OPPO Find X5 Pro Review

Launched back in February, the OPPO Find X5 Pro is an incremental upgrade from its processor.

With a passing glance, you might not notice any difference in the specification other than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. However, OPPO has developed their own MariSilicon X Imaging NPU and this phone now benefits from Hasselblad Color Calibration, similar to the recent OnePlus flagship phones.

On top of this, you also have an increased battery size, faster charging and an improved Gorilla Glass Victus for the front display.

That’s not a lot of difference but the OPPO Find X3 Pro was one of the best phones of last year and you can easily argue there is not a lot to improve.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	OPPO Find X5 Pro 5G - Smartphone 256GB, 12GB RAM, Dual Sim,...	No ratings yet	£847.12	Buy on Amazon

Specification

• Display:
  • 6.7″ LTPO2 AMOLED
  • 500 nits (typical), 800 nits (HBM), 1300 nits (peak)
  • 3216 x 1440  pixels
  • 120 Hz refresh rate, 240 Hz touch sampling
• Chipset:
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
  • Custom MariSilicon X Imaging NPU
• RAM: 12GB (this seems to be the only option in the UK)
• Storage: 256GB
• Rear Camera:
  • 50-megapixel primary camera (Sony IMX766), f/1.7 (FoV 80-degrees), with dual-OIS and 5-axis stabilisation
  • 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera (Sony IMX766), f/2.2 (FoV 110.3-degrees), with 4cm macro mode
  • 13-megapixel telephoto camera, f/2.4 (FoV 45-degrees)
• Front camera:
  • 32-megapixel f/2.4 fixed-focus front facing camera
• Battery: 5,000mAh
• Charging:
  • 80W wired
  • 50W wireless
• Protection / Build:
  • Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), ceramic back or eco leather back, aluminium frame
  • IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)

Design & Display

The OPPO Find X5 Pro has a beautifully sculpted back, its unibody design wraps around the camera for an ultra premium look. OPPO then ruin all this effort with all the unnecessary text and CE marks running down the side. This doesn’t appear to be the case with all the colourways, the white ceramic model only has the small branding.

As attractive as the phone is, the shiny ceramic is quite slippy, and with my clumsiness, there is no way I would use a £1k+ phone without good protection.

It does have a good level of protection built-in, the front panel is Gorilla Glass Victus, and there is IP68 water protection.

The display is slightly curved, offering a good balance of aesthetics and usability. I am also reviewing the Honor Magic4 Pro, which has a more aggressive curve, and some UI elements can bend into the curve on the corners.

As you’d expect, the display is about as good as it gets. The 6.7″ screen is a perfect size for me, and it then runs at 1440×3216 pixels. It is also LPTO which allows it to provide a dynamic refresh rate going from 1Hz to 120Hz and has a 10-bit colour range.

Screen brightness was excellent, I used this in Porto where it was sunny all week, and it was significantly better than my Pixel 6, which I find struggles a lot in sunlight.

Camera

For me, the camera is the main reason why you’d buy the OPPO Find X5 Pro. The primary lens and ultra-wide are superb, but the zoom is a bit lacklustre.

Strangely, OPPO has decided to remove the 3-megapixel microscope camera that was on the X3 Pro. Generally, these 4^th cameras are nothing more than a gimmick, but in this case, it did provide some fun photo opportunities.

I am a big fan of ultra-wide cameras, it is great for travelling and city photography. OPPO has opted to use the same IMX766 sensor on this lens, which gives it a significant advantage over competing phones.

Both cameras perform well across scenarios, and low light performance is superb, I’d say equally as good as the Pixel 6, which is often classed as one of the best.

The zoom lens is only 13MP and 2x zoom. The quality of photos are acceptable, especially when viewed on a phone. It is quite likely that you could achieve similar if not better results from zoom and cropping the standard photos. Zooming significantly beyond the 2x optical limit both deteriorates the image quality and introduces a lot of shakiness.

The phone has excellent video capabilities going up to 4K 60fps with HDR.

Photo Samples

You can find a wider range of OPPO Find X5 Pro camera samples here.

Performance & Thermal Throttling

I have done a more thorough post on the OPPO Find X5 Pro performance and benchmarks.

As far as benchmarks go, OPPO has taken a different approach to the performance of this phone than other brands such as Honor. It scores a bit lower across the board but this allows it to have better battery life than average.

