OnePlus has announced that it is exiting North America and Europe. No new products will be launched in these regions, though existing users will continue to receive software updates and aftersales service, and OnePlus will still honor warranty obligations.

The decision to wind down North American and European operations was apparently a carefully-considered long-term strategy plan, and one which wasn't dictated by parent company Oppo, nor made unilaterally by OnePlus. OnePlus will continue to operate in the Indian market, where it believes it can better serve its customers. To fill the gap left by the OnePlus departure from Europe, Oppo said it plans to increase investment in its European operations, placing a greater emphasis on its flagship phones, as well as increasing its overall product availability. This direction builds on its existing efforts to increase brand awareness in Europe, such as its sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League. However, OnePlus users in North American don't have such an easy alternative: Oppo phones aren't officially sold there, meaning there's no direct OnePlus replacement brand.

The news that OnePlus is leaving two of its largest markets will come as a surprise to many. It's hard to overstate just how big an impact OnePlus had when it burst onto the smartphone scene back in 2014. Its first phone model, the OnePlus One, was a true disruptor in the Android sector, offering flagship-level performance at a significantly lower price point than more established contemporary brands like Samsung and HTC. OnePlus traded heavily on this, evidenced by its ‘Flagship Killer’ slogan. The appeal of the OnePlus One was heightened not just by its value, but also its exclusivity. In the early days of OnePlus, you could only buy a OnePlus One by entering an invite system, reducing available supply and thereby increasing demand. The phone itself ran on OnePlus's new OxygenOS - fresh in name, but also in nature, as it was close to stock Android and largely free of speed-sapping bloatware.

In the years that followed, OnePlus continued producing phones with a strong value-for-money ethos, but fast forward to 2026 and the brand finds itself in a very different smartphone market. There is now far more competition in the value sector, with brands like Nothing (and its sub-brand CMF), Redmi, Poco and Realme (also an Oppo sub brand) all competing directly with OnePlus. OnePlus's pricing has also increased in recent years as it's sought to develop a more premium market position, and we've seen a closer relationship with parent brand Oppo. Oxygen OS and Oppo's ColorOS share the same platform, and it’s easy to see similarities between the two brands when it comes to hardware, with the OnePlus 15's rear panel looking suspiciously similar to the Oppo Find X9 Pro.

The close tie between the two brands' operating systems is now about to become a fusion. Oppo has stated that going forward OnePlus phones will run ColorOS, with ColorOS being rolled out to OnePlus phones in North America, Europe, and other regions, such as India, over the coming months. Users will be able to choose whether or not to switch from OxygenOS, while older OnePlus models that are not included in the ColorOS update scope will continue to receive version maintenance support.

So there you have it: the end of an era for what's been an integral element of the Android phone story in the west. OnePlus, you will be missed.

Oppo has revealed the Reno16 Series, its latest mid-range smartphone lineup, with a bigger emphasis on AI-powered camera and editing tools than raw hardware alone.

The series is led by the Reno16 and Reno16 Pro, with additional Reno16 F models also appearing in selected markets. Oppo is pitching the phones at social-first creators, with a mix of eye-catching design, high-resolution cameras, and built-in tools for shooting, editing, and sharing images more quickly.

The most distinctive visual touch is Oppo’s new 3D Pop Planet Design, although this is limited to the Pop White edition. But the more interesting photography angle is the suite of AI features, including Pop Cam, AI Remix Collage, 4K Auto Straighten Video, and Dual View Video 2.0.

An impressive 200MP camera

We'll get to the AI features in a moment, but first, the camera specs. At the rear, all models in the Reno16 Series boast a triple-camera system comprising a high-resolution main camera with OIS, a telephoto portrait camera with 3.5x optical zoom, and an ultra-wide camera.

This collection of cameras provides, what Oppo says, is enough flexibility to deliver the right shot in most scenarios. Still, if it's maximum resolution that you're after, then the Reno16 Pro is the top-spec model in the lineup. It delivers a 200MP Ultra Clear Main Camera for maximum image clarity and flexibility with cropping, while the Reno 16 and Reno F are "limited" to a 50MP sensor.

Turning our attention to the front, all models feature a 50MP ultra-wide selfie camera with a 100-degree field of view. And for an idea of what this front camera is capable of, here's a sample image provided by Oppo.

AI imaging capabilities

As good as the hardware is on paper, Oppo hopes to attract potential customers with its expanded set of AI imaging features, which are new to the Reno16 Series. First up is the Pop Cam feature, which introduces a dedicated creative shooting experience directly within the Camera app.

With it, users can "apply vintage-inspired styles such as Digicam, Instant Film and Light Leak effects with a single tap, making it easy to create distinctive photos with different moods and aesthetics."

That's not all. The Reno16 Series also features a new Create hub within the Photos app for expanding creative AI editing capabilities. This includes AI Remix Collage, which allows users to combine multiple photos or short videos into layered visual compositions with animated stickers, outlines, and text.

Video creation hasn't been forgotten. With 4K Auto Straighten Video, users are better able to capture footage that is level even while walking or moving. There's also a Dual View Video 2.0 feature for improved stabilization and seamless switching between rear lenses during recording.

Specs and availability

The Reno16 and Reno16 Pro boast a compact 6.32-inch display, an aerospace-grade aluminum frame, and a 6,700mAh battery. The Reno16 F extends these specs by offering a larger 6.57-inch screen and a bigger 7,000mAh battery.

If it's mobile gaming that you're into, then the Reno16 Pro includes the best gaming specs. These include the MediaTek Dimensity 8550 Super Platform, along with AI HyperBoost 3.0, enhanced cooling, and support for up to 144Hz refresh rates.

The Reno 16 Series is available today in select markets, which include the UK and Europe, although, as per usual for Chinese phone brands, don't expect this to pop up in any stores in the US. We are still waiting on final confirmation on the price, but the Reno Series usually slots into Oppo's mid-range.

The Reno16 and Reno16 F will be available in Pop White, Twilight Violet, and Dream Purple, while the Reno16 Pro will be available in Pop White and Starlight Black.

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Check out more of the best camera phones or the best Android phones for photography in our guides.

An excellent article by PetaPixel highlights how Samsung produces some of the world's most advanced image sensors, yet opts to equip its latest phones like the S26 Ultra with ageing sensor hardware. Not only that, it's also happy to provide rival phone manufacturers with newer sensors than it uses in its own products, thereby giving the competition a hardware advantage. It seems like a baffling business decision - to voluntarily hamstring your own products while simultaneously supplying your rivals with more modern tech - but this is exactly the position Samsung has chosen.

PetaPixel's interview with a Samsung Senior Executive reveals several reasons for the brand's reluctance to use its own cutting-edge image sensors in its flagship phones, but none are particularly convincing. The gist is that Samsung has stuck with the same 200 megapixel ISOCELL HP2 sensor since the S23 Ultra as it is tried and tested hardware that provides a stable, known baseline for Samsung to develop its AI image enhancement. According to Samsung, the physical sensor is only one piece in a much bigger picture: “What ultimately matters are the results. Our approach is focused on delivering consistent, high-quality performance for real-world use cases, and we’re confident our customers will be very happy.”

There is something to be said for this approach. In conventional cameras the image sensor is a major component that has a huge influence on image quality, but equipping a new camera phone with the latest and greatest image sensor isn't quite so important. This is due to a phone's immensely powerful image processing, which has the power to turn an old or mediocre sensor into an imaging powerhouse. Google proved this in past generations of Pixel phones: the Pixel 2, 3, 4 and 5 all used the same 1/2.55" 12.2MP sensor, yet image quality consistently improved with each phone generation, mostly thanks to better processing. Samsung has also followed this model, leaning heavily on AI to boost the image quality of the last few generations of S Ultra phones. There can be no doubt that this approach has yielded positive results, even in spite of Samsung's negligible improvements to camera hardware over the same time period. But the question is: is Samsung doing enough? The S26 Ultra is undoubtedly an excellent camera phone, but the competition is fierce, and like Samsung, they're bringing AI and advanced image processing to the fight. What’s more, those rivals are also embracing cutting-edge camera hardware.

It could be argued that Samsung phones don't need to be at the forefront of camera hardware any more. After all, iPhones rarely blaze a trail in this respect, and that doesn't seem to hurt sales. Google also follows a similarly conservative approach with Pixel camera hardware, again with positive results. However, Samsung isn't in quite such a privileged position as those brands. Apple's carefully curated iOS ecosystem and its steadfastly loyal consumers place the iPhone outside of Samsung's - or indeed any Android phone brand's - competitive reach. Pixel isn't quite so untouchable, but Google has managed to carve a slightly Apple-esque niche, positioning Pixel as the 'pure Android' experience. Granted, there will also be a large number of users loyal to Samsung's One UI interface, but I'd wager there's a greater percentage of Samsung users who'd be willing to jump ship to an alternative Android phone brand than there are iPhone or Pixel users ready to defect.

And when you consider the quality of phones which are ready to tempt Samsung users away from the brand, things start to look decidedly shaky for the Korean giant. I've recently been using the new Oppo Find X9 Ultra, which in 12GB/512GB guise costs the same as the equivalent Galaxy S26 Ultra. But when it comes to camera hardware, it’s clear which phone is superior. Sure, both have a 200MP sensor for their primary cameras, but where Samsung is still using its dated ISOCELL HP2 chip, Oppo has implemented a bang-up-to-date Sony LYT-901 sensor, which is also usefully larger in size. The Find X9 Ultra also packs a bigger sensor for its ultrawide module, but its telephoto hardware where Oppo really blows Samsung into the weeds. Where the S26 Ultra has to make do with a tiny 1/3.94" 10MP sensor for its 3x telephoto camera, the Find X9 Ultra boasts a huge 200MP, 1/1.28" chip behind its 3x lens. For context, that's physically larger than the sensor in the S26 Ultra's main camera. Both phones use a 50MP sensor for their long-range telephoto modules, and here the S26 Ultra's sensor is marginally larger than Oppo's. However, that's only because Samsung's optical zoom tops out at just 5x, whereas the Find X9 Ultra can achieve a 10x, 230mm-equivalent reach.

Then there's Oppo's close collaboration with Hasselblad, which results in Hasselblad Master Mode: a whole suite of film-style pre-sets, extensive manual control options, and a more natural photo aesthetic that convincingly emulates the image quality from the brand's medium format cameras.

What's more, it's not just the internal camera hardware where brands like Oppo are showing a clean pair of heels to Samsung. Where you could be forgiven for mistaking the S26 Ultra for one of Samsung's mainstream A-series phones, the Find X9 Ultra is a bespoke design that adopts numerous Hasselblad design cues and consequently looks like nothing else on the market - it feels like a truly special device in the hand. And if you want to stand out from the crowd even more, there's the Find X9 Ultra Hasselblad Earth Explorer Kit. This includes a Hasselblad-inspired case and grip with integrated 2-stage camera shutter button and a physical zoom rocker. The case can then be fitted with a gorgeous Hasselblad telephoto lens to give 300mm of optical zoom, increasing to 690mm when using a combination of optical zoom and on-sensor cropping.

Obviously the S26 Ultra does still have a lot going for it, but when it comes down to camera hardware and camera innovation, Oppo, along with other Chinese brands like Vivo and Xiaomi, are producing flagship phones with significantly more wow factor than the S26 Ultra offers. Right now this doesn't seem to be hurting Samsung - its decades of global phone dominance, along with the huge power of the wider Samsung empire - means it hardly needs to alter the S Ultra recipe for a new generation to be a sales hit. But seemingly invincible phone brands have been toppled before. Nokia's demise can largely be attributed to the disruptive market influence of the iPhone, along with cornering itself into a reliance on the doomed Symbian OS. Its death wasn't due to the kind of stagnating design innovation that we're seeing from Samsung, but the Nokia case study does at least serve as a warning that even an industry giant can fall. A more pertinent comparison to Samsung's current position is that of HTC. Once a major player in the Android phone sector, with flagships like the HTC One M7 and M8 being widely considered to be the best camera phones of their period, the HTC brand seemed to disappear almost overnight. There were multiple reasons for this, but one major factor was lacklustre design and innovation: HTC appeared to rest on its laurels after the One M8, with subsequent flagships offering little in the way of meaningful improvements. Sound familiar?

Now, I'm not suggesting Samsung is on the brink of collapse due to its last few generations of S Ultra being mildly underwhelming. But there is only so long it can keep recycling the same camera hardware and tired design language when the Chinese brands are innovating in these areas so relentlessly, while also bringing their flagship phones to market for the same or less money than Samsung charges. If Samsung continues to play it safe like this, it’s only a matter of time before customers of its flagship phones are tempted away to more enticing options, at which point the brand may find it very difficult to win them back.

Physics dictates that a camera phone can never be as good as a high-end conventional camera. This is the conclusion reached by Marques Brownlee in a recent YouTube video where he presents his thoughts on the Oppo Find X9 Ultra: Oppo's latest flagship, which pushes the boundaries of what's possible from a phone camera.

Taking that conclusion in isolation, you'd be forgiven for thinking Brownlee is not impressed by the Find X9 Ultra, but it's quite the opposite. He is very complimentary about the phone's incredible versatility, from its quad-camera array (plus additional color spectrum sensor), to its uncanny ability to help you take great shots, time and time again.

I personally use a Find X8 Pro as my daily phone and can concur with Brownlee: even though the Find X8 Pro's tech is now 18 months old, it's still an awesome camera phone that produces incredible images, even in scenarios where most phones would struggle.

But what of the assertion that it's physically impossible for a phone to ever be as good as a high-end, 'proper' camera? I lab test cameras for a living, from relatively mundane compact cameras, right up to full-frame and medium format powerhouses. If you judge a good camera to be one which provides the highest possible resolving power, while also giving the lowest possible image noise and the widest single-exposure dynamic range, then a big sensor (and in turn, big pixels) are paramount. My lab results verify this correlation, with cameras like the medium format Fujifilm GFX 100 II reigning supreme for detail capture. Bigger is better, and biggest is best. Judged purely on these traditional performance metrics, it's true: a camera phone can't compete. But here's the thing: does it need to?

The case for the camera phone

We could actually flip Brownlee's physics argument on its head, in favor of the camera phone. For the conventional camera to compete with (or better) a phone’s image quality, it must be physically larger, but that in turn makes it increasingly more inconvenient. Sure, if you're a committed photographer and are happy to lug around a dedicated camera and lenses, then credit to you. But like it or not, you're now in a tiny minority.

The goal for most people is to get the best possible image quality in the most convenient package, and it's this compromise that the camera phone nails so perfectly. While a phone-captured image won't match the fine detail of a photo from a full-frame or medium-format camera (even if the phone has a 200MP sensor), when you're viewing your shots primarily on the phone itself, who cares?

What's far more important than something like outright resolution (and as Brownlee points out) is the ability to get the maximum number of great-looking photos from the minimum number of shutter button presses. Judged on this metric, even a $5000+ pro camera cannot come close to the hit rate of a phone like the Find X9 Ultra. The immense processing power of a camera phone means it can compensate for user error, as well as the phone's camera hardware limitations. As a case in point, Google re-used the same image sensor for four consecutive generations of Pixel, yet image quality still noticeably improved each year.

Image processing is key here: it can take what would otherwise be a mediocre-looking image and turn it into a vibrant, detailed shot with incredible dynamic range, all without you doing a thing. This is noticeable on my Find X8 Pro: there's a split second where you see the initial, rather bland image upon immediately reviewing a photo, then the processing does its thing and boom, you're hit with a stunning image. The difference is most obvious when shooting at focal lengths exceeding the phone's native optical zoom. Then AI is employed to add fine detail where there would otherwise be none. At this point an image goes from being enhanced to partially fabricated. But again, I'd argue that this doesn't need to be a problem. Unless you're very familiar with the subject matter, you'll never know that the texture AI has applied to a certain portion of the image doesn't match the actual texture of the real subject. After all, photographs are most often used as memory aids, and to effectively fulfil this purpose they don't have to be exact emulations of the source material.

So is there still a place for 'proper' cameras?

This entirely depends on what you want a camera for. If you simply want to take photos, then stick with a phone. It has made a dedicated camera obsolete for this purpose, for the reasons above. However, if you want to learn or practice photography, as a hobby or a profession, then a phone is still no match for a 'real' camera.

For hobbyist photographers, the vastly superior ergonomics and plethora of physical controls you get with a camera like the Fujifilm X100VI or OM System OM-D E-M10 IV will make your shooting experience far more immersive and therefore more enjoyable. Phone manufacturers like Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo have tried to improve their flagship phones' ergonomics with optional add-on grips, but even these can't match the level of physical control you get with a dedicated enthusiast's camera.

Then there's the professional photographer. A key requirement for the pro is to record not just attractive images, but also to achieve faithful subject depiction. When it comes to sports, reportage, or nature photography, a large part of these photos’ appeal (especially in the age of AI) is their authenticity and accurate representation of the moment or subject. These are scenarios where eye-popping dynamic range or AI-fabricated elements are at best jarring, and at worst wholly inappropriate. Sure, premium camera phones do have manual modes and Raw capture that'll give you more honest subject reproduction, but phones rely so heavily on image processing to compensate for their small image sensors that disabling this trickery will noticeably reduce image quality.

If you want both high image quality and accurate, trustworthy subject depiction, then a high-end dedicated camera is still the tool of choice. In these scenarios their bulk, potential inconvenience and complexity become almost irrelevant: it's the camera’s ability to record a moment as accurately as possible, without autonomously applying its own spin, which matters most. And it's this authenticity, rather than just physics, which gives a high-end camera unrivalled appeal.

Oppo’s Ultra phones have been on a steady march toward replacing a camera for a while now. I will often grab my Find X8 Ultra on the way out of the house instead of my Fujifilm X100VI.

Ultras aren't your everyday flagships. From the outset, Oppo's Ultra series has been clearly aimed at photographers, videographers, and enthusiasts who care more about optics, character, and control. Yes, a novice can still take beautiful images with these phones, but it's a phone designed for someone who will really appreciate what the cameras can do.

The Find X9 Ultra is the latest in the line, arriving not only looking like the compact camera version of the Hasselblad X2D II, but with a new-generation Hasselblad Master Camera system inside.

That means a 200MP main camera, a 200MP 3x telephoto, a 50MP 10x optical camera, pro-level video recording features, an optional camera grip, and a 300mm teleconverter to make this the most ambitious camera phone I have ever used. And, after using it, I think that ambition has paid off – Oppo has just built the best camera phone you can buy right now.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is launching in the UK for £1,449 for the 12GB+512GB version, with the 16GB+1TB exclusive to China alongside the Arctic White colorway. Currently there is no confirmed price for the Hasselblad Explorer Kit with the telephoto adapter.

Design

The Find X9 Ultra is one of the coolest-looking phones I’ve used in a long time. In Europe, the phone comes in two colors, although the hero is Tundra Umber, which is the version I have. It looks like a mini Hasselblad X2D camera, and I absolutely love it.

Oppo has really nailed the details, from the vegan leather two-tone back that feels soft and warm in the hand, to the horizontally aligned Oppo and Hasselblad branding. The camera housing has a knurled ring that echoes a lens focus ring, and the orange accent on the camera button adds just enough playful contrast without ruining the look. Overall finish is just really premium, and it's a phone I genuinely enjoy picking up and using.

I am much less convinced by Canyon Orange. It does look better in person than in the press shots, but next to Tundra Umber, it loses all the understated Hasselblad chic. It is bold, bright, and far more attention-grabbing, which I'm sure some people will like, but for me, only one of these colorways really looks like a photography tool.

In the hand, this is a big, hefty flagship at 235-236g, which is around 30g heavier than a Samsung S26 Ultra, but if you want this sort of camera capabilities, you roll with the punches.

Like most modern flagships, the X9 Ultra has IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance, plus Armour Shield drop-protection architecture. Despite a few minor drops and being thrown in and out of bags while I'm travelling, I've found that after a couple of weeks, there's no obvious wear, especially on the soft leather back. There is also a factory-applied screen protector, love them or hate them, but this has already taken the hit on a few minor scratches, so I'm grateful for it.

The usual power and volume buttons are present, alongside Oppo’s customizable action button, which replaced the old alert slider a few generations ago and can be assigned to functions like alerts, flashlight, Do Not Disturb, AI features, and more.

There is also Oppo’s dedicated camera button, finished in orange on the Tundra model, and I like the visual pop. The camera button supports swiping to zoom, and a half-press for focus and exposure lock, but I still found myself preferring the on-screen controls most of the time, as, for me, they are just far faster and easier to use, as I find camera buttons so fiddly. It also does not work in Portrait mode, which is my default orientation.

The Find X9 Ultra is also launching alongside an optional Hasselblad Earth Explorer Kit – also inspired by the Hasselblad X2D – and no, there is no orange version, thank god. The case adds a small grip, a two-stage shutter button, a zoom rocker, and interchangeable rings for 67mm filters or Oppo’s 300mm teleconverter.

It feels really well-made and really premium, and it really does make the whole package feel more like a compact camera. It's the best-looking and feeling camera photography kit I have used, and it puts Vivo's slightly plastic-y kit to shame. The design matches the phone itself, with the same vegan leather across the back, while the adapter rings are all solid metal, which feel very sturdy.

The zoom rocker works well, and the shutter button is excellent, but I still wish Oppo had either added an exposure compensation dial or let me remap the zoom control for exposure compensation, which, for me, feels far more useful in fast shooting. Oppo might have the prettiest photography case, but Xiaomi's and Vivo's are still the more practical.

There is also an optional 300mm teleconverter. It is a big lens, it's all-metal with 16 glass elements in 11 groups, including four ED elements, and it mounts to the optional camera case. Frustratingly, the lens mount is different from the teleconverter for the Find X9 Pro, so the two lenses/phones are not interchangeable. I really hope that, going forward, Oppo has thought about a standardized lens mount, as buying a new lens for each new phone is going to get expensive and wasteful.

The lens is not discreet in the slightest, still, I actually prefer the design here to some rival approaches because the all-black finish is a little more discreet than the shinier silver alternatives we are now seeing elsewhere. But the lens is big and bulky enough that once you have it attached, the phone basically becomes a real camera rather than anything you would casually slip into a pocket.

The display is another stunning panel. It has a 6.82-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED panel with a 1-144Hz refresh rate, 510ppi, up to 1800 nits full-screen brightness, and 3600 nits peak HDR brightness.

In use, it is superb, with sharp details and clear text, and the refresh rate also keeps everything smooth when switching in and out of apps or scrubbing video. Colors are fantastic – bright and rich. Oppo gives some control over screen colors with Standard, Natural, and Vivid modes, and I found Natural the most pleasing for accurate photo and video work, though I still wish Oppo offered a little more granular control over saturation, as I think my perfect level is somewhere between Natural and Vivid.

I didn't struggle to use the screen outdoors, even in bright sunshine. The feature I find more useful is that it can also drop to 1 nit for comfortable nighttime viewing, helping with late-night eye strain, or without disturbing others in the room. Oppo has also added 2160Hz PWM dimming for better eye health, plus circular polarization for better visibility with polarized sunglasses.

Camera Performance

The Find X9 Ultra’s camera setup is kind of outrageous. Five cameras and no filler. Too many phones still have one genuinely great camera, and then some others to tick boxes.

You get a 50MP ultrawide with a 1/1.95-inch sensor, a 200MP 1/1.12-inch main camera, a 200MP 3x telephoto with a 1/1.28-inch sensor, a 50MP 10x telephoto, and a new True Color camera for more accurate color information. Oppo calls this the Hasselblad Master Camera System, and the focal length coverage stretches from 14mm to 230mm optically, while sensor crops extend that even further to a whopping 460mm equivalent. And for once, I didn’t really care which lens I was using, rather than sticking stubbornly to the main sensor.

Main camera

The main camera is built around a 200MP Sony LYT-901 sensor measuring 1/1.12-inch, which is the largest 200MP sensor yet used in a phone. It’s a size reduction from the 50MP 1-inch sensor in the previous Ultra, but it is now a higher resolution for combining pixels, and paired with a wider f/1.5 aperture, Oppo claims gives it the same light intake. The main sensor also benefits from Oppo’s Real-Time Triple Exposure HDR processing, which combines several photos into one to improve dynamic range.

In use, it is a very very good main camera. Detail is excellent, dynamic range is strong, and colors in the standard mode are generally very accurate. I suspect some users may think the default color is a little understated, but for my taste, it is pretty spot on.

The default processing in regular photo mode can push sharpening a bit too far, and in some scenes, the HDR had a slightly overdone look. It is not bad by any stretch, and it will probably please plenty of people who just want “perfect-looking” images straight from the camera, but it is not my preferred rendering style. Coming off the back of testing the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, I think Xiaomi’s LOFIC sensor tech just produces some cleaner HDR that looks more natural rather than processed.

That said, Oppo’s answer to this issue is also one of the best reasons to buy the phone at all: Hasselblad Master mode. I absolutely love it. This strips away a lot of the more obvious phone-style processing and gives you images with more natural sharpness, more believable shadow handling, and a more camera-like overall feel. I found it especially effective at night, where the standard mode can lean too hard on processing, while Master mode gives you deeper shadows and more natural highlights.

3x telephoto

If I had to pick just one camera on the X9 Ultra, it would be the 3x telephoto. It's a 200MP periscope camera with a 70mm equivalent focal length, a huge 1/1.28-inch sensor, and an f/2.2 aperture. In other words, it is absurdly over-specced by the standards of most phone telephotos, with a bigger sensor than other flagships’ main camera.

Image quality at 70mm is absolutely superb. Photos are super sharp, and there is good falloff around the subject, and images have a genuinely photographic quality to them that makes them feel closer to a proper camera than most phone telephoto shots do. This is the lens I kept gravitating back to because it looks so good, and because 70mm is such a useful focal length for portraits, detail shots, travel scenes, and more compressed street images.

It also crops brilliantly. Because of the 200MP resolution, Oppo can offer a 6x in-sensor crop that still produces 50MP images with what it describes as optical quality. In good light, I found there was no perceptible dip in quality. Once you get into darker conditions, the crop starts to look a little grainier, with some detail becoming slightly oversharpened. But even then, it remains incredibly usable, and I was genuinely shocked by how much detail I could pull from very low light at a relatively long focal length. For me, this is easily one of the best telephoto cameras I have used on any phone.

Macro

Macro performance is superb; you can get in as close as 15cm. The camera isn't quite enough to pull out microscopic details; you'll still need a proper macro lens and some focus stacking, but for most things you'll want to shoot day to day, you can get some excellent macro shots.

10x telephoto

As the world’s first 50MP 10x camera, it's by far the most interesting camera of the X9 Ultra because it is just such an ambitious focal length to squeeze into this size, while still giving it a decent-sized sensor. It is a 50MP 230mm-equivalent telephoto with an f/3.5 aperture, a 1/2.75-inch sensor, and sensor-shift stabilization.

And there is an obvious jump in quality compared to normal digital zoom, and even once you start cropping further, at 460mm equivalent focal lengths, I was getting such remarkable results. I am also so impressed by how capable this camera is in lower light. It’s not the largest sensor in the system, but it held up much better than I anticipated.

The 10x just wipes the floor with some other mainstream zooms. Take a look below at the Oppo versus the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, which really shows the limits of computational photography versus good hardware.

Ultrawide

The ultrawide is probably the least special camera in the lineup, but that says more about the strength of the other lenses than any weaknesses. It uses a 50MP sensor with autofocus, and in good light, it is very good indeed. It captures a strong amount of detail, colors remain nicely in line with the rest of the system, and it performs better at night than I expected. That said, it is still the camera where I saw the most noise, the most oversharpening, and the longest exposures compared to the others.

Master Mode

Hasselblad Master mode is easily my favorite feature on the phone. Beyond the more natural default rendering, Oppo has also expanded it with a selection of new filters, which it has referred to as film simulations. They are not really simulations in the Fujifilm sense, as they are not based on Fujifilm’s library of film emulations as a starting point to build on. They are closer to a photo LUT, but they do offer a level of deeper customization or tonal control I love. I particularly like Oppo’s take on Portra. It is not going to fool anybody into thinking they are looking at film, but it gives images a pleasant warmth and softness in the shadows that makes for very nice results.

I still think Oppo could go further. There is no way to shoot a stylized JPG and keep a RAW backup at the same time; you have to shoot in RAW and then convert it to a JPG after, which just adds an unnecessary step to the process, and is annoying if I want a fast, stylized shot for social media but also a clean file to work on later. There also seems to be a slight film grain applied to some of Oppo’s presets, but I can’t find anywhere in the custom settings to do this. Maybe I am just seeing the film grain when it’s not there, but I’d love to see the app update to add this, as it's a key element of emulating film photos.

Finally, this goes for all photo modes, but as Master Mode is the most “Pro” mode, I would love finer control over the autofocus reticle, as it’s just one size, which is reasonably big, so quite often when trying to focus through a crowded scene, the autofocus couldn’t pick out the exact thing I was tapping on. You can switch to manual focus, but I feel a single point autofocus option is the easiest solution.

