For some time now, talking about certain smartphones without falling into trivial considerations has become really difficult. The market is now saturated and if on the one hand it is very complex to find products, even low-end ones, that do not meet the minimum requirements for a decent user experience, on the other hand we have medium-high-end solutions that are ever closer. to the top of the range , often even superimposable on them for performance. The line that marks the boundary between a mid-range smartphone and a top-of-the-range smartphone is in fact increasingly thinner, so much so that a whole category of substantially top products has been created at a price slightly lower than the flagship solutions.
These are excellent smartphones that risk remaining trapped in a limbo in which the price difference, positive and negative, compared to the alternatives, is not enough to justify the purchase. In my view, Oppo Find X5 , brother of the Find X5 Pro reviewed a few weeks ago, is the example that perfectly embodies this concept . A smartphone with practically top-of-the-range performance, at a top-of-the-range price, with alternatives above and below that have a positioning that “leaves it pending”.
BEAUTIFUL AND PARTICULAR
Putting aside these discussions on prices and positioning for a moment, which we will resume at the end, it is still right to talk a little more in detail about this Find X5 which is still a level solution and which, starting from construction, manages to compete on equal terms with high-end smartphones. From the first contact you immediately realize that you are dealing with a product built with the right attention and for which very good quality materials have been used.
The skeleton is made of metal material, as well as the glossy frame that contains the physical keys for switching on and adjusting the volume, the USB-C 3.1 with video output , the trolley that can accommodate two Nano SIM , the holes for the microphones and those for the speaker positioned at the base that are coupled with the speaker of the capsule to create a stereo sound. Audio that while not reaching the volume and sound pressure of some other top of the range remains very good for quality and clarity, both in terms of multimedia reproduction and as regards calls and speakerphone.
| Oppo Find X5 Pro
73.9 x 163.7 x 8.5 mm |
Oppo Find X5
72.6 x 160.3 x 8.7 mm |
Oppo Find X5 Lite
72.1 x 156.8 x 7.8 mm |
Then I definitely appreciated the finish chosen by Oppo to decorate the back cover. While it doesn’t look like it is a thin sheet of glass with a very distinctive satin finish that offers an almost velvet feel. A finish that is completely repellent to fingerprints and creates a nice contrast to the glossy glass of the camera module. The only flaw of this finish probably lies in its slipperiness , which leads us to use the silicone cover present in the package to avoid unpleasant misadventures.
Too bad, because the smartphone itself is also comfortable to hold . Of course this is not a compact solution but thanks to the smaller display it remains slightly narrower and shorter than the Pro version which is also about 20 grams heavier, partly due to the ceramic back cover; beautiful, even more than the frosted glass present here, but certainly more impacting on the scale.
On the front we have instead the display which is surmounted by a Gorilla Glass 5 glass (a step below the Victus del Pro) slightly curved on the sides and surrounded by very small frames. I prefer models with flat glass, but I must say that the curvature of this Find X5 is not excessive and therefore remains a good way to save a few millimeters in width.
GOOD DISPLAY
I mentioned it a little while ago and therefore it is right to talk about it a little more in depth. The display of this Find X5 is a 6.55-inch diagonal Amoled with FullHD + resolution. To be precise, we are talking about 2400×1080 pixels which lead to a density of 402 dpi and a screen-to-size ratio of just over 89%.
It is an excellent quality panel, equipped with an adaptive refresh rate that can go up to 120Hz with 240Hz touch sampling . However, not being an LTPO display like that of the Pro model, the refresh rate, although variable, never goes below 60Hz . Now, it is certainly not an insurmountable flaw but it is still obvious that in some situations it could consume a little more than the solutions that use this type of technology and are therefore able to further lower the number of frames per second generated by the GPU.
Having said that, however, we are talking about a very bright display. Our colorimeter measured almost 1000 nits peak on the inside screen and over 500 nits of typical maximum luminance which are more than enough to guarantee optimal visibility in any situation, even outdoors in direct sunlight. The contrast ratio is very high thanks to the depth of the absolute blacks.
Speaking of color reproduction accuracy, we have a coverage of 100% for the sRGB color space and 98.7% for the DCI P3 one. At the same time we measured a Delta E of just under 3 for both grayscale and colors, with a maximum error of 4.8 for grays and 5.2 for colors.
Among the panel settings we then have the possibility to manually force the refresh rate on 60Hz, useful in case you want to save something in terms of consumption. In addition to this, I also appreciated the presence of the Natural Tones function, a sort of True Tone (Apple), which adjusts the color temperature based on the temperature of the ambient light.
