might find an unusual choice, but it works, really well - probably due to the very high quality polished finish and the subtle 75 degree slope, which OPPO claim is the “optimal curve for illuminating the body in sunlight or shadow” - which is great, if you are not using a case…
Aside from the colour, the device has a simple but modern OPPO and Hasselblad (the famous camera brand that has helped co-create the camera on this phone, more on that later) logo in the lower right hand edge with the camera cluster in the top left hand corner.
The camera cluster sits slightly raised from the device and contains 3 lenses and a flash/LED (I will go into more details on the camera further below) with the words “Powered by MariSillicon” sitting between two of the three lenses.
https://imgur.com/HYTMWtl
Having a raised camera cluster isn’t uncommon these days, with devices trying to be as thin as can be, but also trying to include powerful camera lenses that even pros could consider using from time to time but it does mean that the device can’t sit flat on a desk and the OPPO Find X5 Pro is no exception - without a case, if you use the device resting flat on a desk you will notice it wobble - it is at its worst if you try to use the top left hand area. However this is easily solved by the use of a case, including the case that is provided in the box with this device.
More on that case now - it is a matt black colour with a very soft touch texture on the external facing sides, the internal side is more textured, presumably to aid in gripping to the device - it fits perfectly, which I of course expected it to.
Back to the OPPO Find X5 Pro, the front is dominated by the 6.7” screen that for specs nerds, has a 92.7% ratio and a QHD+ (3216x1440) resolution. It has a hole punch selfie cam in the top left hand corner and a speaker very well hidden at the top (the earpiece speaker). Both the left and right hand edges curve slightly which is likely to cause issues for those of you who prefer tempered glass screen protectors, but there are many alternative options today that work great on curved screens - and I best not forget to mention, one does come pre-fitted on this device anyway.
The right hand edge contains the power button, which seems a bit silly to call a power button as its primary function, at least when the device is powered on is to do other actions (more on this later), but I suppose the name holds true when the device is off, that is the button that powers it on.
The left hand edge contains the volume up and down keys.
All three of these keys are well made, they are not wobbly or loose fitting like other devices can have, they click well and I cannot see them being a point of weakness even after long use.
The bottom edge of the device contains a centralised USB C port with a speaker grill to its right and a mic to its left. Further to the left is the SIM Card tray (the device also supports E-Sim).
https://imgur.com/HtDTOMc
The top edge contains the noise cancelling microphone on the right hand corner.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro is very nice in the hand, at least in mine, but I do have large hands so you may need to see for yourself - it certainly doesn’t feel too big for it’s screen size though and is comfortable to hold and use.
Its height measures in just shy of 16.5cm and is about 7.4cm wide and is less than 1cm thick (8.5mm) weighing around 218g. The weight is surprising, as it weighs a fair bit more than the S22 Plus but around 10g less than the S22 Ultra, but you really can’t tell - if I was to use just my muscle memory of the two devices I would have bet a lot of money (and lost!) that the S22 Plus was the heavier device. This is where the aesthetics of the OPPO Find X5 Pro really help to keep its size and weight both comfortable and manageable.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro also comes with IP68 water and dust resistance, which is what you really expect from a flagship device.
DISPLAY
As stated above the device has a 6.7” QHD+ display with a 3216x1440 resolution on an AMOLED panel covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, currently Corning's top Gorilla Glass product. The S22 Ultra also has very similar display specs and the same Gorilla Glass.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro has a full 10bit colour depth so you can utilise HDR and has a 120hz dynamic display - keeping up with the other flagships out there at the moment (although not all of those rivals are performing as well as it should be in this department) - the “dynamic” part, should see the display going down as low as 10hz when a faster refresh rate is not required, which ultimately helps conserve some power.
In my day to day use I have not noticed any lag or issues with the dynamic functionality of the refresh rate - I cannot say the same about the S22 Ultra where on occasions, especially when the battery gets lower, you can visibly see the refresh rate slowing or speeding up, rather than it being ready on demand. The S22 Ultra also (at the time of writing this) fails to drop the refresh rate often, or very low and certainly doesn’t get close to the 1hz Samsung claimed it could - the OPPO Find X5 Pro doesn’t have the same issues.
It is worth noting however that firmware updates could likely fix the issues with the S22 Ultra over time.