Hasselblad Teleconverter

I love this teleconverter. There is such an obvious quality improvement over digital zoom, and the results can look genuinely photographic in a way that I don’t think you could tell that this was a phone and not a dedicated camera.

The problem is that Oppo separates it into its own mode, which means you cannot use it in Master mode, so you can’t use any of your presets. That is just such a frustrating limitation on a device this good. I want a simple toggle to enable the lens from within the regular shooting modes, which is how it is done on Vivo phones. I am hoping that this can be fixed with a software update, rather than having to wait for the next generation.

Video

Oppo has gone properly big on video in the X9 Ultra. Every rear and front camera supports 4K 60p Dolby Vision, while the main and 3x cameras can also shoot 4K 120p Dolby Vision and 8K 30p. Oppo has also added O-Log 2, ACES support, real-time LUT preview, and the ability to burn in LUTs from standard .cube files.

Video quality is fantastic, autofocus is quick, and video stabilization is very good. There are a few minor quirks. I can’t find anywhere in the video app that tells me what microphone I am using, so plugging in a receiver, there is no indication in the video app that it's actually using my external mic to record. The autofocus is also just a little bit too jumpy. I can manually lock on to subjects, but I would love to see more subject detection and tracking similar to a digital camera to make the whole process a little easier.

Phone Performance

Like most 2026 flagships, the Find X9 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and in day-to-day use, it feels incredibly speedy, and I did not notice a single stutter in normal use. More importantly, I had no issue editing 4K 120p or 8K footage shot on the phone in CapCut, and exports were quick. For photos, snapping 200MP images in the Hasselblad high-res mode was far quicker than on the X9 Pro, and there was none of the mosaic style capturing requiring me to hold the camera steady.

Thermals also seem reasonably well managed, with Oppo saying the phone has a new Encapsulated Thermal Unit, vapor chamber cooling, and graphite layers designed to deal with heat spikes. I am not a gamer, but for tasks like capturing 8K and 4K120 video, while the phone got a little warm, I certainly did not run into alarming heat problems in my use.

The battery isn't quite the monster squeezed into the Find X9 Pro, with a slightly smaller 7050mAh cell. Although the silicon-carbon battery is pretty enormous for a flagship camera phone, and in my own use, I was getting around a day of heavy shooting, and a day and a half of mixed use from a charge.

Wired charging tops out at 100W, wireless at 50W, and while you need the right SuperVOOC or AirVOOC charger to hit the headline figures, you can still get 55W charging with USB-PD, and I managed to charge to around 34% in 15 minutes and 63% in 30 minutes from empty, which is enough to relieve any battery anxiety.

The software is ColorOS 16 based on Android 16, and I am a big fan, and, in fact, it is my favorite Android skin. It looks clean, feels fluid, and adds genuinely useful features without becoming irritating. This time around, Oppo has added a cleaner lock screen, which can hide notifications in a notification drawer at the bottom of the screen, removing them as a distraction. Oppo is also promising that Apple Airdrop support via Google's QuickShare will be coming soon.

The software has Oppo's usual suite of AI photo editing tools. There is nothing new on the Ultra that we haven't seen before, but then Oppo already had one of the most well-rounded groups of tools. There are options to AI erasers, reflection removal, perfect shot to change expressions or open blinking eyes, enhance clarity, or change the lighting in portraits.

The tools generally work well, or at least as well as I have seen gen-AI on other devices. For small fixes with easy-to-replicate backgrounds, the results are usually very good, but more complicated generations do tend to trip it up, and occasionally, there are some interesting hallucinations. The less gen-AI heavy tools are better, the reflection removal tool is usually pretty solid, and the unblur has saved my shaky hands a couple of times.

Final Verdict

For me, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is hands down the best camera phone I’ve used yet. Does a phone need four cameras? It depends on who you ask, but now that I have spent a few weeks with the phone, my resounding answer is yes. The 3x camera is phenomenal, the 10x camera zoom range is incredibly useful, and the quality far exceeds any digital zoom. Hasselblad Master mode is also a standout; it finally gives me exactly the kind of less-processed, more camera-like images with custom film recipes I've been wanting from a flagship phone. Add in superb video, excellent battery life, a gorgeous screen, and a design in Tundra Umber that I absolutely love, and Oppo has made my perfect camera phone.

It is not completely flawless. Standard mode can still look too processed for my taste, the teleconverter integration is more limited than it should be, and there are still some minor settings tweaks I'd love to see. But if your priority is having the most capable, most versatile, most photography-focused phone possible, the Find X9 Ultra is exceptionally hard to argue against.

Alternatives

During a Q&A session for the launch of the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, Schofield Lu, Product Manager for the Oppo Find Series, confirmed that the company is exploring its own dedicated handheld gimbal camera that could rival DJI’s pocket-sized video powerhouse.

Oppo isn't sharing design, specifications, or even potential launch window yet, but even this early confirmation is enough to make the category a lot more interesting.

Right now, DJI more or less owns this space – and has just launched the new Osmo Pocket 4. The Osmo Pocket line has carved out a strong niche among vloggers, travel shooters, and content creators who want stabilized video in a device small enough to slip into a pocket. But that dominance may not go unchallenged for much longer, and Oppo is not the only brand circling the idea.

Smartphone makers are definitely taking an interest, and Oppo isn’t the only manufacturer starting to see handheld creator cameras as a natural extension of their phone camera tech.

We have already heard rumors that Vivo is exploring something similar, and Honor is also in the mix, having shown off its Robot gimbal concept device at MWC this year, which takes a slightly different tack, combining a gimbal camera directly into a phone, but the company has suggested it could eventually make it to market.

Although the most immediate competition is coming from DJI's chief rival, Insta360, which has already confirmed that it is working on at least one, or possibly two, dual-camera handheld gimbal cameras of its own, called the Luna and potentially Luna Pro, the former of which is already in the hands of some influencers.

Meanwhile, DJI is unlikely to give up ground without a fight. Almost as soon as the Pocket 4 was out of the door, rumors popped up around more advanced Osmo Pocket 4 Pro, with talk of a dual-camera setup that could push the format further.

For years, this has felt like a product category with plenty of promise but only one real major player. If Oppo follows through, and the other rumored devices also materialize, the next 12 months could see the handheld gimbal camera market suddenly becoming the next major camera battleground.

Check out our guide to the best pocket gimbal cameras you can buy today

If you ever been wondering what it would look like if Hasselblad made a compact camera, then you're in luck, as Oppo has just officially launched the Find X9 Ultra, with looks inspired by the legendary Hasselblad X2D camera, and one of the most ambitious camera systems we have ever seen on a phone. Although, the best news – Oppo is finally taking its Ultra phone global.

Of course, every brand says its latest Ultra device is a “camera in your pocket”, but the Find X9 Ultra backs that up with a frankly ludicrous camera spec sheet with a total of five different cameras on the back covering 14-460mm with optical quality, and secondary sensors larger than you’d find as the main sensor in most mainstream flagships.

Starting with the big headline five-camera system that Oppo is calling its New-Generation Hasselblad Master Camera System. Designed in collaboration with Hasselblad, the hardware includes a 200MP main camera, a 200MP 3x telephoto, a 50MP ultra-wide, a dedicated multispectral True Color camera, and, most excitingly of all, a 50MP 10x optical telephoto.

Oppo’s made this possible with what it calls a Quintuple Prism Reflection Periscope Structure, which folds the light path five times in order to fit a 10x optical zoom lens into the camera bump roughly the same size as the previous generation. The company says this is the world’s first 50MP 10x optical telephoto, which pairs a 1/2.75-inch sensor with an f/3.5 aperture, alongside sensor-shift optical stabilization for keeping things steady at massive zoom ranges. Oppo also says the camera can use in-sensor cropping to achieve 20x (460mm-equivalent) optical-quality zoom, thanks to the high-resolution sensor, which should make this one of the best long-range zoom systems we have seen on a smartphone to date.

The main camera uses a 200MP Sony LYTIA 901 1/1.12-inch sensor with an f/1.5 aperture, which Oppo says delivers light intake comparable to the previous generation’s 1-inch main sensor. The camera has a native 23mm-equivalent focal length, but can also crop in to 2x without losing quality, doubling as a nifty-fifty. There is also Real-Time Triple Exposure support and its own HDR pipeline designed to maintain high dynamic range and compete with developments like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s LOFIC sensor tech, which I raved about in my review.

The 200MP 3x (70mm-equivalent) telephoto uses a large 1/1.28-inch sensor with a fast f/2.2 aperture and a 15cm minimum focus distance, letting it double as a telemacro camera. Oppo says this sensor can also crop to deliver 6x (139mm) shots with 50MP of native detail without leaning heavily on digital zoom.

And rounding out the system for cameras you can actually use is a 50MP ultra-wide camera with autofocus, a 1/1.95-inch sensor, and a fast f/2.0 aperture, which, according to Oppo, captures 56% more light than the previous generation.

Finally, the X9 Ultra debuts the second generation of Oppo’s True Color camera, which is a dedicated multispectral sensor designed to improve white balance and color accuracy across photos, motion photos, and, for the first time, video.

The X9 Ultra also comes with an updated version of Hasselblad Master Mode, which is designed to avoid the over-processed look that plagues a lot of smartphone photography, with Oppo promising a more natural rendering, less aggressive tone mapping, and absolutely no AI. It also supports 50MP JPEG MAX and 50MP RAW MAX across multiple focal lengths, along with nine film simulations and custom presets.

Video also gets a major push, with Find X9 Ultra supporting 4K 60fps Dolby Vision HDR recording across the zoom range from 0.6x to 30x, while the main and 3x telephoto cameras can also capture 4K 120fps and 8K 30fps video. There is a new O-Log2 profile, ACES support for professional color workflows, and even 3D LUT support with real-time preview and LUT burn-in. Oppo even made a dedicated video rig for the X9 Ultra with handles and a cooling fan – although, sadly, this is unlikely to make its way outside of China.

An accessory that is coming to global markets is the optional Hasselblad Earth Explorer Kit, including a compact camera-style Explorer Case finished to match the Hasselblad X2D styling of the X9 Ultra, with a two-stage shutter button for half-press focus, and a physical dial for smoother zoom control, and quick switching between modes, as well as an adapter ring to mount standard 67mm filters.

There is a brand new 300mm Explorer Teleconverter, a full-metal add-on lens designed to attach to the 3x telephoto camera and extend it to a 300mm equivalent focal length, which is around 13x optical zoom, or can go up to 600mm optical quality using in-sensor cropping. These telephoto adapters are popping up everywhere now, but having tested quite a few of them, I will say they are no gimmick.

Outside of the cameras, the Find X9 Ultra is every bit the expected flagship. It has a 6.82-inch 144Hz QHD+ AMOLED display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and a massive 7,050mAh silicon-carbon battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. It also arrives with the latest ColorOS 16, with improvements to silence the clutter on your lock screen and upcoming AirDrop support, and for durability, IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings.

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra will be available from May 8 in the UK, Europe, and most global markets with the exception of North America. 

As you’d expect from one of the most ambitious camera phones ever the price is at a premium. Although, starting at £1,449 for 12GB+512GB it's not a big a shock as I expected. The price of the Hasselblad Explorer kit with the telephoto lens is to be confirmed.

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"It's not the gear, it's the photographer," a phrase that's often debated, but in many genres, still rings true. Especially now that camera phones have come further than ever – packing 50MP sensors, computational photography, and even variable apertures – yet are still underestimated by many photographers.

This award- winning series, shot entirely on smartphones, proves just how capable they really are – even when the camera is a decade old...

Kuanglong Zhang has been named the overall winner of the 15th Annual Mobile Photo Awards (MPA), impressing judges with a striking portfolio captured exclusively on smartphones – with models from 2016 to 2023.

15th Annual MPA winner

The jury praised his work for its "diverse palette and a deeply convincing, impressive range of subject matter", pointing out Zhang's eye for color, framing, and detail.

Zhang's work highlights just how much creativity and skill can be captured with older phones, smaller sensors, and the device we carry every day – even if it no longer should be a surprise that award-winning images can be created on smartphones...

Zhang was thrilled to hear the news of his international victory and stated, "...Winning this award truly means so much to me.

"I'm really looking forward to growing alongside the MPA, and to inspiring people around the world to discover mobile photography – and to see that phones are more than capable of creating images that are both warm and full of heart, with a beautifully crafted feel."

The camera phones

Zhang's winning images were captured using a mix of older and newer smartphone cameras – from early single-camera systems to modern multi-lens flagships.

1. Huawei Mate 60
Released primarily in China in 2023, it is the most advanced device in Zhang's lineup. The Huawei Mate 60 features a 50MP main camera and variable aperture (f/1.4-4), offering a level of manual control rarely seen in smartphones.

2. Oppo Find X6 Pro
Launched 2023, the Oppo Find X6 Pro is a China-exclusive flagship with a 50MP triple-camera system built for high-end imaging performance.

3. Vivo X60 Pro+
A top camera-focused phone, released in 2021. The Vivo X60 Pro + was co-engineered with Zeiss. It features a quad-camera setup. 48MP ultra-wide lens, and advanced gimbal stabilization.

4. OnePlus 9RT 5G
A China-first release in 2021, followed by a wider global rollout in 2022, the OnePlus 9RT 5G packs a 50MP Sony IMX766 main sensor and is known as a "flagship killer".

5. iPhone 11 Pro Max
The iPhone 11 Pro Max launched back in 2019, and its specs only tell half the story. As highlighted in our review, "it's the real-world results from this triple-camera phone that matter". It features a versatile triple-lens system with 12MP sensors.

6. iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 is the oldest smartphone on the list and was launched in 2016! Its highest camera features a 12MP sensor with a fast f/1.8 aperture – still capable of producing award-winning images in the right hands.

To discover all category winners and for more information, visit the Mobile Photo Awards website.

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Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries from March to July.

It’s no secret that we were big fans of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra. With its large sensors, refined Hasselblad color science, and incredible focal lengths, the Find X8 Ultra only fell short of a coveted five-star rating because it wasn’t available globally.

In his review, Gareth Bevan called it his “favorite camera phone last year”, but with the imminent launch of its successor, the Find X9 Ultra, and based on these new teased specs, I think he might have a new champion.

Zhou Shijie, product manager at Oppo, shared on Weibo how they’ve managed to cram a 10x optical quality camera – a focal length you'd usually need a teleconverter for – inside the latest X9 Ultra. This announcement could well be the beginning of the end for the humble compact camera.

World's first phone camera technology

According to Zhou Shijie's posts, the Find X9 Ultra will feature Oppo's most advanced imaging system to date, and with a continued partnership with master Swedish camera makers Hasselblad, as Oppo looks to continue to define and disrupt the phone-camera market.

The new 50MP 10x optical telephoto lens boasts a five-reflection prism that has enabled OPPO to shrink the module length from 41mm to a super-thin 29mm, all the while maintaining a huge 230mm focal length.

Oppo has an incredible track record of delivering telephoto innovations, so these new developments come as no surprise. In 2017, it showcased a prototype with a 5x dual camera zoom system. In 2023, it released the Find X6 Pro, featuring a large-sensor periscope lens. And in 2024, it pioneered an inverted periscope lens, achieving a breakthrough in slimness.

The latest innovation delivers native 10x optical zoom, 20x optical quality zoom, and up to 120x digital zoom. This world-first five-prism setup is made possible by nanoscale prism cutting and an air diaphragm, triple AOA active calibration, and a customized JNL 50MP Fusion Sensor. Oppo has also “optimized the microlens and color filter, significantly reducing color shading and ensuring accurate and consistent colors.”

With the OPPO Find X9 Ultra having a planned global release on April 20, 2026, we’ll only have to wait just a little longer to witness, firsthand, just how this new 10x lens performs, but when we do, and it finally lands on European shores, I wouldn’t be surprised if it's finally awarded it's five star rating.

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Oppo has spent the last few generations steadily refining its book-style foldables, focused on making foldables thinner and lighter. The Oppo Find N6 is the latest model in the company’s Find N line, and Oppo’s big pitch here is a new “Zero-Feel Crease”, which promises to make the inner screen crease – a long-held criticism of folding phones – a thing of the past.

There are also the usual new phone expectations. Oppo is upping performance, adding new productivity features, and enhancing the Hasselblad-branded camera system that borrows from the company’s recent camera-focused flagships.

From my perspective, the Find N6 sits in an interesting place. It is clearly competing with other premium foldables such as the Honor Magic V-series and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold for productivity, but foldables have always been behind the best bar-style camera phones when it comes to photography. Oppo might be edging ever closer to the perfect design for its foldables, but can it also produce a foldable camera phone that is not a compromise?

Specifications

Price & Availability

Another year, another huge disappointment for international Oppo/foldable fans. The N series is again not officially available in Europe, the UK, or the US. You can import the phone thanks to its global ROM, and you will have full access to everything Google, but as ever, you likely forfeit any warranty, and overseas imports may not work with your network carrier.

In China, the phone will cost ¥10,099 for the 16GB+512GB version. Direct conversions from Chinese prices are never quite accurate, but that works out as around $1,500 / £1,200 / €1,300. Although I'd expect it to be more expensive if launched on Western shores and comparable to the Honor Magic V6 (which will at least launch in Europe).

Design

Oppo really nailed the design with last year's Find N5, with one of the thinnest and lightest foldables yet, and honestly, I don't know how they even improve on that. So perhaps unsurprisingly, the Find N6 doesn't really rock the boat. At just 8.93mm folded and 225g, it's still incredibly slim and light for a book-style foldable, to the point that, in my hand, it feels only barely different from a normal flagship bar phone. I have said this before about the recent Oppo and Honor foldables, but it is worth repeating: we are now at the point where folding phones just feel like normal phones, and I would be perfectly happy carrying this as my daily driver even if I only opened the inner screen occasionally.

Oppo’s headline design feature is the so-called Zero-Feel Crease, and while that name oversells things slightly, there is a marked improvement on the last model. The crease is remarkably shallow, genuinely on par with the best I have seen from rivals, and I do not really know how much shallower foldables can get from here. This could genuinely be close to peak crease.

Still, it is not magic. You can see it when the screen is off and light catches it the right way, and you can still feel it under your finger. I found it especially noticeable when using the stylus, where the slight unevenness over the crease interrupts the smoothness of writing just enough to remind you that this is still a folding display. I don't want to downplay it; it is much better than the previous model, even if not as transformationally so as marketing might have you believe.

Visually, Oppo has stayed close to the previous generation. The camera sits in the familiar centered “Cosmos Ring” rather than moving to the squarer island look of the Find X9 Pro. Despite Oppo claiming the centered layout keeps the phone stable on a table, when open and laid flat, there is still a decent amount of wobble, which especially makes stylus use a little more uneven than ideal.

There is a side-mounted fingerprint reader in the power button, which is fast and accurate, even if it does require a little relearning if, like me, you have muscle memory for in-display scanners. Face unlock is present too, but like most single-camera solutions (except the Pixel’s), it's not secure enough for sensitive apps like banking and locked folders.

The biggest difference is the replacement of the old Alert Slider with the Snap Key, Oppo’s take on the action button. This doesn't really come as a surprise, as Oppo has been steadily removing it from all its recent models, but I do miss the tactile charm of a proper alert slider. However, I will concede that the Snap Key is objectively far more useful; it can launch the camera, toggle alerts, turn on the torch, translate text, capture content to Oppo’s AI-driven Mind Space, and more.

Both screens are strong too, although similar, if not the same, as those found on last year's model. The 6.62-inch cover display and 8.12-inch inner panel are sharp, bright, and colorful. Both displays have a good white balance out of the box, but you can also tweak this to your liking in the settings.

However, I said this before, and it's a general complaint with the current slate of foldables, the almost square ratio of the inner screen just isn't quite right. For multitasking two apps side by side, that shape works fine. However, for video, you end up with a viewing area that is not dramatically bigger than the outer screen once black bars are factored in. Similarly, with apps like Lightroom, menus can end up on top of images rather than alongside them.

Similar small but wider displays like the iPad Mini just handle layouts better. Oppo has done some work here with more flexible floating windows, which are very useful, but do make the content smaller, and it’s not the big screen app experience I want from an inner screen. I'd love to see a Fold N7 with a shorter but wider inner display, and it is exactly this kind of idea that makes tri-fold phones seem increasingly sensible.

Finally, durability is still a key concern for folding phones. Oppo says the Find N6 uses a second-generation titanium hinge that has been tested by TÜV Rhineland for a million folds, which is definitely way more than you'll do in the lifetime of the device. The frame is reinforced 7000-series aluminum, with an aircraft-grade fiber rear panel, and nanocrystal cover glass. The Find N6 gets an IP56, IP58, and IP59 certification, which is impressive for a foldable, though it still trails the latest Honor Magic V6's IP68/69 rating.

Camera Performance

For me personally, the Find N6 has big expectations to live up to, because Oppo’s recent camera phones have been excellent, and the Find X9 Pro was my phone of the year in 2025.

On paper, the setup on the Find N6 is a slight improvement on the N5. There is a new 200MP 21mm main camera – up from 50MP on the N6 – a 50MP 70mm telephoto, and the 8MP ultrawide is replaced by a 50MP 15mm sensor. The N6 also benefits for the first time in the series from Oppo’s True Color Camera, a multispectral sensor designed to improve white balance accuracy.

Sensor sizes are broadly similar to the previous model, with the main upgrade being the jump in resolution on the primary and ultrawide cameras, which should improve both the quality of the in-sensor zoom between 1x and 3x, but also handle low light better with more room to combine pixels and do computational wizardry.

I'm going to caveat this with: for a foldable phone. But for a foldable phone, the Find N6 cameras are excellent. They can't quite compete with the best camera phones, but this phone isn't a 1-inch sensor beast or packing multiple complex periscopes, but for day-to-day snapshots, they are fantastic.

The look of Oppo images remains one of the brand’s biggest strengths. I am a big fan of the color science from the Oppo Lumo Engine and Hasselblad collaboration; colors are balanced and natural, but with just enough saturation to make scenes lively without tipping into gaudy. The added True Color Camera seems to help here too, delivering usually quite dependable white balance, although I did see some noticeable color shifts on occasion between the three lenses.

HDR is another plus. It does not crush highlights or over-lift shadows, which makes images feel a lot more natural, rather than other brands that aggressively process images.

There is not a huge amount of fall-off in the background, so images can look slightly flatter and more two-dimensional than those from phones with larger sensors and wider apertures. That doesn't make the results bad, but it does stop them from having an almost camera-like rendering shown by models like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

Low-light performance squeezes a lot out of relatively modest sensor sizes. Night shots retain a lot of detail, with a strong balance between the highlights and shadows. Again, like daytime HDR, Oppo does a good job here of flattening images while keeping them natural and without overprocessing them. Although I saw a little more light blooming in some shots than is ideal.

The N6 also relies more heavily on long-exposure night processing than rivals with bigger sensors and faster apertures. Not a bad thing, just something to be aware of if you have unsteady hands or like to capture fast-moving subjects in low light.

When it comes to zoom, the telephoto camera is the only sensor that remains the same as last time out. That said, the 3x (70mm equivalent) telephoto is excellent, and Oppo’s in-sensor crop gives very good results out to around 6x (effectively 139mm), and even 10x remains genuinely usable if your subject is still and doesn't have too much intricate detail.

Up to about 30x, the superzoom still holds together surprisingly well, especially on buildings, where Oppo strikes a good balance between detail enhancement and realism, and crucially, it does not seem to descend into obviously fabricated generative AI.

The limitations arrive with more complex subjects and at the far end of the zoom range. Animals, birds and people are less consistent, and 120x is well, unusable. That sounds harsh, but it is fair; max zoom figures on phones are still mostly marketing.

Finally, macro performance is excellent. Oppo uses the 3x camera for macro, which gives a more flattering, more natural working perspective than the ultrawide macro systems found on some rivals.

Detail is strong, especially in the center of the frame, though the depth of field can become a little too narrow and there is some minor oversharpening. Even so, this is the kind of macro mode I actually want to use.

Phone Performance

The Oppo Find N6 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, though in this case Oppo is using a custom 7-core version tailored to the thermal limits of an ultra-thin foldable. On paper, that might sound like a compromise, but in actual use, I never really found it one.

Day-to-day performance was excellent, and creative tasks in Lightroom and CapCut ran quickly, exports were fast, and there was no annoying lag or stutter when scrubbing through a video timeline. With the inner screen being incredibly useful for photo and video work, the performance more than keeps up if you want to do some light editing on the move.

Battery life is a small but welcome step up. The N6 sports a 6000mAh silicon-carbon battery, which is 400mAh up on the previous generation. It might not sound huge, but in my lab conditions battery test, the Find N6 got a result of 16 hours 20 minutes, a healthy two-hour improvement on the previous model. Although it does pale in comparison to bar-phones, with the 19 hours 43 minutes of the reigning champ Oppo Find X9 Pro.

But in practical terms, the phone lasted me around a day to a day and a half of mid to heavy use. It easily survived a twelve-hour flight from London to Hong Kong while watching video, messaging, and typing up this very review with around 20% battery remaining when I got to my hotel.

If you do run low, charging is incredibly quick, while Oppo rates it at 80W wired and 50W wireless with its SuperVOOC chargers, the N6 also supports up to 55W over PD. In my testing, PD charging got it from empty to 29% in 15 minutes and 59% in 30 minutes, which is quick enough that a top-up while I shower is enough before I leave the house in the morning.

ColorOS remains my favorite Android skin. It's clean, fast, and visually slick. Settings are easy to navigate, customization is present but not exhausting, and Oppo’s overall design language feels polished. The only minor downside is that there is still some pre-installed bloat, and Oppo duplicates most system apps with its own. Those apps are actually very good, but if you are deeply committed to Google’s ecosystem, you may find yourself uninstalling quite a few of them.

It's 2026, so of course, AI features are front and centre here. Oppo’s Photos app also remains a genuinely good alternative to Google Photos, and Oppo has one of the best mobile suites of AI image tools around, including face enhancement, object removal, reflection removal, portrait glow, unblur, and more.

These tools are generally very effective, even if they are not always fully convincing. You can definitely get away with some AI tweaks for social media, but if you can zoom in or really study an image, it's not that hard to spot the AI at work.

Below, top to bottom: AI 4K Detail Enhance, AI Eraser, and AI Reflection Removal

Oppo also has an AI repository called Mind Space for collecting screenshots, which the AI then aims to pull useful information from. Mind Space itself sounds clever, though it's just not the way I personally interact with AI, and I find simply throwing information into Gemini or ChatGPT still feels like a more natural way to get what I want out of AI helpers.

Finally, there is an optional stylus. This isn't the first Find N phone with a stylus, but this is the slickest implementation yet. The stylus slots into a case on the rear of the phone that diverts the phone's wireless reverse charging to automatically keep the pen topped up. It’s nowhere near as discreet as Samsung’s S-Pen in the Ultra, but good luck finding a spare millimeter of internal space in the N6 for a pen.

The stylus features a click-button shortcut for screenshots, notes, and text capture. The stylus is a little short for longer writing or drawing sessions, but it works well for quick note-taking. The most entertaining feature is its ability to turn doodles into finished AI artwork; hardly essential, but definitely fun. There are also productivity tricks like turning circled notes into charts, though workplace AI tools such as Gemini or Copilot will usually do a better job.

Final Verdict

The Oppo Find N6 is my new favourite foldable. Last year’s model felt like Oppo’s first foldable flagship that was slim and light enough to actually replace my bar phone, and the N6 doubles down on that, as well as improves on a few of last year's weaknesses with enhanced cameras and a nearly invisible (in most lights) crease.

Phone performance is excellent, powering through creative tasks, with a battery that lasts all day, and often a little more. I also continue to think Oppo makes some of the nicest smartphone software around. The cameras are also impressive enough that I never felt regret that I was just carrying a foldable. Oppo’s continued Hasselblad partnership and Lumo image engine produce really nice colors with balanced HDR and a good amount of detail, especially from the new 200MP sensor.

Still, the Find N6 does not quite rewrite the rules. The crease may be shallow, but it is not gone. The inner display is great for multitasking, but not ideal for every app. And while the cameras are very good, the best camera-focused bar phones still offer better results. Then there is the biggest practical issue of all: if you live in the UK, Europe, or the US, this is not officially on sale for you anyway.

Alternatives

Last year’s Oppo Find X8 Ultra was hands-down my favorite camera phone last year – it’s Hasselblad cameras offering some of the most consistent and high-quality camera-like photos I have yet used on a phone. However, the reason why it is conspicuously absent from my list of the best camera phones is that the phone was essentially impossible to buy outside of China.