TOP OF THE RANGE CAMERAS
Before going to analyze hardware and performance, let’s spend a few words on cameras which are undoubtedly one of the most important topics of discussion when it comes to top-of-the-range products. Like the top model Find X5 Pro, this Find X5 also offers two modules with identical 50 megapixel sensors, the main one and the ultra wide one, and a third 13 megapixel camera with 2x telephoto lens . I would certainly have appreciated the presence of a more advanced optical zoom, perhaps a telescopic 5x, and I would also have expected it from the company that first thought of this solution, but apparently in Oppo I am not of the same idea. To accompany the whole sector we then have the MariSilicon chip,a real neural co-processor dedicated to computational photography and inserted here as on the Pro to improve the instantaneous processing of the shots.
As you have already understood, the photographic sector is of the highest level , we are almost on a par with the older brother from which it differs practically only for the optical stabilization of the main sensor which is “only” 2-axis. The sensors of the main and ultra-wide cameras are the same and specifically we are talking about the 50 megapixel Sony IMX 766 which has already had the opportunity to show us its potential in the past months.
The photos taken during the day are of excellent quality , both for what concerns the main lens and for the ultra-wide angle module. The colors are bright, the images very defined and generally characterized by a very good light management. Even in the most complex situations such as in dim light or in the presence of a strong backlight, the artificial intelligence is able to process the images in the best possible way, with a well-balanced HDR and a use of ISO and noise suppression algorithms that are never excessively invasive . The focus is also good, both in terms of speed and precision. Note of credit, certainly, for the wide angle, which is probably the best among those tried so far.
The speech changes a little if we talk instead of the photos taken at night for which the appropriate shooting mode obviously takes over. In the most complicated conditions, this Find X5 still manages to get by very well and always take home some absolutely dignified photos. I certainly appreciated the white balance and color temperature , always very faithful to reality and, as already said before, I cannot help but notice how the algorithms work very well in the attempt, often successful, to clean the images from background noise without miss too many details. Also good management of highlights and details in the shaded areas.
Speaking instead of the zoom camera we must first highlight how the 13 megapixel module is actually used only in situations of optimal light. As soon as this begins to run out, in fact, the system prefers to use the standard module cropping the images to get brighter and more detailed shots. If I have to give a general opinion, I could say that even if it is not such a high zoom, it is still comfortable in some situations and the results obtained, especially during the day with good light, are still more than acceptable.
The front camera is also 32 megapixel and takes good photos in all contexts. It is probably not the best front camera I have ever tried on a smartphone but it is still a module that does its duty discreetly, even in conditions that are not exactly optimal. Too bad that video recording with this is limited to a resolution of 1080p at 30fps . In a product of this range and with the price of this Find X5, a front camera that does not reach 4K is no longer acceptable.
And I close this chapter by talking about videos. The main and ultra-wide cameras are capable of recording clips up to a maximum resolution of 4K at 60 fps . The feature that I appreciated most is certainly the stabilization which is very good in both cases and makes the use of a gimbal practically useless. The brilliance of the colors and the sharpness of the images are well and the behavior of the focusing, always fast and precise, is also very good. In general, the videos captured are of the highest quality and compete directly with those of the most famous top of the range.
DATA SHEET
- Display: da 6,5″ AMOLED LTPS FHD+, 10-bit, refresh variabile (massimo 120 Hz)
- SoC: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 with + Marisilicon X
- RAM: 8GB
- Internal memory: 256 GB
- Cameras:
- Rear main wide angle: 50MP, Sony IMX766 f / 1.8 aperture, two-axis OIS
- Rear secondary ultra-wide angle: 50 MP aperture f / 2.2
- Rear secondary telephoto: 13 MP f / 2.4 2x zoom
- Front wide angle: 32 MP, Sony IMX709 RGBW f / 2.4, optical stabilization, FOV 80-90 °
- Battery: 4,800 mAh
- Charging: Wired 80W, Wireless 30W, Reverse 10W, Compatible with USB PD at 30W and Qi at 15W
- Connectivity: 4G / 5G SA, Dual SIM 5G, eSIM, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC and Wi-Fi 6
- Audio: stereo
- Other: Fingerprint sensor in the display, IP54 certification, Black and White
- OS: ColorOS 12.1 based on Android 12
- Dimensions and weight: 160.3 x 72.6 x 8.7 mm / 196g
EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE BUT …
And we are therefore talking about performance. Inside this Find X5 we have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor in its standard version, it is not the Plus released last fall and it is not the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen1 that we find instead in the Pro model. Honestly, considering the price and taking note of the presence on the market of some competitors who use this chip even on cheaper smartphones, I would have absolutely expected to find it in here too. Does it change little in practice? It may be, but the little in front of certain figures is still important.
