Oppo’s foray back into the ultra-premium smartphone market marks a significant shift since it withdrew its Find X series from India in 2020, following the release of the Find X2. Faced with increased competition from brands like OnePlus, Vivo, and others looking to challenge Samsung’s dominance in India’s foldable segment, Oppo appears poised to elevate its offerings against Samsung’s established Galaxy S Ultra series.
While the Find X7 Ultra will not be launched in India this year, Oppo is gauging interest by providing a review unit for assessment. Having tested the device for a few weeks, I can attest to the advancements Oppo has made since the launch of the Find X2 and Find X2 Pro four years ago.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Review: Price
The Find X7 Ultra is predominantly available in China and select neighboring markets, with a starting price of CNY 5,999 (approximately Rs. 70,000) for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage model. The high-end version offers 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for CNY 6,999 (about Rs. 80,000). Prospective buyers in India should be aware of potential customs taxes when considering import options.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Review: Design
The allure of unique premium devices often captures attention, even if they aren’t officially available in a market. The Oppo Find X7 Ultra stands out significantly in design compared to competitors like Vivo’s X100 Pro, Google’s Pixel 8 Pro, and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Featuring a dual-finish design, the Find X7 Ultra exudes a premium quality. It weighs 221 grams, contributing to a substantial feel in hand. Available colors include Ocean Blue, Sepia Brown, and Tailored Black, each distinguished by unique materials. The Ocean Blue variant offers a nautical aesthetic, with a polished glass upper half, while the brown and black options feature metal panels.
The Find X7 Ultra’s dual-finish design is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance.
The Tailored Black edition features a unique double stitch design around the circular camera module, accentuated by an Oppo logo. While all variants incorporate a vegan leather finish on the lower half, only the black model incorporates the double stitch detail.
This vegan leather adds to the device’s grip compared to glass models. I often found my hand positioning resting on the raised camera module for stability while taking photographs. The robust metal camera housing is designed with fine grooves, reminiscent of Hasselblad lens designs, complete with an orange dot typically seen on camera mounts. This accent is also present on the three-stage Alert Slider, allowing toggling between vibrate, ringer modes, and a VIP mode that disables cameras, microphones, and GPS.
In summary, the Find X7 Ultra’s design balances aesthetic appeal and function, ensuring a smudge-free surface and improved grip, all while boasting an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
The Find X7 Ultra’s Alert Slider includes a specialized VIP mode.
While competitors may shy away from faux leather rear panels due to potential wear and tear, my review experience did not encompass long-term testing. However, the Find X7 Ultra’s vegan leather should prove more durable than traditional glass backing, as it is typically bonded to a plastic panel, reducing the risk of surface cracks from drops.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Review: Specifications and Software
The Find X7 Ultra packs cutting-edge hardware, adhering to the expectations of a flagship device. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and options for 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. An integrated security chip handles sensitive data such as fingerprints and keys. Connectivity includes dual SIM support with dual 5G standby, NFC, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, an IR blaster, and compatibility with various satellite positioning systems. The device boasts a sizable 5,000mAh battery supporting both 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.
As my review unit was a Chinese model, it came pre-installed with the Chinese version of Oppo’s ColorOS 14, based on Android 14. This version included many pre-installed Chinese applications, which I could remove without issue. Uniquely, I also had the ability to uninstall virtually all native applications, retaining only the Dialer, SMS, Camera, Gallery, and Settings apps. This is uncommon in many Chinese smartphones.
Once all unnecessary apps were uninstalled, I was left with a lean selection, notably lacking Google’s typical defaults. Although I had to install the Google Play Store to access third-party and essential Google applications, I was pleased to find minimal bloatware.
The curved edge display of the Oppo Find X7 Ultra offers an immersive experience.
Despite the successful installation of key Google applications, certain integrations were missing, such as adding Google Assistant as a lockscreen shortcut or invoking it with the power button. Activation could only be accomplished through a dedicated homescreen icon. Additionally, Google’s autofill service for passwords is not integrated, necessitating a third-party solution or the use of Oppo’s native services.
The software includes various AI features, although most are presented in Mandarin, complicating user access. Fortunately, the Gallery app includes a generative AI object removal tool that competes closely with similar features in the Pixel 8 Pro, excelling in simpler editing tasks but occasionally faltering with more complex ones. Offline functionality is possible with a 1GB AndesGPT package download, although results may vary.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Review: Performance
The Find X7 Ultra delivers the expected performance of a premium flagship, scoring 1,985,279 in AnTuTu and 2,162 and 6,352 in Geekbench’s single and multi-core tests, respectively. In terms of gaming, it excels, allowing seamless play of Call of Duty: Mobile at medium graphics with an ultra frame rate locked at 120FPS. Throughout extensive gaming sessions, the device maintained a manageable temperature.
