Tag Archives: Oppo

OPPO Find X7 Ultra Review: Inching Closer to Photography Perfection

Posted on by

PROS:


  • Distinctive and stylish design with a nice touch of vegan leather

  • Impressive Quad Main Camera output

  • Bright and vibrant display

  • Excellent hardware performance across the board

CONS:


  • Available only in China

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

With four nearly co-equal cameras packaged in a gorgeous design, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra makes real the prophesied smartphone that could rival professional cameras.

Photography has become an important part of the smartphone experience to the point that it could be considered one of the most critical deciding factors in a purchase. Companies have been working left and right to provide an excellent experience, but no matter how good the output is, they still can’t compare with the flexibility of a dedicated camera, especially mirrorless and DSLR cameras. You can only cram so much inside the thin body of a smartphone without either compromising on quality or leaving a distasteful bump on the phone’s back. Technology, however, is starting to catch up with smaller but more powerful sensors and lenses that could really give cameras a run for their money. The OPPO Find X7 Ultra embodies that promise, so we give the smartphone and its cameras a good test to see if it’s worth that large disc on its back.

Designer: OPPO

Aesthetics

If you’re familiar with OPPO’s premium smartphone line, then the Find X7 Ultra will immediately look familiar. But even if you aren’t, you’re still in for a treat with one of the most beautiful devices to grace the market so far. Just like its predecessor, the Find X6 Pro, it bears a dual-tone color scheme and a large circular camera bump that others have dubbed the “camera Oreo,” though a resemblance with the top of a soda can wouldn’t be off the mark either. It’s a peculiar design, but one that has a reason and actually serves another purpose, intentional or not.

That said, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra isn’t just a rehash of the 2023 flagship. The colored vegan leather that makes up two-thirds of the rear area has a pleasant curve that arcs around the camera at a distance where the two elements intersect. It’s a subtle yet significant change that prevents visual elements from just abruptly cutting into each other. It also has the visual effect of giving the camera Oreo more prominence, with the leather seemingly giving way to this important part of the phone’s design.

The color options for the phone differ in more than just their hues this year, though. Both the Orange and Blue colorways do share a similar design, with the white top of the design looking like a familiar ceramic that OPPO has used in the past. The black colorway, on the other hand, has a few more interesting details, like the stitching on the vegan leather surface. Instead of ceramic, the top looks more like metal but still feels like glass. The mid-frame is also different, using some sandblasted finish that complements the phone’s darker looks.

All three do have the same basic design, with a back that curves at the sides toward the edges. On the flip side, the screen is mostly flat but does curve sharply at those same edges, typical of the premium design carried by phones in the past. Admittedly, it’s going to be a divisive design choice, given how flat is back these days. There’s no denying, however, that the OPPO Find X7 Ultra still looks great with this style and probably wouldn’t be as appealing if was completely flat all around.

Ergonomics

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra is a large piece of metal and glass, there’s no getting around that fact. As with any large smartphone, there will be a problem of straining your hand with its weight and making it less comfortable and stable to hold over time. Fortunately, the phone is also unbelievably thin at 9.5mm only, and at 221g, it’s not exactly a heavyweight. It also feels well-balanced and not top-heavy as you might suspect given the size of the camera bump.

Even better, the rest of the phone’s design also contributes to helping secure a more confident grip. The vegan leather, for example, provides enough texture for your skin to grip comfortably. Even that camera Oreo becomes a place where your index fingers can rest when holding up the phone, especially with a ribbed rim that, again, adds texture and friction to stop the phone from slipping out of your hands. You will still have some difficulty reaching higher areas of the screen if you’re holding it in one hand, but other than that, the size of the Find X7 Ultra doesn’t get in the way of an enjoyable experience when using it.

Performance

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra is a premium flagship through and through, which means it also bears the best of the best hardware available in the market to date. That means a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, right at the top of the list. Suffice it to say, the phone isn’t wanting in terms of silicon power and it blasts through all kinds of tasks, including heavy gaming, without breaking a sweat. Your hands won’t be sweating either thanks to an impressive cooling system. Mind you, it does get a bit warm with heavier loads, but not to the point of making you want to drop it like a hot potato.

