OPPO’s latest flagship, the Find X7 Ultra, delivers a powerful blend of cutting-edge hardware, remarkable camera performance, and sophisticated software. Its exceptional qualities make it a compelling choice for the tech-savvy out there.

Design: A Striking Fusion of Vegan Leather and Glass

The Find X7 Ultra’s design is a symphony of bold choices and subtle refinement. Its back panel gracefully balances two distinct textures: a luxurious vegan leather lower section and a sophisticated glass upper portion. This eye-catching design houses a prominent camera island that seamlessly blends with the overall aesthetic. The vegan leather doesn’t just look beautiful; it also provides superior grip and comfort.

OPPO’s attention to detail is evident in the subtle rib-like detailing surrounding the camera array, reminiscent of vintage cameras. The Cosmos Ring camera system alludes pro photography with its HyperTone Camera System.

OPPO brings the Find X7 Ultra in three colours:

Ocean Blue combines a regal quality with deep, nautical colouring with a white top half.

Sepia Brown carries forward the style introduced for Find X6 Pro, seeing the tan leather of collector cameras against a blasted metal finish.

Tailored Black combines curves, contrast, stitching and black hues across materials.

The overall design language exudes a premium feel, leaving an impression of quality and understated elegance.

Display: A Feast for Your Eyes

The Find X7 Ultra’s stunning 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display is a sight to behold. Its incredibly high resolution of 3168 x 1440 delivers exceptional clarity and detail, while the adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate guarantees smooth animations and buttery responsiveness. With support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, you’ll enjoy vibrant colors and deep blacks during media consumption. Find X7 Ultra also supports OPPO’s ProXDR technology.

The display also delivers incredible brightness, peaking at a theoretical 4,500 nits, though users should expect up to 2,600 nits in most scenarios. Even in direct sunlight, readability won’t be a concern. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 offers the reassurance of scratch and drop resistance.

Overall I was very impressed with the quality and accuracy of the display, well done OPPO.

Performance: Unrivaled Power

Fueled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – the pinnacle of mobile processing – the OPPO Find X7 Ultra offers blistering performance. In our review, this flagship breezed through everyday tasks and devoured graphics-intensive games with ease. Even the most demanding apps and multitasking scenarios weren’t enough to cause any noticeable lag or stuttering.

OPPO pairs the powerful processor with generous 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and blazing-fast UFS 4.0 storage, ensuring optimal speed and efficiency. For serious multitaskers and power users, the 16GB RAM variant should be more than sufficient. This also translates to a seamless experience for intense gaming sessions and effortless 4K video editing.

Camera: Excellence Across the Range

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra stands tall as a testament to the company’s ambition and relentless pursuit of mobile camera excellence. This flagship device boasts a camera system that has been turning heads, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in smartphone photography. Let’s dive into the intricate details that make the Find X7 Ultra a force to be reckoned with.

The Quad Camera Powerhouse: The heart of the Find X7 Ultra’s photographic prowess lies in its unique quad-camera setup:

• Main Camera (50MP, 1-inch sensor): The star of the show is the massive LYT-900 sensor, a first for smartphones, which delivers superbly balanced shots with rich color, detail, and dynamic range. OPPO’s HyperTone image processing ensures realistic portrayal of highlights, shadows, and mid-tones.
• Ultrawide Camera (50MP): Colors remain consistent with the main sensor,ensuring a cohesive shooting experience across the different lenses. Even macro capabilities are included, letting you get creative.
• Dual Periscope Telephoto (50MP): Includes lenses for 3x and 6x optical zoom. Both deliver astonishing clarity in varied lighting, with accurate colors and lifelike skin tones. The phone goes far beyond these zoom distances digitally, even if quality degrades somewhat with higher magnification.

Image Processing and the HyperTone Engine: OPPO didn’t just focus on sensor size; they married this beastly system with advanced image processing. The “HyperTone Image Engine”, developed in collaboration with Hasselblad, is the brains behind the operation. OPPO’s HyperTone Image Engine safeguards photo integrity, preserving highlights, shadows and mid-tones with a natural look.

This powerful engine applies meticulous computational photography techniques to deliver:

• Natural Color Calibration: Hasselblad’s color science has been carefully integrated, ensuring color reproduction is true-to-life. Images feel richer and more vibrant than ever before while maintaining their authenticity.
• Precision Noise Reduction: Even in low-light conditions, the HyperTone Engine works overtime to deliver clean images while ensuring fine details are not lost. The result is remarkable low-light performance that outmatches many competitors.
• Advanced HDR: Capturing scenes with vast differences in brightness levels is handled expertly. Highlights don’t blow out, and shadows reveal nuances without losing vibrancy overall.

Real-World Performance

• Low-Light King: The Find X7 Ultra excels in low-light scenarios, pushing the limits of mobile photography into territory traditionally only conquered by larger sensor cameras. Nighttime photos and videos are incredibly detailed with well-managed noise.
• Versatility Across Focal Lengths: The multiple focal lengths combined with computational zoom result in a truly flexible tool. Landscapes, detailed portraits,and even capturing wildlife in decent detail become attainable feats with this phone.
• Professional Feel: Beyond just specs, the large sensors, combined with OPPO’s UI choices, give the phone a feel reminiscent of using a dedicated camera – far more so than the usual ‘point-and-shoot’ smartphone experience.

Zoom in further with Find X7 Ultra’s 6x periscope telephoto camera. Its large, 50MP, 1/2.51” Sony IMX858 sensor captures abundant detail. Matched with a 135mm equivalent lens, stabilised by Prism OIS, and with a nearest focus distance of 35cm, it achieves far-reaching landscape and concert shots, or intimate telemacro photography with superb clarity.

Photo gallery shot on the Find X7 Ultra (zoom capabilities)

Photo gallery shot on the Find X7 Ultra (night mode capabilities)

Photo gallery shot on the Find X7 Ultra (other shots)

Software: ColorOS 14

OPPO’s ColorOS 14, based on Android 14, shines with its fluidity and refinement. While the global version would be ideal, the Chinese edition can still provide a positive experience after setup. One caveat is a limit on background push services to save power. You can only allow “auto-launch” for a maximum of five apps, leaving others potentially without prompt notifications. Workarounds through additional settings for “associated launch” and locking in multitasking exist, but aren’t ideal.

Ignoring this one quirk, ColorOS 14 delivers a robust set of features and customization options. Visual themes, font and icon size modifications, granular screen and animation control, and a smart sidebar are just a few of the available personalization tools. It offers a mature Android experience that, even in its Chinese iteration, remains intuitive and well-designed for most users.

Battery and Charging: Reliable Power

The 5,000mAh battery delivers consistent all-day battery life, and often a bit more. Even with intensive use, including heavy gaming, a full day’s charge remained attainable, giving peace of mind. In case you do need a recharge, the 120W wired charging can top up the device in about half an hour. While slightly slower, the 50W wireless charging remains notably fast.

Should You Buy the OPPO Find X7 Ultra?

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra is undoubtedly one of the finest smartphones in existence. Its stunning design, phenomenal camera performance, blazing speed, and long-lasting battery are major selling points. The main obstacles reside in the lack of a global variant and the limitations of the Chinese ColorOS version. If you’re comfortable buying a Chinese variant, and understand the software quirks, this phone provides a flagship experience that rivals anyone. Whether it’s worth the extra effort is up to individual users to decide, but the device itself earns our highest recommendation.