But that is enough of specs, what you really want to know is how does it look? Well my honest answer is good, but not quite as good as my S22 Ultra, at least not unless I really up the brightness level on the OPPO, something you don’t need to do to get the colours to really pop on the Samsung - and upping the brightness obviously then impacts your battery life - however, in a bright environment the OPPO can hold its own the display is clear and looks great.
Colours almost look washed out (set to Vivid mode at default colour temperature) in those dimmer settings (with auto brightness set as you would expect) which is a real shame, but this is based on a direct comparison, for most users you will be using this device in isolation and it is by no means bad and should not really be something that puts you off the device.
https://imgur.com/yWRK0jJ
Some quick notes on the display software settings:
You get choice of light and dark mode (as you would expect, it is an android device)
Choice of 3 screen colour modes (Vivid, Natural, Pro) and 3 colour temperatures on a slider (Cool, default, and warm)
Eye comfort mode to remove blue light
Choice of resolution (auto, FHD+, QHD+)
Choice of max refresh rate (High 120Hz or Standard 60hz) - both work dynamically
You can choose to “hide” the holepunch camera (basically makes the notification bar solid black)
SOFTWARE (ColorOS)
At the time of writing this review the OPPO Find X5 Pro is running Android 12 with a March 2022 security update - a couple of OTA’s have already been pushed out in the few weeks the device has been released.
ColourOS (what OPPO call their “skin” of Android) is version 12.1 and the devices software version is currently CPH2305_11_A.17
It has a full Google/Android experience (GAPPS) so you have full use of Google Apps including the Play Store.
The device does come with some bloatware pre-installed, but almost all do these days - but you can easily remove what you don’t want.
The device has various apps and other features as part of the ColourOS experience including an OPPO Store, an E-SIM app designed for roaming called ORoaming and a meditation/mindfulness app called O Relax.
I have a very stressful life - I am a lawyer by day with a very very high case load, managing a department and also one of the directors of my firm - when I get home, I have a 4 and a 1 year old and 2 cats (and a wife) - all this leaves me with very little time to truly chill out and as a result I am constantly on that threshold of bubbling over into chaos from all the stress - but that is where I tend to thrive and is certainly my choice, so this is not a complaint merely just a long winded way of saying a mindfulness app is something that is very useful to someone like me.
https://imgur.com/a/5BA9o5s
O Relax on first glance has a selection of Ambient Sounds, Music and “coloured noises” (aka white noise etc) as well as some other sounds created in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen and Jo Malone London - you can set a timer and just chill out.
If you swipe to the left you get three options: “Listen”, which is the default tab, “Unwind” and “Explore”. Unwind hosts a selection of stress-relief games like bubble popping, deep breathing, colour manipulation or picture rubbing all with their own soothing sounds and colours. Explore lets you pick an environment such as various cities around the world and here sounds from ears of those cities, that background noise that helps you zone out. You can adjust how “active” those noises are. If real cities are not for you then you can also explore sounds of an alien world (yes really!) - which is a full Dolby Atmos audio production.
https://imgur.com/HbhP2zU
The device also features a privacy dashboard, accessible through the settings menu that enables you to control things like access to microphone or camera (globally, as it stops all apps from using them) as well as control permissions and other things like locking or hiding applications. You can also choose to have a toast popup that tells you when apps read your clipboard. The dashboard itself notifies you on how often location, camera and microphone have been accused in the past 24 hours, giving you details of when they were accessed and by what applications - you can also access the same data for other permissions if you wish.
You will also see notification icons for when the camera and microphone are in use, so applications shouldn’t be able to sneakily record you without at least giving you the chance to see that it is.
https://imgur.com/a/z05lh90
One feature the device has in the UK that it doesn’t appear to have (based on my discussions with those who have the devices elsewhere) in mainland Europe (or further afield) is Omoji - this is OPPOs version of animated emoji - here you can design a face and then manipulate it in real time via the selfie camera and your own face and take pictures in various poses which can then be used as your own emojis (via insert picture or video into your various apps).
There are of course many other features of ColorOS 12, more than I can talk about in this one review, but to name a few others you have Air Gestures (a way of controlling the device without touching it, imagine if you are baking and your hands are covered in flour), always on display etc
One final feature I will mention is the flexible windows - accessed via a hidden sidebar, not uncommon to find on many devices at the moment - is a quick way to access those important apps you use often, 2-factor authentication, or password manages are two good examples - they open as a floating window you can move around, or maximise, or close - this is much more useful than multitasking where it splits your screen, its quicker and far less disruptive enabling you to quickly do what you need to do then close out back to where you were - this is definitely a function I will miss when going back to other devices as whilst they may have similar functionality it just doesn’t work the same.