However, some good news! At MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Oppo has just confirmed its next-generation flagship, the sequentially named Oppo Find X9 Ultra, but the most exciting news is that it will finally make its global debut, and Europe is included in the initial release.

Oppo has said the new X9 Ultra is “built to be your next camera”, integrating what Oppo describes as its most advanced imaging system to date, with the camera system again being co-developed with the master Swedish camera makers Hasselblad.

In my review of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, I described it as one of the most complete camera phones I’d ever used. Its combination of large sensors, refined Hasselblad color science, and genuinely useful focal lengths made it feel less like a phone with good cameras and more like a rival to compact cameras. It even convinced my colleague Kallum to leave his dedicated behind on a trip to Sweden and shoot his entire trip with just the X8 Ultra instead.

Speaking at Oppo’s event in Barcelona, Elvis Zhou, CEO of Oppo Europe, said: “In 2026, many devices will carry the ‘Ultra’ label. We believe the title must be earned.” After the bar set by the X8 Ultra, that’s a bold statement – but one that, if history is anything to go by, Oppo might just be able to back up.

Check out some sample images from the Oppo Find X8 Ultra below:

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MWC 2026 has kicked off! As one of the most significant events in the mobile phone industry, MWC traditionally showcases a vast array of new handsets, all vying for the title of best camera phone.

We already previewed several new devices featured at this year's exhibition, held in the vibrant city of Barcelona (and a few that might be launched at competing events). However, with the show doors now open, there are plenty more surprises as manufacturers offer peeks of their latest innovations.

What is MWC 2026?  

MWC stands for Mobile World Congress, and is the world's largest expo on the mobile industry. It's also where a lot of big-name phone brands debut their latest products, as well as teasing concept devices for the future.

MWC was first held in 1987 in Brussels, switching cities every year, before settling in Barcelona's Fira de Barcelona since 2008. The event is organized by the GSMA, the global industry association, first formed in 1995 to promote the first 2G GSM digital phones. In 2025, MWC attracted over 109,500 visitors to its exhibition halls from all around the globe. There have also been additional MWC spin-off shows in Shanghai, Kigali, and Las Vegas.

When is MWC 2026?

MWC 2026 takes place in Barcelona from Monday, March 2, to Thursday, March 5. The halls are open to visitors from 8.30am to 7pm on the first three days, and from 8.30am to 4pm on the final day.

But there will be lots of speeches from leading industry figures. Many of the sessions will be centered on the themes of the 5G and 6G, eSIM, mobile security, the Internet of Things, and, of course, Gen AI. As ever, the keynotes and industry sessions will discuss how cellular technology can be used in much, much more than just our phones.

What to expect at MWC 2026

Thanks to the ever-churning rumor mill and the inevitable teasers from the key manufacturers, we already had a pretty good idea what the highlights will be at this year's expo.

Most of the biggest names in the industry will be there, although Apple and Samsung are the two notable handset manufacturers who do not reveal new products at MWC – but this year, both have their own rival events to steal the MWC spotlight.

Apple at MWC 2026

Like every other year, Apple has no plans to directly take part in MWC 2026 – but – that doesn't mean it doesn't have plans to hijack the entire event with its own events throughout the week.

Apple has unveiled its first devices of the week with a new iPhone 17e – Apple's cheapest way into the iPhone ecosystem – which brings a new processor, MagSafe support, and double the base storage. Full details below.

However, Apple isn't done yet, with at least one more reveal due later this week. Not much is known about what exactly Apple has up its sleeve, but there are rumors abound that it has been gestating its first foldable iPhone for some time now, and might finally be ready to show the world. Apple's entry into the foldable market would certainly be monumental for the industry and surely catapult the foldable category into the mainstream.

Honor at MWC 2026

Fresh off becoming the fastest-growing smartphone brand in 2025, Honor has plenty of big announcements at MWC to keep the momentum going.

Honor has replaced its flagship folding phone a little earlier than expected. The Honor Magic V6 is set to take over from the Honor Magic V5, which was only launched around six months ago. Honor clearly sees foldables as a category it can stake a claim in. There is a new 200MP camera system borrowed from the Honor Magic 8 Pro, an improved 7,000mAh+ battery, and the latest Qualcomm chip.

Honor has also been teasing its Honor Robot concept gimbal camera device for the last few months, and we've now seen it up close at MWC. With Insta360 and Vivo set to enter the gimbal camera market that is currently dominated by DJI's Osmo Pocket 3, Honor's concept device comes at an exciting time, although it's still unclear if it become a mass-market reality.

Leica at MWC 2026

Leica is a suprise addition to this years MWC. We might be used to co-designing Xiaomi cameras, but this year it has a phone all of it's own. Leica is bringing it's previous Japanese exclusive Leitzphone line of phones to more markets.

The new 'Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi' is Leica's interpretation of the 'Xiaomi 17 Ultra by Leica', with a more Leica-centric design in line with thier cameras, a rotatable lens ring, and some classic Leica camera and lens emulation in the camera app. Read the full story below.

Nothing at MWC 2026

Nothing has its press conference booked in for March 5 at 10.30am GMT (05.30am EST / 02.30am PST) – although it is skipping the halls of MWC and heading to Nothing's home city of London for the announcement.

Nothing has already teased the Phone (4a) with Nothing's unique signature transparent design and brand new pink and blue colors. This will be the sequel to Nothing's budget-friendly Phone (3a), and from the early teases, it will include three cameras and Nothing's hallmark glyph lighting. The full announcement will be on March 5.

Last year, Nothing also announced a (3a) Pro version alongside the more vanilla option. While we don't have any official teasers yet, rumors point to Nothing launching sequels to both devices again this year, so watch this space!

Oppo at MWC 2026

Oppo is coming off one of its strongest years yet, with the Find X9 Pro being DCW's top phone of 2025.

Oppo has revealed that the next generation of Ultra phone is coming soon, following in the footsteps of last year's sensationally good, but Chinese-exclusive, Oppo Find X8 Ultra – but this time, it will be launched more internationally, with a European launch confirmed. These devices tend to come out a little later in spring; perhaps we might see a few more teasers before the show is over.

Otherwise, Oppo is not showing anything at MWC, but it was around MWC last year that Oppo released the Oppo Find N5 – at the time, the thinnest book-style foldable. We haven't yet got any conclusive leaks, but could MWC 2026 bring the next generation of Oppo's foldable phone – and will it finally be available in more markets?

Samsung at MWC 2026

Like most years, Samsung is forgoing any large-scale announcements at MWC 2026 and is instead grabbing its own spotlight before the show kicks off.

Samsung has just hosted its own Galaxy Unpacked event, where it debuted its latest 2026 flagships – the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, as well as the Galaxy S26 and Plus models.

The phones have all-around camera updates, but the headline feature is a very cool-looking privacy screen mode for hiding sensitive information, and of course, there is lots and lots of new AI. Check out more in our hands-on below.

Vivo at MWC 2026

Vivo has confirmed the first details of its upcoming flagship X300 Ultra – and Vivo is bringing the phone to more markets, with a European launch confirmed for later in the year.

The Vivo X300 Ultra will come with a brand new 400mm Zeiss lens attachment that combined with the 200MP telephoto sensor, Vivo claims can shoot up to a lossless 1600mm! The design is still under wraps at MWC, with the phone appearing only behind it's newly announced pro camera cage. We're expecting more details soon.

Xiaomi at MWC 2026

Xiaomi has already unveiled both its Xiaomi 17 Series and Xiaomi 17 Ultra phones in its Chinese home market, but now it has launched both phones globally.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra utilizes another huge 1-inch sensor, but this model is updated with LOFIC technology, which increases how much light the sensor can hold for improved night photography and HDR. That's not all, the phone also comes with a newly designed mechanical optical zoom – just like a proper camera zoom lens – which can physically move between 75mm and 100m. Check out the full story and my review of the phone below.

Xiaomi has also launched it's latest iPad challengers – the Pad 8 and Pad 8 Pro bringing new chips, a larger battery, and an updated workstation mode – alongside a new floating keyboard – to make the tablet experience more like a laptop.

Read more:
• Best camera phone
• Best Android phone for photography
• Best budget camera phones
• Best iPhone for photography

The 2025 Oppo Photography Awards has crowned its global winners, spotlighting some of the most compelling mobile photography from around the world.

In its biggest year yet, the competition drew nearly 2 million submissions from 87 countries, making it the most expansive edition in the awards’ history. The winning works are currently being showcased at the awards’ global finale in Cairo, Egypt, where I have gathered with creators from across the globe to see the winner crowned.

Now in its third iteration, the Oppo Photography Awards champions the theme “Super Every Moment,” inviting photographers to find the beauty of everyday life through striking images. The competition’s ethos centres on smartphones as a universal way to access photography, capturing emotion, culture, spontaneity, and human connection through the lens you have in your pocket.

At the top of the honours, the Gold Award was claimed by Boooya for “Dialect – The Fading Voice,” a poignant series exploring disappearing cultural traditions.

Among the three Silver Awards was Ray Cheung for “Person from Another Place,” a powerful street portrait from St. Petersburg. Judge Tina Signesdottir Hult praised its "simplicity, balanced tones, and ability to convey emotion without distraction."

Among the six Bronze Award winners, recognition was shared by Abdullah Salah for “Timeless Framing,” celebrating Egypt's rich equestrian sport heritage by capturing the traditional El Mermah.

Across dozens of other categories – including Snapshot, Live Photo, Photo Series, and Environment – the judges recognised both seasoned and emerging talents whose images transformed ordinary moments into memorable scenes.

This year's competition also features brand new accolades, such as Honorable Mention, Audience’s Choice, as well as Regional Awards, which reflect Oppo’s effort to amplify diverse visions from every corner of the globe.

With smartphones now firmly established as the most widely used photographic means, these 2025 Oppo Photography Award-winning images reaffirm that the best camera phones are capable of breathtaking images to rival the best mirrorless cameras.

You can see all the winners of the different categories at the Oppo Photography Awards 2025 website.

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Smartphones are increasingly stepping into territory once reserved for dedicated cameras. Where several years ago a phone might be a decent alternative to a cheap point and shoot, the latest generation have their crosshairs aimed squarely on more serious camera setups – and the latest Oppo Find X9 Pro is very much part of leading that charge.

Oppo absolutely highlights imaging above all else in its phones. The Find X8 Ultra was an absolute powerhouse for photography – and even convinced my colleague Kalum to ditch his dedicated camera.

The Oppo Find X9 Pro continues in this vein, not only adding a new, more resolution-packed sensor and computational photography, but from its close partnership with Hasselblad, it's bringing a new game-changing lens accessory that might be the start of a new chapter of mobile photography.

I have been testing the Find X9 Pro for several weeks across the UK, Europe, and Mexico, and – and watch out, Google and Samsung – I think it's the most exciting Pro phone of the year.

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Specifications

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Price

Unfortunately, this is yet another incredible Chinese phone that won’t be making its way to the States. You can try and import it, but just be cautious and check that it works with your carrier and network bands. Elsewhere, the X9 Pro will be launching for £1099 in the UK, €1299 in Europe, and AU$2299 in Australia. The global version of the X9 Pro comes in just one configuration: 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. Likely plenty of space for most users, but taking advantage of new features like 200MP images or 4K/120 LOG video is going to fill it up fast.

The X9 Pro is a pricey phone, but its price is firmly in line with the latest flagships from Samsung and Google. Oppo might still be a lesser-known brand in many markets, but the X9 Pro is every bit a flagship device as those coming from the more established players – and it often surpasses them. If you decide to take the plunge, then Oppo will give you five years of Android updates and six years of security updates for a little more peace of mind.

The biggest disappointment is that the Hasselblad teleconverter kit is currently not being sold through official channels, which is a shame for an accessory I think is a game-changer for how much extra it can unlock from the X9 Pro’s cameras. You can import the Teleconverter Kit from eBay and Alibaba, but take extra caution for scams and import fees.

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Design

The Find X9 Pro comes in two colours – Silk White and Titanium Charcoal (not actually titanium). They are both really nice premium-looking devices, featuring soft matte glass backs surrounded by a metallic aluminum frame that resists fingerprints. It feels good in the hand – the taper into the frame from the last model has become a little sharper, and it makes the phone slightly less slippery to hold. I'm a klutz, so I did manage to drop the phone a couple of times, but the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 has held up really well, and there is nothing to show for my clumsiness. There is also a factory-applied film screen protector that has taken the brunt of a few more minor scratches.

The most noticeable change from the X8 Pro is to the camera island. Where previous iterations of the Find X series have featured a centred circular island, the X9 Pro moves this up into a square in the top corner. While there are only so many ways to design a phone, it's a camera layout we’ve certainly seen before. It's very similar to a design that the iPhone had been sporting for years, and more problematic, it's also nearly identical to the upcoming OnePlus 15.

However, it's still a move I like. I think it makes the phone look overall smaller and tidier. It also has the benefit of putting the cameras slightly more out of the way of fingers coating the lenses with grease – a problem that plagues me when I use the X8 Ultra. The bump is still significant at around half the thickness of the whole device, but the base of the bump makes for a natural finger rest, and actually improves grip.

I do really like the X9 Pro design, and it looks great sitting on my desk right now, but if I did have to find a criticism (kind of my job), it's maybe not the most eye-catching phone on the market. Everything is just very subtle. On the white model I have, the embossed Oppo logo just blends into the back of the phone.

I do wonder if there was space for a more eye-catching hero colour or finish to make the X9 Pro stand out from the crowd – especially with the iPhone getting a bold redesign this year, and Google and Samsung having quite established, identifying camera setups.

I’m just not sure I’d instantly recognise an X9 Pro on the street or the subway in the way I do with other brands.

For thickness and weight, X9 Pro isn’t going to challenge the iPhone Air or Samsung S25 Edge, but at 8.25mm thick (not including the camera bump) and 224g, it's an imperceptible difference from other flagships in this class. Sitting the X9 Pro next to the Pixel 10 Pro XL right now, they look identical to my eye, and I can’t tell them apart by feel alone.

Around the edge of the phone, there is the usual power button and volume rocker along the right-hand side, with the USB-C port, speaker, and dual-SIM tray at the bottom.

The camera button remains. I have never found these buttons on any device particularly useful, and the X9 Pro doesn’t do a lot to change that. The button is not where my finger naturally sits, and I find it too fiddly and imprecise compared to just using the icons on the screen. You can also set the volume down button as a quick camera key and shutter button, which I prefer.

The final button is what Oppo calls the Snap Key, which is a customisable function button. By default, it is set to save screenshots to Oppo’s new AI Mind Space app (more later), but you can set it to turn on the flashlight, bedtime mode, translate, or more.

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Display

The Find X9 Pro is sporting a 6.78-inch AMOLED display, with a uniform 1.15mm bezel on all sides, giving the phone a 95.5% screen-to-body ratio. The screen is also completely flat with no curve or taper, which thankfully seems to be the norm again for screen design.

It is a really good-looking display, and gives the best a run for their money. With a 1272x2772 resolution (450ppi), the screen is very sharp, its 1-120Hz (LPTO) variable refresh rate has kept all motion and animations silky smooth so far, and the display gets plenty bright too with a 1800nits HBM brightness. Even in the midday Mexican sun where I was testing the device, I didn’t struggle to read text on the phone. The brightness can also drop all the way down to just 1nit for those times you don’t want to illuminate somewhere dark, like a movie theatre, or in my case, a red-eye flight.

There are also the latest eyecare features, including 2160Hz PWM dimming, and blue light filters, as well as clever little touches like Motion Cues, which add little dots to the side of the screen to help prevent motion sickness in cars.

Colors on the display look gorgeous and accurate. The screen is capable of displaying 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut or 1.07 billion colours, but Oppo screens offer a decent level of customization. There are three default color spaces – Standard, Natural, and Vivid – you’ll likely find one you like (my personal preference is Vivid for its neutral white balance but brighter colors), but you can also tweak the white balance in any of these spaces to your liking. For photography/video work directly edited on an X9 Pro, I would be happy to trust the colors on the X9 Pro screen.

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Camera Performance

After using the Oppo Find X8 Ultra earlier in the year on a trip to China and declaring it the “king of phone photography”, it is still my go-to photography phone. The X9 Pro isn’t an Ultra device, but if anything can rise to the challenge, then it's surely the start of the next generation of the Find X Series.

While it can’t match the incredible camera hardware of the Ultra, Oppo has still managed to fit in a selection of hugely impressive sensors, from the 50MP 1/1.28-inch main sensor with a f/1.5 aperture, to the whopping 200MP 1/1.56-inch f/2.1 telephoto sensor, which Oppo claims is calibrated down to the pixel level. The telephoto sensor is not quite as big as the latest Vivo X300 Pro, but this hardware eclipses what you’ll find from most mainstream rivals’ telephotos at the price point, with it being twice as large as the new sensor found in the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The default focal length for the telephoto camera is 70mm equivalent (or 3x), perfect for portraits, food shots, and capturing close-up details. In good light, the camera is incredibly sharp at this length, with great dynamic range. At night, you’re better off going for the larger main camera sensor if possible, but the telephoto can be great with static subjects, and I got a few nighttime portraits that I am really pleased with. Texture drops off slightly, but you can still get excellent results.

Anyone longing for a secondary 6x camera needn’t worry, the 200MP resolution also allows the X9 Pro to achieve up to a pretty incredible lossless zoom up to 308mm or 13.2x through some pixel math. In good light, the results are fantastic, with the 6x zoom often passing for a dedicated 6x lens, although at 308mm, images can lose a little sharpness, and results do become muddier as the light falls.

You can zoom all the way to a massive 2800mm or 120x, which will kick in the AI to help clean up images. This is a bit of a mixed bag, depending on what you are shooting. Subjects with lots of detail won’t stand a chance, with the AI smoothing out almost all textures, but things like skylines with lots of buildings with easily traceable lines and blocky shapes, the AI does okay.

The telephoto lens is also used for macro photography, with a minimum focus distance of just 9cm, you can get in pretty close to subjects, and the detail captured is pretty phenomenal, often with results not a million miles away from a professional macro lens. The only minor frustration in macro mode is not having any fine-tuning over the aperture or artificial blur. I found that often parts of a subject, like an insect's wing or the stamen of a flower, were blurred out despite being on the same focal plane.

Rounding out the rest of the cameras. The wide camera is excellent, it uses Oppo’s Ultra XDR tech, which maximises the dynamic range and gives some pretty impressive results without being too heavy-handed and turning the sky into a deep, unrealistic blue like many other cameras. Sharpness is good, with plenty of detail for cropping, or the camera can shoot up to 2x lossless.

In a rarity, the ultra-wide camera isn’t half bad either. I usually don’t like an ultrawide, and the X9 Pro hasn’t really changed my mind, but I actually found myself using it more often than I usually do. Sharpness, colors, and dynamic range are all pretty good.

However, arguably the best camera in the whole system is the hidden fourth 2MP camera you can’t actually use. Inherited from the X8 Ultra, this is Oppo’s color spectrum camera, which reads a scene and applies optimal color balance across portions of the frame rather than the whole image. It worked wonders in the X8 Ultra, and I’m pleased to say it does it again here.

Flicking between the lenses on phones is usually cause for concern, with color consistency often being thrown completely out of sync between sensors, but the X9 Pro is pretty consistent across the board, with only the occasional wobble in harsh light.

It also performs well at night. In challenging street scenes with colored directional lights (made harder by the colorful Day of the Dead costumes I was photographing), the colors in the image were pretty bang on.

The X9 Pro has a new party trick of being the first phone to take 50MP photos by default – sometimes. The camera will only take 50MP photos in good light, when it doesn’t need to combine pixels to improve quality. I couldn’t quite work out what the actual cut-off was for how much light was needed, as even some cloudy days restricted the default capture to 14MP.

Sometimes, even two consecutive images of the same subject were at different resolutions. It would be really useful to have some sort of indicator flash up if you can achieve a 50MP shot.

If the camera isn’t going to default to 50MP, or you don’t want to risk not getting that high-res shot, you can force the camera to take 50MP photos in the dedicated Hasselblad Hi-Res mode. This mode also allows you to capture 200MP images using the telephoto camera, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, are massive, unwieldy files, so should only be taken for a special moment. You can also turn on 4K motion photos in this mode, which again, will take up significantly more space in your storage.

Lastly, video also gets a meaningful upgrade this year. The Find X9 Pro can now record 4K at up to 120fps, giving you the freedom to capture smoother, high-resolution slow motion. Oppo has also added Dolby Vision HDR and a LOG recording option, both of which will appeal to creators who want more flexibility when editing.

Dolby Vision preserves highlight and shadow detail straight out of the camera, while LOG captures a flatter image that’s designed for colour grading in post. It’s not going to replace a dedicated video camera, but as a compact tool for travel shooting or social content, the X9 Pro offers a genuinely useful level of control.

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Hasselblad Teleconverter

Launched alongside the X9 Pro is the new Hasselblad Teleconverter adapter, which teams up with the phone's telephoto lens to magnify the native focal length by 3.28x, resulting in a minimum focal length of 230mm (10x), up to a lossless 920mm (40x).

While this is Oppo’s first foray into lens adapters, it's not a new concept; we’ve recently seen Vivo leaning into this with the X300, and for years, third-party solutions from companies like Moment and Shiftcam have been available. These are really cool bits of kit, and as we potentially head to the limits of camera phone hardware, these lenses might be the next step in phone photography.

The setup is relatively simple but fiddly: you clip the case on, then you slide down a second cover over the camera module with the lens mount, then twist to lock the lens in place. The case and connections all feel sturdy and secure; however, there is no official hand grip here to balance out the lens, so it can feel a little precarious to hold.

The case also has the flaw of covering the other lenses on the phone, so each time you want to swap cameras, you need to slide the cover off, which isn’t hard, but it is annoying. Once removed, however, there is the question of carrying the lens; you either need to carry it attached to the small cover, which is hard to slip into a pocket, or take it apart and risk losing the small connecting cover. I hope for the Mark II version, Oppo ditches the cover piece altogether and builds the mount directly into the main case – with cutouts for the main and ultrawide.

The image from the lens is inverted, so to effectively use the lens, you have to go into the dedicated Hasselblad Telephoto Adapter module in the camera app. Firstly, this is far too long a name to display properly on the bottom bar. But secondly, this means that you can only use the lens with standard photo and video; there is no option to use the teleconverter in portrait mode, master mode, pro video, night mode, time-lapse, etc, which is frustrating, and I really hope that in future updates, Oppo can build a teleconverter toggle in other modes in the camera app.

But after all that nitpicking, is it actually worth using? And the short answer is an emphatic yes! Results from the lens are outstanding, and far beyond what is achievable using the standard telephoto lens zoom alone. The detail that the 200MP sensor, plus adapter, is able to reproduce is unreal for a phone. In good light, I was picking up individual feathers on a bird, or stands of hair; it's remarkable. The compression of the lens also gives a pro camera look to images, and in some shooting situations, I might well struggle to tell if I took these on the Oppo or a dedicated camera.

However, it’s not all a perfect first attempt. For close-up shots, I would love a bit more control over the depth of field, as the phone naturally chooses to keep it very tight, which is fine for subjects shot straight-on, but can be too narrow for subjects over a wider focal plane. A portrait mode style aperture slider would be great, or making the teleconverter compatible with master mode could unleash this lens for taking photos of insects, flowers, and other tiny details.

You can also zoom beyond 40x (with the zoom topping out at 200x with the converter), although, like the regular zoom, this is using AI to improve images, so it's a mixed bag depending on your subject, with 200x usually being far too ambitious to get serviceable results you'd want to show off.

Above: the Hasselbald teleconveter lens vs the native digital zoom

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Phone Performance

The Find X9 Pro is powered by the latest flagship processor from MediaTek – the Dimensity 9500 – alongside a healthy 16GB of RAM, and it simply flies. Day to day, I have experienced no slowdowns, hung apps, or wonky animations. Oppo keeps doing this demonstration where it opens and closes dozens of apps in quick succession to show how fast the OS is. It’s absolute madness, but it really does work.

Editing photos and videos is really slick. I usually like to stick to Google Photos as it’s what I know, and consistent across devices, but the default Oppo Photos app is impressively powerful and visually very nice to use. Adjustments in the app apply very quickly, and even several stacked adjustments don’t slow down the processing. The video editor is also surprisingly powerful, with the option to splice multiple videos together, add music, text, filters, and frames – it's pretty much TikTok-ready.

The AI tools have also become faster and grown in number since the X8. The typical AI Object Eraser, Detail Enhance, and Reflection Remover are quicker to use with improved results. These are also joined by newer options, including AI portrait re-light, which uses AI magic to even out lighting on faces in shadowy portraits – it's eerily natural looking and is fast becoming one of my most used editing features.

The crowning achievement of the X9 Pro, though, is the battery – this thing is an absolute unstoppable monster. I have never gotten battery life like this from a phone before. The X9 Pro has a huge 7500mAh cell, which, for context, has 50% more capacity than the iPhone 17 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. This is achieved through a next-gen silicon-carbon material, which is a more dense material capable of holding more charge than typical Li-ion batteries. Yet it doesn’t slow down charging speeds with a maximum 80W SUPERVOOC compatible wired charger, or up to 50W AIRVOOC wireless charging – although disappointingly, there is no Qi2 compatibility for magnetic alignment without a case, which I would take every time over AIRVOOC.

In real-world terms, I was getting well over a day of heavy use from the X9 Pro. That was going out all day, using 4G/5G, taking photos and videos, messaging, maps, browsing the web, calling up Gemini. It's the first time I haven’t had to worry about getting my phone on charge before I fall asleep. On days with light use, typically working from home, I have gone two full days between charges.

Also, a shout-out to Oppo’s connectivity. While testing the X9 Pro, I have also been using the Pixel 10 Pro XL, alongside the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and iPhone 17 Pro Max. All of which, when connected to the same network, in the same location, struggled for signal or speed – where the Oppo didn’t.

Oppo Find X9 Pro: Verdict

Oppo might not be the first name that springs to mind when you think flagship Android phone, but with the Find X9 Pro – perhaps it should be. If it wasn’t for another Oppo phone – the Oppo Find X8 Ultra – I would easily name the X9 Pro as the best camera phone of the year. Where other mainstream brands' cameras have somewhat stagnated over the last few generations, the X9 Pro feels like a breath of fresh air.

Quality across all three cameras is excellent, with some of the best consistency between lenses I have seen yet; colors are natural, and thanks to the dedicated color spectrum camera, very accurate. By itself, the 200MP telephoto lens is an absolute star of the show, managing to pull so much detail out of subjects so far away, but combined with the optional Hasselblad telephoto adapter, it's a game-changer for phone photography, and an accessory I think everyone buying this phone should seek out.

Outside of the cameras, it's a beautiful and premium-looking phone, although maybe slightly bland. Moving the camera array to the top corner is a big plus; it's now easier to wrap your hand around the phone without getting grease on the lenses. But the thing that sold me on the X9 Pro almost as much as the cameras is the battery that just keeps going; this thing is a two-day monster, and I now struggle with the daily disappointment of my Pixel.

It’s hard to break up with your phone, but if you are a photographer who is bored with the big brand’s iterative updates and is willing to try something new, I think after a few weeks with the Oppo Find X9 Pro, you won’t regret it.

Alternatives

Oppo’s new Find X9 Pro has arrived this week as one of the most ambitious camera phones of the year. It’s the first from the company to feature a 200-megapixel Hasselblad telephoto camera, co-engineered with the revered Swedish camera maker. It’s built around a 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/2.1, an optically stabilized periscope lens, and can achieve up to 13.2x zoom or up to 120x with a little AI-assistance.

The telephoto is accompanied by a 50 MP main camera with a fast f/1.5 aperture, a 50MP ultra-wide sensor, as well as a dedicated True Color camera that measures spectral light to improve color consistency across all the lenses. And if all that wasn’t enough, in good light, the cameras can also default to full-resolution 50MP images across all lenses, as well as a dedicated 200 MP Hi-Res mode on the telephoto, and can record live motion photos in 4K quality.

In most phones, these specs would be more than enough to make any photographer's mouth water. But Oppo has thrown in one more little treat – an optional Hasselblad co-engineered teleconverter lens. This lens clips onto the back of the X9 Pro using a special case and extends the telephoto camera’s reach by 3.28x, or 230mm in full frame equivalence, and up to whopping 920mm using lossless zoom.

It won’t deny that the lens looks a little outlandish sticking out of the rear of the phone as I’ve been walking around, but for the results – it’s been worth it. So much so that I am actually a little hooked on using it. As a photographer who for years has had to carry around bulky kit and several lenses, the fact that I can carry around just my phone and a small cigar-sized lens, but get incredibly good photos throughout a 15mm to 920mm zoom range is unbelievable.

I won’t get ahead of myself; professional photographers don’t need to panic (yet at least). In terms of image quality, subject separation, and bokeh, it's not ready to replace a dedicated professional large sensor camera and a wide-aperture telephoto lens. But the results from the X9 are incredibly sharp – and dare I say it, some of the least phone-like images I have seen yet.

