OPPO Find X7 Ultra review: Should you buy it?

I used to be vastly impressed by the digicam high quality and flexibility of the OPPO Discover X6 Professional. Sadly, the cellphone’s availability was extraordinarily restricted, however its pictures functionality virtually made it value importing for severe cell photographers. Virtually. The OPPO Discover X7 Extremely builds on the profitable components by introducing a 6x periscope zoom digicam. It’s one other 50MP sensor — 4 in complete — though it’s a smaller sensor at 1/2.51-inches. The two.8x zoom has a big 1/1.56-inch sensor and a narrower aperture than the cellphone’s different lenses at simply f/4.3. After all, constructing a sizeable long-distance zoom lens in a cellphone is troublesome, however I’m not anticipating the extra periscope digicam to be fairly pretty much as good as the opposite three, regardless of OPPO’s “Quad Most important Digicam” claims.

Nonetheless, its long-range specs are very similar to the perfect within the enterprise, and OPPO claims that its 4 high-quality cameras supply versatility you received’t discover anyplace else, significantly concerning correct focal lengths and fewer reliance on digital zoom. Let’s let some samples do the speaking. I additionally grabbed the well-regarded Google Pixel 8 Professional and the brand new Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely to see how the cellphone stacks up.

Similar to the Discover X6 Professional, coloration, element, publicity, and white stability are all very, superb throughout all 4 rear lenses. The cellphone additionally performs admirably in low mild, even with out assistance from evening mode. However I’m paid to be pedantic: distinction and saturation is usually a little excessive in some scenes, HDR isn’t fairly as strong because the Galaxy S24 Extremely, and the dynamic vary of the 6x periscope isn’t as fairly good as the opposite three lenses in trickier lighting. However none of those will spoil your photos.

My greatest criticism is the extent of chromatic aberration in brilliant daylight, a symptom of pushing these lens apertures slightly too far. Likewise, there’s some distortion on the edges of the ultrawide lens that once more factors to hitting the boundaries of such a small lens. Nonetheless, you’ll hardly ever come away with a bad-looking snap, whichever lens you’re taking pictures with, and that’s greater than I can say for many different smartphone cameras I’ve used.

I like to zoom when taking pictures and spent a number of time shifting between the 4 lenses. I by no means as soon as frightened about receiving an inferior image by zooming to the unsuitable stage. Actually, this yr, I felt rather more assured about pushing the cellphone to longer distances with the brand new 6x periscope digicam.

I discovered the brand new second periscope lens very usable at 10x and even slightly past, so it retains tempo with the competitors at a distance. However you additionally profit from the 65mm lens for macro and portraits, one thing you don’t get with the perfect from Google and Samsung. Even for those who’re not a fan of the digicam’s Hasselblad picture processing (I’m a convert to the current much less saturated implementation), the consistency throughout lenses makes this digicam array stand out.

Talking of, the Discover X7 Extremely excels at portraits, even when the selfie digicam’s ultrawide discipline of view distorts face shapes considerably. Whereas barely softer than rivals, primarily whereas utilizing the selfie digicam, you’re at all times greeted with pleasing lighting and publicity, effective particulars however not overly sharp pores and skin textures, and strong pores and skin tones. Paired with the pure bokeh and 65mm focal size from the two.8x zoom lens, the Discover X7 Extremely’s portraits are worthy of a reasonable mirrorless. Particularly when in comparison with the overly tough Pixel 8 Professional or overly punchy Galaxy S24 Extremely. It’s miles forward of the iPhone’s washed-out faces. Should you’re large into taking photos of family and friends, the Discover X7 Extremely is an outright winner.

Whereas the pursuit of perfection could also be infinite, OPPO has come as shut as anybody with the Discover X7 Extremely. Undoubtedly, this cellphone has one of many extra constant and versatile digicam packages in the marketplace. Mixed with 4K60 recording capabilities on all lenses, strong video stabilization, and 10-bit HDR Dolby Imaginative and prescient, the Discover X7 Extremely needs to be on each cell photographer’s and videographer’s radar, and raises the bar for flagship digicam telephones.

