Oppo Find X

Oppo is a brand which has a lot of well-made smartphones for relatively accessible prices. This brand is a sister to Vivo, Realme and OnePlus; all of whom are owned by the BKK Electronics corporation which is among the biggest smartphone producers.

Over time Oppo has also introduced features they pioneered, the most famous one being the beauty filter. In the Oppo catalogue, one can opt for the Find X, a smartphone with good specs for the price.

The Oppo Find X

Oppo and Vivo have started making phones with moving components to make the screen larger. Clear of the notch and making it an end to end display, maximising the display landscape. With the Oppo Find X the whole top has a pop-up that is powered by a mini motor and slides out for facial recognition and to shoot images. Oppo is the first Android-based phone that is using the same facial recognition system as the Apple iPhone range. For the pop-up camera module, Oppo claims to have tested it 300,000 times to check for durability over extended usage. While it looks really good in function it does expose the phone's internals to dust and moisture, the Find X does not have an IP rating. For the OS the setup is similar to other Oppo smartphones, with an Android base and their own User Interface layered on top. The base is Android 8.1 Oreo and the UI is Oppo's ColorOS 5.1, which gives users some more functions that simple Android doesn't have. This lets one customise the interface more and helps it feel more intuitive based on their preferences. 

Cameras and display

With the pop-up being a large-sized one the camera systems are built into it, front and back both. The main camera is a dual-lens setup, with a 16MP and a 20MP lens both at f/2. The selfie camera is a 25MP and has an aperture of f/2 as well. The results are impressive given that the whole system is fit into a shallower space compared to regular smartphones, which even have a bump where the lenses are to make more room. The pop-up feature also keeps the lenses hidden and safe from scratches. The camera app has Portrait, Sticker, Pano, Slo-mo and Time-lapse modes. The Expert mode allows you to adjust the ISO, exposure, shutter speed, focus and white balance manually. With AI scene recognition built into the app, Oppo claims it can recognise nearly 800 different scenes.

Google Lens is also integrated, which allows users to use it for image recognition via a quick shortcut. Video recording maxes out at 4K for the primary camera while the selfie camera can record at 1080p. When shooting with the primary camera, there is stabilisation available at 1080p but 4K videos lack stabilisation. The display is a large 6.4 inch screen, with an AMOLED panel that is Full-HD resolution and has vivid colours. AMOLED technology also means that the contrast ratio is great. Protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 5.

Internals

At the centre of the Oppo Find X is a high-end processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. An octa-core processor with eight Kryo 385 cores out of which 4 are clocking 1.8GHz and the other four are at 2.8GHz. To support this high-grade processor there is 8GB of RAM so it doesn't face any bottlenecks. The built-in storage is 256GB, there isn't the option to extend this space, although it is already a large amount of space. For graphics, there is an Adreno 630. Most of these specs are similar to flagship phones, so the Oppo Find X is not just a gimmicky phone with a pop-up camera, the hardware is actually powerful.

Gesture controls and features

There are multiple gestures to let you interact with the device faster, the usual screen gestures let you launch apps by drawing alphabets when the phone is on standby. The curved edges are used to let you jump to previous apps or enable the multitasking mode. The palm rejection systems function well, not obstructing usage. The navigation buttons can also be ditched for gesture-based navigation similar to the iPhone X. The ability to answer the phone by putting it to your ear is also efficient, especially for someone who has a lot of calls to take, this is called the Smart Call feature. The Smart Driving feature blinks notifications and reminders and reads out the names of any callers so one can keep their eyes on the road. Dual App is also useful, allowing one to run two instances of some apps, including WhatsApp and Facebook. Game Space is for people who will be using this device for gaming, this clears space for the game maximising resource for it. Another nice feature is the edges of the display pulsating when there are pending notifications, a well-done effect that makes the phone look nice.

Sensors, connectivity and battery

A full range of sensors is built into this phone and it retains the 3.5mm audio jack. For connectivity, the Oppo Find X has NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and a Type-C USB connection. Also featuring the USB On the Go feature that lets the phone function as a USB host and read flash memory drives. The battery is a 3730mAh capacity cell, with Oppo's proprietary fast-charging system known as VOOC Flash Charge. With 34 percent charge in 20 minutes, and to 90 percent in an hour.

The Oppo Find X is a powerful phone with high-end specs and a competitive price point given what all it has packed. The one thing lacking is the fingerprint reader, but to make up for it the facial recognition system is top class.