It would be such a shame and a waste if those specs were matched with a mediocre screen and, fortunately, OPPO didn’t fail to impress here either. The huge 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display is bright, fast, responsive, and vibrant. It perfectly complements the phone’s luxurious back with an equally gorgeous display that supports the industry-standard HDR10+, OPPO’s own ProXDR, and soon, Google’s new Ultra HDR. Given you’ll want to view the photos you take on this screen, OPPO really needed to make sure that it was up to the task.

OPPO crammed a 5,000mAh battery inside, which is both common yet also mildly disappointing. With all its capabilities, a higher capacity would have been a better choice, but that would have also weighed down the phone considerably. Fortunately, it does last a day on a single charger, at least with constant use, and the super-fast 100W charging is enough to bring it back to full in about half an hour. 50W wireless charging is also plenty fast, which is a rarity in this regard.

Quad Main Camera and HyperTone System

Much of OPPO’s rhetoric revolves around the OPPO Find X7 Ultra’s Quad Main Cameras, and to be fair, it does deserve some praise for pulling off what comes naturally to professional cameras but not to smartphones. DSLRs and mirrorless cameras can easily change lenses when they need a different focal length or field of view while keeping the same high-quality imaging sensor built into the camera. Smartphones, on the other hand, use a different camera for different focal lengths, but due to space and price constraints, also use different sensors that aren’t always up to the task.

What the OPPO Find X7 Ultra accomplishes is to have four different cameras with different lenses, all of which have 50MP sensors. Yes, these sensors have different sizes and specs and, therefore, different overall quality, but the differences are very marginal at best. No longer do you have to sacrifice quality just to jump from wide to ultrawide to telephoto, nor will you get that jarring effect whenever you switch between cameras.

The phone’s mighty camera roster includes a 1-inch 50MP Sony LYT-900 with a 23mm focal length equivalent, a 1/1.95-inch 50MP Sony LYT-600 ultrawide (14mm equivalent), a 1/1.56-inch 50MP Sony IMX890 3x periscope telephoto (65), and a 1/2.51-inch 50MP Sony IMX858 6x periscope telephoto (135mm). With this set, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra practically covers the whole range of lenses used by photographers, including 10x zoom at 270mm with some computational photography. OPPO’s software also allows users to select more common focal lengths, like 35mm for the wide (main) camera, though it does that with a bit of cropping.

As you might have already noticed with the camera samples, these aren’t just numbers or empty words. OPPO definitely delivered on its promise of professional-quality photos in any field of view, zoom, or even lighting condition. Part of that magic is thanks to its partnership with Hasselblad, which also led to the Computational Photography aspect of its HyperTone camera system. In a nutshell, it tries to avoid oversharpening, overexposure, and other exaggerations that most camera software apply to compensate for poor image quality, resulting in more natural-looking photos you might have never thought came from a smartphone instead of a pro camera.

Sustainability

As one of the world’s top 5 smartphone vendors, OPPO has taken its responsibility for preserving the environment quite seriously. In addition to a few models that made use of recycled or sustainable materials, the company also has a concrete program for reducing the negative impact its business has on the planet. That involves reducing its carbon footprint, optimizing its packaging and logistics, and offsetting its harmful emissions.

Unfortunately, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra itself doesn’t have the clear marks of a sustainable phone. Sure, it uses vegan leather across all models, but that synthetic material isn’t completely environment-friendly either, despite the name. One upside is that the phone is IP68-rated, which is one of the highest dust and water resistance levels for smartphones, promising a mostly durable product that should last you quite a while before you have to throw it away, responsibly, of course.

Value

If you’re anything of a mobile shutterbug, it’s hard not to get excited over the OPPO Find X7 Ultra. Although it’s not going to dethrone an expensive DSLR, it really comes close to it with its HyperTone Quad Main Camera System. And all that imaging hardware is packed into a thin and stylish device that you can also use for more than just taking photos. What’s not to like?