This, however, is a setup that will surely make bridge cameras and a lot of compact cameras downright obsolete. I would personally struggle to understand why anyone would choose a large, bulky bridge camera over the more svelte option of the X9 Pro with camera-rivalling image quality, and also the added benefit of being, you know, a phone.

I won't pour one out for the bridge camera just yet, but if more companies jump on the camera adapter train, its days might well be numbered!

You can take a look below at some of the sample images I have captured over the last few weeks with the Oppo Find X9 Pro and the Hasselblad telephoto adapter and judge for yourself.

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After weeks of teasers and slow reveals, Oppo has finally unveiled the global versions of its latest flagship smartphones – the Oppo Find X9 Pro and Oppo Find X9.

This is the next generation of the well-reviewed Find X8 Pro and Find X8 Ultra, the latter of which I called “the new king of phone photography”.

The X9 Series continues a strong emphasis on imaging performance, both models debut new Hasselblad-tuned camera systems, enhanced computational photography, and professional video features – alongside an optional new Hasselblad teleconverter accessory.

Camera Specs

The Find X9 Pro introduces a brand new 200-megapixel telephoto camera, co-developed with Hasselblad, with a 3x optical zoom, but up to 13.2x lossless zoom by utilizing pixel binning techniques with all two hundred of those megapixels. The zoom can also extend all the way up to 120x using some AI-assistance. The sensor is Samsung’s 1/1.56-inch ISOCELL HP5 sensor with an f/2.1 aperture and optical image stabilization, which looks to be a more megapixel-packed version of the sensor found in the Find X8 Ultra.

The telephoto lens design also includes floating focus elements that enable macro photography at distances as close as 10cm. And in “Hi-Res” mode, you can capture full 200MP stills – although at the cost of some hefty file sizes and limited compatibility.

In the X9 Pro, the telephoto lens is joined by a 50MP Sony LYT-828 main camera (1/1.28-inch, f/1.5, OIS) and a 50MP 15mm ultra-wide Samsung JN5 sensor (f/2.0, autofocus). The X9 also features the dedicated True Color camera that debuted in the X8 Ultra, which uses an 8-channel spectral sensor that measures color temperature variations across a frame for improved color accuracy.

Meanwhile, the standard Find X9 features a 50MP Sony LYT-808 main camera (1/1.4-inch, f/1.6, OIS), a 50MP LYT-600 periscope telephoto (1/1.95-inch, f/2.6, OIS), and the same 50MP ultra-wide and True Color sensor.

With Hasselblad still very much involved in both phones, they include the Hasselblad Master Camera modes, including XPAN panoramic shooting, adjustable portrait focal lengths, and manual control in Master Mode for RAW and high-resolution JPEG files.

The Find X9 series introduces “Ultra-Clear 50 MP Default” capture, allowing the phones to save full-resolution 50MP stills by default, rather than the typical down-sampled outcome, although the phones will adjust their resolution depending on the lighting conditions for the best image quality possible. Motion photos have also got an upgrade, and the X9s can record motion (or live) photos in 4K for the first time.

For video, both models support 4K recording at up to 120fps in Dolby Vision HDR. A Pro Video mode offers LOG capture with ACES-certified color management for post-production workflows. Stabilization, autofocus, and exposure transitions have been refined to ensure smoother operation when switching lenses.

Hasselblad teleconverter

In a first for Oppo, the X9 Pro is being released alongside an optional new Hasselblad teleconverter lens that attaches to the rear of the phone using a bespoke phone case. This mirrors a trend seen in ultra phone models this year, with the Vivo X200 Ultra and X300 Pro leading the charge – although there have been plenty of third-party alternatives floating around for years.

But combined with the Oppo X9 Pro’s 200MP telephoto camera, the lens can increase the focal length to 230mm, or up to a lossless 920mm, which makes it an incredibly powerful addition for wildlife, sports, or concert photography.

Other Specs

The Find X9 Pro features a 6.78-inch AMOLED LTPO display with a 2772x1272 resolution, and 1.15mm uniform bezels around all four sides. It supports HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HDR Vivid, with 2160 Hz PWM dimming for reduced eye-strain. Meanwhile, the Find X9 uses a slightly smaller 6.59-inch AMOLED panel, with a 2760x1256 resolution. Both models have a peak brightness of 3,600 nits and use faster 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanners.

Battery life has got a significant upgrade. The Find X9 Pro has a 7,500mAh battery, while the Find X9 fits 7,025mAh. Both use Oppo’s third-generation silicon-carbon battery technology, rated to retain 80% of capacity after five years of regular use. Charging options include 80W SUPERVOOC wired, 50W AIRVOOC wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging.

Both phones should also be durable, with IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings protecting against dust, immersion, and high-pressure water jets. The Pro model measures 8.25 mm thick, while the standard version comes in at 7.99 mm.

Both handsets are powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 processor and ship with ColorOS 16 based on Android 16. Hardware changes see a new Snap Key on the side frame that can be customized for functions such as launching the camera or taking screenshots to be stored in Oppo’s AI-organizer called “Mind Space”. The Pro model also adds a Quick Button for faster shooting and camera zoom control.

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I’m not a landscape photographer. I’ve taken photographs of landscapes for assignments when they fit a story, but a traditional landscape photographer I am not.

I’ve recently come to realize that I don’t have the patience for what most people consider 'landscape photography'; tripods, filters and waiting for the perfect light. I shoot landscapes much like street photography – shifting moments, reactions to shape and texture, a dialogue with what’s in front of me – rather than planning a perfect composition.

So when I decided to take my camera phone out for an hour on the Gower coast, I wasn’t trying to emulate a typical landscape shoot. I wanted to see how the phone would respond to how I see.

The phone I used was the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, which I’ve been experimenting with for months across different genres; first street, now landscape. I didn’t have any expectations beyond curiosity, but the results honestly surprised me. The level of detail, the dynamic range and the tonal control made the images feel clean and balanced, which enabled me to process them with flexibility.

Because the phone is small and responsive, I didn’t overthink it. There was no pressure to set up, no tripod to adjust. Just me and the coastline. That same responsiveness also meant I could quickly turn and capture a passing herd of cows, not quite a landscape, but it added to the story, grounding the set in a lived moment rather than a constructed scene.

When it came to editing, I processed the images in my usual style, adding texture and pulling back on sharpness and definition. Most phone images default to being overly crisp and hyper-real, which can feel clinical. I prefer something softer, closer to how I felt in the moment rather than how it looked.

My images are typically always in black-and-white, so it’s less about reproducing the scene and more about translating the atmosphere; the quietness, the weight or lack of clouds, the texture of stone.

I haven’t tried printing them yet, but for a world that mostly lives digitally, the images are more than acceptable. They hold up beautifully on a screen which, if we’re honest, is where most photography is seen today anyway – unfortunately.

Modern camera phones continue to surprise me. They won’t replace a full-frame camera setup for professional work or large prints, but they do enable me to keep photographing when I otherwise might not.

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If you fancy trying landscape photography on your phone, you might want to check out our tutorial: How to take landscape photographs on your phone. If you want to go about things more conventionally, take a look at the best cameras for landscape photography and the best lenses for landscapes, along with these great landscape photography tips.

I’ve been experimenting with using my phone for different genres of photography lately, and this time I’ve taken it to the streets.

I must preface this article by stating I don't consider myself a street photographer – and in fact, I slightly disagree with the naming of the genre. However, what is considered 'street photography' has always been about speed, instinct and discretion – and it turns out that a camera phone might be the perfect tool.

With the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, I can blend in effortlessly. A dedicated camera can sometimes feel like a red flag on the street, drawing attention before I’ve even raised it to my eye. With a phone, I can disappear into the flow of the crowd, passing as just another tourist scrolling through maps.

That compactness and disguise make me bolder, more willing to step into moments that I might otherwise miss.

The other advantage is speed. Street scenes shift in an instant, but with the Find X8 Ultra I can grab the phone from my pocket and shoot almost instantly. No fiddling with straps or digging into bags; just point, react and capture. That immediacy feels truer to the spirit of street photography, where timing is everything.

Then there’s what’s specific to the Oppo. Even though I shoot predominantly black-and-white, the Hasselblad partnership gives this phone genuinely beautiful color science, with film simulations that carry a richness and versatility.

It’s fun to shoot with. I can toggle through looks, experiment with tones and find the mood that best matches the atmosphere of the street. The menu system is clean and intuitive, enabling me to focus on reacting to the moment rather than navigating settings.

(You can see examples of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra's color science in the images I shot during a recent trip to Sweden.)

Of course, there are limitations. The smaller sensor can’t match the depth or dynamic range of my dedicated cameras, and I wouldn’t trade them for serious projects, especially if I wanted to print large.

But as a tool for walking, observing and staying nimble, the Find X8 Ultra has surprised me. It’s freed me from overthinking, reminding me that street photography is less about the gear and more about being present.

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If street photography is your thing, you might want to check out our guide on the best cameras for street photography, and also a recent book release by street photography icon Daido Moriyama titled Quartet.

I’ve long been a fan of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra. It’s the camera phone I often reach for instead of my compact camera, a testament to just how capable Oppo’s partnership with Hasselblad has made smartphone photography. So naturally, when Oppo started teasing the Find X9 series, I was paying very close attention.

The teasers so far suggest that the Find X9 series, likely coming in standard and Pro versions like the X8, is set to build on everything that made its predecessor so compelling. Oppo has confirmed that the series will be powered by MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 9500 chipset, promising substantial performance and efficiency gains.

According to Oppo, this new "third-generation All-Big-Core" architecture, combined with their Trinity Engine, should deliver not only smoother everyday performance but also longer battery life and better graphics handling, even at high frame rates.

On the design front, Oppo China has teased new colors – Matte Titanium, Frost White, and Matte Black – along with what they describe as a "perfect straight screen" and cold-sculpted glass for the lens assembly. Even if colors aren’t everything, it’s clear Oppo is doubling down on premium finishes and thoughtful details.

But for me, the real story is the camera system. During a recent Weibo livestream, Oppo showcased a Hasselblad Professional Teleconverter Kit: a magnetic case, lens, and two adapters.

While the packaging was only partially revealed, it appears this 3.28x teleconverter turns the X9 Pro’s 70mm telephoto lens into an optical 230mm lens. For context, that’s a huge jump over Vivo’s Zeiss 2.35x teleconverter, and it suggests Oppo is really thinking about versatility for photographers and content creators.

I’ve always loved the Oppo x Hasselblad camera system, the color science, the sharpness, the intuitiveness, but the X8 Ultra lacked an external photography kit comparable to, say, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. If the X9 series delivers both the teleconverter and improved optics, it could become my go-to tool for mobile photography in ways I didn’t expect.

Nothing is official yet beyond teasers, and the October 16th launch date currently appears to be for Asia specifically. But from what I’m seeing, Oppo is clearly aiming to give creators more flexibility, more reach, and more options than ever before.

I never thought I’d say this but, in 2025, I’ve used my phone for photography more than my camera.

For years, my go-to everyday shooter was the Fujifilm X100F. It’s compact, discreet and perfect for street work. But lately, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra has been the device I’ve reached for most often – and it’s been more fun than I expected.

The big reason is portability. The X100F is small, but the phone is even smaller, lighter and always in my pocket. That makes it perfect for those spontaneous moments when you wouldn't normally have a 'proper' camera with you.

Earlier this year, I had just two hours in a Swedish fishing village. I only had my phone with me but, in that short window, I managed to shoot a complete photo series. Normally, I’d think I needed my camera and lenses. Instead, the phone pushed me to work quickly, focus on composition and trust my instincts.

Another reason is focal length. I don’t like shooting wide, and I’ve often felt limited by compact cameras that don’t give me enough reach. The X8 Ultra’s telephoto options better fit the way I see the world. I’ve been tempted by cameras like the Ricoh GR IV but, for now, the phone actually suits me more. Perhaps if we see a 40mm version like the GR IIIx.

Then there’s video. Photography has always been my first love, but I’m shooting more short-form video than ever. With the Find X8 Ultra, I can move seamlessly from stills to video with a swipe. More than once, I’ve been lining up a photo only to realize the scene would work better as a moving image. Having that option in the same device keeps my process fluid.

Finally, there’s sharing. I’ve found myself doing less post-processing this year with this sort of daily work – and with the phone, I can get an image or video out almost instantly.

I’m not giving up my Fujifilm GFX cameras, which are still my top choice for larger projects. But in 2025, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra reminded me that photography can be simple, spontaneous and fun.

On a recent trip to Gothenburg, Sweden, I had several eye-opening experiences with my photography. The biggest? I left my compact camera behind and relied entirely on my phone.

I’ve recently written that I was impressed by the performance of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, in particular the image quality, and the response to the images once I had shared them was overwhelmingly positive.

The Hasselblad imaging system was a major reason I trusted the phone over a dedicated camera for this trip. But there was another reason that I later discovered: stealth.

Stealth is a powerful tool for any photographer. Wildlife and bird photographers rely on it, of course, but in recent years it’s become just as important in street photography. Candid images capture genuine moments that aren’t staged, showing the world as it is rather than how we want it to appear.

I used that to my advantage at the Gothenburg Museum of Art (Göteborgs konstmuseum), where I explored an incredible exhibition titled Apocalypse (an exhibition I can't recommend highly enough).

Using a phone enabled me to move quietly, freely, photographing the exhibits without worrying about being stopped by security or drawing attention from other visitors in the frame. With a phone in hand I looked like any other tourist, not a photographer pulling out a chunky stills camera. It was freeing.

Of course, stealth alone wouldn’t have mattered if the phone couldn’t handle the museum’s biggest challenge: extremely low light conditions.

This is where the Oppo Find X8 Ultra impressed me most, especially shooting in black-and-white to match the mood of the subject matter (although on reflection, I realize that I also shot with a higher contrast style in mind, so perhaps not ideal for showcasing the best of the phone's capabilities, but nevertheless it did what I wanted it to).

Despite its small sensor, the X8 Ultra delivered exceptional dynamic range and detail in the dim conditions of the gallery. Its low-light performance is genuinely impressive.

There’s a reason DxOMark ranks it as the number one camera phone on the market, noting, "The OPPO Find X8 Ultra ranks at the top of our database for detail preservation. Across a wide range of conditions, it consistently delivers a high level of detail with natural, realistic rendering, particularly noticeable in portrait shots.

"Compared to other leading flagship devices, it outperforms competitors in challenging lighting environments, such as low light or night scenes, where it retains fine textures and minimizes detail loss more effectively."

ABOVE: A gallery of images taken at the Apocolypse exhibition

After this experience, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra might be my camera of the year so far. It’s fun to use, and its image quality and feature set challenge those of my compact camera.

Over the next few weeks, I thought it might be fun to put it through even more real-world tests: street photography, landscapes, portraits. If it keeps performing like this, I might just cash in on the compact camera craze and sell mine.

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It appears we’re in the season for plenty of new budget tablet releases, and the latest to cross my fingertips is the Oppo Pad SE. This is a budget 11-inch model from the popular smartphone manufacturer, which could be one of the best iPad alternatives if you’re looking for a low-cost Android tablet.

Being a budget model, the specs are fairly basic, but there’s enough processing power to perform a range of tasks including entertainment, basic gaming and basic photo editing. The Oppo Pad SE is far from a productivity tablet, but it is reasonably agile when it’s not put under too much pressure.

The Oppo Pad SE is available in several different configurations, and the model sent for testing offers 128GB of storage, 4GB and WiFi connectivity. The 11-inch screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which makes the tablet feel compact and easy to hold in one hand when used in portrait and landscape orientations.

The screen is, however, only HD with a lackluster pixel density, so it’s not the most crisp offering at this price point, but it is nice and bright. The battery is something of a beast at 9340mAh, and offers 33W SUPERVOOC charging, so it does provide long life and fast charging when paired up with a charger of 33W or above.

Oppo Pad SE: Specifications

Oppo Pad SE: Price

There are several Oppo Pad SE models available with two different screens alongside a WiFi-only and WiFi plus LTE connectivity. The Oppo Pad SE is available in two colors: Starlight Silver and Twilight Blue. The model reviewed is the base model, which has the standard glossy screen, WiFi connectivity, 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. This model costs £219 / AU$399, but isn’t available in the United States.

When considering similar basic tablets in terms of specs, the Oppo Pad SE base model we reviewed sits at the more expensive end of the scale. This means that you can get the same for less elsewhere, often with higher resolution screens, but you may choose this tablet because you would like an Oppo model.

Oppo Pad SE: Design & Handling

Like most budget tablets these days, the Oppo Pad SE does a great job of masquerading as a higher-end device. It has a metal body that helps to produce the illusion, and it feels good in the hand, whether using the tablet in portrait or landscape orientations. The metal body is lightly textured, which offers a degree of grip and is useful if you plan on using the tablet without a case.

Despite the tablet’s comfort when used without a case, this will leave the device vulnerable to scratches on the metal body, possible damage to the rear camera that protrudes slightly from the body and also damage to the screen. The review model came in Twilight Blue, which is a pleasing colour visible on the sides and rear of the tablet, but this would be mostly hidden if the tablet is kept in a case.

This is an 11-inch model but with a 16:10 aspect ratio, so it feels like it’s quite compact compared to tablets with a 7:5 aspect ratio. This puts it at 10.04x6.55x0.29 in / 254.9x166.4x7.39mm with a weight of 18.7oz / 530g, which makes it comfortable to hold in one hand in portrait and landscape orientations.

Ports and controls on the device are limited, but you have everything you need with an on/off button on the top side of the tablet and a couple of sound control buttons on the side. Then there’s a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, a couple of microphones, front and rear-facing cameras and four speakers.

On the subject of the speakers, they’re pretty good and produce a pleasing sound that’s best in the middle and the trebles. Bass, like most tablets, even more expensive models, lacks depth. It’s not horrendous, but it’s not going to provide the sound quality you’d enjoy with wireless earbuds or headphones. The four speakers also provide a noticeable stereo sound, whichever orientation the tablet is held in.

The screen is one of the most important parts of any tablet, and while it is good, it’s not outstanding. Resolution and pixel density are lower than some competitor models, so although the screen produces a decent image, it lacks the clarity of higher resolution screens.

The screen is 11in / 27.94cm with an FHD 1920x1200px resolution rather than 2.5K. The pixel density is 207ppi with a 500-nit maximum brightness. The brightness is great and only 100 nits less bright than the higher-end OnePlus Pad 3. The refresh is adaptive at 60/90Hz. So, nothing amazing here, nothing too bad either, but certainly not class-leading.

The model reviewed also has the standard glossy screen, although there is a model with an Anti-Reflective Matte Display. This display is claimed to offer a paper-like reading and viewing experience with reduced glare from sunlight and indoor lighting, while being almost entirely fingerprint and reflection-free.

The reviewed model had the standard glossy screen, which is highly reflective and a fingerprint magnet. It’s a shame the matte screen isn’t standard. Other screen credentials include a low-blue light and flicker-free TÜV Rheinland certification. While Bedtime Mode automatically adjusts the brightness based on your environment.

Oppo Pad SE: Performance

The Oppo Pad SE runs the ColorOS 15 operating system that provides a smooth tablet experience with a few interesting features thrown in. You get a Personalized Kids Mode, which is great if you’ve bought the tablet for a child, and this is a common use for budget models like this. There’s Google Gemini AI Assistant built-in, plus there are some AI features for photo editing including AI Eraser, Enhance Clarity, Unblur and Remove Reflections.

AI Eraser works well to remove distractions, Enhance Clarity works well but is a bit like cranking up the Clarity slider, Unblur kind of works while Remove Refelctions isn’t good at all. The built-in photo editing controls are impressive and ideal for making minor adjustments, although the cameras are, characteristically for a tablet, mediocre at best.

Both cameras are 5MP and can capture video at 1080p 30fps and 720p 30fps. Tablet cameras always feel like an afterthought, and the Oppo Pad SE is no exception. The rear camera is superior to the front-facing camera as expected, and is adequate for the odd snapshot, but it’s likely to be severely inferior to your smartphone camera.

The tablet is guaranteed by what’s called ‘36-Month Fluency Protection’. Cutting through the marketing, this appears to be firmware updates for this period, designed to keep the tablet running as smoothly as possible. This, of course, wouldn’t cover slowdowns due to almost full storage, which always causes performance issues.

Battery life is good thanks to the 9340mAh battery that offers 33W SUPERVOOC charging. During testing, the battery only went down 50% over a couple of weeks of using the tablet for many, but not all days. Oppo claims a full charge can provide up to 11 hours of online video playback and up to 80 hours of online music playback. Then there’s a long potential standby mode.

Smart Power Saving Mode is claimed to provide up to 800 days of smart power saving. This is facilitated by powering off the tablet after seven days of inactivity. It’s a bold claim which is hard to believe. It’s possible to believe a long standby, although well over two years does sound optimistic.

Like many current Android tablets, the Oppo Pad SE can link to iPhones and iPads to share files, use phone data and mirror your phone’s screen. You can, of course, also connect to other Android devices. Whether or not you need this is another matter, but it’s certainly useful.

I played a few games on the tablet, and with the MediaTek Helio G100 processor and 4GB of RAM, the tablet was much more at home with less demanding games. I did try Call of Duty mobile using the on-screen controls rather than an Xbox controller connected via Bluetooth to see how it handled a more demanding game like this. It was playable, but it was far from the smoothest experience I’ve had playing this game on a tablet.

Oppo Pad SE: Verdict

The Oppo Pad SE does what many of its direct competitors do, and that’s to provide a tablet with an eye-catching design that belies its cost. It seems that the days of cheap-looking plasticky tablets are well and truly behind us. The overall experience provided by ColorOS 15 is smooth and pleasant, while the processing power allows you to perform the majority of tasks, although this certainly isn’t a productivity tablet.

The Oppo Pad SE sits at the more expensive end of the budget scale, coming in at a slightly higher price than comparable tablets. The screen resolution is also only FHD rather than 2.5K, which does make a difference when watching streaming services, especially. With this in mind, you can get more for less, but if you’re deadset on an Oppo tablet on a budget, this remains an option to consider.

Alternatives

I didn’t plan to spend my trip to Sweden relying solely on a camera phone to capture images. In my bag was my Fujifilm X100F, a compact camera that I’ve trusted for years, a tool I love for its tactile dials and the simple satisfaction of working through its manual settings.

The Oppo Find X8 Ultra was brought along to test its camera capabilities, a pocket convenience for moments when pulling out a 'real' camera might feel impractical. Yet, as I wandered through the streets of Gothenburg, chasing the Scandinavian light, I found myself reaching for the Oppo.

By the second day, the X100 remained in the hotel room, untouched. Every frame I shot while on my trip came from the Find X8 Ultra, and I didn’t miss the compact at all.

The Oppo Find X8 Ultra isn’t just another high-end smartphone. It’s a device with a camera system that feels designed for people who care about photography; a system shaped by a genuine, and recently renewed, collaboration with Hasselblad. I’ve used countless phones over the years and always viewed them as tools for convenience rather than creativity.

Even last year, when I tested the Oppo Find X8 Pro, I was pleasantly surprised, enough to rethink my stubborn stance on mobile photography. But the Ultra? This one didn’t just challenge my expectations, it reprogrammed them.

It’s easy to talk about specs, and the X8 Ultra’s are impressive. A 50MP main camera with a 1-inch sensor and f/1.8 aperture, a 50MP ultra-wide lens with a sweeping 120° field of view, dual 50MP telephoto periscope cameras at 70mm (3x) and 135mm (6x), both with optical image stabilisation, and a 32MP front camera.

Video is equally strong, with 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120p and 4K 60p across all cameras. On paper, this is a camera array that could easily rival a compact camera setup. It’s no wonder the Find X8 Ultra currently sits at the top of DxOMark’s camera rankings.

But numbers and technical specs only tell part of the story. What really struck me was the character of the images once reviewed at the end of the day. The colors have that Hasselblad depth, rich but not overcooked, with subtle gradations in tone that feel cinematic.

Oppo’s True Chroma Camera, with its nine-channel multispectral system, handles color temperature with uncanny accuracy, while the HyperTone Image Engine lifts shadow detail without flattening the scene. Whether I was photographing the soft evening light on Gothenburg’s canals or catching a quick street scene, I trusted that the phone would deliver the image I envisioned.

Then there’s the shooting experience that, for me, is just as important as the final file. Using the Find X8 Ultra, I felt like I had all the creative control I’d expect from a dedicated camera.

Master Mode provides full manual control of ISO, shutter speed and aperture, while Portrait Mode creates a beautifully natural bokeh that doesn’t look fake or over-processed. The 6x telephoto lens gave me framing flexibility I rarely get from a compact camera, while AI Zoom helped push beyond that without sacrificing clarity.

But what I didn’t expect, and what ultimately made me choose the Oppo over my compact camera, was how much fun I had with it. There’s a freedom in using a device that doesn’t weigh you down, that’s always with you, ready in a split second.

I wasn’t fiddling with lenses or worrying about settings slowing me down. Instead, I was immersed in the act of seeing, responding to the scenes around me, capturing fleeting gestures, reflections, and shadows. Photography felt playful again, and that was addictive.

There’s also the simple fact that shooting with a phone made me invisible. In Sweden, I blended in – just another traveller tapping on their phone. That sense of discretion is something I’ve learned to value in street photography; it enabled me to capture candid, unguarded moments I might have missed with a more obvious camera.

Of course, I’m not saying the Oppo Find X8 Ultra will replace my cameras entirely. My Fujifilm GFX system remains my go-to for assignments, print work and projects where I need the depth and resolution of a larger sensor. But for day-to-day shooting, travel and anything destined to live on social media, this phone is now my go-to.

The only thing I kept wishing for was a proper camera grip. Something like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra Photography Kit would turn the Find X8 Ultra into a hybrid between a phone and a compact camera, and I hope Oppo introduces something similar.

When I got home and looked through my images, I realized I didn’t feel like I’d compromised. The photos were sharp, rich and full of character, and the whole process of capturing them had been effortless and enjoyable.

As a professional photographer, I’ll always appreciate my 'real' cameras, but this trip to Sweden was the first time a phone has made me leave my camera behind. After this trip, I truly feel the gap between camera phones and compact cameras has all but disappeared.

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If you're thinking more seriously about phone photography, I recommend checking out our guide to the best camera phones for photography and the best smartphone gimbals. We also have a tutorial on the 12 essential mobile photography tips!

In a special event today in Gothenburg, Sweden, Hasselblad and Oppo proudly committed to the continuation of their partnership, solidifying their dedication to advancing mobile imaging technology.

This announcement follows four successful years of technical collaboration on Oppo's flagship Find series of camera phones. Renowned for their exceptional imaging system and sleek design, the series significantly closes the gap between camera phones and compact cameras, setting a new standard in mobile photography.

"The partnership with Hasselblad is built on a shared passion for innovation and a commitment to delivering the ultimate imaging experience," said Pete Lau, chief product officer at Oppo.

"Over the past four years, we have brought the truly professional, legendary camera experience of Hasselblad to Oppo's global users. With the extension of our collaboration, we will push the boundaries of mobile imaging even further."

In an industry obsessed with specs and incremental upgrades, Oppo’s partnership with Hasselblad has been an example of long-term, meaningful collaboration, one that feels more like a shared vision than a corporate co-branding exercise.

Over the past four years, this alliance has matured into one of the most exciting developments in phone photography, and with the release of the latest flagship, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra is their most ambitious device to date. Oppo and Hasselblad seem closer than ever to delivering on a bold promise to build the 'ultimate camera phone'.

The collaboration between the two companies has been one of rich technical co-development. With each new generation of the Find series, Oppo and Hasselblad’s teams have worked in collaboration to fuse mobile innovation with the color science and optical philosophy that made Hasselblad legendary.

I first got a taste of this last year at Paris Photo, where I brought the Oppo Find X8 Pro with me. I didn’t expect it to replace my camera, but the truth is it massively surprised me; not just with image quality, but with character.

This past couple of weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with the newer Find X8 Ultra, and by some technical magic, it packs even more punch.

At the heart of this device is a culmination of Hasselblad’s signature aesthetic and Oppo’s boundary-pushing tech. Key features such as the Hasselblad Natural Color Solution has been re-engineered for mobile and offers some of the most accurate and pleasing color reproduction I’ve seen on any smartphone.

There’s also Master Mode, my favourite feature that enables photographers full manual camera control and unlocks ultra-clear 50MP JPEG Max and 16-bit 50MP RAW Max formats. It’s designed to match the character of Hasselblad’s X2D, which is saying a lot.

The Find X8 Ultra’s imaging system is a leap in mobile imaging, and that’s not just my opinion. According to DxOmark’s newly updated Smartphone Camera Protocol, the Find X8 Ultra currently ranks as the number one smartphone camera in the world, with a record-breaking overall score of 169. It also set new benchmarks in both photo and video sub-categories, adding further weight to Oppo’s imaging ambitions.