As an extra, I know some of you wanted to know - yes the phone does have a native call recording function.
It’s at this stage I get to talk about one annoying factor - and I know OPPO are not alone in trying to “mix up” the norm when it comes to this, what is it? Powering off the device… As I alluded to earlier, the phone has a power button, the button functions to turn the phone on when it’s off, or to turn the screen on and off when powered up, but it does not (in itself) control the switching off or rebooting of the device. Long pressing it does not bring up a power menu (it can be programmed to do other things) - instead, and no where in the documentation that came with the phone or on the device itself (at least obviously) does it tell you this - you have to hold both power and volume up to get access to this menu. You also have to hold it for a length of time that is longer than you would expect, just as you reach the point of thinking it's not going to work, then it does.
Yes, I can see the advantages of gaining a programmable hard key for other uses…but not at the loss of making switching off or rebooting the device ridiculously difficult to understand - your average user will simply not know how to do this.
CAMERA
I enjoy photography. I am not a pro by any means and have never had any formal training, but I do spend a lot of time taking photos with my DSLR, or mobile devices, and editing them - I am not amazing, but I am more than capable of getting some magic shots if everything falls together for me (one of the other Ambassadors is an actual photographer and his work is brilliant).
I know my way around a camera and had some things planned for this review, but unfortunately due to brexit delivery of my phone was delayed and the opportunity for some great night and low light photos was missed (I had a trip to the O2 Arena, London, to see Hanz Zimmer live, would have been great shots of the gig itself but also London at night) - since then I have been very busy with my day job and battling illness so opportunities to get great shots have been extremely limited, but I have still had a play with the camera, enough to give you some thoughts and a rundown.
Anyway, the juicy bits - the OPPO Find X5 Pro boasts three lenses and has been co-developed with leading manufacturer of middle format cameras, Hasseblad, if you have never heard of them before, shame on you! It has a 50MP Wide Angle Camera, a 50MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera and 13MP Telephoto Lens capable of 5x hybrid optical zoom (2x proper optical zoom) and 20x digital zoom.
The Wide Angle camera has a 5 Axis mechanical stabilisation system that really helps with mobile photography and can get you an aperture of f/1.7 which for a mobile device is extremely low - for those of you not camera nerds, the lower this number the blurrier the background of an image becomes, what is known as “bokeh” - perfect for portrait photos.
The Ultra Wide has a 110.3 degree field of view and an aperture of f/2.2 which gives you great options when shooting landscapes, or city scenes.
Both of those lenses use sensors from Sony - my preferred camera sensor manufacturer.
Then what really makes this camera stand out from the crowd is the MariSillicon X NPU (Neural Processing Unit) think of it as a form of hardware acceleration enabling the camera’s software to work brilliantly and do things it couldn’t otherwise do and all without impacting the on the devices CPU or GPU functionality.
https://imgur.com/0XbxqAr
Specifically this NPU enables the device to offer something truly unique when it comes to low light or night photography. You will notice that you can still truly see the colours and other details which most mobile cameras will lose without the images looking faked or over processed or without it looking like a daytime shot - because that isn’t the point - you want a night shot to be a night shot - you want the viewer to know it was taken at night, but without losing any of those important details and that is what the cameras on the Find X5 Pro and the MariSillicon X NPU allow for.
When you open the camera you are greeted with the standard “photo” mode, the click and shoot mode, moving that bar left or right lets you pick other modes including “Night”, “Video”, “Portrait” or “More” - in More you will find access to the Hasselblad Pro mode, a Hi-Res mode, Panorama, Film, Slow-Mo, Time-Lapse, Long Exposure, Dual Video, Sticker, Text Scanner and “X-Pan”, another Hasselblad feature.
Pro mode offers features such as a histogram and focus peaking and the ability to shoot in RAW.
If you are after a device that can take very nice photos in almost all conditions then you can’t go far wrong with the Find X5 Pro. The S22 Ultra also has very good camera options and the Find X5 Pro matches or beats it at almost every step, except one, which is the telephoto option - the S22 Ultra is very very good at 30x zoom and is somewhat good beyond that too, this device can’t go that far, but honestly, how often on a day-to-day basis do you need to zoom in that far?
