A Nice iPhone for Android Lovers

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: Design

I’ve dealt with lots of smartphones in my day, however that is the primary I’ve seen with a lot pearlescence. And I’m smitten. The matte Pearl White glass rear panel has bands of silky end that produce smooth glints every time it catches slightly mild. There’s a big flash within the prime left nook, proper subsequent to the large round silver steel module that homes a quad of digicam sensors. “Oppo” is written in sterling lettering. The cellphone can be out there in Area Black, a shade discovered on iPhones.

The entrance of the cellphone is almost all display screen because of the Infinity View show. A 32MP shooter sits on the prime of the show, with an built-in fingerprint reader in the direction of the underside. The Discover 8X’s sides are wrapped with silver steel. A pair of sunshine grey stripes sit close to the highest, demarcating the amount rocker on the correct and the alert slider on the left. The Energy and Fast buttons are additionally positioned on the cellphone’s proper. The latter button acts just like the iPhone 16’s Motion button, permitting you to snap a photograph with a fast press. The USB-C charging port and microSIM slot reside alongside the Discover 8X Professional’s backside.

Each side of the cellphone are sturdy and manufactured from Corning Gorilla Glass to guard in opposition to scratches and potential cracks. However that’s not the place the sturdiness ends. Oppo outfitted the Find8X with IP68 and IP69 safety. Which means the cellphone is dust- and water resistant. Relating to the water part, the Discover 8X Professional can survive half-hour of submersion in water as much as 1.5 meters deep.

The Oppo weighs 7.6 ounces and measures 6.4 x 3 x 0.33 inches, which is barely lighter than the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (7.8 ounces, 6.4 x 3 x 0.3 inches), iPhone 16 Pro Max (7.9 ounces, 6.4 x 3.1 x 0.32 inches), and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (8.2 ounces, 6.4 x 3.1 x 0.33 inches).

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: Show

Slim bezels, daring, virtually lurid shade with a blinding brightness. The Discover 8X Professional’s 6.78-inch, 2780 x 1264p, OLED Infinity View show is a sight. Whether or not watching episodes of Dan Da Dan, Discovered, or taking part in Useless Cells or Alien Isolation, I loved vivid hues with sharp particulars and inky blacks. For those who don’t just like the display screen’s default look, you’ll be able to go into the Show Settings menu and select between one of many two modes. Or you might regulate the colour temperature from heat to chilly or one thing customized. Nonetheless, as a flagship cellphone, the decision may very well be increased.

As for brightness, you would possibly wish to seize a pair of shades or maintain the adaptive brightness on. The Discover 8X Professional’s minimal brightness begins at 800 nits and tops at a daft 4,500. At max brightness, I’ve seen that lighter colours and blacks can get washed out, and in some cases, they will look slightly grey.

Like most trendy flagship smartphones, the Oppo has an adaptive refresh fee starting from 1Hz to 120Hz. That is splendid for gaming, because it kicks the refresh fee to most and drops it to decrease, extra power-efficient charges when studying or browsing the online.

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: UI

That is my first Oppo cellphone evaluation, so it’s additionally my first brush with Coloration OS, and thus far, I believe I prefer it. Primarily based on Android 15, Coloration OS 15 is a person interface with a couple of AI parts and streamlined sharing with iPhones. The UI additionally boasts smoother interfaces in comparison with earlier iterations because of the Luminous Rendering Engine, which boasts over 800 animations and 18% sooner contact response. It’s additionally uber customizable as you’ll be able to choose between unified and cut up notifications/fast toggles panel views. You can even personalize the standing bar’s look.

Coloration OS 15 interface

Coloration OS 15 navigation doesn’t differ a lot from inventory Android. There are gesture controls or the traditional three-button setup. The icons and widgets are just like these on an iPhone. Navigation may be very easy, and as an Android fan, I discover the interface snug and acquainted.

AI options are grouped below the corporate’s Oppo AI umbrella, overlaying productiveness and picture enhancing. We’ll kick issues off with the AI ToolBox, encompassing AI Converse, which reads emails and notifications for you aloud. Then there’s AI Abstract, which summarizes highlighted textual content, and AI Author, which provides a little bit of polish to your writing whereas contemplating your writing model. Talking of summaries, the Recorder app creates concise summaries of transcription. Paperwork supply summaries in seven languages, whereas Notes summaries and restructure codecs.

For photographs, Oppo has a number of AI-powered picture remastering instruments together with AI Readability Improve which upscales low decision photos, AI Unblur highlights finer particulars like hair and pores and skin. And for these photographs with distracting glare, there’s AI Reflection Remover. AI Studio rapidly grew to become my favourite because it let me create AI avatars of myself so I may see myself as a futuristic area soldier or a magnificence queen in varied kinds.

Oppo additionally made positive the Discover 8X Professional performs good with the iPhone. The smartphone’s Contact to Share characteristic lets iPhone and 8X Professional homeowners switch information with a fast faucet so long as the Apple system has Oppo’s O+ Join app. And talking of iPhone, Oppo cribbed off of Apple’s Dynamic Island Alerts with ColorOS’ Dwell Alerts because it shows real-time updates centered across the punch-hole digicam.

