OPPO Find X7 Ultra Review: A Premium Photography Powerhouse, but You Should Expect a Few Trade-offs, Since It’s a Chinese Market Exclusive

There’s a certain allure to having a different smartphone than anyone else, and there are so many interesting phones with amazing hardware that are only meant for the Chinese or other global markets that far too often do not include the United States. The China-exclusive OPPO Find X7 Ultra is just such a device, but there is still much to admire, even if it isn’t specifically meant for the U.S. market.

For those unfamiliar with OPPO, they are a company under the BBK Electronics umbrella, which also includes OnePlus, realme, Vivo, and Vivo’s sub-brand IQOO. Since January 2021, when OPPO and OnePlus merged their research and development departments, there have been some noticeable similarities and crossovers between the two brands.

For instance, we saw the OnePlus alert slider make an appearance on last year’s OPPO Find N3 Flip, and then there was the design of the OnePlus Open, which was basically a U.S. version of the OPPO Find N3 folding smartphone.

OPPO offers two flagship lines: The Find N series for their foldables and the Find X series for their slab phones; the Find X7 Ultra takes its place as the newest flagship offering within OPPO’s Find X series.

Fun fact: During 2023, the combined sales figures of OPPO, Vivo, and OnePlus resulted in a 16.22% global market share, making BBK the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, behind Apple and Samsung.

Smartphone sales in 2023.

So let’s look at the OPPO Find X7 Ultra, which comes loaded with premium features, including a 6.82″ LTPO AMOLED display with a 1 to 120 Hz refresh rate, an IP68 dust and water-resistance rating, a 5000mAh battery with 100W SuperVOOC wired charging (80W in the U.S.), 50W wireless fast charging, and four 50-megapixel rear cameras.

You can get the Find X7 Ultra with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, 16GB RAM and 256GB storage, or 16GB RAM and 51GB storage. All the RAM is top-of-the-line LPDDR5X, and all storage is UFS 4.0.

Worth noting is that, like other phones offered by BKK Electronics brands, it is possible to adjust the OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s available RAM to add as much as an additional 12GB of RAM, assuming you have enough storage space left on the phone for the boost.

But considering that even the base storage configuration for the Find X7 Ultra is 256GB, having enough storage to share with the RAM boost feature shouldn’t be an issue for many.

And finally, the Find X7 Ultra runs Android 14 with OPPO’s Color OS 14 overlay, and it is powered by the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra has a unique two-tone finish, and it is available with White opaque glass and Ocean Blue vegan leather, White opaque glass and Sepia Brown vegan leather, or Black opaque glass and Tailored Black vegan leather.

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Unboxing the OPPO Find X7 Ultra

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s retail packaging includes the phone, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, a 100W SUPERVOOC wall charger (max is 80W in the US), a TPU case, a SIM tool, and Chinese instructions and warranty material. As is usual for OPPO (and most other BKK brands), a factory-installed screen protector is also included.

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A Walk-Around the OPPO Find X7 Ultra

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra boasts a distinctive design featuring opaque glass, polished aluminum, and vegan leather, accentuated by a strikingly large round camera bump on the back. It measures 6.5″ long by 3″ wide by 0.37″ thick, or 0.58″ thick at the camera hump, and it weighs 7.8 ounces.

The 6.82″ LTPO AMOLED is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and it offers 3168×1440 QHD+ resolution and 1-120Hz LTPO adaptive refresh technology with Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It has a typical brightness of 1600 nits, 2600 nits in high brightness mode, and 4500 nits at its peak brightness.

In the top center is a 32-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera with an aperture of f/2.4 and a wide-angle lens of 21mm. The sensor size is 1/2.74 inches, with pixel dimensions of 0.8µm and PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus).

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s selfie camera includes a panorama feature, and it supports video recording at 4K at 30/60fps and 1080p at 30fps, with gyro-EIS (electronic image stabilization) for smoother footage.

Just above the selfie camera is a thin ear speaker that’s about 1.2″ long.

On the phone’s top edge are two antenna bands with a microphone, an IR blaster, and the first of two stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and spacial sound options in their center.

On the OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s right side are a power button and a volume rocker with a single antenna band.