The Snapdragon 888 is then flanked by 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on UFS 3.1 memories . These are very fast memories, the fastest currently available, so much so that it is possible to allocate part of this storage memory to expand the RAM memory and reach a total of 13 GB. I tell you the truth, I have never activated this function and honestly I have not even felt the need. The 8 GB of RAM are more than enough in all situations and even multitasking is always effective.
In general , the performance of this Find X5 is always up to the task and you will hardly find yourself in difficulty due to a lack of resources and computing power. The user experience is optimal, comparable to that of an absolute top, both in the most common operations and in situations in which the hardware is asked to make the maximum effort, such as in gaming. Excellent performance that is on some occasions (gaming precisely) accompanied by a slight overheating in the upper part of the back cover, nothing worrying or disabling but it is right to report it.
Reception is good, the signal is always hooked up quickly and is maintained with a certain stability even in the most complicated situations, so we are on the average of the other top-of-the-range solutions but it is not to be taken for granted. There is WiFi 6 and of course also 5G in addition to Bluetooth in version 5.2.
On board we obviously find Android 12 customized with the Color OS in version 12.1 , the latest currently available. Among the various UI that characterize the smartphones of the different brands, the Color OS is probably one of those that has matured the most in recent years and compared to the first Oppo models officially arrived in Italy, there is certainly a more Western taste in design and in cleaning. Definitely not a foregone conclusion for a manufacturer who still sells a lot in China too.
SUFFICIENT AUTONOMY
Another aspect that could have influenced the choice to use the Snapdragon 888 is probably that of autonomy . The more optimized production process and the slightly different composition in terms of Core of the new Snapdragon 8 Gen1 has in fact shown a certain improvement in recent months as regards the energy efficiency of the solutions that adopt it.
It is certainly not a huge difference but it is probably that slight improvement that allows us to feel more relaxed on some occasions. Even with this Find X5, in fact, covering the day of “standard” use is not a problem but in case of particularly intense use there is the risk of arriving a little short at dinner time.
Fortunately, there is fast charging, with the charger in the package that reaches 80W and allows us to fully charge the Find X5 in about half an hour and get 50% charge in just 12 minutes. In short, nothing is really enough for you to give that boost of energy necessary to face the whole day without any worries of mind. Then there is also wireless charging up to 30W and reverse charging up to 10W.
CONSIDERATIONS
And we are at the moment to sum up starting as always from the price, which in this case is really the crux of the whole review. The positioning of this Find X5 is in fact, in my view, too high. For heaven’s sake, it has all the credentials to be defined absolutely a top of the range but at the same time some choices have been made that leave a little bitter taste in the mouth. See for example the Snapdragon 888, the Amoled LTPS and non-LTPO display and a front camera that records only in 1080p, which are all acceptable compromises in the face of a still excellent user experience, but which cannot be accepted if the price list price is € 999.99.
OPPO Find X5 Smartphone, AI Triple Camera 50 + 50 + 13MP, Display 6.55? Refresh rate 120HZ Amoled FHD +, 4800mAh, RAM 8GB + ROM 256GB Android 12 [Extra Warranty 24 + 6 Months Italian Version], White
999 €
OPPO Find X5 Smartphone, AI Triple Camera 50 + 50 + 13MP, Display 6.55? Refresh rate 120HZ Amoled FHD +, 4800mAh, RAM 8GB + ROM 256GB Android 12 [Extra Warranty 24 + 6 Months Italian Version], Black
999 €
Buy an OPPO FIndX5 and receive a free OPPO FindX5 Kevlar Protective Case Black, an OPPO Watch Free Black and an OPPO Enco X Black by adding them to your cart. Promotion valid from 09:00 on 02/03/2022 to 23:59 on 24/04/2022 (the “Promotion validity period”).
As I said at the beginning, it is a product that remains a little bit in limbo due to a price and that also drags its older brother with it. It’s good enough to risk preferring it to the Pro, saving you $ 300, but at the same time it’s more expensive than some alternatives that offer sometimes better features at a lower price. Without moving away from the brand, the same Find X3 Pro, now available at a price of 799 euros, can be considered as the main competitor. It’s a real shame, the smartphone is really good and at the right price it could have been an opportunity for Oppo to break the high-end. Right now it is therefore difficult to recommend it but let’s keep an eye on the street price because under 800 euros it will have a completely different flavor.
PROS AND CONS
Excellent materials and construction . High-end cameras. Charges at 80W
High list price Selfie video in 1080p Autonomy not at the top
VOTE: 7.8