Unfortunately, the product’s value takes a nosedive because of the fact that, as of this writing, OPPO has no plans yet to bring the OPPO Find X7 Ultra to international markets, making it exclusive to a Chinese audience. Yes, you can probably import the phone through other channels, but that won’t change the fact that the version of ColorOS software running on it isn’t made for global users. Yes, you can install Google Play Store unofficially, but that still won’t give you access to some basic platform capabilities you’d expect from international versions of these devices. It’s definitely a shame that such a treasure would be out of reach, and hopefully, OPPO will change its mind very soon.

Verdict

Smartphones are sometimes a victim of their own success, or at least of marketing hype. It wasn’t that long ago when they were said to devour the lower end of professional cameras, but they haven’t managed to surpass the bulkier and more powerful shooters in terms of flexibility and quality. It’s just impossible, given the restraints on design, price, and engineering, so smartphones have to make do with workarounds and software solutions.

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra, however, comes pretty close to that ideal. It still can’t change lenses physically, but it provides almost the same experience through a perfect combination of hardware and software. Of course, it’s not just a digital camera, and it manages to excel in almost every field with very few flaws. It’s tragic that most people won’t be able to experience all of that, though, but hopefully, they will soon be able to get their hands on what could very well be this year’s most beautiful and most capable smartphone camera.

The post OPPO Find X7 Ultra Review: Inching Closer to Photography Perfection first appeared on Yanko Design.

OPPO Find X7 Ultra with four main cameras challenges the status quo

Posted on by

Smartphones have long been regarded to be ringing the death knell of digital cameras, but that has mostly been hyperbole. Sure, the old point-and-click cameras may have finally met their match, but professional-grade shooters like DSLRs will hardly feel threatened. While smartphones have quite a number of desirable features like advanced computational photography and filters, dedicated cameras win in the sheer raw power of their optics. That’s especially true since they can easily switch out lenses as they need to while keeping the same powerful sensor. Since that’s nearly impossible with smartphones, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra has made the bold decision to carry the world’s first Quad Main Camera system that’s poised to blow the competition out of the water and deliver stunning photos at every click.

Designer: OPPO

Smartphones have started using more than one camera to make up for the inability to switch lenses. Each camera used a different lens with a different focal point, but because of limitations in past technologies and design, phone manufacturers were forced to make do with different sizes of sensors to fit inside a smartphone’s cramped space. This meant that ultra-wide or telephoto cameras would have significantly different output qualities from the main camera, sometimes better, more often worse. Parity between these cameras is exactly what OPPO has been trying to deliver in the past generations, culminating in what is probably the most advanced smartphone camera system in the market to date.

The OPPO Find X7 Ultra boasts not only a quad camera system but a Quad Main camera system. Although they differ slightly in terms of specific specs, all four use a 50MP sensor, lead by the new Sony LYT-900, the latest generation of that coveted 1-inch sensor. What this practically means is that there is no loss of quality and no disconcerting jitter when switching between wide, ultra-wide, 3x zoom, and 6x zoom cameras. And yes, the phone has two optical zoom telephoto cameras, both of them with periscope-style lenses. With this unprecedented combination, OPPO is able to seamlessly cover a wide range of focal points, from 14mm to 135mm to even 270mm as if it were changing DSLR lenses on the fly.

Combined with this impressive hardware is OPPO’s new HyperTone Image Engine, designed to combat the unnatural colors, exposure, and sharpening that most computation photography software produces on smartphones today. Along with the famed Hasselblad Portrait Mode that accurately emulates four iconic Hasselblad cameras, you are promised to get breath-taking and natural-looking images, as if they were taken with a professional DSLR or mirrorless camera. And if you’re the type to really get into the nitty-gritty of camera settings, the Hasselblad Master Mode upgrades the typical Pro Mode to add even more fine-grained control over image quality.

Despite all the camera hardware packed inside, not to mention the latest and greatest components available in the smartphone industry to date, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra remains slim, sleek, and stylish, belying its powerful capabilities. The two-tone design of the previous Find X6 generation returns with a bit more character this time, wrapping around the distinctive camera circle more loosely. Available in Ocean Blue, Sepia Brown, and Tailored Black, the OPPO Find X7 Ultra marries head-turning elegance and groundbreaking performance in a package that’s sure to give shutterbugs something to talk about.