Using the camera is a very enjoyable experience and it’s pro mode is one of the nicest on a mobile device I have used (Sony offers a very nice Pro mode on their devices, but it is still missing some key features that it’s own cameras or the Find X5 Pro have, such as focus peaking). It’s certainly a solid offering and highly competitive.
https://imgur.com/a/LtsgZSJ
PERFORAMNCE/GAMING
One thing that really impressed me, especially after coming from the Samsung S22 Ultra which you would expect to be the best you can get at the moment, is how smooth this device is to use - there is no UI lag, no missed frames, freezes or delay - it simply reacts to your input how you would expect it to do - you might think this should be standard especially in such a top spec device, but anyone who has used a S22 Ultra should know performance isn’t guaranteed…
The Find X5 Pro has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU with 8 cores and the Adreno 730 GPU clocked to 818MHz - both pretty much as good as you can get at the moment and it shows in the devices performance levels.
I won’t be benchmarking or discussing those in this review, they are largely meaningless and often manipulated (yes I am looking at you Samsung!), so I am focusing on real world usage experience, my usage experience.
Anyone who knows me (or looked me up) will know that one thing I do like to do in my spare time, when I have any, is game, be that on a Console, PC or a mobile device - my current mobile vices include games by Supercell (Clash of Clans and Clash Royale), detective/escape room type games (e.g. Tiny Room) and mobile versions of battle royales (like Bullet Echo).
All the games I play have been smooth and responsive much like the rest of the performance of this device, however, no game, even those that say they can, goes beyond 60fps - however, the same can be said about the S22 Ultra, so it might be a game development issue - but that the end of the world when you know the games are not lagging otherwise - it is certainly far less frustrating gaming on the OPPO Find X5 Pro than the Samsung S2 Ultra.
AUDIO
I spend an awful lot of time listening to YouTube Music or Audible on my devices, including via headphones (Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, which work perfectly on this device with the Samsung Wearable App installed, I have not used the OPPO Headphones to compare) and on the device's speaker.
Whilst certainly not terrible, the speaker performance certainly isn’t as good as other devices out there - the louder the volume gets the more tinny it sounds, regardless of your EQ settings.
Audio performance (like displays) is something Samsung have got near perfect so I know I am judging the Find X5 Pro on a very high standard, but all I can say is, if using the speaker is your main device use, then perhaps this isn’t the device for you (but certainly weigh your decision with the Find X5 Pros other features).
ANDROID AUTO
This might not be your use case, but is it mine - I rely on Android Auto a lot when driving, for Google Maps, YouTube Music, Audible and various EV (Electric Vehicle) apps for route planning with charging locations etc.
I had some issues using android auto on this device, although I have since found a reliable workaround - when the device is plugged in to the car, it sees the car like a PC and gives you the choice to select if you want to “charge only” or “transfer data” - selecting the latter then ensures a reliable connection to the car - selecting the former might work, but could then drop out at random times.
BATTERY
The Find X5 Pro comes with a 5000mAh battery - this is achieved through 2 cells of around 2500mAh each. This is the same size battery that is in the Samsung S22 Ultra so I am able to offer a direct comparison given I have the same apps and same use case on each device.
Before I talk about its performance level, I want to talk about charging. OPPO have developed their own fast charging system known as SuperVOOC - for this you can forget about what you think about fast charging as you are about to experience something truly special. The SuperVOOC charger supplied with the device delivers 80w of electrical energy capable of charging from 0-50% in 12 minutes.
I was able to test this, as when I received my device it was completely flat - so I had no choice - and it really was amazing watching it charge up - the numbers just climb really fast whilst watching - it’s no longer like watching paint dry - and what's more, it’s real power - the device didn’t discharge any faster than it would had it been (super slowly) charged via a USB port on a PC. This is a game changer truly enabling you to have that rapid charge to top up a bit before heading out meaning you should never be without power (if you have your SuperVOOC charger nearby).
If you like to wirelessly charge, then you can purchase the AIRVOOC Charger (or if you pre-ordered the device you may have received one free) - this delivers 50W of charging power giving you a full charge in just 47 minutes which is very good for wirelessly charging.
OPPO Claim that the Find X5 Pro battery will remain at peak levels for up to 1,600 charging cycles, which is around double what you would normally expect to see - a very good claim, but obviously not something I have been able to test out, so I will have to take their word for it.