Unlike the Google and Samsung flagships in the U.S., which have been moving more toward flatter frames and displays, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra opts for a curved glass display with aluminum side rails similar to those on the OnePlus 12.

I’ve made no secret about my preference for a flat smartphone display, but I know that some still see curved glass as a premium feature, so if you’re one of them, you’ll likely love its style.

On the bottom is a SIM tray that holds two nanoSIMs, a microphone, a USB-C port between two antenna bands, another microphone, and a second stereo speaker.

On the left side are two antenna bands, but what’s just above them will catch your eye — if you are familiar with OnePlus smartphones — the OPPO Find X7 Ultra has an alert slider!

This alert slider has three positions: the first is Ring mode, and the middle is Silent Mode, but switching to the top position activates a new VIP mode that enhances your privacy when switched on by disabling the camera, microphone, and all location tracking. This is an interesting feature I haven’t seen on any phone before.

Flipping the OPPO Find X7 Ultra over, we see the large 2.2″ circular Hasselblad camera module and the two-tone styling that really makes the phone stand out.

As you can see, I received the version with the White opaque glass and Ocean Blue vegan leather; the vegan leather is really great to touch when holding the phone, and it keeps the back from being a total fingerprint magnet or feeling slippery when in hand.

The design is so visually appealing that it seems a shame to cover it with a case; this is one of the few phones ever truly to tempt me to do so.

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The OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s Cameras

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra marks the debut of OPPO’s Quad Main Camera system, housed in the substantial camera module, which features four 50-megapixel sensors, including two periscope telephoto zoom lenses, which OPPO is touting as a first for any phone.

The primary rear camera of the OPPO Find X7 Ultra has a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-900 sensor with an aperture of f/1.8. It features a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 23mm and a sensor size of 1″.

Each pixel measures 1.6 micrometers. The camera utilizes multi-directional PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus), Laser Autofocus (AF), and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) for enhanced image quality and stability.

The ultrawide camera on the OP Find X7 Ultra features a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-600 sensor with an aperture of f/2.0. It has a 14mm focal length and a wide 123º field of view. The sensor size is 1/1.95″, and each pixel measures 1.0 micrometers. This camera is also equipped with PDAF for fast and accurate focusing.

A notable feature of the Find X7 Ultra is its dual-periscope telephoto cameras, offering zoom capabilities ranging from 3X to 6X. With large sensors and stabilizing Prism OIS technology, these cameras can capture intricate details even from a distance, making this phone ideal for landscape, concert, and telemacro photography.

The first telephoto camera has a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 sensor with an aperture of f/2.6 and a focal length of 65mm. The sensor size is 1/1.56″, and each pixel measures 1.0 micrometers. It offers 2.8X optical zoom with multi-directional PDAF from 25cm to infinity and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

The second periscope telephoto lens has a 50-megapixel Sony IMX858 sensor and features an aperture of f/4.3 and a focal length of 135mm. The sensor size is 1/2.51″, with each pixel measuring 1.0 micrometers. It provides 6X optical zoom, Dual-Pixel PDAF focusing from 35cm to infinity, and OIS.

Together, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra cameras feature:

• HyperTone Image Engine, which is heavily reliant on computational photography to reduce overexposure, over-sharpening, and unrealistic skin tones.
• Uninterrupted Zoom, which covers a broad focal length range from 14mm to 270mm equivalent for clear photos throughout the zoom range.
• Hasselblad Portrait Mode offers cinematic bokeh and accurate subject recognition across various focal lengths, capturing the essence of classical portrait styles.
• Hasselblad Master Mode, which offers advanced controls and RAW MAX1 capture, Master Mode allows you to tailor your photos according to their preferred style.

Photos Taken with the OPPO Find X7 Ultra

OPPO benefits from OnePlus’s partnership with Hasselblad, and the camera maker’s branding is evident on the Find X7 Ultra’s retail box, the smartphone’s camera module, the orange shutter button in the camera app, and how the camera’s software has been tuned.

The first time you open the camera app, after confirming whether or not you want to enable location services, you’ll be asked if you want to add the Hasselblad watermark to your photos. It is set to “on” by default, but a simple toggle will turn it off.