As nice because the OPPO Discover X7 Extremely’s digicam is, it takes extra to be an incredible smartphone, and this flagship doesn’t scrimp right here both. You’re handled to a brilliantly vivid 120Hz dynamic refresh AMOLED show, luxurious vegan leather-based casing on the again, acquainted OPPO trimmings like 100W SuperVOOC wired and 50W wi-fi quick charging, an IP68 score, and a speedy Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor.

On paper, the {hardware} is top-tier, and the cellphone is equally beautiful. The fake leather-based is beautiful to carry, and OPPO has made the humungous digicam housing look trendy. This can be a severely luxurious smartphone.

Nevertheless, we’ve got reservations in regards to the cellphone’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 implementation. For starters, we couldn’t set up Play Retailer benchmark apps on our assessment unit, and the spoofed APKs we put in scored fairly lowly in GeekBench 6 and PCMark 3.0 until placing the cellphone into its high-performance mode. Worse, our graphics stress exams precipitated the handset to show an overheating message and drained a ton of battery. Nonetheless, I didn’t have any issues operating apps and video games on the cellphone, however our outcomes recommend the Discover X7 Extremely would possibly wrestle to maintain up with probably the most demanding customers in the long run.

The Chinese language model of Colour OS 14 (Android 14) put in is equally disappointing. I ultimately navigated by way of Baidu and the finicky keyboard to put in the Play Retailer and my acquainted app ensemble, nevertheless it was a irritating expertise. Even after a number of work, you’ll be able to’t take away all of the apps and companies which can be ineffective for a Western viewers. Potential importers beware. Trying previous the roadblocks, Colour OS 14 is a superbly usable tackle Android 14, boasting loads of customization choices and barely overly aggressive battery administration.

The OPPO Discover X7 Extremely turns issues again round within the battery and charging departments. The 5,000mAh battery is sufficient to take energy customers by way of a full day, however our benchmarks recommend the Discover X7 Extremely doesn’t fairly have the longest battery life in a super-size cellphone. The battery drain whereas operating our gaming benchmark is especially worrisome, nevertheless it’s possible the GPU is operating at full tilt, which doesn’t occur in most video games. Nonetheless, Colour OS’ aforementioned aggressive background activity killing can take you right into a second day of lighter use. If you want to high up, the cellphone can draw 85W from the wall to hit full in simply half-hour. Speedy.

Total although, the software program setup and lack of guarantee makes it not possible to advocate the OPPO Discover X7 Extremely to international shoppers regardless of the in any other case strong {hardware} bundle. Hopefully, OPPO’s current settlement with Nokia will see its flagship smartphones return to Western shores within the close to future.

With OPPO Discover X7 Extremely availability restricted to China, the cellphone is out of attain of most shoppers. Fortunately, there are many good various flagship handsets to select from, even when they aren’t fairly as trendy as OPPO’s fantastic vegan leather-based.

• Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely ($1419.99 at Samsung): Should you’re searching for an ultra-premium Android flagship you should buy just about anyplace on the earth, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely is difficult to beat. As you’ve seen, it sports activities a strong quad digicam setup, severe display screen actual property, cutting-edge Galaxy AI options, and an S Pen for added productiveness. To not point out acquainted high-end trappings that embrace wi-fi charging, an IP68 score, and high-end efficiency because of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset.
• Apple iPhone 15 Professional Max ($1199 at Amazon): For these keen to enterprise outdoors the Android ecosystem, Apple’s iPhone 15 Professional Max is a gargantuan cellphone constructed for energy customers. With ultra-durable battery life, speedy A17 Professional efficiency, strong video recording capabilities, and a beautiful titanium construct, it is a effective choose when buying on the high of the market.
• Google Pixel 8 Professional ($999 at Amazon): Whereas not fairly in the identical value class as the remainder of this listing, it’s not possible to disregard the Google Pixel 8 Professional when speaking about digicam telephones. Google’s newest flagship is an extremely constant shooter that received’t disappoint the discerning photographer. It’s not a top-tier gaming handset, nevertheless it boasts Google’s newest AI capabilities to assist get extra accomplished than your typical flagship cellphone.