It has been a while since I had my hands on the top of the OPPO range and I must admit that writing this piece, and consequently moving on to another one, I’m very sorry. In fact, in the last month I have been in the company of OPPO Find X5 Pro and I found myself well beyond my expectations.
Compared to a couple of years ago, giant leaps have been made at 360 degrees, from hardware to software, which with the ColorOS 13 has received a surprising improvement. More than 6 months after its debut on the market, I can therefore say that this smartphone has “aged” well, on balance one of the most balanced and refined products of 2022 for the high-end .
EXPERIENCE OF USE
First of all, what convinces the distance on OPPO Find X5 Pro is the general balance that it manages to put in place. Some more, some less, all the top of the 2022 range had some dark side, but he is a smartphone that never betrays on day by day, never shows its side.
It happened that after 1 month of testing I find it hard to remember moments when I thought “look, it works badly”, or “this is a bug”, “this thing is not good”. It is always fast, it does not heat up, it recharges in a flash, the autonomy is more than enough, it takes good pictures, it takes well, the audio is strong, the sensors are all ok, zero problems with Android Auto, zero problems of connection with Bluetooth devices, high-performance WiFi, double sim managed without smudging, excellent display. In short, Find X5 Pro does practically everything well and, however paradoxical it may seem, it is not at all obvious even on flagships.
Is it perfect then? Obviously not, there are a couple of things that perhaps could have been done better: the front camera is decent but doesn’t shine like the others and the 2X telephoto lens is a bit poor compared to some periscopic ones, such as the one in the Oppo Find X2 Pro. which was even an optical 5X and has not been repeated in the last two top-of-the-range Find Xs.
There is no doubt that OPPO Find X5 Pro is an excellent smartphone, on the other hand it is also a very expensive smartphone from which great things are always expected.
However, there are some key points that emerge from the distance, elements on which in the review phase we do not dwell too much and that only prolonged use allows you to appreciate.
BATTERY AND CHARGING
The 5000 mAh of capacity promises well, among other things the Find X5 Pro is a more manageable and comfortable smartphone than other products with the same battery , Galaxy S22 Ultra and Google Pixel 6 Pro come to mind, both of which I have used for a long time periods and that certainly immediately appear as bulky, indeed, mammoth, not to mention the iPhone 13 Pro Max (because the 14 Pro Max I still haven’t picked up, but we are there). Even on the weight we are, keep in mind that the version without ceramic cover weighs 195 grams, so those 218 that marks the version at my disposal on the scale have a responsible, white, smooth and super premium to the touch.
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| Oppo Find X5 Pro
73.9 x 163.7 x 8.5 mm |
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
77.9 x 163.3 x 8.9 mm |
Google Pixel 6 Pro
75.9 x 163.9 x 8.9 mm |
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
77.6 x 160.7 x 7.9 mm |
Click here for the complete comparison »
Closed parenthesis on ergonomics, the battery so capable, together with a good optimization and with a very fast recharge (the wireless one at 50 Watt), creates a truly formidable package on everything related to energy management. In fact, with this smartphone you have no problems arriving in the evening, in case it really takes 10 minutes to recharge almost 50% of capacity, and possibly a quarter of an hour to do it wirelessly. A pleasure.
DISPLAY
Here, this is an element that convinced me immediately and over time it has done so even more. It already starts with a nice base: LTPO2 AMOLED at 120 Hz, 10-bit, HDR10 +, 1300 nits peak, QHD + resolution, 6.7 inches diagonal. They are specific to the top of what the market offers (brightness aside, which I will do later), but the most interesting thing is that this hardware is managed properly by the software, even more so with the ColorOS 13, which is behind the expertise of OnePlus, which has been successfully experimenting with LTPO management for a couple of years.
Let’s talk about the 1300 nits of peak. What we read on the smartphone data sheet corresponds to real readings but it must be kept in mind that it refers to measurements that do not correspond to what is then experienced during daily use. To be precise, the reading takes place on a white point in the center of the display in HDR mode, from a perpendicular perspective. Using the smartphone normally, perhaps responding to a chat or browsing online, the conditions change considerably, first of all you probably will not have HDR content to view, secondly the page will not be completely white and will have many elements on the entire surface of the display, many colors and shades. The result will be an average luminance that is between 500 and 800 nits for the best devices,
In this sense, between a smartphone with a declared peak of 1300 nits and one of 1200 or 1500, you will not be able to perceive significant differences in readability , even outdoors and in direct sunlight. If anything, you might notice slight differences when watching a multimedia content in HDR, immersed in a brightly lit environment. Here, then, on white elements, in the light of a fire or an explosion, you may notice a greater brightness. So you understand that you need to give the right weight to pure data, without being excessively influenced.