In addition to the renewed partnership, the brands have also announced that they are currently working on the "next generation mobile imaging system", aiming to set a new benchmark for the capabilities of mobile imaging. No specific details have been announced just yet, but I for one, am waiting in anticipation.

Oppo, as a brand, feels it has a genuine appreciation and love for the art of photography, as in addition to bringing enhanced photography specs to phones, it also supports its community of creators. That ethos continues with the newly launched Oppo Photography Awards 2025, themed 'Super Every Moment'.

With over $100,000 in prizes and a global call for submissions, it’s an open invitation to creators worldwide to share their vision. I love this, not just as a photographer, but as someone who believes in democratising image-making.

All of this also reflects Oppo’s continued commitment to the European market, something that’s not always guaranteed in the fast-moving world of smartphone releases.

With every new release, Oppo and Hasselblad seem to push the limits further, and if they truly deliver on their promise to set a new benchmark in mobile imaging, we might be witnessing something special very soon.

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If you want to explore the world of phone photography, I recommend checking out our guides to the best camera phone and the best Android phone.

So, you need a new phone, but you don't want to spend much, and your main complaint with your old device is that the battery is always running out. If that's the case, you might find yourself drawn to the new Oppo A5 5G.

This phone retails for just £179 in the UK, and AU$299 in Australia, with no details on a US release yet. It packs a massive 6000mAh battery, as well as offering 45W fast charging, a smooth 120Hz screen and a durable design with IP54 water resistance.

At a glance, it sounds like a pretty solid deal, but there's plenty of competition in the budget phone market. I wanted to find out how the Oppo A5 5G fares against the competition, and crucially, whether or not it can take decent photos. After sticking it in my pocket for the past week, here's what I found out.

Oppo A5 5G: Specifications

Oppo A5 5G: Design & Handling

The Oppo A5 5G is a fairly large handset, with dimensions just shy of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. That said, the more rounded corners make it feel like less of a behemoth, and it's much lighter than a flagship device.

At this price, you'll be unsurprised to learn that it's mostly made from plastic. It's no bad thing, in my experience, plastic-backed phones seem to be just as durable, if not more so, than their metal and glass counterparts.

Indeed, Oppo backs this up with a Military-Grade Shock Resistance rating, as well as IP65 dust and water resistance. I haven't personally stressed this phone too much, but it sounds like it should be able to take a bit of a beating.

When it comes to the looks, there's definitely a Samsung S-series vibe here, with the cameras positioned at the top left in a traffic-light style configuration. Of course, the plastic housing doesn't feel like Samsung's premium offerings, but at a glance, it's a similar overall look.

The phone is available in two colours, either Mist White or Aurora Green, and I have the latter in for testing. Mist White has a marble-like effect on the back panel, while Aurora Green has a very subtle shimmering texture. Personally, I think they both look pretty classy.

It's a boxy shape with a completely flat front and rear, joined by squared-off side rails. However, the screen has small curved plastic bezels on all sides, which makes it look a bit more like a quad curved design. I was surprised by how impactful these little bezels are for gesture controls; It definitely feels nicer than swiping from the edge of a completely flat screen.

Unfortunately, that's where my praise for this screen will end. It's a 120Hz display, which I always like to see, but it's IPS, rather than OLED, and it has a measly 720p resolution. The brightness peaks at 1000 nits, which is decent, but it doesn't hold a candle to a phone like the CMF Phone 2 Pro, which boasts 3000 nits and has a 1080p 10-bit AMOLED panel.

The screen comes covered with a plastic protective film, which some users are sure to love, but personally, I can't stand plastic screen protectors. As usual, I ripped it off as soon as possible. It turns out this was a mistake. The glass screen underneath lacks an oleophobic coating, so it gets covered in horrendous fingerprints and smears every time you use it.

It also feels like there's more friction on my fingertips than usual, and it's just not a very pleasant experience. So, if you do decide to pick up this handset, I'd recommend keeping that protective film in place - or investigate some other screen protector options, because using it without one is grim.

Oppo A5 5G: Camera Performance

While the design of this phone makes it look like it has three cameras on the rear, there's only one that you can actually use. It's a 50MP unit with a 24 mm-equivalent focal length and an f/1.8 aperture. There's no information about the sensor size, but suffice to say, it's on the small side.

The other camera is a 2MP depth sensor, designed to aid in things like portrait mode effects. It has been proven countless times that you don't really need one of these, and on the contrary, the CMF Phone 1 performed worse with its depth sensor than the CMF Phone 2 Pro, which ditched the sensor altogether. My suspicion is that it's only here to make the phone look more modern.

Around the front, there's a punch-hole selfie camera with an 8MP resolution and f/2.0 aperture. So, yeah, it's not exactly giving mid-rangers much to worry about; the low price is pretty apparent when it comes to the camera hardware.

Despite that, I had some hope for the camera performance. After all, Oppo made one of my favourite camera phones last year, the Find X8 Pro, and the Oppo Find X8 Ultra might be one of the best camera phones on the market today. Surely some of that excellent processing has trickled down to the budget-friendly options.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. By default, the photos look over-sharpened and slightly too contrasty for my tastes. Dynamic range is generally decent, but there's still frequent highlight clipping on sunny days. It's not awful, it's just nothing special, either.

On the plus side, the colours look quite accurate, and the rear camera can focus closer than I expected, so you can take some decent macro shots. Portrait mode cutouts are generally quite reliable, too.

The biggest downside is the lack of versatility. With only a 24 mm-ish wide angle to use, you don't get much flexibility with your framing. Sure, you can digitally zoom, but the loss of quality is apparent even at 2x zoom, and it only gets worse from there.

At night, things don't get any better. Images are very noisy, and the darker areas of the frame lack detail. Night mode helps, of course, but even then, expect rather middling results.

For video shooting, you can capture at up to 1080p 30fps on the front and rear cameras. I was disappointed to see a lack of 4K recording, but in fairness, the similarly priced Galaxy A16 also maxes out at 1080p. What's more disappointing is the lack of video stabilisation; you'll want to keep a tripod handy with this one.

Oppo A5 5G: Phone Performance

The Oppo A5 5G is powered by the Dimensity 6300, the same chip that's in the Samsung Galaxy A16. This is paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, not impressive figures, but likely sufficient for basic tasks. At least there's a microSD card slot, so you can always increase the storage if you find yourself running out.

It's not the most powerful processor around, but it manages to keep up when you're just messaging, scrolling through social media and navigating with Google Maps. Swiping through the OS is mostly stutter-free, and it only tends to hang up slightly when you're performing a system-wide search, or when you first boot up the phone.

Of course, keen gamers demand more performance than that, and as expected, this isn't the ideal tool for the job. 2D puzzle games like Peglin run absolutely fine, but graphically demanding games like Genshin Impact will only run on the lowest preset, and even then, you can expect frequent stutters and slowdowns.

The Oppo A5 5G runs on Color OS, the same software as Oppo's pricier handsets. I'm a big fan of this operating system, it's highly customisable, runs smoothly and looks pretty slick by default. The key difference with this more affordable model is that it's missing some of the more advanced AI features.

There's still some useful stuff, but it's mostly confined to the image editing suite. That said, these features work just as well here, and the Object Eraser is one of the most powerful that you're likely to find in this price bracket.

Another big difference between the A5 and Oppo's flagship devices is the amount of bloatware that comes preloaded on the phone. It's nothing unusual for a budget handset, but it's worth mentioning that there's a lot to clean up. There's all kinds of recommended apps, games and more that will clutter up your home screen the first time you turn it on. It's not hard to remove, but it takes some time, and it's a hassle we could all do without.

One of the most surprising things about the Oppo A5 5G is its battery capacity. It has a massive 6000 mAh cell inside, outclassing some of the most expensive phones on the market. Combine that with the power-sipping mid-range chip inside, and you've got a phone that will outlast most.

Throughout my testing, I was easily getting two days on a charge, and if you're more thoughtful with your usage, you could get longer. Plus, when you eventually wear this battery down, it charges at an impressive 45W.

Unfortunately, there's no charger in the box, just a cable. To get the maximum advertised speed, you'll either need to shell out for an official SuperVOOC charger, or use something that supports the PPS standard at 45W.

Oppo A5 5G: Verdict

In a vacuum, the Oppo A5 5G is a decent phone for the £179 / AU$299 asking price. However, when you compare it to the competition, the value proposition becomes a little more iffy.

I reviewed this phone immediately after spending time with the CMF Phone 2 Pro. At MSRP, that device should cost £40 more, but currently the difference is less than £30 on Amazon.

It's not an insignificant amount, but when you consider that the CMF Phone comes with a triple camera setup, 4K video recording, a gorgeous (smudge-free) 10-bit OLED display, a much more powerful chipset, and double the RAM - the Oppo A5 5G becomes very difficult to recommend.

Sure, the Oppo A5 has one of the largest batteries in its class, but when the experience is compromised elsewhere, that doesn't feel like a good trade-off. Personally, I'd take a faster processor, an extra camera or a nicer screen over a big battery - and that's exactly what a lot of the competition offers.

Alternatives

I'm often asked for advice about which new camera to buy, and my initial reaction is always the same: what type of phone have you got? My reasoning for this is that unless you're prepared to drop serious cash on a decent mirrorless camera, chances are the phone in your pocket will capture better quality images and video than any conventional camera with a sensor smaller than Micro Four Thirds.

What's more, I'd also argue that for most casual photographers, investing in a decent camera phone makes more sense than buying even one of the best APS-C or full-frame cameras, at least in the vast majority of shooting scenarios. Here's why:

Convenience

Your phone is way more convenient. It's almost always with you, it's small, light, and doesn't require a camera bag. Set-up time is negligible, and there's no need to mess about with a memory card or swap lenses.

Then there's the issue of how you 'consume' photos. Shooting on a conventional camera requires the discipline to download images from a memory card onto a computer, cull and organise shots, and upload them to cloud storage for sharing or viewing when away from home. Conversely, capturing images on your phone means they're automatically uploaded to iCloud Photos or Google Photos for effortless back-up and sharing, making them far more accessible for future viewing than if they're only stored on a local hard drive at home.

Now, it's no secret that a camera phone has long offered a more convenient shooting experience than a conventional camera. But the latter was able to fight back by offering better image quality and increased shooting versatility. Well, not any more.

Image quality

A camera phone can now beat the image quality from even a well-sorted standalone camera due to two factors: the pace of phone camera hardware development, and a modern phone's immense computational power that enables automatic image processing that's leagues ahead of what a traditional camera can offer.

Of course, purist photographers will whine that things like fake bokeh, automatic HDR, boosted color saturation and increased sharpness all contribute to artificial, unrealistic images. But again, we're talking about the majority of photographers here, and I think it's reasonable to assume that most people want their shots to look sharp, vibrant, and with good highlight and shadow detail straight away, with no need to mess about in an image editor to achieve the same results.

And when you combine this incredibly powerful image processing with an industry drive towards ever-larger, more pixel-packed image sensors in phones, the diminutive camera phone punches far above its weight in terms of image quality.

Shooting versatility

"So you can have a great quality photo from a phone.... but only if it's shot at the wide-angle focal length dictated by the phone's camera?" Again, not any more. A separate ultra-wide camera module has opened up some additional photo opportunities, but it's the introduction of the periscope telephoto lens that's really boosted the camera phone's shooting versatility. This enables optical 'zoom' (it's not strictly zoom, as a periscope telephoto camera is just a separate, fixed focal length lens) of up to 10x, with image processing trickery filling in the intermediate focal length gaps. Add in the special sauce of AI and a phone can shoot well beyond 10x, and with only a negligible drop in image quality.

To demonstrate just how capable a modern camera phone now is, I took my Oppo Find X8 Pro to the kind of setting where many people would think a phone camera shouldn't really work: a fast-paced football (soccer) match. In this particular case, the prestigious UEFA Champion's League 2025 final. But thanks to the phone's awesome processing speed, 6x periscope zoom and up to 60x AI-enhanced zoom, I was able to capture the match with surprising clarity, despite being seated far above the action.

The sample images below have been cropped from the phone's native 4:3 aspect ratio to our preferred 16:9 image format, but are otherwise unedited.

These shots are only a literal and metaphorical snapshot of what the Find X8 Pro is capable of, but they illustrate that even when a camera phone is taken out of its perceived comfort zone, it can still far exceed expectations. And with this kind of performance, I'm confident that whatever situation I may want to shoot in, my phone will be more than up to the task.

Read more:

The best camera phones you can buy right now

Mobile photography continues its ascent, and Oppo is once again staking its claim at the forefront. The Chinese tech giant has officially launched the Oppo Photography Awards 2025, its annual competition celebrating creativity, emotional storytelling, and the evolving potential of camera phones.

This year’s edition arrives with its most ambitious scope to date, with a broader category lineup, a record prize pool and a renewed focus on human-centered visual narratives.

Built around the theme 'Super Every Moment', the competition encourages photographers to find the extraordinary in everyday life. It’s a sentiment that resonates across the eight entry categories – Snapshot, Youth, Live Photo, Connection, Portrait, Vibe, Photo Series, and Environment – each aimed at revealing the beauty, spontaneity, and emotional weight of life and the human condition.

Having experienced Oppo’s imaging system firsthand, using an Oppo handset while at Paris Photo last year, I can attest to its impressive capabilities. Sharp rendering, cinematic bokeh, and rich color depth gave the phone’s images a resonance usually reserved for bigger glass.

It was at Paris Photo, too, that Oppo’s gallery of winning images from the previous year’s Awards stood out. Among the esteemed walls of prints and curated booths, the selection offered a compelling glimpse into mobile photography’s rising stature.

This year’s Awards build on that momentum, with submissions now open to Oppo and OnePlus phone users worldwide until November 20 2025. In line with its expanded ambition, Oppo has introduced its largest-ever prize structure.

The top prize, the coveted Gold Award, includes $25,000 (around £18,800 / AU$38,600) in cash alongside the latest Oppo flagship devices. Three Silver Award winners will each receive $11,000 (£8,200 / AU$17,000) and a flagship phone, while six Bronze Awards come with $2,800 (£2,100 / AU$4,300) and a device to match.

Further cash prizes will be distributed across the competition’s eight categories, ensuring that a broad spectrum of talent and vision is recognized.

To ensure a robust and diverse evaluation process, the competition will be judged by a panel of internationally acclaimed photographers. Among them are Magnum’s Alec Soth, Hasselblad Masters Tang Hui and Tina Signesdottir Hult, Chinese fashion photographer Trunk Xu, and OPPO’s own Pete Lau, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer. Their varied backgrounds reflect the competition’s commitment to both artistic excellence and global reach.

With over a million submissions in previous editions, the OPPO Photography Awards continue to assert themselves as one of the most vibrant platforms for mobile image-makers today. More than a celebration of device capability, the Awards speak to a deeper shift in photographic culture, where immediacy and intimacy meet sophistication, and where mobile photography is no longer defined by limitations.

Further information, rules, and how to submit your work can be found on the official awards website.

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Oppo has officially unveiled the Find X8 Ultra, a device aimed squarely at photography enthusiasts, promising groundbreaking camera tech alongside a sleek, ergonomic design. Could this be the ultra-phone that finally pushes phone cameras to rival the best beginner cameras?

Camera-wise, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra boasts a next-generation penta-camera system headlined by a massive 1-inch 50MP Sony sensor. This wide camera alone significantly exceeds the sensor sizes found in both Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Complementing it are dual 50MP periscope cameras (3x and 6x optical zoom) and a 50MP ultra-wide lens. The X8 Ultra also features a brand new True Chroma Camera, which employs a unique nine-channel multispectral system that aims to provide superior color accuracy by processing color temperature individually across different sections of an image.

The Find X8 Ultra also features Oppo's innovative AI Zoom – which uses AI processing to enhance detail clarity at extreme distances – and a HyperTone Image Engine to improve dynamic range and clarity. Video enthusiasts will appreciate 4K Dolby Vision recording at up to 120p on the 1x and 3x cameras, with 4K60p on all cameras.

Dubbed by Oppo as "the thinnest ultra camera phone ever", the Find X8 Ultra measures just 8.78mm – comfortably slimmer than the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which ranges from 9.35mm to 9.48mm depending on the material.

Despite this thin profile, Oppo hasn't compromised on performance. The device incorporates innovative silicon-carbon battery tech, enabling a substantial 6100mAh battery – larger than many thicker rivals.

In terms of usability, the Find X8 Ultra features a QHD+ AMOLED display, which is flat edge-to-edge, minimizing accidental touches, and includes an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that promises improved speed and reliability over previous models – even with wet fingers. Additionally, durability receives a boost with an IP68 and IP69 rating alongside Corning Gorilla Glass protection.

Under the hood, Oppo has equipped the Find X8 Ultra with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, up to 16GB of ultra-fast LPDDR5X RAM, and 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage, with 100W SUPERVOOC fast-charging to deliver full battery recharge in under 40 minutes.

The downside – and this is a biggie – is that the Find X8 Ultra will be a China-exclusive, with the phone not even surfacing in the Oppo-friendly territory of Europe, where the company just last week launched the Reno 13 Pro 5G.

With the X8 Ultra’s Chinese version of ColorOS also making it trickier to import and use outside China, it looks like Xiaomi might have the Ultra competition locked up for another year for Western camera phone enthusiasts.

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Looking for the best camera phone? Check out our guide to see our thoughts on the latest models. And if you want to improve your mobile photography, try some add-on lenses with our guide to the best lenses for iPhone and Android phones.

I have used foldable phones before, I’ve used flip phones, and none really convinced me that they were the future with their thick heavy bodies, unsightly screen creases, and less-than specs. However recently, I have had my opinion do a full turnaround after testing the quite frankly brilliant Oppo Find N5 – the first foldable phone that could actually make its way into my pocket every day.

However, western readers might have been disappointed to learn that the Oppo Find N5 won’t be coming to Europe after all, and certainly not to the US with OnePlus also canceling any plans for new foldable phones this year. Who knows how well the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Google Pixel 9 Fold are selling, and if we are just an iteration or two before they become unprofitable enough to shutter? Foldables need a shot in the arm, and for that, I think they need Apple.

As with everything Apple touches, an Apple embrace of foldable phones would move the genre from a niche product for tech nerds to a mainstream product. If the same Apple hype machine that somehow made the Vision Pro cool could do the same for foldables it could give it the boost it sorely needs.

As an Android fan, I hate to say it, but Apple could also do foldable phones better. After a decade of iPads, Apple has nailed the tablet OS and has developer support in a way that Android still struggles with for its inner screen. Ultimately, we live in an OS duopoly, which isn’t ideal, but at least Apple and Google constantly push each other to be better, Android takes from iOS, and iPhone takes from Pixel, etc. If app developers had more reason to make their apps work on foldable phones, then it would improve things for everyone.

Rumors are aplenty of Apple’s foldable plans, with lots of leaks pointing towards Apple joining the foldable space in 2026 – most recently respected analyst Mark Gurman of Bloomberg joined the speculation with corroborative dates. Apple’s device is rumored to be a book-style foldable and have a minimal to non-existent crease. Of course, take this with a pinch of salt, just because Apple is working on something doesn’t mean it will actually follow through, remember Apple’s big move into the automotive industry?

But I personally cannot wait for Apple to bring the party to the foldable space – just hopefully before it goes bust!

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Interested in Apple's current range of phones? Then check out our guide to Apple's iPhone generations, or for a more OS-agnostic overview of what's available check out our guide to the best camera phone.

Oppo has announced the upcoming global launch of its latest foldable phone – the Oppo Find N5 – and this one is set to be the thinnest foldable phone to date. Well almost, Oppo is very careful to caveat the thinnest moniker with “book style”, as Huawei has a tri-folding device that when unfolded is slightly slimmer than the Oppo – although the Oppo Find N5 has it beat when folded due to Huawei’s three screens.

I have my hands on the phone, and I can confirm – it's impressively thin. So thin in fact that Oppo has had to redesign the USB port with just a sliver of metal separating it from the edges of the case. The crease has also been dramatically reduced, so much so that it is barely noticeable during use – and only in the right light. Despite feeling impossibly thin, the Find N5 also comes with a triple water resistance rating of IPX6, X8, and X9.

The camera bump houses a triple camera setup, which from the Hasselblad logo adorning the middle of the island, looks set to continue Oppo’s partnership with the Swedish camera masters with another Hasselblad-tuned camera system similar to the recent Oppo Find X8 Pro.

The Find N5 is a sequel to the Oppo Find N3, released back in 2023, with the company skipping the N4 name due to its negative associations in its home market of China. However, the Find N3 will be better known to global audiences as the OnePlus Open – which is still our top buy for the best cameras you can get on a foldable phone.

OnePlus is Oppo’s sister-brand that usually handles US releases, and while currently, there is no word on what OnePlus’s future foldable plans are, this might well launch under the OnePlus brand as the OnePlus Open 2, with OnePlus’s OxygenOS taking over from Oppo’s ColorOS, which powers the UI of the Find N5.

With such a strong last outing in the Find N3/OnePlus Open, and last month's OnePlus 13 having one of the best trios of cameras on any smartphone right now – I have very high hopes for the Find N5’s photography chops and cannot wait to put it through its paces.

I am limited by what else I can tell you about the phone right now, and only having got hands-on today, I want more time with the device before making any judgments – but with a February 20 launch date just over a week away, there won’t be long to wait.

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The best Android phones for photography are increasingly a valid alternative to the latest iPhones. They come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, and each offers a slightly different take on what the best camera phone should provide. 

Some chase huge sensors and optical zoom, others lean on computational smarts, and a few – like the new Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra – now come with optional camera grips and teleconverter lenses that turn your phone into something much closer to a proper camera system. 

Below I've chosen the best Android phones for photography based on their design, the quality of their displays, processing power, battery life, unique features, value, usability and of course, camera quality. 

The best Android phones for photography

Best Android phone for most people

The Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL continue Google’s long-standing focus on photographic consistency and everyday use-case excellence, making them a compelling choice for most mobile photographers who want great results without fuss.

What sets the Pixel 10 Pro line apart is its ability to turn point-and-shoot simplicity into reliably strong stills, regardless of conditions. The triple-camera array – with a 50 MP main sensor, 48 MP ultra-wide and 48 MP 5× telephoto – delivers images with excellent color, dynamic range and detail straight out of the phone. Computational tools such as Camera Coach and powerful AI editing features further elevate images with minimal effort. While the headline “100×” super-resolution zoom isn’t a replacement for true optical performance at extreme range, it does extend versatility and can produce usable handheld shots beyond typical smartphone reach.

The phones’ Super Actua displays also make reviewing and editing photos a pleasure, with bright, sharp panels that stand up well to outdoor use. Design and ergonomics are thoroughly premium too, with a build quality that feels at home alongside Samsung and Apple’s flagship Android rivals.

Video capture is less of a highlight, trailing class leaders with middling quality and an over-reliance on AI upscaling, so if your photography leans heavily into video work, check out the Vivo X300 Ultra. Still, for stills, photographers who want dependable, easy-to-use image quality backed by excellent software intelligence, the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL represent one of the most consistent Android camera experiences available.

Read our full Google Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL review

Best Android phone for zoom

Oppo's Ultra series has been steadily closing the gap on dedicated cameras, and the Find X9 Ultra closes it further still. Its five-camera Hasselblad Master Camera System spans 14mm to 230mm optically, with a 200MP main sensor, a phenomenal 200MP 3x telephoto, and a 50MP 10x periscope that comfortably beats rivals' digital zoom for detail and usability. Let's be clear: this is the best telephoto system I've seen on a phone to date.

Elsewhere, Hasselblad Master mode is the standout feature, stripping away over-processed sharpening and HDR for results that feel genuinely photographic, while an optional grip case and 300mm teleconverter lens push things even further for those willing to invest in extra glass. 

Some small niggles: standard photo mode can still look a touch over-sharpened, and the teleconverter sadly can't be used alongside Master mode's film-style presets. But as an all-round photography tool, it's exceedingly capable.

Read more: Oppo Find X9 Ultra review

Best Android phone on a budget

Nothing’s second‑generation CMF handset proves you don’t need deep pockets to get a phone that feels genuinely exciting. For $279 / £219, the Phone 2 Pro upgrades last year’s formula with a symmetrical 6.77‑inch 10‑bit OLED that’s richer, brighter, and smoother than anything else at this price, and it even supports contactless payments thanks to newly added NFC.

The headline, though, is photography. A true triple‑camera array – a 50 MP main sensor, a 50 MP 2x portrait‑friendly telephoto, and an 8 MP ultrawide  shoots colourful, natural images, with RAW capture and optional macro or fisheye adapters for creative play. The lack of OIS and the modest ultrawide hold it back, but the main and tele units comfortably narrow the gap to mid‑range rivals.

MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 Pro and 8 GB RAM keep daily use snappy, though demanding games ask for low graphics. A 5,000 mAh cell routinely leaves 40 % in the tank at bedtime, and 33 W wired charging refills to 60 % in half an hour.

Nothing OS remains a joy: monochrome icons, zero bloat and the new Essential Key give the phone a premium vibe, but the fledgling Essential Space – and its rumoured subscription – feels half‑baked. Combined with only IP54 protection and shorter software support than class leaders, the CMF Phone 2 Pro isn’t flawless. Yet its blend of style, modular fun, and outright value makes it our top budget pick for Android buyers who prize photography and personality over raw horsepower.

Read our full CMF Phone 2 Pro review

Best phone for Samsung fans

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a more mixed camera upgrade than usual, but it's still one of the most complete Android flagships around. The 200MP main sensor gets a brighter f/1.4 lens, and Nightography video is meaningfully improved, but the 3x camera has actually been downgraded with a smaller sensor, and macro focusing has taken a hit on both the main and 5x lenses.

Where the S26 Ultra wins is everywhere else: a gorgeous 6.9in display with a genuinely useful Privacy Display mode, fast charging, excellent performance, and the S Pen all still present. If you're keen to stay within Samsung's ecosystem and the fact that rivals such as Oppo and Vivo now shoot more natural-looking stills doesn't excite you, this brilliant all-rounder is the one to go for.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

Best foldable Android phone

The Honor Magic V5 takes the foldable crown for photographers who want a large, tablet-style canvas without major camera compromises, making it one of the most interesting Android phones for photography if you value both versatility and imaging quality.

Honor’s slimmest, lightest foldable yet pairs a capable triple-lens array – a 50 MP main sensor, a 50 MP ultra-wide and a 64 MP periscope telephoto with 3× optical zoom and up to 100× digital reach – with bright, detailed OLED screens that make reviewing and editing images a pleasure. Across real-world shooting, all three cameras deliver reliable results with good colour, clarity and dynamic range, while Honor’s AI-assisted zoom and portrait modes extend creative flexibility.

Where the Magic V5 really stands out in a photography buying guide is its foldable form factor: unfolding to a nearly 8-inch display gives you a mini-tablet view for culling shots, fine-tuning edits and working with compositional tools on the go. That extra space, combined with flagship performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, makes casual retouching and AI-assisted tweaks feel genuinely productive without a laptop.

It’s not without compromises for photographers: Honor’s image processing can feel a little heavy-handed at times and switching between lenses may produce perceptible shifts in colour balance, and foldable phones generally trail slab rivals in pure camera performance at equivalent price points. Still, for anyone who prioritises a larger editing workspace and capable-enough photography in one sleek package, the Honor Magic V5 is a compelling Android choice.

Read more: Honor Magic V5 review

Best camera-like processing

Xiaomi continues to champion big sensors, and the 17 Ultra's 1-inch main camera delivers extraordinary detail and dynamic range, especially at night. The headline new feature is a single 200MP telephoto with a 75-100mm mechanical optical zoom, replacing last year's two separate tele lenses. That's some clever engineering, even if the practical difference between the focal lengths is smaller than you'd hope.

What really sells the 17 Ultra is character: Leica's Authentic and Vibrant color profiles give images a genuinely filmic look that few rivals can match. Lens-to-lens consistency could be better, and macro shooting isn't quite as close-up as before, but for photographers who care about style as much as sharpness, this is one of the most rewarding Android cameras around.

Read more: Xiaomi 17 Ultra review

Best Android phone for value

Seeking the best combination of camera quality and value? Google's mid-range smartphone doesn't reinvent the formula, but it remains one of the smartest buys in Android. The same dependable 48MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide combo from the Pixel 9a returns, now joined by Camera Coach for in-app shooting tips, and everyday shots are still some of the most naturally balanced you'll get at this price.

The bigger draws come in the form of design and longevity. Specifically: a flat, bump-free back, a vibrant 120Hz display, all-day battery life, and Google's class-leading seven years of software support. Zoom is limited without a telephoto lens, but for reliable daylight photography and long-term peace of mind, the Pixel 10a is hard to beat for the money.