The Oppo Find X7 Ultra’s battery life is impressive, easily lasting a day and a half.
The 6.82-inch QHD+ AMOLED display provides vibrant colors, particularly with the Pro Screen color mode activated. The dynamic 120Hz refresh rate enhances interactions, while outdoor visibility is aided by a local brightness of 1,600 nits and a peak level of 4,500 nits. The display also supports Ultra HDR photos and offers Dolby Vision content playback. The in-display fingerprint sensor operates reliably.
Battery performance is commendable, comfortably lasting a day and a half under heavy usage, including extensive camera activity. In our video loop battery test, the Find X7 Ultra lasted an impressive 26 hours and 36 minutes. Charging is rapid, achieving 50 percent power in 15 minutes, completing a full charge in 38 minutes.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Review: Cameras
The Find X7 Ultra features an upgraded camera system with dual 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lenses.
Continuing the collaboration with Hasselblad seen in previous models, the camera setup of the Find X7 Ultra emphasizes exceptional color reproduction. The standard Auto mode tends to yield slightly saturated colors, guided by Hasselblad’s standards, while the device offers two additional modes: Auto Master and Pro Master. The Master mode streamlines the user experience with editing-like adjustments, while the Pro Master mode adds comprehensive manual controls, suitable for more advanced users.
The default Auto camera mode provides better color accuracy compared to the Auto Master mode, which leans towards a Hasselblad aesthetics (tap image to expand).
While the Auto Master mode enhances the emotional quality of images by boosting contrast, it can lead to less true-to-life colors. The Auto mode, in contrast, excels at representing realistic scenes, making it ideal for those who prefer authenticity.
The Oppo Find X7 Ultra achieves notable zoom performance up to 30X (tap to expand image).
The camera system prioritizes consistent quality and clarity between 0.6X and 6X. Image quality remains solid up to a 10X zoom, though detail preservation declines beyond this, with images appearing flatter at the 30X mark. Low-light performance is acceptable at up to 6X optical zoom.
Daylight performance from the primary camera showcases exceptional detail and accuracy (tap to expand).
Colors captured by the Find X7 Ultra appear natural, even under challenging indoor lighting (tap to expand).
The main camera excels at delivering sharp, vibrant images across various lighting conditions. Despite utilizing a binned 12-megapixel resolution, images are rich in detail without excessive sharpening. The 3X and 6X telephoto cameras produce exceptional results at their native focal lengths, with prompt autofocus even in low light, assuming subjects remain still. Both cameras are capable of excellent close-up shots due to their periscopic design. However, I noticed automatic switching to the 3X camera under low light, leading to a decrease in quality when lighting conditions were insufficient. In Portrait mode, edge detection is competitive, and selfies tend to fare well with good detail retention.
The Find X7 Ultra excels in macro and close-up photography (tap to expand).
The 0.6X ultra-wide lens performs well relative to competitors, capturing decent detail despite its limited dynamic range, particularly in shadow areas. Notably, the ultra-wide camera is equipped with autofocus, enabling impressive macro photography.
The ultra-wide camera of the Find X7 Ultra performs admirably in low light situations (tap to expand).
Selfies taken with the Find X7 Ultra demonstrate commendable detail and edge detection (tap to expand).
The Find X7 Ultra delivers strong video capabilities, achieving impressive results with 4K 60fps recording across all four cameras, although Oppo’s Cinematic mode requires further refinement, particularly in edge detection. Color consistency is maintained effectively across the lenses, though the ultra-wide camera’s dynamic range could be better. Overall, its video recording performance ranks closely with leading devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, albeit with noticeable tracking inconsistencies during panning motions. Nevertheless, the Find X7 Ultra stands among the top contenders for video quality in Android smartphones.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Review: Verdict
Oppo’s innovative integration of dual periscope telephoto lenses positions the Find X7 Ultra as a robust advancement for those considering alternatives to the Vivo X100 Pro or Google Pixel 8 Pro. Although a direct comparison is not available, the Find X7 Ultra performs admirably alongside its rivals.
Its unique design, high-quality cameras, and fast charging capabilities make it a formidable competitor to other flagship devices from Samsung and Google. Although the software experience on the Chinese version lacks some common Google integrations, navigating the interface is intuitive once familiarized. Battery performance is commendable, closely rivaling that of the OnePlus 12 and Vivo X100 Pro.
Despite its strong capabilities, the Find X7 Ultra will not be launched in India this year, potentially prompting skepticism among consumers regarding purchasing a premium device priced below Rs. 90,000. However, the impressive photographic output collectively speaks to its capabilities.