The post OPPO Find X7 Ultra with four main cameras challenges the status quo first appeared on Yanko Design.

Best of Tech Design – Yanko Design Awards 2023

Posted on by

It’s that time of year again when we take stock of the past 12 months and reflect on the ups and downs in order to get a brief glimpse of what lies ahead. It has been a pretty active year for the tech industry in many segments, from companies recovering or folding from the events of the past 3 years to the explosion of AI-powered services. Of course, there has also been a torrent of new designs and product types, such as the gaming handheld fever that’s gripping the PC market. In other words, there has been a great storm swirling in the tech and consumer electronics world, and now that the dust has finally settled, we’re taking a look at some of the best product designs that you can grab today or in just a few months.

Best Mixed Reality Headset – Apple Vision Pro

After years of speculation and waiting, Apple finally revealed its hand and showed the world its vision for its mixed reality platform. Of course, that includes the hardware that will become the gateway to that reality, the Vision Pro. In typical Apple fashion, the headset isn’t just a rehash of any old VR/AR gear and is specifically designed not only to showcase the power of Apple’s Spatial Computing but also to provide convenience and comfort in all aspects.

Designer: Apple

Why it’s noteworthy

As expected from any Apple product, the Vision Pro has a minimalist, understated design where every part is made with meticulous attention to detail. In addition to luxurious, comfortable materials, the headset is designed to be lightweight and well-balanced, allowing for long hours of use without straining the head. It was also made to immerse the wearer in a virtual world without taking them away from the real world, especially when communicating with others by making eye contact. Apple’s visionOS platform is carefully tailored to mix the real and the virtual seamlessly. Admittedly, the pricing for the Vision Pro is going to be high, but that’s also on par with any high-quality product that Apple makes.

Best Gaming Handheld – Lenovo Legion Go

Although some manufacturers have been churning out portable gaming PCs for years now, things really heated up when the big names in the industry started jumping in. Valve got the ball rolling with the Steam Deck, followed closely by the ASUS ROG Ally. Lenovo may just be the latest to jump on board, but thanks to both its expertise and the advantage of hindsight, the Lenovo Legion Go is pretty much ahead of the game not just in terms of specs but also in design.

Designer: Lenovo

Why it’s noteworthy

Yes, the Legion Go looks big, but mostly because it has the biggest screen among handheld gaming PCs in the market today. Its removable controllers give the perfect Nintendo Switch vibe, but the FPS mouse mode also delivers a new and unique way to play games. The high-performance hardware leaves few complaints, aside from the usual battery life, and the built-in kickstand removes the need for a separate accessory. There’s definitely still room for improvement, so it’s actually exciting to see what Lenovo has planned next for this device category.

Best Foldable Phone – OPPO Find N3

Foldable phones are becoming mainstream to the point that there might be too many to choose from at this point. While Samsung still has the lion’s share of people’s attention, it has long relinquished being the best in this market. It has easily let its rivals pass it by, and OPPO, who is relatively new to the scene, has just produced what is pretty much the best foldable phone you can buy (depending on where you are).

Designer: OPPO

Why it’s noteworthy

The OPPO Find N3 combines not just the best specs but also the best designs currently available in this category. It folds flat, has stylish color options, and has a more normal, wider shape that makes it more usable as a regular phone when folded. And it doesn’t skimp on the cameras, which is something that most foldable phones still have a hard time getting right. This particular model might not be available in all markets, but the OnePlus Open is a dead ringer and might be available in countries where the OPPO Find N3 isn’t.

Best Laptop/Portable PC – HP Envy Move

When thinking of “portable computers,” most will probably think of laptops since those are the most common designs available. They’re not always the best, though, especially when you consider the ergonomics involved. Desktop PCs, however, are just too large and bulky to be portable, even the thin all-in-one PCs are firmly rooted to desks. HP is challenging that status quo with a unique PC that is as portable as a laptop yet as usable as an all-in-one desktop.

Designer: HP

Why it’s noteworthy

The HP Envy Move is, for all intents and purposes, an AIO or All-in-One PC that was designed to be carried around, especially thanks to a built-in foldable handle and a pocket for storing a wireless keyboard. Its large 23.8-inch screen has plenty of room for work and entertainment, and you won’t have to crane your neck down every time you use it. Yes, it’s probably going to be awkward to carry it with you everywhere, but when you have a few fixed places to set up work or sit down for a movie, this computer will give you the full desktop experience in no time flat.