Rather, what affects everyday life is the optimization of the display. For example, OPPO Find X5 Pro reads the temperature of the light and adapts the white point dynamically, reads the ambient lighting and adjusts the luminance very carefully (that is, it makes you perceive a correct brightness, both in light and in the dark, without ever forcing yourself to correct manually so as not to have eye discomfort or to read better), the refresh rate is intelligently controlled, adapts to the frame rate of multimedia content, rises to 120 Hz when needed and even drops to 1 Hz in always on display, which in fact consumes very little.
TELEPHONE PART
When I try a smartphone, I usually do some tests in strategic points, where experience has taught me how the various products behave and from there I can make a spannometric evaluation of the reception.
The truth, however, is that to get a really complete idea of the telephone department, one would have to use the smartphone for a long time, move around, visit places, let the time pass and add up the opportunities for verification. In the summer with OPPO Find X5 Pro I discovered a really solid smartphone from this point of view , with one or two sims installed it is always reliable, the reception is excellent and I have never had half a problem with the connections, including GPS which often does the tantrums even on products of a certain price.
Believe me, it is not a given, all of them now work quite well, but only some products support really high quality standards when it comes to connectivity and the telephone sector.
COLOR OS 13 (STABLE)
Throughout the retry period, on OPPO Find X5 Pro I had installed the beta of ColorOS 13 , based precisely on Android 13. Initially there were some bugs, then over time some resolving updates arrived and finally, news of these days, is the rollout of the stable version started, also in Italy and I received the update today.
In this article and in the video I have dedicated a lot of space to the news of ColorOS 13: I can tell you that in general it is a rather important update on the graphic front. I liked the new “Aquamorphing” design right away, it makes the whole UI very elegant and refined, clear, well spaced, proportionate. Particular attention was paid to animations and haptic feedback which is now well present in a large part of the system.
There is also a bit of OnePlus with the ZenMode or the “Insight” lock screen, there is no shortage of native Android 13 functions, lots of customization, attention to privacy and a refinement of the PC Connect mode that performs a wireless mirroring of the screen of the phone on the PC, as well as several convenient functions such as drag and drop of files.
In short, the ColorOS 13 makes the OPPO interface one of the most beautiful and pleasant in the Android landscape , the functions are not lacking, not even stability. OPPO promises 3 years of Android updates and 4 for security patches, in the meantime we have already started with Android 13 according to a roadmap that you can see in the following mirror, keep in mind that from the moment of the beta, a few more weeks will pass before the final release.
ROADMAP UPDATE COLOR OS 13
- da agosto 2022: Find X5 Pro, Find X5
- da settembre 2022: Find X3 Pro, Reno8 Pro 5G
- da ottobre 2022: Reno8 5G, Reno7 Pro 5G, Reno7 5G, Reno7, Reno6 5G, F21 Pro, K10 5G, A77 5G, A76
- of November 2022: Reno7 Z5G, Reno6 Pro 5G, Reno6 Pro 5G Diwali Edition, Reno6Z5G, Reno5 Pro 5G, Reno5 Pro, F21 Pro 5G, F19 Pro+, K10, A9
- da dicembre 2022: Find X5 Lite 5G, Find X3 Neo 5G, Find X3 Lite 5G, Find X2 Pro, Find X2 Pro Automobili Lamborghini Edition, Find X2, Reno8, Reno8 Z 5G, Reno5 5G, Reno5 Z 5G, A94 5G, A74 5G
- dalla prima metà del 2023: Oppo Pad Air, Reno8 Lite 5G, Reno7 Lite 5G, Reno7 A, Reno6, Reno6 Lite, Reno5, Reno5 Marvel Edition, Reno5 F, Reno5 Lite, Reno5 A, F19 Pro, F19, F19s, A95, A94, A77, A74, A57, A57s, A55, A54 5G, A53s 5G, A16s
IN CONCLUSION
Ultimately I can only be satisfied, OPPO Find X5 Pro proved to be a concrete smartphone with very few smudges , very effective in everyday use, even beyond a technical data sheet, however, of a level.
For the next models, why not, it would be nice to have a front camera with AF and maybe a return to the periscopic telephoto lens. On the software side, with version 13, a significant step forward has been made and with a real desktop mode it would also be the last piece for maximum completeness.
Hardware
7.6 Price
Quality
Oppo
€ 1,129
OPPO Find X5 Pro Smartphone, AI Triple Photo Camera 50+50+13MP, Refresh rate 120HZ WQHD+ 5000mAh, RAM 12GB+ROM 256GB, Android 12, Bianco (Ceramic White), Display 6.7”
1.129 €
1.160 €
OPPO FIND X5 PRO Glaze Black
1.174 €
Unfortunately, the prices still remain high, (HERE LINK to the site with a good promo) despite the fact that several months have passed since marketing, a sign that OPPO has good control over distribution and above all that the product is there, without the need to venture into super discounts to get it to people.
Oppo Find X5 Pro is available online from Amazon for 1,129 euros . The value for money is good and it is the best device in this price range. To see the other 23 offers click here. (update of 19 September 2022, 7.50 pm)