Best Android phone for video

If shooting video is your main area of interest, here's my top pick. The Vivo X300 Ultra takes an unusual approach with a 35mm main camera rather than the usual ultrawide-leaning default, and it pays off with naturally pleasing perspective and excellent detail. The 85mm telephoto is outstanding for stills, and the 14mm ultrawide is one of the best around. But it's video where this phone truly shines, with gimbal-level stabilization, full manual Pro Video controls, 4K 120p 10-bit Log, and a built-in teleprompter.

Optional 200mm and 400mm teleconverter lenses add real reach without the mode limitations seen on rival accessory systems. It's expensive, the camera kit itself feels a little plasticky, and it's not yet widely available, but as a video-first creative tool, nothing else in Android comes close.

Read more: Vivo X300 Ultra review

Great all-rounder

The OnePlus 15 delivers a compelling all-round Android experience, pairing flagship-tier performance and battery life with a capable, flexible camera system that’s reliable for everyday photography.

At its heart is a triple-50 MP rear array with main, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses, supported by OnePlus’s new DetailMax image engine – the company’s first iteration after parting ways with Hasselblad. In practice, this produces sharp, colour-accurate stills in good light, with tone and balance that feel natural and consistent across the focal range. While the upgrade in camera performance over last year’s model is more evolutionary than revolutionary, it keeps pace with what most photographers will need day-to-day without introducing glaring weaknesses.

The system’s HDR handling and low-light performance aren’t class-leading, with some scenes feeling a little flat or soft in very dim conditions, but overall, the 50 MP sensors deliver dependable results that can be quickly shared or edited. OnePlus also boosts creative photo control with support for higher-frame-rate video capture in 4K at 120 fps and AI-enhanced editing tools within the Photos app, which help bring out the best in captures straight from the camera.

What the OnePlus 15 lacks in standout imaging brilliance, it makes up for in other areas that matter to photographers on the go: an excellent, bright display for reviewing shots, class-leading battery life that can easily last more than a full day, and a design and performance package that rivals much more expensive rivals. For those wanting a balance of strong camera performance without sacrificing overall flagship value, the OnePlus 15 is one of the most appealing Android phones in its price bracket.

How to choose the best Android phone

The main considerations to look at when buying a new Android phone are the camera, design, and price.

Let's start with the camera, or cameras, as most modern smartphones come with two or more cameras offering different perspectives. To pick the right camera for you, you need to ask yourself what you like taking pictures of, if you take a lot of close-up shots, make sure that the Android phone you pick has a good macro mode, if you like wide dramatic landscapes, then opting for a phone with the best wide-angle camera is essential, and for far away shots, a good telephoto lens is a must.

It is easy to get carried away with cameras and specs though, but you'll find most Android phones offer a great experience. Find the design that resonates with you, with the features you really need, and luckily there is an Android phone to suit practically every budget.

How we test Android phones

As a photography website, I pay special attention to the photo and video quality of Android phones. Camera phones are all-around digital assistants too, of course, so I will also check general handling, usability, and practicality – such as battery life. And as I do more and more editing on my phone now – it's essential that my choice has a sharp and color-accurate screen.

To test Android phone cameras I take hundreds (sometimes thousands) of photos with the phone and carefully compare the images side by side to look for any inconsistencies in quality or color between shots. I also compare Android phone cameras to one another – I keep a range of the latest phones on hand, so I can take the same pictures with multiple devices and see which performs best.

For images, I rate resolution, noise, and color rendition in the context of what rival Android phones can do, and what the manufacturer promises. I also test all the special camera features, such as ‘night modes’ or ‘portrait modes’ to see their effectiveness, and how they compare to rivals.

I can then put all the data, as well as a healthy dose of my informed opinion, together in this list to help you decide on which might be the best Android phone for your photography needs.

Deals

China’s growing dominance in the camera and imaging technology market over the past decade marks a significant shift in an industry once dominated by Japanese brands. ‘Made in China’ used to be a synonym for poor quality but in recent years, Chinese brands have positioned themselves as disruptive forces within traditional markets, offering competitive innovations.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese companies ruled the camera industry. Canon and Nikon were renowned for their high-end optics and reliable mechanics, while Sony and JVC dominated the consumer video world. But that began to change in the 2010s, with the rise of Chinese companies such as DJI, Xiaomi and Huawei. 

The Xiaomi Mi 1 was the company’s first Android phone launched in 2010, followed by Huawei’s first Google-powered phone, the Huawei U8220, in 2012. Then came DJI’s paradigm-shifting DJI Phantom 1 drone in 2013. Having initially entered the market through action cameras, smartphones and drones, Chinese tech brands have expanded to more sophisticated imaging technologies through innovation and they are now starting to influence the high-end and professional camera realms. 

One of the primary reasons for China’s ascendance is its ability to integrate imaging technology with other digital solutions. DJI, which started as a drone company, revolutionized aerial photography by developing drones with high-res cameras. Its expertise in stabilizing tech, such as gimbals, has extended into the broader camera market, making it a player in video and photography equipment, particularly since it acquired the iconic Swedish camera brand Hasselblad in 2017.

Meanwhile, Huawei and Xiaomi, both traditionally smartphone companies, have invested in imaging capabilities through partnerships with lens manufacturers like Leica. Huawei’s P and Mate series put its brand on the map by pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, featuring high-quality lenses and advanced computational photography. Since the USA’s ban on Huawei products,
its sub-brand Honor has carried that torch, alongside competitor Oppo.

As well as affordability, the pace of innovation has been another crucial advantage for China. While Japanese firms maintain a steady development cycle for high-end DSLR and mirrorless cameras, Chinese companies are keen to rapidly improve their offerings. The agility of Chinese firms is supported by a domestic manufacturing ecosystem that allows for faster production. Indeed, many Japanese camera brands manufacture a significant portion of their products in China.

The shift towards Chinese dominance is reshaping the industry. The leadership of its companies in related technologies, such as wireless connectivity, AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), gives them an edge in creating integrated imaging systems. DJI’s Osmo Pocket 3, for example, can deliver comparable quality to a mid-level consumer camera with unrivaled features for a fraction of the price.

Chinese brands are likely to continue their rise, potentially redefining the camera and imaging industry in the same way Japanese brands once did. As China combines technological prowess with competitive pricing and innovation in adjacent fields, the global camera landscape will continue to evolve. My hope is that the competition keeps giving more options and prevents the industry from going stagnant.  

The Find X8 Pro is Oppo's latest flagship camera phone, or at least it is outside China. Oppo's previous flagship handset - the Find X7 Ultra - was a China exclusive, and in some ways it still has the edge over the newer X8 Pro. Both phones share a quad-camera array with dual periscope telephoto cameras, but where the X7 Ultra packs a 1-inch-type Sony Lytia LYT900 sensor for its primary camera, the Find X8 Pro gets a smaller 1/1.4" Lytia LYT808 sensor, though as with the X7 Ultra, all four modules are 50MP in resolution. 

Where the X8 Pro edges ahead of the X7 series is its implementation of AI and super-fast image processing, courtesy of its powerful new AI-enabled MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset. This enables features like ultra-fast burst shooting and AI-enhanced zoom at up to 120x.

The Find X8 Pro continues Oppo's longstanding partnership with Hasselblad, with its image processing developed in conjunction with the iconic Swedish camera manufacturer.

Elsewhere, the Find X8 Pro looks the part thanks to its super-slim bezels and attractive glass back, while the 6.78-inch AMOLED screen is capable of high-brightness HDR, 2160Hz PWM Dimming and it's Dolby Vision certified.

On paper at least, the Oppo Find X8 Pro has the makings of a no-compromise flagship camera phone. It still leaves scope for an X8 Ultra, which would likely receive a larger sensor for its primary camera, but history suggests a future Ultra variant may not receive a global launch. Let's see if the X8 Pro is already good enough for that not to matter...

Oppo Find X8 Pro: Design and Screen

The Find X8 Pro comes in two colour options: Space Black, and Pearl White. I found my black review sample to be a relatively uninspiring colourway - the Pearl White version, at least in the press images, looks like the more eye-catching finish. But the main point of interest on the back of the Find X8 Pro is that large circular camera island, prominently showcasing the Hasselblad logo in its centre. The thickness of the island (Oppo call it the "Cosmos Ring") is now 40% slimmer, at 3.58mm, compared to the X8 Pro's "predecessor", though it's not clear exactly which phone Oppo is referring to. Even with this supposed thickness reduction, the X8 Pro's camera bump is still quite pronounced, at least when compared with the rest of the slimline body. Unlike the X7 Ultra, the X8 Pro's four camera modules are arranged symmetrically within the camera island, for a more visually pleasing look.

Oppo claims the Find X8 Pro is "built to last", courtesy of Oppo's Armour Shield construction that utilizes reinforced glass and hardy aluminium to absorb shock. The phone is also IP68/IP69 rated, so it should be water resistant to a depth of 1.5m for up to 30 minutes and is even resistant to water jets. Sounds great, but I've got reason to doubt the phone's drop-resistance. During my testing I accidently dropped the phone from a height of only around 1.5 feet / 45cm, onto a tiled floor. But even that was enough to shatter the phone's back glass, making a mockery of the so-called 'Armour Shield' construction. It'd be unfair to single-out Oppo here though, as it's far from the only phone manufacturer to favour glass back panels for its premium phones. This is an industry-wide trend, but one that's staggeringly impractical for a go-anywhere device like a camera phone, especially when combined with wafer-thin phone edges and super-slippery matte back panel finishes that make drops even more likely.

At 8.24mm thick and weighing 215g, the Find X8 Pro does its best to minimise its large 6.78-inch screen size, though this is nonetheless a sizeable handset. The display curves down at all four edges, keeping bezel thickness down to 1.9mm and contributing to a "softer in-hand feel", as well as making the phone more slippery(!). The display quality is superb though, featuring a smooth 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, up to 4500-nit localized brightness in HDR mode and 1600 nits in high-brightness mode. Impressive numbers, but I didn't find the maximum brightness to be quite as awesome as the figures suggest. The screen is however bright enough to be viewable under direct sunlight. The 1264 x 2780 resolution falls short of the 1440 x 3168 screen res of the preceding Find X7 Ultra, but the X8 Pro's 450 PPI pixel density is still easily crisp enough to hide individual pixels from the human eye. The overall viewing experience from the Find X8 Pro is superb, with high contrast, rich, vibrant colours, while the curved edges don't noticeably alter colour or contrast at the perimeter of the screen.

On the left edge of the handset is the Alert Slider - a three position switch that lets you directly switch between ring, vibrate and silent. It's a nice touch that harks back to the old iPhone mute switch, and is a lot easier than waking the phone and using the OS to make the same adjustment. On the right edge of the phone is the usual volume up/down button, power button, and the Quick Button. This touch sensitive haptic button can be used as a physical camera shutter if you tap it, and by sliding left or right it can also control the camera's zoom. A double tap will launch the camera app, in a claimed 0.4 seconds.

Oppo Find X8 Pro: Camera Specs

The Find X8 Pro features four rear-facing camera modules, consisting of:

• 15mm ultra-wide (50MP, Samsung ISOCELL JN5 1/2.75", f/2.0)

• 23mm wide (50MP, Sony Lytia LYT808 1/1.4", f/1.6, OIS)

• 73mm periscope telephoto (50MP, Sony Lytia LYT600 1/1.95", f/2.6, OIS)

• 135mm periscope telephoto (50MP, Sony IMX858 1/2.51", f/4.3, OIS)

All four cameras benefit from Oppo's HyperTone Image Engine. Developed in conjunction with Hasselblad, the core objective is to enhance your images while still preserving natural skin tones and the original ambience of each shot. Oppo claims the system also performs the usual image enhancements like increasing dynamic range and reducing image noise in low light shots. This is achieved by merging up to nine RAW images into a single photo.

The Find X8 packs in not one but two periscope telephoto modules. A periscope lens uses a prism to reflect light through 90 degrees and down a stack of lens elements positioned side-to-side within the phone body, rather than the usual front-to-back. This means you can have a long lens without increasing the thickness of the phone itself. The 73mm telephoto camera is particularly special as it features two prisms, so light is angled through 180 degrees. This innovative lens design was developed primarily to reduce the overall size of the telephoto module, as conventional, single-prism periscope lenses take up a lot of precious space within a phone's tightly-packed chassis.

As with many phones incorporating camera modules of varying focal lengths, zoom can be switched directly between the four separate focal lengths, or controlled seamlessly from 15mm through to 135mm. The common 50MP resolution across all four modules helps hide perceivable image quality differences between the different sensors. But 135mm / 6x zoom is far from the limit of the Find X8 Pro's zoom capability. The phone's zoom slider can be cranked all the way to a seemingly ridiculous 120x, courtesy of Oppo's AI Telescope Zoom feature. This harnesses the AI and computational processing power of the Dimensity 9400 chipset to augment the pixel-level detail with AI-generated imagery.

Another benefit of the powerful chipset is the camera's burst shooting speed. Lightning Snap offers 7fps continuous shooting, simply by holding down the shutter button. Image quality isn't compromised during burst shooting, as the X8 Pro still applies its HyperTone Image Engine processing to each frame to minimise motion blur and increase overall clarity. Oppo is also claiming zero shutter lag (the delay between pressing the shutter button and a photo actually being captured) on all four rear-facing cameras

Oppo Find X8 Pro: Camera Review

AI is now a tediously overused buzz word seemingly applied to almost everything containing a microchip. You might think its use in the Find X8 Pro's camera processing is just another example of overzealous marketing, but that's not the case. AI is most evident in the phone's AI Telescope Zoom feature. The phone uses the longest 135mm telephoto lens combined with in-sensor cropping to zoom in as far as around 10-20x zoom, but beyond this there's simply so little pixel-level image information left that photos would be a mess without AI assistance. At around 20x zoom and beyond, AI analyses the otherwise soft, pixelated images and transforms them into a sharp shot, complete with crisp textures. Even text is detected and sharpened. This isn't just some crude sharpness boost that could be achieved in any old image editor: rather, the soft, highly magnified images are used more as a basis/guide for the AI to apply its own interpretation of the scene. The results are usually uncannily sharp, but shots captured at 60-120x can show evidence of AI trickery, with some obvious glitches and errors in textures and object edges. You'll also want to avoid using extreme zoom when capturing images of people. AI is able to fill in the digital gaps for blurry objects very effectively, but it struggles to enhance faces with any finesse. You end up with hideous results that look like the product of a plastic surgeon that swapped is scalpels for meat cleavers. However, stick to 30x zoom or less, and avoid taking portraits of people at a distance of 50+ meters, and this phone's zoom ability is simply incredible.

The Find X8 Pro is also surprisingly good at capturing fast-moving action. I tested its 7fps burst shooting ability at a Champion's League football match (Oppo is an official sponsor of the UEFA Champion's League), where the phone had no problem capturing rapid-fire bursts throughout the 90-minute game. The results were almost always sharp, despite the fast-moving subjects and the shots often being captured at up to 15x zoom, proving the effectiveness of each module's image stabilisation.

In general shooting, images from the Find X8 Pro are well-judged, accurately exposed, and with faithful colour reproduction. This is what we'd expect from the Hasselblad-developed colour science, which favours accuracy over outright eye-popping punchiness. Some may find images from the Find X8 Pro a little restrained compared to the pumped-up colour and contrast from other phones - Samsung, for example - but that's up to your personal preference. All four rear-facing cameras capture excellent detail and a sharp across the entire image frame, chromatic aberration (colour fringing) is essentially non-existent, and Oppo has done a good job matching the image quality across all four cameras, despite their differing physical sensor sizes.

The Find X8 Pro also excels in low light conditions, with the primary (23mm) camera resolving excellent detail levels. The telephoto cameras can't quite match the stellar levels of low light detail offered by the 23mm module, but they're not far off. The weakest link in low light is the ultrawide snapper, which captures noticeably less detail than the 23mm module. Low light image noise is very well controlled across all camera modules, even at high ISOs, though push past ISO 2000 and noise reduction can start to make images look slightly over-smoothed.

Oppo Find X8 Pro: Additional Features

In terms of general use, I found the Dimensity 9400 chipset with its 16GB of memory handled everything I threw at it mostly without issue. The phone only displayed a 'low memory' warning once, after over an hour of frequent burst shooting during the aforementioned football match, whereby it reduced its continuous shooting speed from 7fps to around 2-3fps.

Battery life also proved to be excellent, easily handling a full day of heavy use, though we'd expect this from the reasonably high-capacity 5910mAh cell. This can be recharged by the included rapid charger at 80W (wired) via Oppo's SUPERVOOC charging tech. This isn't the fastest charge speed out there - it's slower than the Find X7 Ultra's 100W charge speed - but it should still be plenty fast enough for most users. Wireless charging is supported at an impressive 50W, and Mag Charge magnetic charging is also an option, providing the phone is used in a compatible case. You also get a dual Nano SIM tray, but there's no microSD expandability or 3.5mm headphone socket.

Oppo Find X8 Pro: Verdict

The Oppo Find X8 Pro is an exceptionally versatile and capable camera phone. Sports, wildlife, portraiture, close-ups; you can capture it. Heck, with its IP69 ingress protection, the Find X8 Pro is even suitable for underwater photography. Sure, the sensor used in its primary camera could be larger, but the incredibly powerful image processing essentially negates any sensor size deficiency.

This is most evident when capturing zoomed-in shots using the two periscope telephoto modules, where the phone's uncannily effective AI enables the Find X8 Pro to punch well above its low weight when it comes to telephoto image quality. As with any AI-enabled camera phone, these 'assisted' images are more of an interpretation of a scene than a faithful recording, and the algorithms sometimes make mistakes, but these are the compromise that must be made to have big zoom reach in such a slim camera phone. There are other camera phones that'll give you more vivid and contrasty images, but Oppo is going for a realistic aesthetic when it comes to colour and contrast, and that's fine by us.

With a launch price of £1049, the Find X8 Pro is certainly not a cheap phone, but it does still undercut equivalently-specced rivals like a 512GB Pixel 9 Pro XL, a 512GB Galaxy S24 Ultra, or a 512GB iPhone 16 Pro Max. Given that the Find X8 Pro's camera specs and performance will give any of these phones a run for their money, Oppo's entry is also good value. We highly recommend it.

When OPPO first unveiled its ambition to "revolutionize smartphone photography", I was cautiously intrigued. Many phones promise to change the game, but few actually deliver on those lofty claims. That is, until the OPPO Find X8 Pro arrived. With its bold new camera system, this flagship phone goes beyond typical mobile photography to deliver images that come remarkably close to those captured with mirrorless cameras.

For those unfamiliar with the name, OPPO is a leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer known for its innovation in mobile technology and design. Founded in 2004, the brand has gained global recognition for pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, fast charging, and cutting-edge features.

At the heart of the OPPO Find X8 Pro is a complete overhaul of its camera system, featuring a Hasselblad Master Camera System partnership that brings professional-level imaging into the smartphone realm. With four 50MP sensors, including dual periscope telephoto lenses, the Find X8 Pro offers versatility that’s hard to beat. It captures stunning detail across a wide range of subjects, from intricate textures to expansive landscapes.

One of the standout features is the HyperTone image engine, which combines up to 9 RAW images into a single, highly detailed frame. This provides superior dynamic range, richer color reproduction, and significantly improved low-light performance. Whether you're shooting in bright daylight or capturing a moody cityscape at dusk, the Find X8 Pro handles it all with ease.

I had the opportunity to test the Find X8 Pro’s performance while exploring Paris for Paris Photo 2024 and in Bath, in the UK. Although I wasn’t able to shoot portraits, the Hasselblad Portrait Mode was present as a notable feature, offering six focal lengths (23mm, 35mm, 48mm, 73mm, 85mm, and 135mm) designed to replicate the high-quality bokeh and tonal accuracy of Hasselblad mirrorless cameras. Even though I didn’t use it, the potential for portrait photographers is clear and I am excited to try it out soon.

What I did take full advantage of were the Master Mode (manual settings) and the versatility of the camera's focal lengths. The Find X8 Pro allows you to control exposure, ISO, and focus with precision, making it ideal for more creative, controlled shots. I found this especially useful in street photography, where I could quickly adapt to changing conditions.

Whether photographing the sharp details of a classic Parisian building or capturing spontaneous street scenes, the Find X8 Pro delivered impressive clarity, vibrant colors, and an incredible depth of field. Even in tricky lighting, the camera maintained balance, handling both shadows and highlights with finesse.

Above: A gallery showcasing the zoom capabilities of the phone. (The phone remained in the same place for each)

The zoom capabilities on the Find X8 Pro are worth noting as well. From 1x to 10x optical zoom, the images are crisp, clear, and full of detail, thanks to the advanced periscope lenses. Beyond 10x, AI-powered processing ensures that even at higher magnifications (up to 20x), the images retain remarkable sharpness and clarity. I used this zoom to capture distant architectural elements and intricate details in busy urban settings. The results were consistently sharp, even from a distance, and the AI technology worked seamlessly to reduce noise and enhance detail.

This ability to zoom in without losing clarity is a game-changer, making the Find X8 Pro a fantastic tool for photographers who need to shoot subjects at varying distances with confidence. Whether you’re shooting a close-up shot of a building’s facade or zooming in on a distant landmark, the camera's zoom system handles it all with precision.

The OPPO Find X8 Pro isn’t just another flagship phone; it’s a serious contender for those looking to replace traditional cameras with something more portable and versatile. The combination of Hasselblad’s optical expertise and OPPO’s cutting-edge computational photography gives the Find X8 Pro a huge edge over many of its competitors. For anyone serious about mobile photography, this phone brings a level of detail, color accuracy, and creative control previously reserved for more expensive equipment.

In a crowded market where smartphone manufacturers are constantly chasing after the best camera, the OPPO Find X8 Pro stands out as a true pioneer. It’s not just about higher megapixels or the latest buzzwords – it’s about real innovation. With a blend of professional-grade optics, AI-driven enhancements, and powerful computational photography, the Find X8 Pro isn’t just another flagship; it’s a tool that brings a whole new level of creativity and control to mobile photographers.

Whether you're a seasoned pro looking to lighten your gear load or simply someone who loves taking stunning photos on the go, the Find X8 Pro is here to redefine what a smartphone camera can do. The future of mobile photography is here!

Check out our guides to the best OPPO phones, the best Hasselblad cameras, and the best camera phones.

Oppo has launched its next-generation flagship phone: Find X8 Pro. The latest Oppo handset to feature cameras developed in conjunction with Hasselblad, the Find X8 Pro boasts a quad-camera array consisting of:

• 15mm ultra-wide (50MP, Samsung ISOCELL JN5, 1/2.75", f/2.0)
• 23mm wide (50MP, Sony LYT808, 1/1.4", f/1.6, OIS)
• 73mm periscope telephoto (50MP, Sony LYT600, 1/1.95", f/2.6, OIS)
• 135mm periscope telephoto (50MP, Sony IMX858, 1/2.51", f/4.3, OIS)

Oppo says this is the first globally-available camera phone to feature two periscope telephoto modules, with the common 50MP resolution across all four modules helping to enable seamless zooming from ultrawide to the longest 135mm periscope telephoto focal length. What's more, with features like AI Telescope Zoom, images can be captured at up to 60x zoom thanks to AI-powered image processing that goes way beyond the crude sharpness-boost we've come to expect from conventional, old-fashioned digital zoom.

Read more: what is a periscope lens?

The Find X8 Pro also features Lightning Snap: a 7 frames-per-second burst shooting ability, which combined with the claimed zero shutter lag makes the phone able to capture fast-paced action with ease (something we've already tested at a Champion's League football match).

All photos captured by any of the Find X8 Pro's four camera modules benefit from Oppo's HyperTone Image Engine, which thanks to the input from Hasselblad promises powerful image quality enhancement while still retaining faithful colour, contrast, and accurate skin tones.

Being a premium flagship handset, the Find X8 Pro has a suitably large 6.78", 1264 x 2780 AMOLED display, curved at all four edges, and capable of up to 4500-nit localised HDR brightness. The phone runs MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 chipset, powered by a high-capacity 5910mAh battery supporting 80W wired and 50W wireless charging.

The Oppo Find X8 Pro will be available in two colour options: Space Black, and Pearl White, each being IP68/9 dust and water resistant, and able to resist being submerged in 1.5m-deep water for up to 30 minutes. The phone can also be used in all weathers thanks to its Splash Touch technology that means the touch screen will still function even when your hands are wet.

The Oppo find X8 Pro is available to buy now direct from Oppo, or via O2, priced at £1049. Purchase the phone before 5th December and you'll also receive a free OPPO Watch X (worth £299).

In late October we reported that Oppo had announced its next flagship camera phone series: Find X8. Since then, we've been lucky enough to get a sneak peak of the flagship handset in the range: the Find X8 Pro, which like past Oppo phones has been developed in collaboration with Hasselblad.

We can't yet reveal any details about exactly what camera hardware the new phone is packing, but we can share some sample images showing what the phone's cameras are capable of. And the short answer? A lot!

A UEFA Champions League football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid doesn't seem like an optimal scenario for a camera phone: fast-paced action, viewed from a long distance. It's the kind of environment where you'd traditionally want one of the best mirrorless cameras, teamed with a huge lens for sports photography (along with some very deep pockets to fund such a set-up). But Oppo decided this would be a suitable venue to put the Find X8 Pro through its paces, and it turns out they weren't being over-ambitious. This setting wasn't a coincidence - Oppo has been partnering with UEFA Champions League since 2022 and currently serves as the Official Smartphone Product Partner, in order to provide "more fans with opportunities to experience Oppo's technology and capture exciting match moments.”

Thanks to the phone's incredible processing speed, and its considerable zoom capability, I was able to capture the match action with surprising clarity, despite being seated up in the stands. The photos below are completely unedited and uncropped - they're straight from the phone. Sure, a bit of work in Photoshop would make them even better, but they still prove how powerful a camera phone can be, even when it's taken out of its usual comfort zone.

We are now in the process of conducting a full review of the Oppo Find X8 Pro and will present our verdict on the phone as soon as it's officially launched.

Paris Photo 2024 kicks off today and its global partner Oppo is flying the flag for mobile photography by introducing an innovative new camera system focused on making it easier and more accessible to create great photography.

During an exclusive camera roundtable discussion at Paris Photo 2024, Oppo unveiled its imaging proposition ‘Capture the Beauty of Life with Ease’. This offered a glimpse into the camera advancements of the upcoming Find X8 series – and spoilers, it’s pretty special!

Oppo's goal is to ‘democratize high-quality photography’, providing the ability to capture excellent photography to the masses. With camera advancements, machine learning, and AI, OPOppoPO aim to cover the technicals by providing auto settings to best capture the scene. This means all the user needs to do is point and shoot, and a high quality image will be created, keeping them in the moment.

The roundtable discussion was led by Oppo’s Director of Imaging Products Joy Cheng. He states, “Our imaging proposition, ‘Capture the Beauty of Life with Ease,’ drives our continuous innovation in mobile photography, enabling users to capture life’s extraordinary moments without technical complexity”.

The first phone to benefit from this new initiative is the Find X8 series, a return to flagship status for the model. The Find X8 series offers some impressive camera features that blur the line between phone and Hasselblad compact camera.

A standout new feature for the series is a new portraiture mode. As a company Oppo has always centred its photography around people, so it has developed a dedicated portrait mode that enhances portraits and renders them with natural ambient light that matches the scene – a concept OPPO calls “Atmospheric Environmental Portrait”.

The rendering of light and the balance between highlights and shadow has always been a hurdle for camera phones, but the Find X8 utilizes an upgraded version of Oppo’s Hyper Tone Camera System rendering warm and natural colors such as skin tones with more accuracy.

Speaking on this subject Cheng stated, “The Find X8 Series excels in capturing lighting details, naturally bringing out layers of light and shadow, fine contours, and textures to create a unique ambiance that tells the story behind each image. We’re delivering master-level tonal quality, smoother color transitions, and enhanced skin tone representation for professional portrait quality in every shot”.

This attention to the details is carried across all of the photo modes including a newly worked action mode where quality can often play second fiddle to shutter speed. Further development in Oppo’s computational photography enables both simultaneously.

In my opinion, the most impressive aspect of the Find X8 series’ new camera system is the outstanding telephoto capabilities. The multiple lenses offer a vast focal range with razor-sharp image quality throughout. I look forward to showcasing this in more detail when further announcements are made.

I’m looking forward to putting it through its paces to in a more professional environment to test if it can entirely replace my compact – I have a feeling it just might!

Hot off the release of the iPhone 16 range, with its dedicated Camera Control button, it’s no surprise that a few imitators have been lurking in the wings. 

Three different Android smartphone manufacturers from China have revealed plans to add their own version of the button (which acts like a shutter release on a DSLR or mirrorless camera) to upcoming models. 

