Smartphone cameras are a “solved” problem. Just about any phone at any price point is capable of taking quality photos, with some having more shortcomings or strengths than others. But after spending a few weeks with the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, I find myself suddenly wanting more from my phone’s camera because, frankly, this device has raised the bar, and I’m not sure I can go back.
Kicking things off with the overall hardware, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is a cameraphone first and foremost. On the signature “Tundra Umbra” variant I’ve been testing, that’s abundantly clear at first glance. The metal frame is accented by faux leather inlays, with a single spot where the metal crosses over, giving off the look of a traditional camera.
It’s simply stunning.
Outside of the visuals, though, the Find X9 Ultra is built well. The whole phone feels like a tank, which you might have mixed feelings about. It’s a huge phone, no doubt. It measures 8.7mm for most of the frame, with a camera module that sticks out enough to nearly double that thickness while looking like a giant Oreo cookie on the back. It’s a wildly different look compared to most phones that cross my desk, but I think Oppo handled this nicely. The knurled border feels great and, again, reinforces the whole classic camera aesthetic. Even the weight feels very bearable. At 235g, it weighs more than the foldable in my opposite pocket, but feels worth every gram.
That’s mostly thanks to the treasure trove of specs found inside.
Powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the Find X9 Ultra is a speedy experience through and through, and it’s got plenty of power with a 7,050 mAh battery. That said, battery life wasn’t quite as great as I was expecting. This is not a phone you can kill in one day, but it’s also one I found myself unable to comfortably use for two days. A full day of my use (4-6 hours of screen time) typically drained the phone to around 45%. That’s at least good enough to ensure that if I don’t charge it overnight, I can just plug it into a fast charger in the morning to top it off for another day. The lack of Qi2 is annoying as ever, but wireless charging is at least reliable, unlike on some past Oppo models I’ve used.
We’ll get to the cameras soon, I promise, but let’s touch on software first.
Oppo’s ColorOS might feel familiar if you’ve tried OxygenOS on a OnePlus device – they’re essentially two sides of the same coin. ColorOS is unashamedly copying Apple in many respects, with Liquid Glass-esque designs throughout.
It’s a foreign experience compared to something like a Pixel. Usually, I’m fine with that, but there are some frustrating changes on this device in particular. Firstly, the notification shade doesn’t support the gestures built into Android. You can’t expand on notifications without tapping the arrow on the side, which is just flat out annoying. Further, there’s no double-tap gesture on the power button to access the camera, something that some other Oppo releases have offered. I’ll personally never understand why so many Android brands seem to want to hide the fact that they’re Android, but at least I can accept it. Changes like these just feel user-hostile because, if you’re used to other Android phones, it breaks muscle memory and, if you haven’t used Android before, they just make the experience feel limited and clunky. I’m hopeful Oppo will address these, at least the notification gestures, in future updates. Even without it, I’ll put up with it, and it’s nice that Oppo is getting in early on some new features, like AirDrop support.
As mentioned earlier, the performance is at least stellar, but that’s not exactly a surprise given the use of Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon chip paired with 12GB of RAM. It was never not going to be good.
And, with that, the camera.
The “phone look” has started to bother me in recent years, particularly as Google Pixel has eroded its personality and instead opted for a flat and boring, but consistent, view of the world around it. Oppo and other China-based Android brands have been working around this for a while now, with camera hardware that continually gets better, and partnerships with camera brands to tune the output.
But nothing has convinced me like the Find X9 Ultra has.
Truly, this is a camera that blows me away on the regular. The rear setup consists of two 200MP cameras – one with a standard lens and the other with a telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom. Two other 50MP sensors are used for ultrawide shots and the 10x telephoto lens. The results speak for themselves.
Through the main camera, you’ll still end up with “normal” phone shots, but I find they have a bit more life to them. Hasselblad’s tuning doesn’t feel like a marketing gimmick, every image looks like it has real choice and personality in the color output. The ultrawide is in the similar boat here.
It’s those telephoto lenses that really sold me. The main 3.5x lens is what you’ll use for portraits and just normal shots, and it takes on a whole new meaning really. There’s a ton of natural bokeh when using this lens, giving every shot a sense of depth. Is it the same as a traditional camera? Absolutely not. But it’s massively different compared to most other phones popular on the global market today. The 10x lens takes it a step further, and Oppo’s portrait mode can further build on that bokeh – I really don’t find myself needing it all that often, though.
I’ve found this is most pronounced in videos. You can fake bokeh in stills with portrait mode, but natural bokeh takes phone video to a new level. Throw in smooth switching between lenses, and you’ve got a real winner here for both photo and video output.
Oppo’s processing, as mentioned, is really quite good. On the initial snap, the shot might not look its best. I’ve noticed weird artifacts in some shots but, after a few seconds, the finalized version comes through and, more often than not, looks better than I expected. The worst shot out of Oppo Find X9 Ultra tends to be better than most smartphones I’ve tried, and the processing is a big part of that. Consistency has always been one of the most important parts of a smartphone camera to me, and that’s what Oppo delivers through its post-processing.
And that’s not even to talk about how in-depth this camera experience goes. “Master” mode offers full manual control over the camera, including the ability to shoot in RAW and adjust settings such as ISO, shutter speed, and more. There are also built-in filters for Hasselblad-tuned colors.
On the hardware side, there’s also the “Earth Explorer” kit that includes a camera grip case that pairs over Bluetooth (long-press the zoom wheel to pair) and a lens mount. A 300mm lens can be attached that provides 13x optical zoom and up to 200x hybrid zoom. Predictably, the optical zoom looks great while going in further introduces the diminishing returns of digital zoom. A tripod mount can be attached to the telephoto lens, and you can also attach an ND filter for the main cameras using the included adapters.
I never found myself reaching for this kit, as the Find X9 Ultra’s built-in 10x lens is perfectly capable, and the kit as a whole is pretty clunky. That said, it’s really cool, and the biggest draw is the added bokeh and detail you get. These simply do not look like smartphone images.
The camera is really what sold me on this phone – a “duh” statement most definitely. While it’s true that the best camera is the one you have on you, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra proves that there’s something better in between the average smartphone and a traditional camera setup.
Oppo has been building out phones like this for a while in China, but the Find X9 Ultra is the first one hitting global markets. I’m still sad that doesn’t (officially) include the US, but I am pretty happy that a global launch means that more people will get to experience this. It also puts just a tiny bit more pressure on other Android brands, Samsung in particular. Samsung’s definition of “Ultra” has fallen flat thanks to half a decade of releasing the same phone over and over again, but Oppo shows here what an “Ultra” phone really is.
If you do choose to import one (at your own risk, of course), the global variant I’ve been testing (CPH2841) worked quite well on Google Fi throughout my testing in North Carolina. Your results may vary, seeing as this device wasn’t designed for US networks. In Europe, Find X9 Ultra starts at €1,699.99 – just shy of $2,000 USD (when directly converted).
I’m not sure I can give a phone a better recommendation than this – for the foreseeable future, this is the device that’ll be on my person. That’s not for the sake of the software, which was the case for my Pixel, nor is it for the form factor, like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 I’ll be carrying in my other pocket. Rather, it’s because the Oppo Find X9 Ultra gets so much else right, the camera being paramount among those, that I truly want to use it.
What do you think?
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