Oppo has unveiled the new Find X5 Pro and Find X5, two high-end smartphones with which the company tries to compete with the Samsung S22 and S22 Plus or the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro. They have advanced features, appropriate to the range they belong to: ranging from the most recent Qualcomm processors and the highest performance to battery with ultra-fast charging SuperVooc (also wireless).
The two new smartphones are also the first Oppo models to include cameras optimized in collaboration with Hasselblad and the Marisilicon X processor, dedicated to images: “This new Find X series is another possibility for Oppo to further consolidate the position among the leaders of the premium market, confirming the excellent results achieved in 2021 in terms of both market share and brand recognition – he explained Isabella Lazzini, chief marketing officer of Oppo Italia – To stand out in a very homogeneous market landscape, we have focused on a futuristic design, quality materials and innovations capable of making a difference “.
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Find X5 Pro, design and first impressions
Despite the numbering, Find X5 and X5 Pro are the direct successors of the Find X3, which debuted in 2021. The absence of a Find X4 family, as explained by Oppo, it would be due to the presentation of the Find N leaflet, which must be included in the numbering. It doesn’t hurt that in this way Oppo avoided using the most unfortunate number according to Chinese culture.
Apart from the numbering, the direct line between X3 and X5 is especially evident in the rear shell design of the Pro model. The lines of the camera housing, which emerges from the seamless rear surface are once again the distinguishing feature. However, the material with which the shell is made changes: on the Find X5 Pro it is no longer glass, but ceramic.
The key features of the material are evident as soon as you pick up the phone. The optical effect is remarkable, and so is the level of processing of the back: it is very smooth and the fingerprints are hardly visible, especially on the white model we previewed. However, it must be said that the back surface is so smooth as to make the phone slippery: after avoiding a couple of falls, we were convinced to always leave it in the semi-transparent case supplied in the box. In this sense, the 218 grams of weight does not help: i 25 grams more than the Find X3 Pro they are mainly due to the larger battery, but also to the use of ceramic and metal for the frame of the body.
The technical characteristics
With these constructive choices, however, Oppo manages to effectively communicate the premium level of the device, also reflected by the level of technical specifications: the processor is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm’s most powerful chip in this early 2022. It is accompanied by 256 Gb of storage space and 12 of memory. There is WiFi 6, an eSim (things?) which can be used as a secondary card, the fingerprint reader under the display, the stereo speakers and the resistance to water and dust with Ip68 standard.
We conducted a preliminary test of the Find X5 Pro with a not yet updated version of the ColorOS 12.1 operating system (based on Android 12): despite this, battery life has already proved to be excellent, also thanks to the choice of increasing the volume to 5000 mAh, which are recharged quickly thanks to the Super Vooc technology. With the 80W charger (which is included in the package) you can go from low battery to 50% in 12 minutes. Wireless charging is also useful, compatible with the Qi standard: in this case, using the special 50W wireless charger (to be purchased separately) you can switch 0 to 100% battery power in 50 minutes. The good news, however, is that you don’t necessarily need dedicated power supplies or wires for faster charging than usual, because a normal USB laptop charger can power the Find X5 Pro at 30W: you don’t get to the maximum charging speed, but convenience. carrying only one charger is worth the compromise.
The quality of the display is also excellent: it is a 6.7 “Amoled Ltpo, with refresh rate up to 120 Hz and 10-bit color depth. The technical features, the display and the improvements made by Oppo to the Ui Color OS contribute to a great overall experience. The phone is smooth, fast, always responsive. Even when you use it for a long time to play games or to shoot videos in 4K, the performance remains stable and above all no particular overheating is noted: thanks to a new dissipation system, based on a larger steam chamber, and in general to the thermodynamic characteristics of ceramic.
Photography at the center
Find X5 Pro, like many competitors in this range, is one smartphone with refined photo-videographic characteristics. The objectives are 2:
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Wide angle main 50 Mp, f / 1.7 (Sony Imx sensor)
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Ultragrandangolo da 50 Mp, f / 2.2
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Zoom 2x da 13 Mp, f / 2.4
The choice of using the same sensor for the main lens and the ultra-wide angle, in order to maintain, is appreciable stable photo and video quality between the two cameras. In reality, the mechanical implementation of the two lenses is different: on the main one, for example, Oppo has integrated a 5-axis optical stabilization, which stands out above all in freehand videos.
Computational news
In the era of computational photography, as is now well known, photographic hardware plays a partial role in the final quality of images, be they photos or videos. It’s a a rule that also applies to the Find X5 Proon which Oppo inaugurates two important innovations: the dedicated processor Marisilicon X and the collaboration with the historic photographic brand Hasselblad.
The Marisilicon X, made with Tsmc’s 6nm process, is in fact a Npu, that is, an artificial intelligence processor that integrates with Qualcomm’s main processor and enables dedicated functions such as Ultra Night Mode in 4K movies, recording of 20-bit Raw files and Ultra Hdr in videos. Another fundamental function is the real-time rendering of the effects and computational optimization of the photo, to avoid the post-shoot development effect typical of many top-of-the-range smartphones.
The collaboration with Hasselblad instead concerns the optimization of images and sensors, and is a direct translation of the same agreement that the Swedish brand (but now controlled by the Chinese of DJI) had tight a year ago with OnePlus. The acquisition of the partnership is one of the direct consequences of the incorporation of the brand by the parent company Oppo, made official in June 2021.
Come already happened for the OnePlus 9, Hasselblad technicians worked with Oppo to perfect the processing of the images produced by the new Find X5, with particular attention to color rendering. Unlike what happens between Leica and Huawei, or between Zeiss and Vivo, Hasselblad offers Oppo advice focused on sensor calibration and the possibility of using elements typical of Hasselblads in the telephone interface. These include the orange shutter button and X-Pan panoramic mode, a digital emulation of a famous Hasselblad camera from the past. They are interesting additions, but they do not result in an increase in the visible quality of the photos. There X-Pan modein particular, it appears more like a filter superimposed on the camera that simply crops the photo to trace the panoramic format of the historic camera.
A more in-depth judgment on the quality of the photos and videos will come during our review, but the first impressions are positive: in particular, we were struck by the stabilization quality on the main sensor, which can be seen in the videos, and the improvement of the Ultra-Steady software stabilization mode. The leap in quality between images taken with or without AI enhancement (which can be activated from the interface) is also quite evident, especially in scenes with wide color variation and in photos and night shots.
There is also the Find X5
Together with the Find X5 Pro, Oppo also presented the Find X5 model: the Marisilicon X processor and the partnership con Hasselblad are characteristics that we also find on this model. Instead, the design changes: the photographic compartment on the back takes the shape of the upper model, but is set in the body made of glass and not ceramic.
The technical specifications also change: the processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, there are 8 Gb of Ram (and the same 256 of storage space) and the display is a more contained 6.55 ”Amoled, again with a frequency of 120 Hz update. There are 3 cameras: a main sensor and an ultra-wide angle, both 50 Mp, but with different sensors than the Pro, and a 2x 13 Mp zoom.
The battery is 4800 mAh, but retains 80W ultra-fast charging and wireless charging. It should be noted, however, that the Ip68 certification for resistance to water and dust is missing, while the eSim, WiFi 6 and the fingerprint reader on the display are present.
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Oppo Find X5 Pro: prices and availability
The new Oppo Find X5 series is available in Italy from the beginning of March at a recommended price of 1299.99 euros for the Pro model (in version 12-256), and 999.99 euros for the base model (8GB + 256GB); the Find X5 Lite will cost € 499.99 instead.