Best Portable Power Station – Bluetti AC500 + B300S

A stable supply of electricity has almost become a luxury these days. Power grids can go down without prior notice, or you might find yourself spending days and nights outdoors. Gas generators no longer cut it and are dangerous liabilities rather than assets, but there’s, fortunately, a large selection of safer and greener battery-powered generators now available today. Perhaps too many, in fact, since they come in all sizes and capacities, but Bluetti’s latest modular AC500 inverter and B300S expansion batteries offer the perfect flexibility for all your power needs.

Designer: Bluetti

Why it’s noteworthy

The modular design of the Bluetti AC500 means that you can stack as many as four of these 3,072Wh batteries if you need to, enough to power a home for a day or two. Or you can only bring the inverter and one battery module if you just need to go camping over the weekend. Best of all, you can charge the batteries using solar power, so you don’t even have to worry about power outlets in case of emergencies or being stuck outside. It’s a great way to enjoy the conveniences of modern life by having access to safe and sustainable power at any time.

Best Powerbank – Anker 737 GaN Prime 24K

Our dependence on computers and smartphones becomes pretty obvious when we start scrambling for a charger and find no power outlet available. There’s a variety of portable batteries, a.k.a. power banks, available today, but not all of them deliver the power you need to charge multiple devices, let alone a power-hungry laptop. Anker is one of the leading brands in this space, and it has a solution that addresses that need without forcing you to carry a veritable brick in your bag.

Designer: Anker

Why it’s noteworthy

The Anker 737 GaN Prime 24K offers portability and power in a compact package. It has enough output and battery capacity to charge a MacBook, for example, which means smartphones, accessories, and even drones are no sweat at all. GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology makes charging not only faster but also safer, while a helpful LCD display shows all the necessary stats you need to keep tabs on the power bank itself as well as the devices it’s charging. The block is admittedly chunky, but compared to power banks of similar capacity, it’s surprisingly compact and light, making it the perfect all-around partner for any mobile worker.

Best Smart Speaker – Sonos Era 300

The hype around smart speakers may seem to have died down, but that’s mostly because they have become almost too common. Every modern Bluetooth-enabled speaker these days has some smarts now, leaving manufacturers more freedom to explore other designs. Sonos is one of the pioneers in the wireless speaker space, and it continues to push through with new designs even in the face of unrelenting competition. Its new Sonos Era 300 this year makes an impact not only with its design but also with its commitment to the environment.

Designer: Sonos

Why it’s noteworthy

The Sonos Era 300 has a distinctive shape that almost looks like a flattened speaker icon, with a front half that flares out and a back that is more or less uniform in size. That shape isn’t accidental, as it allows the multitude of woofers and tweeters to be positioned for maximum efficiency and performance. What really makes the Sonos Era 300 extra special, however, is the attention that it gives to sustainability, picking materials, lowering power consumption, and encouraging quick repairs in order to reduce its negative impact on the environment.

Best Wireless Earbuds – Sony WF-1000XM5

Apple may have made wireless earbuds popular, but it is far from being the only game in town. When it comes to design and especially sound quality, the AirPods are easily eclipsed by products from more experienced brands. Reclaiming its foothold in this audio space, Sony has launched a new pair of high-end buds that truly immerse you in your favorite music, regardless of your environment.

Designer: Sony

Why it’s noteworthy

The Sony WF-1000XM5 boasts one of if not the best noise canceling experiences that tiny buds can offer. It even uses some AI special sauce to also reduce noise interference when you’re making calls, allowing for clear and crisp audio on both ends of the line. Best of all, its minimalist design doesn’t call attention to itself, but its stylish appearance won’t embarrass you if people do notice.

Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner – SwitchBot S10

We have long gone past the days when robot vacuum cleaners only vacuumed floors and still left everything else to humans. Now they can dump their dirt into bins on their own and even wipe the floor with a mop when needed. Human intervention can’t be removed completely, like in taking out the dust bin or refilling water in the tank, but the SwitchBot S10 further reduces the need for manual interaction by making the robot smart enough to dump its own dirty water and stock up on clean water all by itself.