In terms of day to day performance, you won’t notice any difference. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has so much performance there is no need for it to be running full throttle in most scenarios.

If you game and want the best possible experience, you can easily enable performance mode. This brings up the Wild Life stress test to be about the same as other phones.

Battery

Due to the way the phone moderates performance, you can expect to see better battery life than many competing phones. Under the PCMark battery test, this scored 11h 32 mins which is significantly better than its predecessor.

You then have 80W charging via the supplied wired charger, which can give you a full charge in under 30 mins. You can also charge at 50W using an OPPO wireless charger, but you need to pay for this.

Some phones are starting to offer faster charging. The Honor I have to hand can do 100W and 80W wireless.

I know some people are sceptical of ultra-fast charging, and I prefer to slow charge at night. However, it is incredibly useful on heavy use days when you may not have a power bank to hand. I always take fast chargers with me on holiday or work events allowing me a full charge in me short afternoon downtime.

Software

Between OPPO, OnePlus and Realme it is safe to say that I am quite familiar with ColorOS.

There is more bloatware than I’d like. There should not be Aliexpress, Booking.com, TikTok and more on any phone at this price. OPPO are not the only guilty offenders, and they are all easily uninstallable. At least there are no security scanning apps with adverts.

Beyond that, I can’t fault ColorOS.

As you’d expect, this is running Android 12 with ColourOS version 12.1. The last security update my phone got was April 2022, which matches my Pixel.

Android 13 beta 1 is also available to download for this, which is a positive sign for a quick roll-out of the next generation of Android OS.

Price and Alternative Options

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	OPPO Find X5 Pro 5G - Smartphone 256GB, 12GB RAM, Dual Sim,...	No ratings yet	£847.12	Buy on Amazon
	Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G Mobile Phone 128GB SIM Free...	No ratings yet	£619.00	Buy on Amazon
	OnePlus 10 Pro 5G (UK) 12GB RAM 256GB Storage SIM-Free...	No ratings yet	£899.00	Buy on Amazon
	HONOR Magic4 Pro - 5G Smartphone 8+256GB, 6.81" 120Hz Curved...	No ratings yet	£414.55	Buy on Amazon

The OPPO Find X5 Pro is currently available for around £1050 for the 12GB / 256GB model.

Amazingly, retailers are still trying to flog the OPPO Find X3 Pro for around £950, just £150 below RRP. While there is not a huge difference between the two phones, considering the relatively small price difference, you’d be better off with the X5 Pro. There are some fantastic deals on eBay, which could be worth considering.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with 12GB and 256GB is priced at an eye-watering £1249, even the lower specced 8GB/128GB model is £1149.

The OnePlus 10 Pro with 12GB / 256GB is £899. While it doesn’t look as pretty, it is essentially the same hardware, just a slightly different camera, and the OPPO has a custom chip for image processing. Even the software is almost the same.

The Honor Magic4 Pro is a cheaper alternative worth considering, the ultrawide isn’t as good, but the zoom is a bit better. The battery is smaller but charging faster. This is also priced at £949 (£50 more than originally advertised).

Another dark horse could be the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra. The camera could potentially be better thanks to the newer, superior Sony IMX787. However, software and support is unlikely to be as good as OPPO. It also hasn’t been launched in the UK yet, so the price is unknown.

Overall

Much like its predecessor, the OPPO Find X5 Pro is one of the best phones of the year, with outstanding performance and a superb versatile camera.

It is also one of the most expensive phones of the year, so anything less than outstanding performance would not be good.

As always, it is a highly competitive market. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the main competition, and I’d take the OPPO with its lower price point and Qualcomm chipset over that, unless you want the stylus functionality.

It is hard to ignore the fact that the OnePlus 10 Pro is almost identical in hardware and the underlying OS is almost the same. Yet the OnePlus is about £150-250 cheaper (depending on which spec you choose). I have not used the OnePlus, but I have no doubt that the OPPO is a better phone and has the benefit of the MariSilicon X Imaging NPU. It’s certainly more attractive, but is it £150 better?

Overall, if you are not price sensitive, you won’t be disappointed by the Oppo Find X5 Pro, it is a superb phone.

James Smythe( Editor-in-chief )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.

Last update on 2024-04-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API