While it might be a bit obnoxious for regular photos you’d take and share on social media, this Hasselblad watermark is handy because it shows information regarding each photo taken.

Modes in the camera app include Master (formerly Pro), Video, Photo, Hasselblad Portrait, and “More,” which includes Night, Hi-Res, Pano, Movie, So-Mo, Time-Lapse, Long Exposure, Dual-View Video, Sticker, AI ID Photo, Text Scanner, and XPAN, which can be edited to your preference if there’s a particular mode you’d prefer available on the main menu.

The revamped Hasselblad-tuned Master mode shoots in JPG or RAW. It offers useful settings, including tint, sharpness, contrast, and saturation, which can be adjusted before taking the photo so you can fine-tune your images.

Overall, the phone does a great job keeping colors consistent between different cameras. Many phones seem to struggle with this, but I feel that, like the OnePlus 12, the OPPO Find X7 gets it right.

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Our smartphone is often the only camera we always have on us, but they haven’t yet surpassed the capabilities of a DSLR, and that’s understandable considering the constraints of design, price, and engineering. However, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra does an excellent job with its combination of hardware and software.

OPPO Find X7 Ultra Processor and Battery Life

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 platform, and it is available with up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage. It runs Android 14 with the Chinese version of the OPPO Color OS 14 overlay.

RAM expansion of up to 12GB is also available in the settings, allowing you to allocate some of the phone’s available 256GB or 512GB storage memory for more processing power.

In my testing, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra performed as expected for a device running a flagship processor; it is snappy and responsive even when multitasking with multiple demanding apps running simultaneously.

The Find X7 Ultra also has a 5000mAh battery, and it can support up to 80W SUPERVOOC wired fast charging with the included charger and cable and up to 50W wireless charging with the optional OnePlus 50W Max Charging Stand that you can buy for $49.99.

Although it has a slightly smaller battery than the OnePlus 12’s 5,400mAh, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra still manages to easily last throughout an entire day of my typical usage without needing to recharge, but the included wall charger and cable can take the battery from empty to full in about 30 minutes.

The 50W fast wireless charging is also available if you have a wireless charging pad capable of delivering those speeds. The Find X7 Ultra also offers reverse charging when you need a convenient spot to top off your earbuds.

Using the OPPO Find X7 Ultra

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra is available in three different memory configurations: 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, 16GB RAM with 256GB storage, and 16GB RAM with 512GB storage.

As the phone is meant for the Chinese market, setting up the OPPO Find X7 Ultra as an English speaker takes a little while longer than usual. Opting for English during the initial setup and then enabling Google services in the Settings will get you started, but you’ll likely want to download the Google Keyboard (or whichever American keyboard you prefer) and set it as the default to make everything feel a bit more familiar.

There is an auto-hiding Smart Sidebar that can be configured as you’d like; interestingly, there is a Screen Translate button there, which I left thinking it might come in handy. I’d soon see that I was correct.

As mentioned, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra comes with the Chinese version of Color OS 14, which might sometimes be a bit frustrating. Navigating through Baidu and dealing with a finicky Sougou (Chinese) keyboard to install the Play Store and familiar apps can be cumbersome if you aren’t up to the challenge.

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There are also quite a few Chinese bloatware apps pre-installed, but except App Market, all can be easily uninstalled. Even so, removing irrelevant apps and services designed for a Chinese audience can be a challenge.

Even after some fine-tuning, OPPO’s ColorOS 14 overlay may occasionally pop up with something Chinese. For instance, pressing the power button when the display is on will bring up OPPO’s Breeno assistant (in Mandarin, no less) with no option to switch it to Google Assistant.

There’s no option to set Google Discover as what you see when swiping right on the home screen. Instead, you get a set of widgets that include Quick Functions, various health and step trackers, and options for optimizing the smartphone’s system.

Tapping the silhouette at the upper right of the screen brings up a “Me” page … in Chinese. This is one of the areas where the screen translate function in the Smart Sidebar comes in handy; it will scan the page and translate everything for you.

When the display is on but the phone isn’t unlocked, swiping left on the home screen will open a Chinese section that appears to be pictures taken by various photographers that you can like or follow. It’s something like a built-in Instagram, in a way, and swiping left will show you more photos.