Now, personally I have always found battery reviews a bit useless - not because what is written is untrue, but because it is so hard to compare that with your own use case, because we all use devices very differently and in the end the only real test is comparing it from one device you own to another.
But we all expect to read about battery life, so here are some ground rules to help you out a bit. I am a fairly heavy user, I have a bit of a problem and use my phone little and very often throughout the day, constantly checking for new messages or the millions of emails I receive (both work and personal), it is my contact list, my calendar, my contact with my friends and wife and kids when at work (and not in meetings). I game on my breaks, I listen to a lot of audio, I have a smart controlled house and the phone acts as the UI hub. Basically it controls me… but that is a story for a therapy session.
What I am getting at is I have never been someone who can boast that I can get 8 hours screen on time from any device, it doesn’t matter what I am using how big its battery is or how new the phone is - I always struggle to get more than say 2 hours of screen on time and the Find X5 Pro is no exception, but I didn’t expect it to be - so don’t base your decision to buy this device on what I am about to say entirely - on paper this is a top spec battery and as I said above, the SuperVOOC charging really is something else and largely negates the negatives I am about to say.
I can make it through a full day of my use on this device, but only just - I am down to the last few percentages before bed, when I charge up overnight - sometimes even with a small USB (car or PC) top up throughout the day.
The battery is by no means a struggle and I am yet to find myself needing to utilise the battery saving software - so I could easily stretch it much further if I needed.
But does it perform as well as my S22 Ultra, the short answer is no - I am not sure what software wizardry Samsung have put into the device, despite its major performance flaws, draining its battery takes is a real effort.
I would say that the Find X5 Pro is probably up there in terms of Android battery performance at the moment, I have not tried enough of the latest devices to be able to say that it sits in second place, but it might well do, behind the S22 Ultra - but… we have to remember that no Android currently gives better battery life than the flagship Apple devices - we will have to wait and see if Android 13 can help that at all.
CONCLUSION
This is a very solid, usable device which is lovely to look at (if you don’t use a case) and hold. It performs very well but battery life is perhaps a little shorter than I would have liked.
It outperforms the Samsung S22 Ultra in day to day use in terms of performance and is a much nicer device to use generally as a result. The Samsung does have a few better areas however, but that doesn’t make the Find X5 Pro a bad choice, it just means it doesn’t quite match up to the top level of Samsung doing what it is literally the best in the world at - making displays and producing good audio.
Would I recommend purchasing this device? Certainly, if you are after something that looks great, is comfortable to use and just works well and its within your budget options then go for it, there is unlikely to be anything better at the moment.
Some of its other features are nice and useful but maybe not game changers but a few areas are:
The SuperVOOC Charger really is impressive, you have to see it to believe it (and I am very very tempted to put up a boring YouTube video of the device charging from 0-50%!)
Also if you are a night time/low light photographer, or a fan of Hasselblad cameras then this is certainly the device for you - whilst other devices have all improved recently on night photography and videography the MariSillicon X NPU that OPPO have developed really gives this device a proper USP.
Nice review. I'm presuming you are in UK by your nom de plume? Not sure where your unit is from, but certainly the one I received from EE UK doesn't have native call recording. Also, can't find Oppostore or ORoaming apps.
BlueMeany68 said:
Nice review. I'm presuming you are in UK by your nom de plume? Not sure where your unit is from, but certainly the one I received from EE UK doesn't have native call recording. Also, can't find Oppostore or ORoaming apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, it's a UK unlocked device - I can only presume EE had those other bits removed?
Lennyuk said:
Interesting, it's a UK unlocked device - I can only presume EE had those other bits removed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does yours have the regulatory stamps etched I to the back too? I'm on EE and that's what I got.
Luckily I have the white version which has the labels etched which is only visible in some light.
My wife has the black one and it looks awful with all the regulatory labels printed in white underneath the lacquer, the same colour as the oppo and hasselblad logos. She does use a case though but it totally spoils the aesthetic if not using a case.
mcall_r said:
Does yours have the regulatory stamps etched I to the back too? I'm on EE and that's what I got.
Luckily I have the white version which has the labels etched which is only visible in some light.
My wife has the black one and it looks awful with all the regulatory labels printed in white underneath the lacquer, the same colour as the oppo and hasselblad logos. She does use a case though but it totally spoils the aesthetic if not using a case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CE, Recycling and UKCA symbols? Yeah, unfortunately it does.

Categories

Resources