Nubia has confirmed that its next smartphone will have a dedicated camera button, and Oppo is also expected to feature a new button on its Find X8 series. 

The vice president of Realme, Xu QiChase, also recently posted a video on his Weibo account showing him using a Realme phone with a camera button. The button appears to work by swiping on the key to zoom in, or tap it to take a picture. 

This wouldn’t be the first time that Realme has copied a feature made popular by Apple, according to Android Authority:

“The company previously cribbed Apple’s Dynamic Island notch for its budget Android phones, and it also copied the iPhone maker’s MagSafe tech (although Realme’s MagDart ecosystem wasn’t commercially released).”

A day after the Apple Glowtime event the president of Nubia, Ni Fei, claimed on Weibo that the upcoming Nubia Z70 Ultra would have a “more realistic” camera button. He also responded to a user comment apparently saying that it would be a two-stage button, enabling focus with a half-press and capture with a full press.

Oppo’s plans for its camera button are as yet unclear. In August, Leaker Ice Universe posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the Oppo Find X8 series will copy the iPhone 16 with a “Quick Button”. Though whether this will be a dedicated camera button or a general shortcut button remains to be seen.

Either way, for all the jibes that Apple is always following everyone else's lead, it's an interesting turn for Android brands to be copying the iPhone for a change. 

Take a look at the best camera phones, the best lenses for iPhone and Android camera phones, and the best iPhone 16 Pro Max cases.

The Oppo Reno 12 and 12 Pro have been announced for the UK and Europe, packing a boatload of AI features and striking liquid metal design in the hero Nebula Silver color. Perhaps more significant than the phones is what they represent. 

Oppo now has complete freedom to trade in Europe and the UK after a patent dispute with Nokia kept its phones off shelves for over a year. Since the agreement was been reached, Oppo has ramped up European activity, focusing on its Reno line, the Reno 11F, which launched a couple of months back, and now, the Reno 12 series.

The Reno 12 and 12 Pro are the first phones to realize Oppo's AI Phone vision outside China. Both are loaded with handy software features that cover language and imaging, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, but at a much lower price. On paper, though, you can get more camera and performance clout for less money than either the Reno 12 and 12 Pro cost. So are we entering an age in which smart AI features come at the cost of spec-clout?

Oppo Reno 12 AI features

The poster child for AI imaging tools is object removal, and Oppo's Reno 12 series get its second-generation AI Eraser which can automatically identify and remove people, or objects you circle or draw over. At a London event announcing its AI strategy, Oppo stated the feature is used 15 times a day on average by Chinese users, suggesting in China, at least, AI photo editing is already very mainstream.

Another imaging feature, Oppo's AI Clear Face, cleans up group photos of three people or more to keep features sharp, while AI Best Face is Oppo's version of Google's Best Take, so you can switch out faces in group shots ensuring everyone has their eyes open and is looking at the camera. Along with a digital art avatar-generator, AI Studio, Best Face is set to launch in Q3 2024, so it won't be available on launch.

We've had some time with the phones, and other than AI Eraser, the most useful software enhancement is definitely AI Speak and AI Summary. These read out or summarize web pages and worked well in our early tests.

Taking a leaf out of Google and Samsung's books, Oppo has also updated its recording app with AI Recording Summary, so it can summarise audio recordings and create a transcript in the phone's Notes app. Currently, the feature supports English, Hindi, and Chinese, with more languages set to launch in the future.

Reno 12 and 12 Pro: what's the difference?

The main differences between the two Reno 12 phones are the camera specs and storage capacities. While the Reno 12 Pro packs a 47mm telephoto camera and 512GB storage, the vanilla Reno 12 swaps that out for a 2MP macro camera and 256GB storage, and its selfie camera is also lower resolution than that of the Pro. There are other less notable differences: cover glass type, screen curvature, and color options, but given we've spent some time with the Pro model, it will be the focus going forward, and the phone pictured in all hands-on images in this piece.

What's most interesting about the Reno 12 and 12 Pro's hardware is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Energy powering it. It's the first time we've seen the chip before, and based on the numbers, it's a modest offering for any phone with the word Pro in its name. 

Oppo includes 12GB RAM for both the 12 and 12 Pro, so typical smartphone tasks will be snappy enough. However, neither Reno 12 will be able to handle demanding games or rip through 4K video edits like some other similarly priced alternatives.

The Reno 12 Pro's triple camera system is spearheaded by the new 50MP Sony LYT600, 1/1.95-inch sensor, matched with a 26mm, f/1.8 aperture lens with OIS. The telephoto camera uses a 47mm lens with an f/2.0 aperture matched with a 50MP Samsung JN5 1/2.75-inch sensor. Finally, the 8MP ultra-wide is fixed-focus with an f/2.2 lens and a 16mm focal length.

The phone can capture 4K video at up to 30fps from the front and back, and one area the Reno 12 Pro edges ahead of similarly priced competition is with its selfie camera: a 50MP, autofocusing module with an f/2 lens and a 21mm focal length.

As for pricing and availability, you can pick up the Reno 12 Pro for £499 (approximately $635 and AU$940), or €599 from June 28 2024. The Reno 12 will launch in mid-August, and its pricing is expected to be revealed nearer the time.

While the Reno 12 Pro isn't the camera champ Oppo's flagship Find X7 Ultra is, and definitely won't be the best camera phone of 2024, the launch is a good sign for anyone hoping to pick up what could be the Oppo Find X8 Ultra later this year or at the beginning of 2025.

Editorial note: Basil has worked with Oppo's communications agency as a consultant in the past. Having worked with Basil for years, we are confident in his ability to cover Oppo news in an unbiased way.

Smartphone photography is big business, so it's no wonder brands like OnePlus, Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo have all partnered up with iconic photography brands like Hasselblad, Leica, and Zeiss to boost their imaging cred. 

Smartphone fans consider Vivo something of a darling with its exceptional X Series, despite the fact its phones aren’t always widely available in the West. But for customers who don’t know much about brands like Vivo, Oppo or Xiaomi, an iconic camera brand logo around the back of a phone could add a much-needed trust factor. But are these camera partnerships all empty marketing, or can they really give you confidence that taking the plunge will actually get you better photos? 

In this three-part piece, I will examine the three hottest smartphone brands with camera maker partnerships: Vivo and Zeiss, OnePlus and Hasselblad, and Xiaomi and Leica. I will also outline the scope of the collaborations, discuss critical reception, and cover the phones showcasing the joint camera tech. Finally, I will share my conclusion as to whether the partnership is a bad take or a winning shot.

So strap in as we deep-dive into the partnership between Chinese phone maker Vivo, behind the well-reviewed X100 Pro, and German imaging icon, Zeiss, best known for its quality lenses.

This isn’t Zeiss’s first rodeo

Unlike Xiaomi and Leica, or Hasselblad and BBK Group (OnePlus and Oppo), Vivo and Zeiss seem to have a partially open relationship.

My first trip to Zeiss HQ in Germany wasn’t with Vivo, it was in 2012 with Nokia, testing out the Nokia 808 Pureview, the first phone to use pixel binning, an image processing technique Zeiss actually had a hand in pioneering. This speaks to Zeiss's longstanding involvement in mobile photography.

While the partnership between HMD Global (Nokia’s parent company) and Zeiss ended in 2021, Zeiss branding has adorned Sony Xperia phones for years, with Zeiss’s T* coating featured on high-end models like the Xperia 1 V. This reduces visual imperfections like refraction and reflection.

What’s different about the partnership with Vivo, however, Is how deep the integration is across both hardware and software. I caught up with the Vivo team to get a full more detailed understanding of the collaboration.

Vivo and Zeiss: hardware

While speaking with Vivo’s in-house imaging experts, they shared a cooking analogy that sets the scene for how Vivo sees the collaboration. When you make a dish, you improve your chances of success if you use excellent ingredients. With photography, the ingredient is the raw data that falls on the sensor. Zeiss helps Vivo get the best-quality information to the sensor as a starting point.

According to Keshav Chugh, Vivo's camera R&D product manager, both Zeiss optics and a Zeiss T* coating help the primary camera get the best-quality raw data possible for the flagship Vivo X100 Pro and Vivo X100 Ultra, recently announced in China. You can see some samples from the Vivo X100 Ultra below in Keshav's X post. 

Vivo goes so far as to call its flagship’s primary camera a Zeiss 1-inch Main Camera, and the telephoto camera a Zeiss APO Floating Telephoto Camera, the first apochromatically corrected lens in a smartphone. While tele lenses typically suffer from worse chromatic aberration (purple fringing) than wider lenses, Vivo’s lens system, certified by Zeiss, reduces this effect and performs competitively in my tests.

Vivo and Zeiss: software

Vivo’s photo processing has been making waves over the last couple of years thanks to its impressive photo quality and progressive take on computational photography. When discussing the AI of it all with Vivo, the team was keen to hit home, before you even get to tuning, Vivo and Zeiss’s collaboration focuses on making sure the foundation of the photo is rock solid. In other words, images should pack minimum Delta E (variance between what’s seen, what’s captured, and what’s displayed). This is especially important in portraits, with the X100 Pro featuring six Zeiss-inspired portrait digital lenses.

At 24mm, Vivo’s portrait look emulates Zeiss’s Distagon flare, at 35mm, it’s the Zeiss B-Speed triangular cinematic spot, at 50mm you get a circular flare, or alternatively a Biotar rotary focus flare as a second 50mm option. Punching in further, and an 85mm portrait pulls up Zeiss’s Sonnar cream spot and finally, a tight 100mm portrait creates a Planar dreamy spot paired with soft, low-saturated, platinum tones. When you think some flagship smartphone Portrait Mode options are: on or off, Vivo and Zeiss’s efforts are impressive even before you come to take a portrait photo. Vivo was keen to stress that while many portrait modes are mathematical calculations to create blur, its own version is more bespoke.

Many people, myself included, shy away from portrait mode on smartphones. It can look clunky and overdone. But because Vivo offers such a range of options and you can dial up or down the effect after taking your shot, it's easy to refine the results to a level of subtlety that doesn't detract from the quality of a photo.

As for Vivo’s general photo processing, this is mostly handled by Vivo and certified by Zeiss, and what’s also interesting (if slightly off topic), Vivo applies different photo processing to China-focused devices compared to its global phones. Global devices feature no generative AI (gen AI) to enhance a picture, upscale dynamic range, apply opt-in beautification, etc. Vivo phones launched in China, on the other hand, do feature gen AI, and they also feature opt-out beautification to reflect typical regional user preferences.

Zeiss also lives in two more areas within Vivo phones. The first is in the Zeiss Natural look. This dictates the aesthetic of your photo, with Zeiss Natural being the most balanced of all the looks on offer, while Vivid and Textured, the two alternatives, add more stylistic processing.

Finally, Vivo’s Zeiss co-branded phones enjoy a branded watermark, complete with shooting parameters so you can easily see just how hard the camera (and the processing) have worked to get the shot.

Vivo and Zeiss: a marriage made in…

If Vivo’s recent phones are anything to go by, this partnership is most certainly a marriage made in heaven. Vivo’s X100 Pro is the most reliable camera phone I’ve ever used for point and shoot photography. Its processing isn’t always the most authentic, so Vivo’s phones might not be the top choice for photography purists, especially when zooming in beyond 10x owing to how much it cleans up shots – but as I covered in my feature on the X100 Pro’s processing, it was a crowd pleaser at my family Christmas. After I took a few group shots, everyone loved how the phone’s camera simultaneously flattered and captured the mood of the day.

Vivo phones and where to find them

While you could buy the Vivo X80 Pro and X90 Pro in Europe, the more recent X100 Pro, and the V30 Pro – its upper-midranger – are mainly available in Asian and Middle Eastern markets. This could be owing to a patent dispute with Nokia that has prevented brands like Oppo and Vivo from selling their phones in Europe. With Oppo returning to Western markets with the Reno11 F this year, and Vivo issuing a statement that the dispute has been resolved, there is a chance we could be welcoming Vivo phones back to Europe in the future. 

Until then, anyone who lives somewhere Vivo phones aren’t widely available will have to import one. Having used both the X100 Pro and V30 Pro in the UK and across Europe, I can confirm both phones work well, with full access to the Google Play Store and network bands. However, if you do decide to import a Vivo phone, there are pitfalls, not least of all the limited after-sales support.

Vivo's just revealed that its X Fold 3 Pro will be launching in India in June, making it the first foldable from Vivo to launch outside China. This wider release is a promising sign for anyone enamoured with Vivo's Zeiss imaging and on the market for a foldable for two reasons. The first is that Indian devices run what is termed global software, so they natively support Google services like Android Auto, making them more attractive imports. The India launch could also be the first wave of a wider release plan that includes the West.

Running down the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro's imaging highlights, it features three cameras, a 50MP main camera with a large 1/1.3-inch sensor, a 64MP periscope camera with a 1/2-inch sensor, and a 50MP ultra-wide with a 1/2.76-inch sensor and PDAF. As you can see in Vivo's tweet, linked above, the camera gets Zeiss portrait highlights, and given how good Vivo is at eking out quality images from mobile hardware, it could be the best foldable camera around when it drops.

Vivo and Zeiss: the future

There's no getting around it, the future of smartphone photography is generative AI. And with Vivo and Zeiss having announced an extension of their partnership in May 2024, we can look forward to both brands taking their next AI-imaging steps together for the foreseeable future.

But why is AI such a silver bullet for smartphone photography? Smartphone sensors and lenses are small, a particular challenge on the telephoto end, and AI looks set to be the weapon of choice for compensating for this inherent limitation. With Vivo at the cusp of incorporating computational photography in its phones, we're guessing it will be pioneering more advanced AI models in its upcoming devices, especially when it comes to zoom.

I touched on how much Vivo cleans up zoomed-in shots in the X100 Pro with its 50MP telephoto camera, and the new Vivo X100 Ultra, with a 200MP telephoto camera, looks set to be the cleanest zoomer the internet has ever seen based on early reports out of China. By instantly bracketing, masterfully pixel-binning, and using object recognition to clean up zoomed-in detail incredibly well, Vivo really is leading the charge, out-performing technically more complex, further-reaching zooms like the 85-170mm continuous zoom on the Sony Xperia 1 VI.

As for where Zeiss fits into Vivo’s imaging story, provided the lens specialist can keep delivering its expertise, lenses and coating, the mutually beneficial partnership should continue to bear fruits for both businesses.

So while Leica appears to be swaying Xiaomi in a very classical direction with its photo processing on the Xiaomi 13T and 14 Ultra, and Hasselblad seems to be meeting OnePlus and Oppo in the middle with measured computational photography on the OnePlus 12 Pro and Open, I’m arguably more excited by what Vivo and Zeiss are on track to do. Sure, the purist photographer in me may die a little when my X100 Pro takes a photo that looks much better than real life, but when you’re taking photos that look this good on a smartphone without labouring too hard over your shot, it’s very hard not to be impressed and excited by the shape of things to come.

Check out the best camera phones in 2024

In 2024, smartphones seem to be truly living up to the ‘smart’ aspect of their names.  Back in 2021, when the Google Pixel 6 Pro was released, we saw the beginnings
of explicit AI integration with features such as Google’s Magic Eraser. And,
at last year’s Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm Snapdragon treated me
to an exclusive preview of Stable Diffusion’s generative AI tools working on a mobile device for the first time.

If you’re familiar with generative AI tools such as Stable Diffusion, you’ll be aware of how mind-blowing it is that the computing power required to run complex generative AI tasks was possible on a smartphone a year ago.

Oppo’s latest flagship device, the Find X7 Ultra, is pushing things forward with the world’s first Quad Main Camera system, comprising four 50MP cameras, two of which feature periscope zoom lens systems. At the heart of the Find X7 Ultra’s camera system is the Sony LYT-900 sensor.

It’s a one-inch type sensor, designed specifically with computational photography in mind, and is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which has a custom, dedicated Image Signal Processor. Sharing a similar classy chrome and leather aesthetic, I’d like to think of this device as the spiritual successor to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1, which was well ahead of its time as the first mobile to feature a one-inch sensor way back in 2015. The Find X7 Ultra takes the torch from the CM1 and runs with it, offering what is effectively four flagship smartphone cameras in one device with a combined equivalent optical focal range of 14-270mm, it’s an impressive package. 

We saw a belligerent use of the term ‘AI’ during the Samsung Unpacked launch event in mid-January, where its latest smartphones were announced. The S24 series devices rely heavily on AI to deliver some of their key features. For example, you can select and move objects within your pictures on the device and it will cleverly use content-aware generative fill to replace the gaps left by the removed objects. It’s a similar implementation to the tools deployed in the latest Google Pixels. 

Galaxy flagships are particularly famous for their extensive zoom ranges. However, this year’s Ultra device ditches 10x optical zoom for a maximum of 5x magnification. Instead, the Galaxy S24 Ultra achieves the rest of its upper zoom range with AI-powered digital zoom eking out detail from its ‘Quad Tele’ zoom camera setup. 

An especially interesting addition to the Galaxy S24 series is the ability of the device to take advantage of distributed computing power. This means that photo or video content captured and created on the device can use the power of cloud-based AI to process your content as you shoot and edit, spreading the computing load around and enabling a whole raft of groundbreaking functions.

Many of the new AI-powered features that we’re starting to see rolling out in smartphones – or ‘connected cameras’, as I like to call them – this year will undoubtedly have an effect on the way people capture and create content on the go. We’ve all seen the predominantly negative impact that the introduction
of filters had on portraiture, so I’m intrigued to see what new trends emerge as these latest AI-driven creative tools become standard. 

How do you feel about the inevitable consequences of cameras being developed around the use of AI? Does it take something away from the art of creating photos and videos, or are you excited about what’s ahead? Personally, I’m sick of hearing about ‘AI’, but it’s firmly a thing now, so we have to talk about it! - so do forgive me!  

Read more of Jon Devo's Scanning Ahead blogs

Oppo has just released the first-ever dual periscope cameraphone, setting a new bar in mobile photography. 

The latest flagship camera from Oppo, the Oppo Find X7 Ultra, was released in China yesterday (January 8), and it looks set to become one of the best camera phones for photography. The new Android phone has a total of four 50MP rear cameras, each with a different optical zoom, meaning that the quad-cam setup offers a consistent zoom between 14mm and 270mm, 'without degradation in image quality'. 

The Find X7 Ultra incorporates a dual-periscope camera, making it the first smartphone ever to do so. It retains the 65mm 3x perioscope from the Oppo Find X6 Pro providing a bright aperture of f/2.6. The second periscope camera comes in the form of a 135mm 6x telephoto camera, with an in-built OIS and a minimum focusing distance of just 35cm. 

The other two cameras consist of one wide camera with a second-generation 1-inch Sony stacked sensor, an aperture of f/1.8 and OIS, and an ultra-wide 14mm f/2 equivalent with an impressive minimum focusing distance of just 4cm!

Another reason to be excited about this camera is that Oppo has continued its partnership with Hasselblad and the portrait sample images provided, may just be the best photographs I have seen taken on a phone. Granted, great lighting conditions, photographer, and subject are a huge part, but how the camera seems to render the depth of field looks more medium format camera-like than a camera phone.

The 65mm and 135mm focal lengths are perfect for portraiture, enabling enhanced subject compression and depth of field fall-off. Portraits are also now said to be easier to capture in low light, with improved ISO, large sensors, and wide apertures.

Smart capture also lets you focus on humans and animals, recognizing both with ease. The cameras render the bokeh and out-of-focus areas naturally, without the odd blur that is often produced in portrait modes on other phones.

In addition to the natural-looking background blur, another reason why I think the sample images sing is the color tones. I have always had an appreciation for Hasselblad's color science, and it appears to have been replicated in the Oppo cameras. Skin tones appear natural and the depth in color tone is exceptional.

The Oppo Find X7 Ultra enables more refinement in its Master Mode developed by Hasselblad. This is a pro capture mode where you can refine settings, much like on a mirrorless camera, and control RAW shooting with RAW MAX.

The Oppo Find X7 Ultra is out now in China, and unfortunately, there is no news or scheduled release for the US and Europe. Hopefully, this may change moving forward, or perhaps Oppo is working on another camera for these regions that incorporate the same camera tech, as I will be first in line to test it out.  

You can find out more about the Oppo Find X7 Ultra on the Oppo website. 

You may also be interested in our guides to the best phone for vlogging and the best stylus phone. 

As we eagerly await the launch of new flagship camera phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24, we also expect Oppo to launch its next top-tier offering around the same time. The upcoming Find X7 Pro has been rumored to feature a next-generation sensor produced in collaboration with Sony called the Lytia LYT-900: a 50MP, 1-inch chip that's also set to appear in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It's also been rumored that the Find X7 Pro will include a telephoto module with 2.7x effective zoom, based around a 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor. A periscope telephoto module is thought to be present too, utilizing a Sony IMX858 sensor and offering 6x optical zoom. All modules are likely to benefit from image processing by Hasselblad.

Read more: what is a periscope camera?

But while there's been lots of speculation around the camera tech inside the Find X7 Pro, we've only seen renders of what the new phone might look like... until now. The rumor mill has recently produced a possible sighting of a Find X7 Pro in the wild. Take this one with a hefty handful of salt though, as while the translated Weibo post states this is "undoubtedly" a Find X7 Pro, we can't verify that claim. There's also a pretty sizable red flag that hints at this not being a Find X7 Pro, or at least not the final production version: the phone in the photo is b*tt-ugly! If we're being kind, the octagonal camera bump is 'distinctive', but frankly the sheer size of the raised area - and the extent to which it protrudes from the rest of the back panel - is plain laughable. It looks more like an April Fools fake.

All that said, the camera bump on the Find X6 Pro is almost as large, although its circular shape is at least blended with the rest of the phone a little more seamlessly than we see in the Weibo image. Maybe there's an outside chance Oppo has dropped the ball here and signed off on a aesthetically 'challenging' design for the Find X7 Pro. We'll have to wait until next year to find out for certain though, as the X7 Pro could potentially drop in March if Oppo follows a similar release schedule to the Find X6 Pro.

Story credit: HotHardware

Oppo has launched its latest flip phone, the Find N3 Flip, in China, with a global launch to follow. The successor to the popular Find N2 Flip, the Find N3 Flip is the first competitor to take on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 since it launched. Side by side with the competition, Oppo's Find N3 Flip misses out on the almost-square cover screen trend Motorola set in action with its RAZR 40 Ultra. 

For photography fans, Oppo gives you something arguably more important than a biggest-in-show cover screen. The Find N3 Flip has the biggest camera sensors of any flip phone to date, it's the first of its kind to squeeze in a triple camera system, and it's the first with an optical telephoto lens.

With a primary 50MP camera sporting a 1/1.56-inch sensor, while Oppo's flip phone trails behind 1-inch sensor behemoths like its Find X6 Pro and the Xiaomi 12s Ultra, compared to other flip phones, the Find N3 Flip is class-leading. For context, the Galaxy Z Flip 5's main camera sensor is 1/1.76-inch, and the RAZR 40 Ultra's is an even smaller 1/2.55-inch.

It's a similar story for the ultra-wide camera sensor, which clocks in with a 48MP resolution, has an f/2.2 lens, and a 14mm equivalent focal length. This bests the competition with autofocus alone, and the extra sensor size and resolution gives Oppo a clear win on paper. Finally, the portrait camera, unique to the Find N3 Flip, is a 32MP module with a 2x optical zoom, and a 47mm equivalent.

If you're wondering what's so Hasselblad about the Find N3 Flip, based on past Oppo phones we've tested, the camera UI, Pro mode, and Xpan are loaded up with Hasselbladisms, though we'll know more when the phone launches globally.

The rest of the Find N3 Flip's specs look relatively uncompromising, with a flagship MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipset, which we first saw in the Vivo X90 Pro, matched with a healthy 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

In China, the Find N3 Flip is set to be available in three colors: Cream Gold, Misty Pink, and Sleek Black, with one design highlight we weren't expecting - an alert slider - lifted straight out of the OnePlus playbook.

The cover screen looks identical to the vertical front display introduced on the Find N2 Flip, though Oppo promises extended integration with third-party apps. We saw Spotify and other third-party services rolled out to its cover screen OS after Find N2 Flip launched, so it will be interesting to see what ends up in the global version when the Find N3 Flip eventually arrives.

As for where we can expect it, the Find N3 Flip is unlikely to launch in the US, though Europe did recently see the launch of the Oppo Reno 10 series, so watch this space. In the meantime, if you're thinking about picking up a foldable and want to get a sense of what's out there, read our guide to the best flip and fold phones, and check back for more on Oppo's Hasselblad clamshell when it's availability outside China is confirmed.

Just a few months after the Google Pixel Fold laid down the gauntlet to challenge Samsung's domination of foldables, Samsung unveiled its 2023 line of folding phones, with its Galaxy Z Fold 5 leading the charge, alongside the Z Flip 5.

There are plenty of exciting, cutting-edge big-screened foldable phones in China – the Honor Magic V2, Oppo Find N2, and Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 – but Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold-series hasn't had as much competition in the West. 

Recent Western releases like the Honor Magic Vs, Huawei Mate X3, and Google Pixel Fold – the only one of the three available in the US – indicate the tides are turning. But no phone has pushed Samsung off the top spot since it dropped the first Galaxy Fold in 2019. And that's despite the fact the Z Fold line hasn't historically had great cameras for the price.

• Read our guide to the best Android phones

As it happens, photography fans thinking of buying a foldable face an uphill battle when it comes to camera quality, whichever phone they go for. All folding phones are hamstrung by size; squeezing two screens into a pocketable package doesn't leave much room for top-notch camera hardware.

So while top-tier camera phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra are riding high with big camera sensors and far-reaching optics, we've yet to see an uncompromising foldable camera phone. And the Z Fold 5 doesn't change that fact.

After all, Samsung hasn't made any significant camera upgrades this year. It's closed its hinge gap – making its inner screen less exposed to grit and dust – the internals have been refreshed, the S Pen is now water-resistant, and it has a better big-screen interface. But its camera is the same set-up we saw on the Z Fold 4.

Despite its limitations, though, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is still a lesson in how to make a best-of-the-bunch book-style folding phone in 2023; here's why...

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Review: Design

From a distance, you would be hard-pressed to spot the difference between the Z Fold 4 and Z Fold 5, but if you get down to the specs, the 2023 Z Fold 5 is thinner and lighter and ditches the hinge gap.

Weighing 253g, the Z Fold 5 is 10g lighter than the Fold 4, and at 13.4mm when closed, it's also 2.4mm thinner. How does this stack up against other foldables? Pretty well, actually – the Fold 5 sits at around the middle of the pack – with the heavier Honor Magic Vs weighing 267g, and the Pixel Fold clocking in at a beefy 283g.

The only lighter book-style foldable in the West is the Huawei Mate X3 which weighs 239g, while the China-only Oppo Find N2 also weighs 239g – that's 1g lighter than an iPhone 14 Pro Max (240g).

The Galaxy Z Fold 5's frame is made of Samsung's Armor Aluminum, and the front and back panels are Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and Samsung's made the phone IPX8 water resistant. 

Available in Blue, Cream, Grey, Icy Blue, and Phantom Black, all the Z Fold 5 colors are slightly frosted with a matte finish that does an excellent job of fending off fingerprints.

The Z Fold 5's screens are the same size and resolution as those of the Z Fold 4 at 7.6 inches inside and 6.2 inches on the front. This gives the new foldable a familiar hand feel, and the lack of a hinge gap this year makes it a little more pocket-friendly.

On the subject of durability, in addition to IPX8 water resistance, Samsung's hinge feels very solid. While other foldables may have smoother, easier-to-open and close hinges, Samsung's is one of the more robust, so it holds its form securely mid-fold and doesn't spring open or closed at any point when folding or unfolding.

Based purely on subjective – this feels tough enough to handle daily life – experiences, after two weeks of using it, the Z Fold 5 has left us feeling relatively confident in its durability, and while it's a bit slab-like, its styling is cohesive and a modest step forward compared to the Z Fold 4.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Review: Screens

Both of the Galaxy Z Fold 5's screens are Samsung AMOLED 2X displays, which means they showcase vibrant colors and deep, inky blacks. They're also smooth, with 120Hz refresh rates, and are adaptive, so this smoothness can dial up or down between 1-120Hz to save power.

The 6.2-inch cover screen on the front of the Z Fold 5 is significantly taller than that of the Pixel Fold and narrower too. If you like a lot of space to type, it's a cramped experience that will take some getting used to.

In our first week with the Z Fold 5, we were often forced to unfold it for long bouts of messaging after making too many typos on the cover screen. Into our second week, we leveled up our claw-handed clasp to hit new heights of successful cramped typing, but it still wasn't as comfortable as using a wider phone keyboard.

