Oppo Find X7 Ultra review

Competition

The Find X7 Ultra makes it easy for us to find its competitors - the Ultra in the name narrows down the search quite nicely, even if some makers haven't adopted that particular term for the bestest they've got. The Find's China-only release does make this more of a theoretical exercise, though perhaps there will be the select few who'll be choosing the adventurous route of bringing an X7 Ultra to the West.

Let's start with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra that we've barely seen and not really tested, but know to be a cameraphone to be reckoned with. Last year's Xiaomi Ultra was among our favorite cameraphones, and the 2024 version adds close focusing to its telephotos (yes, two of them, as befitting an Ultra), and features a changeable aperture on its one-inch primary camera - not only is it brighter than the Find's, but it can also close down for extra depth of field. We're eager to do a head-to-head between these two when Xiaomi shows up, but we know it's going to have the upper hand in one key area - a global firmware.

Also international is the vivo X100 Pro, giving it a solid head start in a comparison against the Find. We'd give the nod to the Find for overall cameraphone-ness - the vivo enters this bout one telephoto camera short. It's a relatively close call still, and it may not necessarily be enough of an advantage against the otherwise great vivo to outweigh the first point. The vivo scores a couple of other small victories, like the slightly longer battery life (particularly if you alternate your photoshoots with gaming sessions) and the brighter display. Ultimately though, we think this will be decided on the software front (not all of us are exactly fans of Funtouch either), and how easy it is to get the vivo vs. the Find in your particular neck of the woods.

That last consideration is settled easily with the Galaxy S24 Ultra - that one you can buy essentially everywhere. It's got all the software features you can think of and won't be asking you things in Chinese, plus there's the S Pen for yet more potential usefulness. The Galaxy has a nicer display (unless, you know, graininess at low brightness) and sort of longer battery life, but the Oppo charges faster. And if we go back to what the Find X7 Ultra is, first and foremost, we tend to like its camera slightly better overall.

Honor has made strides to occupy the high-end cameraphone void left on the global market by Huawei, and the Magic6 Pro is not a half bad photography tool. Its single telephoto camera can almost pass for two cameras, battery life is longer than the Find's and the display is brighter. That, and the Magic's global software, of course. Then again, the Find remains a winner for overall camera experience, and isn't that what's most important here?

Xiaomi 14 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra • Honor Magic6 Pro

Verdict

The Find X7 Ultra has us in a bit of a pickle. It has a few shortcomings that we'd label minor - roughly 10% shorter battery life than the competition, no enthusiasm for screen brightness records - none of those being real deal-breakers. The one major problem with it, however, is that we can't have it - not officially, and not with an entirely smooth software experience - Oppo has once again chosen to limit its availability to China, with a ColorOS build tailored for that.

Which is unfortunate because it's quite an amazing cameraphone. Short of a somewhat out-of-place ultrawide, we'd be hard-pressed to find any serious fault with its cameras - in terms of results and overall experience. The one-inch main unit is superb, the telephotos are great for distant and nearby subjects alike, the low-light photos are excellent, and even the video recording doesn't leave us wanting.

Since we all like our cameras here, the Find X7 Ultra is probably what quite a few of us would be carrying - if money was no object and software didn't get in the way. But with the Chinese software somewhat getting in the way, we can't fully embrace it. We understand, though, that your priorities may have a different balance, so hopefully, you've been able to find your answers on the previous pages.

Pros

• One of the best camera systems to date.
• Unique premium design.
• Charging is faster than key rivals.

Cons

• China-only official availability, software that reflects that.
• Battery life slightly behind the curve.
• Ultrawide camera is a bit of a downgrade.