Designer: SwitchBot

Why it’s noteworthy

The small and narrow auto-emptying station of the SwitchBot S10 is rather deceptive, making you think it’s less capable than its larger competitors. But that’s because the exciting action happens away from that bin and at the separate water station that lets the robot vacuum exchange dirty water for clean one using the same pipes that you already have for drains and faucets. It can even refill a humidifier’s water tank on its own, presuming it’s SwitchBot’s humidifier, of course. These almost completely automated processes reduce the need to get your hands dirty, literally, and reduce the risks of getting contaminated and sick from handling waste materials.

Best Smartwatch – Apple Watch Ultra 2

Just like with smart speakers, the smartwatch market has more or less normalized by now after a long struggle in trying to carve out its niche. Designs may no longer be changing drastically, but innovation hasn’t stopped completely either. Now it’s a race to put the best health sensors you can cram in such a small space, but Apple has long been ahead of the race and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 cements its lead even further.

Designer: Apple

Why it’s noteworthy

The Apple Watch Ultra series delivered what users have been asking for a long time, more space to see the information they need at a glance without having to tap their way through screens. It also adds a new double tap gesture so you won’t even have to use your other hand for basic actions like stopping a timer, ending a call, or better yet, taking a photo from your iPhone. It also introduces Apple’s first carbon-neutral products, offsetting the negative impact the production of its smartwatches has with “carbon credits” from nature-based projects and parts.

The post Best of Tech Design – Yanko Design Awards 2023 first appeared on Yanko Design.

OPPO Find X7 camera design leak could leave you scratching your head

Posted on by

Camera bumps are one of the necessary evils of smartphone design. There’s a hard limit on how small you can make imaging sensors and lenses while also keeping the phone itself thin and light. Sometimes, this situation has resulted in ingenious and beautiful designs, but sometimes the mass of glass and metal protruding from the back of the phone ruins whatever beauty the rest of the design might have. These days, it’s no longer common to see unappealing camera designs, though there are a few rare cases that pop up from time to time. If this leak is true, however, OPPO’s next flagship will come with a rather odd design choice that will surely split camps and get the Internet talking.

Designer: OPPO (via Weibo)

OPPO Find X6 Pro

OPPO Find X5 Pro

To be fair, it’s difficult to design around those cameras that wouldn’t look obnoxious or even unusable. Unless you’re Samsung, which separates each camera into its own little island, the common strategy is to have a single raised structure, often called a “bump,” to visually group the cameras together. Coming up with a pleasing design for that is no walk in the park, but OPPO has had some very good results in that regard.

The OPPO Find X5, for example, used a single piece of ceramic for the back cover as well as the camera so that the bump is more of a gentle slope rather than an abrupt and independent structure. This year’s OPPO Find X6, on the other hand, used a very large circle, but it tried to imitate the aesthetics of a DSLR lens to give it a more familiar appearance. Given these two hits, it’s almost shocking to hear that the brand might be adopting something completely different and opposite to what they achieved.

Leaked hands-on photos of the alleged OPPO Find X7 reveal a gigantic camera bump with a hexagon shape we rarely see on other phones, at least not of late. It seems to have a two-step structure perhaps to give it a bit of a flair, something it definitely needs given this rather unappealing appearance. At this point, however, the device in the photo is most likely a prototype, which means there’s a chance it isn’t the final design. Given the rather raw and rough appearance, that is hopefully the case.

The extra large camera bump could be due to having two periscope-style telephoto cameras, another first in the industry, that would require even more space for the hardware. That speculation isn’t that far off considering how OPPO markets its Find X series as a mobile photographer’s tool. It seems that the rest of the phone’s design will be similar to the OPPO Find X6, especially the curved edge screen which is a dying breed in this new flat age. The OPPO Find X7 is expected to drop sometime in the first quarter of 2024, so there’s plenty of hope that the brand will adopt a more attractive design for that large camera bump.

The post OPPO Find X7 camera design leak could leave you scratching your head first appeared on Yanko Design.