The main display is a 7.6-inch foldable panel with a resolution of 1812 x 2176, and it shares most of the same credentials as its cover-screen counterpart – 120Hz adaptive smoothness, Dynamic AMOLED 2X technology, and HDR support. 

With a peak screen brightness of 1200 nits in high brightness mode, it should be easy to see what's on-screen in all but the sunniest environments. Samsung's also ramped up the peak spot brightness, so when playing HDR content, the phone can crank out through-the-roof contrast ratios and beam highlights as brightly as 1750 nits.

To look at, if you can get past a visible crease line running down the middle of the Z Fold 5, it's big screen is a beauty. The interface looks excellent on it, colors pop with vibrancy (but not too much), and it's responsive to the touch. 

If you're thinking of a foldable as a Kindle replacement, while the Z Fold 5 is more reflective than an E Ink screen, its size is very good for reading on, and its low minimum brightness makes it a winner for bedtime reading.

Watching videos on the Fold 5 is hit-and-miss. If you're in a bright environment, having the crease running down the middle of the screen can catch the light, creating a distracting glare. 

Part-fold the phone, though, which pushes the picture to the top half, rest it on a surface for a more cropped but less compromised view, and it fares much better. In the dark, the crease is much less noticeable and full-screen videos look great.

Only the main display supports S Pen input at up to 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, though the S Pen doesn't ship with the phone, and you can't use just any S Pen. To write on your Z Fold 5, you'll need to either pick up the new S Pen cover, buy an S Pen Pro, or buy the new Creator's edition S Pen.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: Camera specs

The Z Fold 5 has very similar camera hardware to the Z Fold 4, with the primary 50MP sensor measuring 1/1.56 inches. Matched with an f/1.8 lens, a 23mm wide-angle, and phase detection autofocus (PDAF), this is all competitive with other foldables on paper.

While there's no periscope zoom camera, unlike the Huawei Mate X3, the telephoto camera is a 10MP sensor that clocks in at 1/3.94 inches, producing a 1-micron pixel size. As for the optics, there's an f/2.4 lens with a 66mm focal length, PDAF, and OIS.

Onto the ultra-wide, it's a 12MP sensor with 1.12-micron pixels, an f/2.2 aperture, and a 123˚ field of view, equating to a 12mm focal length.

The camera takes advantage of the phone's Flex Mode, so when the Fold 5 is half-folded, the top half of the screen acts as a viewfinder, while the bottom half serves up your shooting controls. This is especially handy in Director's View, which previews all three focal lengths on the secondary display, so you can make an informed decision when you switch out. Pro Mode also really benefits from a split-screen view, with the top half of the foldable clear for your picture and the bottom half displaying manual shooting options.

The Z Fold 5 captures videos at up to 8K resolution at 24fps, and 4K at up to 60fps, and if you're shooting in Pro Mode, manual ISO can be set as high as 3200, and the shutter speed up to 30 seconds.

There's also an under-display selfie camera in the main screen which is 4MP with an f/1.8 aperture, and in the cover screen is a 10MP, f/2.2 selfie camera.

The Z Fold 5 packs Samsung's impressive array of camera modes, including Pro Mode and Camera RAW, a perfect pairing for big-screened edits using Adobe Lightroom for Mobile, with Samsung Boost giving Fold 5 owners a two-month membership.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Review: Camera

Despite not being the best camera phone of 2023, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 covers most bases competitively when compared to other foldables.

Starting with the primary 50MP camera, and the Fold's a great point-and-shoot when lighting is plentiful, capturing ample detail and a relatively balanced picture. Many will like the warm, vibrant shots it takes, though over-sharpening and boosted vibrancy might not be to everyone's tastes.

Photos look crisp out of the camera, ready for Instagram or WhatsApp, but miss out on the broad dynamic range you get from phones like the Xiaomi 13 Pro, which lean a bit more heavily on computational photography, pulling more detail out of highlights and shadows.

You can see an example of the Z Fold 5's three optical focal lengths below:

The primary camera is quick to focus and take a photo, and can capture a relatively shallow depth of field when close to a subject.

Samsung's contrast-rich photos won't give you as much wiggle room as some other phones to edit. Thankfully, the phone's Pro Mode and RAW capture really help here. In Pro Mode you can dial down some attributes, and in RAW, naturally, you can pare processing right back.

Expert RAW, available through the Galaxy Apps store, is a turbo-charged RAW camera and a great option for enthusiasts. This captures higher dynamic range RAW photos, achieved through bracketing and other computational photography, making it a handy middle ground between RAW and auto modes.

Zoom is where the Pixel Fold edges ahead of the Z Fold 5 with its five-times optical reach. On the other end of the spectrum, the Z Fold 5 has a wider field of view across all three of its cameras, so if you lean towards pulled-back shots, it might be more up your street.

Selfie fans should try and use the main camera around the back of the phone, opening the Z Fold 5 up. The second choice should be the 10MP selfie camera in the cover screen, and the worst performer is the under-display camera beneath the foldable screen. Even in bright environments, it captures flat selfies that leave you looking a bit dead behind the eyes. To be fair to Samsung, it positions it as a video-calling camera, and we'd agree.

The phone's main camera is the only one you'll want to lean on for night shots. While all the cameras boost exposure when the lights drop and add a mauve tint to shots, the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras miss out on detail.

In mixed lighting, the main camera is also the best snapper when it comes to shadow detail, though as illustrated below, color consistency across cameras is impressive across all three.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Review: Additional features

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 may have a modest-sized, 4400mAh battery, but it still lasts a comfortable day, even with moderate use and a roughly 65/35 split between the cover screen and main display, respectively.

With Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy internals, the Z Fold 5 is the most powerful foldable on the market, along with the new Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, and a new thermal cooling system is also in-place to keep heat at bay. We gamed on it for about 40 minutes, and while it got warm, it didn't get hot, which is great going for a foldable.

Samsung's a bit heavy-handed with its pre-loaded apps and features, with its OneIU interface on top of Android packing a tonne of functionality and a fair bit of bloat. Nevertheless, it's this functionality that gives it the edge over other foldables out now.

Open up the phone, and when you fire up any app, Samsung's handy taskbar appears at the bottom of the screen with up to 10 app shortcuts. You can also drag apps into a split screen mode from the taskbar or activate a floating window for up to eight running apps on-screen at once.

This multi-tasking madness is a show of strength for the phone, as it doesn't put any of these eight open apps to sleep, so you can quickly whizz between them and dock them in the margin for easy access when the screen gets too busy.

So while aspects of other foldables best Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung's software is the best around for power users. 

In one scenario, we were running Canon camera software and Lightroom concurrently, with Adobe Express docked alongside WhatsApp and Instagram, working on getting posts lined up for a brand account – bypassing the Z Fold 5's camera in favor of our Canon EOS R6 but still capitalizing on its big screen and ample horsepower.

Flex Mode is also a great feature. Half-fold the phone, and the UI will either push your content into the top half of the screen, or a little icon will appear, prompting you to choose how that app is handled when the phone's half-folded. 

With S Pen support, the Z Fold 5 is the only foldable available in the West that works with a dedicated stylus (other than the Z Fold 3 and 4). While the crease detracts slightly from the experience – no one wants to write on a bumpy canvas – it's excellent to have a feature that makes use of the larger screen other than a split-screen view, which is as far as some foldable makers are pushing their big-screen experiences at the moment.

The S Pen isn't just great for notetakers, it's also excellent for masking in apps like Lightroom. And matched with the Z Fold 5's large, 7.6-inch display, photographers who enjoy a bit of on-the-go editing will love it.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 doesn't offer expandable storage, though it's available with a starting capacity of 256GB, and that can be bumped up to 512GB or 1TB. Whichever capacity you go for, it's matched with 12GB RAM, and up to an additional 8GB of dynamic RAM, which Samsung terms RAM Plus.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Verdict

While Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold upgrades are modest for 2023, a combination of factors make sure it's still the victor in the battle of the big-screened, book-style foldables.

Far from perfect, the Z Fold 5's cover screen is too cramped, its design feels clunky, and its crease is very pronounced – especially compared to some foldables launching in China. It's also prohibitively expensive, and its cameras are what we'd expect to find on a premium midrange phone.

How can a phone be so flawed and still so great? Simply put, foldables are new. While traditional slab-style phones have had a couple of decades to find their feet, smartphone makers are still trying to figure out how to eke the best out of flexible screen tech. Add durability concerns and hinge design to the mix, and it's clearly, a tough nut to crack, with Samsung (the brand behind bendy screens) being the lead nutcracker.

And so, thanks to the Z Fold 5's highlights – water resistance, feeling durable, unfolding totally flat, S Pen support, best-in-class software optimization, quality displays, plenty of power, versatile camera software, and more – if you're going to buy a foldable in the West right now – the Z Fold 5 is the one we would recommend.

Read more: If the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 doesn't do it for you, check out the other best flip and fold phones

Nothing, the brand behind the Phone (1) has teased its upcoming Phone (2) in an image, confirmed it will be launching in the US, and suggested an imminent release for the new handset. 

When it launched, the Phone (1) schooled much of the competition when it came to smart camera configurations by fitting it with a quality dual camera as opposed to a substandard triple camera.

After Nothing drip-fed teasers about the upcoming Phone (2) over the last few days, we now know to expect flagship-grade power and similar dot-matrix-inspired, heavily stylized aesthetics to those first introduced on the Nothing Phone (1).

Phone (1) recap

The Nothing Phone (1) was a hit for us at Digital Camera World. While other phones at its £399 price were shipping with mediocre secondary cameras, Nothing’s ultra-wide 50MP module, which packed autofocus did a fine job, and its primary camera used the same quality Sony sensor as the flagship Oppo Find X5 Pro.

Nothing didn’t just stop at making its camera specs shine. It also added wireless charging and water resistance to its phone. With Samsung dropping the ball with the similarly priced Galaxy A53 5G's lack of power, and the Pixel 6a missing out on wireless charging around the time of the Nothing Phone (1)’s launch. Nothing carved out a serious niche for itself very early on. And all that good stuff doesn’t even account for the Phone (1)’s unique styling, loaded up with glyph lights and 8-bit sounds.

What to expect from the Nothing Phone (2)

The Nothing Phone (2) has seen a few teasers drop. Firstly, based on the images we’ve seen of parts of the phone, it will bear a similar, though updated version of its heavily stylized design language introduced in the Phone (1). We can expect an LED notification light, and a notification slider too (see above), and the handset will almost definitely bring back those flashing light strips.

Next, we know that the Phone (2) will be the first phone from Nothing to launch in the US. This is something of a game-changer. After all, the US is notoriously difficult to crack, with many brands like Honor, Huawei, and Xiaomi failing to break into that market. The fact Honor has achieved a North American launch after just one generation is a huge deal for the industry – and also for fans of Nothing, and its outspoken founder, Carl Pei.

Finally, the Nothing Phone (2) will have a Snapdragon 8-series processor inside. The first Nothing Phone had midrange power with a Snapdragon 778G, and that’s likely one of the ways Nothing managed to hit such an attractive price point. This year, we anticipate the Phone (2) will launch with either a current-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, or last year’s excellent 8+ Gen 1 – two high-end chipsets that have been unanimously well-received by reviewers.

So with a launch “around the corner”, we shouldn’t have long to wait before we know more about the Nothing Phone (2) and  – most importantly for us – how its camera looks set to stack up against the best camera phones of 2023.

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Flip phones are back. Once the icon of 1990s teenage trendsetters, flip phones have made a comeback recently with Samsung pushing the folding screen formula forward with its attention-grabbing range of folding phones.

When it comes to the best foldable phones, Samsung was alone at the top for quite some time, with its now iconic Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip ruling the roost. However, we are seeing more and more interesting new takes on the flip and fold design from phone makers like Motorola with its continuation of the Razr 5G line of phones. Even companies like Microsoft are expanding their successful Surface line-up of products to include the dual-screen Microsoft Surface Duo.

OPPO, one of the largest makers to come out of the new wave of Chinese phone manufacturers, is now set to challenge Samsung's dominance in the folding flip phone category, with the worldwide launch of the OPPO Find N2 Flip.

Launched in China at the very end of 2022, the Find N2 Flip is OPPO's first device to go 'global' and makes a big play for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4's crown. Although take the word global with a pinch of salt, as for OPPO, the globe doesn't include North America.

Specifications

Rear cameras: 50MP Main camera, Sony IMX890, 1/1.56-inch sensor, 23mm, f/1.8
8MP ultrawide, Sony IMX355, 16mm, f/2.2
Front camera: 32MP, Sony IMX709, 1/2.74-inch sensor, 21mm, f/2.4 lens
Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 9000+, MariSilicon X Imaging NPU
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Main Screen Size: • 120Hz 6.8-inch AMOLED with LTPO, 21:9, 2520×1080, 1600nits (peak), HDR10+, Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
Cover Screen Size: 3.26-inch AMOLED, 17:9, 720×382, 900nits (peak), Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
Security: Fingerprint reader, Face unlock
Connectivity: 5G, Dual SIM, Bluetooth, WiFi 6
Battery: 4,300mAh, 44W SUPERVOOC charging
Size: Open: 166.2mm × 75.2mm × 7.45mm, Closed: 85.5mm x 75.2mm × 16.02mm
Weight: 191g
Colors: Astral Black, Moonlit Purple

Key Features

As the name suggests, the OPPO Find N2 Flip has a flip design with a horizontal folding screen that opens up into a 21:9 AMOLED display measuring 6.8 inches. The screen is capable of a variable 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and gaming and has a very impressive max peak brightness of 1,600 nits.

OPPO is touting its latest generation of Flexion Hinge, the tear-drop-shaped hinge mechanism used to open the phone. This year's model of Flexation Hinge is thinner, smaller, and stronger than the previous Find N foldable, and is certified by TUV Rheinland for 400,000 folds, which amounts to 100 folds a day for 10 years. The hinge can also be used to hold the phone steady at any angle between 45º and 110º, allowing the phone to be used as a hands-free selfie camera, using the top half of the inside screen while the phone rests on a flat surface, or for waist level camera framing.

The star of the show is the Find N2 Flip's cover screen, which is the largest cover screen yet seen on a foldable flip phone. The N2 Flip has a 3.26-inch AMOLED full-color touch display which has a 17:9 ratio and a peak brightness of 900 nits. The taller screen is capable of showing up to six notifications at once, as well as nine quick settings toggles, making it much more practical day to day.

One of the big features OPPO is bringing to the cover screen is its own custom widgets, which cover the majority of phone functions like controlling music, setting timers, making a note, or quick responding to messages using the miniature keyboard, or voice-to-text dictation straight from the cover screen.

These widgets also will work with third-party apps, while the list of apps is not long, but there are big names there, I spent the most time with the Spotify cover screen widget, which worked very well. And for those who miss the days of Tamagotchi, there is even a widget to care for your virtual pet.

The cover screen is also being utilized by OPPO as the ultimate selfie preview screen, allowing you to shoot selfies and group shots with the much more powerful main cameras, while all the while being able to frame your shots perfectly in the cover screen that is the same aspect ratio as the camera. The cover screen and main screen can also be used simultaneously so your portrait subject can see themselves as you take their photos.

Speaking of cameras, the OPPO Find N2 Flip has two main cameras, which have been tuned by Hasselblad. OPPO has included a 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor with a 23mm field of view as the main camera, the Find N2 Flip also has an ultrawide camera using an 8MP Sony IMX355, with a 16mm FOV. For selfies on the internal screen, there is a 32MP Sony IMX709 21mm front-facing camera with a hole punch design. 

The Find N2 Flip has a MariSilicon X Imaging NPU co-processor for more complex and efficient AI image processing such as reducing noise in images and calculating portrait blur. The additional processor also enables 4K Ultra Night Video and 4K Ultra HDR Video using its AI powers. The N2 Flip is also capable of outputting 10-bit RAW images in Hasselblad professional mode, for keen image editors.

The OPPO Find N2 Flip, has the largest battery of any flip phone, (at time of writing) with a 4300mAh capacity battery, for all-day gaming, productivity, and streaming, and introduces SUPERVOOC flash charging, which OPPO claims will give you a charge of 50% in 23 minutes and 100% in just one hour.

The Find N2 Flipl features a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor and either 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB of RAM. OPPO says it has worked closely with MediaTek on a customized version of the processor that will improve battery life, a key concern for compact phones with two separate screens.

Build & handling

The first thing that struck me with the design of the OPPO Find N2 Flip was the 3.26-inch cover screen. It's big, bold, and colorful and immediately draws you in. It just plain looks cool. It blends seamlessly with the case with no hard edge or lip as it meets the chassis. 

I feared the cover screen was going to be very gimmicky, but I was surprised at how practical OPPO has made it, with a considerable number of widgets, it really can be like a miniature phone in itself. However, I found myself only really using the screen for checking notifications and skipping a few tracks on Spotify, the screen was still a little too fiddly for anything more useful, and I just found it faster to flip open the phone to do most tasks on the main screen. I am not sure how far the extended usefulness of a more interactive cover screen is or if Samsung’s smaller screen is all we really need to get by.

The one feature of the larger cover screen I am completely sold on is being able to use the cover screen to frame group portraits and selfies with the main camera. This is a revelation for anyone who cares about image quality, with the rear camera offering a vastly superior quality over front-facing cameras. Although, unless you take an extraordinary amount of selfies or vlogs then this is not worth the purchase alone.

OPPO has waxed lyrical about their latest Flexion Hinge and how it wouldn't produce a visible crease. Whilst I would love to say this is completely true, I could still notice the crease when unfolded. This was not to a distracting degree at all, and it is significantly better than other folding devices, but I knew it was there on occasions when the natural light was particularly bright, or what was displayed on screen was a pure white. I don't know if this crease would get more prominent over time and with more folds, (OPPO/TUV Rheinland says it doesn't), but it is something to be aware of.

Crease or no crease, unfolded, the screen is beautiful, it is bright, sharp, and colorful, and the screen appears nearly borderless. I could happily look at content all day on this screen. At a 21:9 ratio, it is bordering on what I consider too tall for a phone, considering a lot of phone UI is right up at the top of the screen, and those with small hands might struggle to reach up one-handed.

The phone comes in two colors, neither of which I am sold on, there is a dusky pink color which is nice-ish, but only for those who wish to sport a pink phone (not me). The traditional black color has a slightly unusual sandblasted texture, which actually feels really nice in the hand, and I liked the separation between the material and the smooth cover screen, however, the phone also sparkles somewhat in the light, which is an interesting choice.

Camera Performance

Queue sad trumpet sound, the N2 Flip had so much potential, unfortunately, the cameras have mostly just failed to live up to it. With all the marketing spiel OPPO went to promote its Hasselblad branded AI powered cameras, as well as the very exciting potential to shoot perfect selfies using the main camera, I had high hopes, but some very questionable processing and so-so image quality has left me very deflated.

The processing that OPPO has decided to apply to images from the Find N2 Flip is sometimes just nuts. Colors are saturated to the point where it is occasionally nauseating to look at, the camera can push the greens in grass and trees to the point where they are glowing and the sky to a totally unrealistic blue. This isn't a setting you can dial up or down, or opt out of (at least as far as I could tell in the settings). If this were my main phone, I would have to spend hours desaturating my images after taking them. Maybe people who buy OPPO phones like these intense colors, but they really aren’t for me.

The photos otherwise are sharp and clear, although nothing to shout about, and they aren’t challenging the Pixel 7 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra cameras. The 2x zoom using the 50MP main sensor offers a good quality digital zoom using pixel binning, although beyond this, things start to get dicey, with a lot of oversharpening to compensate.

Weirdly, the two individual cameras on the Find N2 Flip have noticeably different looks, as you can see in the examples below, the sky and greens change in hue between the two cameras, and the rendering is quite different. Where most phones try to all have the same style, the two cameras look like they might not even be on the same device.

As for the AI photo assistance, a little box at the top of the screen tells you what the AI thinks the scene is, and for the majority of the time, this was just completely wrong. I also couldn’t really tell any difference between photos taken with the AI on and off. 

Night mode using the MariSilicon X processor is just fine, the lighting in low light shots is improved, however there is still significantly more color noise and less detail than in those by leading rivals. Portrait blur is very good, with even finer details such as hair being better processed, this is enhanced even more when taking selfies using the cover screen and main camera.

For other AI features, there is an optional automatic face retouching feature, which can leave you looking like a plastic doll, if you so wish, although this isn't as completely overblown as some manufacturers, but it has nothing on the AI face tuning masks used in social media apps like Snapchat or TikTok.

Performance

The general performance of the phone was excellent. For the cover screen, flicking through widgets and opening the camera was near instantaneous, the cover screen really is very good if you can find enough use cases for it. The phone also had no issues or slowdowns swapping between using the cover screen and the unfolded main screen, or using both at the same time (which you can do to show your photography subject a live view of the camera).

With the screen opened up, the phone was also very fast, with the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor handling all the day-to-day tasks I threw at it with ease. I mainly focused on camera processing and editing tests, which it performed very well in, quickly applying edits in Lightroom, and trimming, cropping, and saving a short video clip in Google Photos in a respectable amount of time. If you are a big gamer, you might want to look closely at a gaming-focused site for how it compares to a rival Snapdragon processor.

Verdict

The OPPO Find N2 Flip is one of the first flip phones to get me genuinely excited about the category, and that has to do with OPPO putting that larger vertical screen on the cover. If this is just the novelty of a new type of device though, I am not sure, whilst I did find myself interacting with the cover screen to check notifications, this was mostly just glancing at it and then bypassing it to just open the phone.

The cover screen is the best implementation I have seen yet though, and OPPO has put a lot of careful thought into the flip phone experience with cover screen widgets being a standout as well as the selfie camera experience something that I wish all phones could do. The hinge is also a big improvement on what has come before, and feels like we are edging closer to banishing the crease.

However, my main consideration of a phone is the cameras, and the ones on the Find N2 Flip are really not for me, the heavy processing is just too much for my tastes. The camera quality is also just middling compared to what is available on cheaper non-flip devices.

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The main rival for the Find N2 Flip is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, this device however does not have the same large cover screen which makes the OPPO so exciting, instead offering a smaller but maybe more practical screen that is just enough to show notifications and updates. Another option is the Motorola Razr (2022), which has a lot more in common with the OPPO, offering a large cover screen and similar camera setup, and has the big advantage of being more globally available.

Read More: Find your next device in our guides to the best flip phones, the best camera phones, and the best Android phone for photography.

Smartphone manufacturer OPPO has announced that the release of its OPPO Find N2 Flip handset will take place at an event in London on Wednesday 15 February. You can watch the event live on the Oppo YouTube channel at 14:30 pm GMT.

Flip phones, an icon of 1990s phone design, have made a real comeback in the last few years thanks to the pioneering efforts of Samsung's phone team with its successful Galaxy Z Flip range of foldable screen phones.

Samsung really started the party when it came to the best foldable phones, with its now iconic Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip but since then we have seen notable entries such as the Motorola Razr 5G, and Microsoft Surface Duo.

In 2021, OPPO released the OPPO Find N, its first foldable smartphone, however, this phone was a limited release in China. Excitingly though, OPPO is back with a new folding device – Oppo Find N2 Flip – which we are very pleased to hear will get a full worldwide release.

The OPPO Find N2 Flip is already released in China, so luckily we know most of the details about the phone already, but it will be interesting to see if OPPO has any surprises in store for its worldwide release and whether the new device will make it into our best OPPO phone guide after a full review.

Unlike the Find N, which had a horizontal opening design, similar to the Galaxy Fold that gives users a phone or small tablet option, the N2 Flip, will be a flip phone design. The N2 Flip has a 3.26-inch AMOLED full-color touch display on the top of the shell, and will then open up to reveal a full 6.8-inch AMOLED screen in a 21:9 ratio.

The cover screen is being utilized by OPPO as the ultimate selfie preview screen, as well as offering unique widgets and tools to make the phone more productive without having to open up the device.

Speaking of which, OPPO is touting its latest New Generation Flexion Hinge, which is thinner, smaller, and stronger than on the previous Find N phone, which OPPO claims are capable of 400,000 unfolds, which over 5 years is enough for 200 folds a day.

The OPPO Find N2 Flip, has the largest battery of any flip phone, with a 4300mAh capacity battery, for all-day gaming, productivity, and streaming, and introduces SUPERVOOC flash charging, which makes it the fastest-charging flip phone on the market, with 44W wired charging.

The new phone from OPPO will feature a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor and either 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB of RAM. OPPO says it has worked closely with MediaTek on a customized version of the processor that will improve battery life, a key concern for compact phones with two separate screens.

For its Hasselblad branded cameras, OPPO has included a 50MP main camera, supported by an 8MP ultrawide camera, and for selfies, there is a 32MB front-facing camera on the internal screen with a hole punch design. 

We will be at the OPPO launch event in London on February 15, 2023 to bring you all the details and get a first hands-on look at this exciting new phone.

You can follow along with OPPO's live launch on YouTube on Wednesday 15th February at 7AM (PT), 10AM (ET), 3PM (GMT), and 2AM (ACT)

Find out more about the latest phones with our guides to the best camera phones, the best budget camera phones.

The OnePlus 11 5G has officially been announced in China, with global availability set to follow in February 2023. It's one of the first phones to feature Qualcomm's powerful new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and brings back the Hasselblad highlights introduced on the OnePlus 9 Pro. 

The flagship also features a new Sony camera sensor, the IMX890 – first seen on the Oppo Find N2, which we got an early hands-on with at the end of 2022.

Since OnePlus and Oppo officially started publically sharing IP, some have argued the OnePlus brand has become diluted. That hasn't stopped the phone maker from launching some of the best phones of last year – the OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus 10T being the most premium of the bunch.

This year, though, it seems like OnePlus is skipping the 'Pro' model, and is instead only launching a OnePlus 11.

Also read our guide to the best Android phones.

Confusing names aside – after all, what makes this a non 'Pro' phone? – the OnePlus 11 still looks like a mighty offering. It crams in cutting-edge power with up to 16GB RAM and features a 6.7-inch 2K display with a 120Hz refresh rate. 

While we don't have exhaustive specs just yet, we do know the screen's an LTPO 3.0 panel, suggesting it will be efficient and look striking, and you should be able to watch it for ages thanks to the phone's large 5000mAh battery. 

One Oppo tech OnePlus has borrowed for the OnePlus 11 5G is SUPERVOOC charging, and with speeds of up to 100W, you can expect nippy top-up times when you plug the phone in. 

As for the camera, the phone appears to have the same mix as Oppo's Fine N2, a 50MP primary camera, a 48MP ultra-wide camera, and a 32MP 50mm portrait camera. 

If you're wondering what makes the 11 5G a Hasselblad camera phone, this refers to the return of Hasselblad's Professional Mode, and the new 13-channel multi-spectral light-color identifying sensor.

With pricing to be confirmed and a global launch set for February 7, 2023, if the OnePlus 11 5G whets your appetite, check back to see if it's one of the best camera phones of 2023, and for more detailed information on the OnePlus flagship.

Oppo’s next flagship, the Find X6, which is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year, has been leaked online, with noteworthy leaker, Evan Blass @evleaks sharing a render on Twitter. Excitingly, it looks like the Find X5 predecessor will feature a reworked design and feature a periscope lens. 

It's not the first camera phone to feature a periscope camera – also called a periscope zoom lens. But what does it mean, and how does a periscope differ from a telephoto lens? Normally, when light enters the camera, it goes through the lens array straight to the sensor. But with a periscope camera, the camera's zoom lens and the sensor are turned sideways, to offer greater optical zoom.

The periscope design means that the lens doesn't protrude out too far from the phone, the design remains thin, yet the camera can zoom much further optically.

The image shared by @evleaks shows the Oppo Find X6 to be a little different from the Opop Find X5. AS you can see, the leaked Find X6 render shows a much larger rectangular camera bump, which looks to house something the Find X5 doesn’t have – a periscope lens!

The leak also shows the phone as having “co-engineered with Hasselblad” loud and proud across the back – clearly, a partnership Oppo is proud of, and rightly so. 

Oppo Find X6: Expected specifications 

The leaked image courtesy of Evan Blass is the biggest Oppo Find X6 leak so far – leaks have actually been pretty scarce around the new flagship. While the leaked image is of the vanilla Find X6, prolific leaker, Yogesh Brar, has shared expected specs for the Pro model, which includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (would be in all models), up to 512GB storage and 5,000mAh battery with 100W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. 

Perhaps most exciting specs-wise, from Brar’s list, is the Sony’s one-inch IMX989 sensor for the phone’s main 50MP camera, as seen in the Xiaomi 12s Ultra.

Oppo Find X6: Price and availability 

Nothing official has been released regarding the Oppo Find X6, including price and availability. However, we expect the new flagship to launch in either February or March next year to tally up with the launch of the Find X3 in March 2021 and the Find X5 launched in February this year (there was no Find X4 launched).

Why not check out our expert guides to the best camera phone, the best budget camera phones and the best gimbals for phones and cameras.