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: Efficiency

The Oppo Discover 8X Professional is the primary smartphone with MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 processor. The three-nanometer chip works with the Trinity Engine, a proprietary system structure designed to enhance the cellphone’s efficiency and effectivity. The Discover 8X Professional additionally has a vapor chamber with a graphite layer and thermal gel designed to dissipate warmth, maintaining the smartphone’s elements cool and working at peak efficiency.

I didn’t maintain again with the Oppo Discover 8X Professional. I launched over 50 tabs in Google Chrome and had various apps open, together with Adobe Photoshop Categorical, Netflix, and some G-Suite apps. The Oppo didn’t decelerate as I navigated by way of pages or switched between apps, and the animations had been simply as easy. The cellphone additionally held its personal after I performed Useless Cells for an hour. The cellphone stayed comparatively cool, and I lived to die fairly a couple of deaths.

I additionally ran Geekbench 6 to see how the Oppo would fare in opposition to different flagships, and it held its personal. The Oppo scored a single-core end result 2,818 and a multi-core consequence of 8,434. It obliterated the Pixel 9 Professional XL (1,920 single, 4,208 multi) and even gave the iPhone 16 Professional Max a run for its cash (2,975 single, 7,438 multi). It’s one of many few telephones I’ve seen this 12 months to route the iPhone.

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: Digicam

What’s in a reputation? If it’s Hasselblad, it’s a world-renowned digicam model synonymous with wonderful cameras and lenses. Oppo teamed up with the Swiss firm to create Discover 8X Professional’s quad digicam set. Every of the 4 cameras has 50 megapixels and a pair of telephoto shooters. Oppo says the Discover 8X Professional is the world’s first smartphone with dual-periscope telephoto cameras.

The principle sensor has a ƒ/1.6 aperture, with a 1/1.4-inch sensor. The primary telephoto lens gives 50MP decision, a ƒ/2.6 aperture with a 3X optical zoom, whereas the second telephoto digicam (ƒ/4) gives a 6X optical zoom. Subsequent, you might have the ultrawide lens with a ƒ/2.0 aperture and the entrance digicam, which deviates from the remaining with 32MP (ƒ/2.4). I’m itching to do a shoot-off between this, the Pixel 9 Professional XL, and the iPhone 16 Professional Max as a result of my testing yielded some spectacular outcomes.

Vast photographs

My favourite is a large shot of a hornet’s nest. Zoomed into 3x, you’ll be able to see the person ridges of the nest clearly, together with the tree’s pods. I additionally captured a couple of photographs of my puppies, precisely capturing their adorableness. Regardless of being an motion shot, there’s not lots of blurring, and in case you zoom in, you’ll be able to see Natasha’s (on the left) eye shade and brindle sample.

Zoom photographs

Now, concerning digital zoom, the Discover 8X Professional offers the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely a run for its cash. The previous boasts a 120x digital zoom to the latter’s 100x. However as you’ll uncover with each telephones, maxing out the zoom results in extremely blurry photographs. Oppo makes an attempt to combat this with its AI Telephoto Zoom, which, as you’ll be able to see in my shot, is the highest of a far-off skyscraper. Though you can also make out the define of the constructing and a number of the lights, the picture is in the end actually blurry.

Selfie photographs

The selfie cam is not any slouch, both. The entrance shooter produced clear particulars, displaying the intricate design in my boyfriend’s pocketwatch and the person hairs in his beard. His pores and skin tone was heat with crimson undertones, offset by his olive-colored T-shirt.

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: Battery

Once I ran the Gizmodo battery check, taking part in a 24-hour YouTube video with the show brightness set to 50%, the Discover 8X Professional lasted 19 hours and 42 minutes. Nevertheless, the battery life will differ relying on how you utilize the cellphone. I squeezed 12:29 out of the cellphone with mixed-use, together with scrolling by way of social media, watching the newest episodes of Dune: Legacy, streaming music from Spotify, taking part in Streets of Rage 4, texting, and making a couple of calls right here and there.

The smartphone is able to 80W wired quick charging or 50W wi-fi. Nevertheless, you’ll need to fork out some further money for Oppo’s proprietary wi-fi charger.

Oppo Discover 8X Professional Assessment: Verdict

That is my first time with an Oppo cellphone, and I like a lot of what the Discover 8X Professional gives. It’s bought a singular, eye-catching design, a surprising show, and an excellent set of cameras. Whereas the Coloration OS person interface is Android software program, it gives options just like trendy iPhones. Hell, Oppo even made positive that the telephones play good when transferring information. Plus, a bunch of AI options run the gamut of productiveness and picture enhancing. This is without doubt one of the few smartphones which have upended the iPhone 16 Professional Max when it comes to efficiency. The cellphone additionally has nice battery life, relying on what you’re doing.

Nevertheless, when it comes to a number of the options and the interface, Oppo’s flying a bit too near the iPhone’s solar. And whereas imitation is the sincerest type of flattery, the Discover 8X Professional is toeing the road of derivativeness. Relating to the show, if this can be a flagship, I anticipated a better decision for the value. Then there’s the brightness. 4500 nits is the best I’ve seen on a smartphone, and though which means you’ll not often have issues studying something on this display screen, it may be an excessive amount of of factor at instances, as the acute brightness can wash out some colours.

For those who’re searching for a flagship Android smartphone with heavy iPhone affect, nice efficiency, endurance, and a stunning show, the Oppo Discover 8X Professional is it.