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Anyone thinking about importing the OPPO Find X7 Ultra should be aware of these potential roadblocks. Again, the Find X7 Ultra is a Chinese phone, but it will support multiple languages, the Google Play Store, OTA updates, and all the usual things you’d expect.

Even so, a few Chinese apps can not be removed, and the language translation isn’t always effective.

Pressing the IR Blaster app – what?

Despite a few initial hurdles, the Chinese version of Color OS 14 is a functional overlay on Android 14, offering numerous customization options.

You can set the OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s screen resolution to Auto-Select, which saves power by switching the screen resolution according to the display content, standard (2376×1080) for longer battery life or 3168×1440 for sharper images.

You can also opt for Adaptive details enhancement, which means the phone will intelligently recognize the scene and bring out subtle details for video and reader apps.

You have the option of setting the screen refresh rate to Auto, which uses the optimal refresh rate for the device to give a smooth experience while conserving battery power; Standard, which sets a maximum refresh of 60Hz to conserve the battery, or High, which uses a refresh rate of up to 120Hz for optimal visual effects and the smoothest possible experience.

Special Features are also available on the OPPO Find X7 Ultra:

These include Split View, where you can display two apps simultaneously for easier multitasking.

Flexible Window adds a smaller floating window in the main display for easier access.

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Quick Launch will enable you to add frequently used functions or apps to the lock screen.

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Smart Sidebar quickly launches apps and functions from a sidebar dock.

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Simple Mode gives you larger text, bigger icons, and louder sounds.

Driving Mode allows you to use voice control while driving. As you can see, it’s in Chinese, so I didn’t try it.

Quick Preview is a file reader that supports multiple formats.

The experience is very similar to OnePlus’s OxygenOS 14, which isn’t surprising.

Should You Buy the OPPO Find X7 Ultra?

There’s no doubt that the OPPO Find X7 Ultra is a top-tier smartphone with advanced mobile photography capabilities. Still, I’m cautious about recommending anyone in the U.S. try to import one because of the Chinese system quirks and how our 5G US bands are not fully supported.

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra uses the following cellular bands.

You can see if they are compatible with your carrier by clicking here.

GSM: 850/900/1800MHz
CDMA: BC0
WCDMA: Bands 1/2/4/5/8
LTE FDD: Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/26/28A/66
LTE TDD: Bands 34/38/39/40/41
5G NR: n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28A/n38/n40/n41/n66/n77/n78/n79

And, at least for now, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra is only available in China; it can be imported, and if you are looking for something different, this may fit the bill.

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra presents a compelling option for those looking for a smartphone that excels in photography, design, and performance. Its impressive quad-camera system, stunning display, and powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor offer a premium user experience.

However, you can’t consider buying it without also considering the inherent limitations of acquiring a Chinese version smartphone, which will require a bit of extra setup and that the phone may not be fully compatible with your carrier’s 5G bands.

Despite these drawbacks, the Find X7 Ultra offers a different kind of styling than any other smartphone in the U.S. When combined with its fast processor, the large amount of RAM and storage, its excellent camera capabilities, and the IP68 dust and waterproofing, it is still a compelling option.

You can learn more about the OPPO Find X7 Ultra by clicking here; be advised that the site is in Chinese, so you’ll need to enable your browser’s translator.

Update 03/13/24: The OPPO Find X7 Ultra has just been rated #1 by DXOMARK for Best Smartphone Camera.

Pricing for the OPPO Find X7 Ultra starts at 5,999 Yuan (~$834); in the US, it is available from various resellers, including eBay and Ali Express.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

What I Like: Gorgeous build quality with a vegan leather panel on the back for a great tactile feel; Large, beautiful display; Excellent battery life; Top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor; two nano-SIM slots; The charger is included in the box, as is a factory-installed screen protector; IP68 dust and waterproof certification; Excellent cameras; Ultra-fast charging of up to 80W wired or 50W wireless; Even the base model has 12GB RAM and 256GB storage

What Needs Improvement: China-only (but it has access to the usual Google services); Region-specific software that can’t be uninstalled; In the U.S., you have to order it from a third-party reseller; May not work with your carrier’s 5G bands