Oppo Find X8 Ultra review

Design, build quality, handling

The Oppo Find X8 Ultra retires the signature dual-tone design from the Find X6 Pro and Find X7 Ultra. Instead, the new Ultra goes for a classier and smoother design, similar to that of the latest Find X8 Pro. Thanks to its symmetrical arrangement, the camera module cannot be mistaken for anything other than an Oppo even though it is as large as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's.

Find X8 Ultra and Find X7 Ultra

The Find X8 Ultra is a dual-glass smartphone, just like most premium smartphones nowadays. It has Oppo's Crystal Shield Glass for screen protection - a flat, durable and shatterproof sheet that was reportedly co-developed with Corning. The rear panel is also made of glass with a smooth anti-reflective finish, but there is no mention of its maker.

The aluminum frame matches the smooth finish of the back, spreads evenly across the entire body, and ends with a subtle 2.5D rounded edge.

The Find X8 Ultra is IP69/IP68-rated for complete dust and water resistance, including pressurized water jets. Furthermore, Oppo claims the Find X8 Ultra is drop resistant and has scored 5 stars on the Swiss SGS drop test.

It seems like Oppo has thought of everything on the Ultra and has designed for both the cleanest look and the most durable body. The phone is available in Matte Black, Pure White, and Shell Pink (ours).

Let's take a closer look around the Oppo Find X8 Ultra now.

The first thing many users would notice once they turn the Find X8 Ultra to look at its front are the stunningly thin screen bezels (1.4mm).

The screen has a compact punchhole for the 32MP selfie camera with autofocus.

There are two familiar elements invisible to the naked eye. First, it's the earpiece, which also doubles as a speaker to form a stereo pair. Like on most recent phones with hybrid stereo speakers, it also comes with a second, top-facing sound outlet.

And the second feature is the under-display fingerprint scanner, which has been upgraded with an ultrasonic sensor. It is super-fast and reliable, and we loved working with it. Oh, and it was enhanced to work with wet fingers, and we can confirm that it does recognize wet fingertips even if it's not perfect.

The back has a smooth glass cover, and ours is painted in this subtle pink color, which becomes more pinkish when close to a colorful object, but otherwise looks almost white. It's a cool effect and it adds an extra dimension to the handling experience.

The round camera housing is huge, there are no two ways about that. The camera glass sticks out of the ring a couple of millimeters.

This big black circle contains the four 50MP cameras plus the laser autofocusing assistance bits.

Upon illuminating this big black blob with a flashlight, we found what appears to be a well-hidden tiny fifth camera. This is actually the True Chroma Camera, which is Oppo's fancy term for a 9-channel multispectral system with 2 million spectral pixels. It's supposed to help the cameras capture the natural colors of the screen when both warm and cool hues are present.

The tri-LED flash is flush with the back, outside of the camera housing.

The aluminum frame has the usual stuff we have all gotten used to seeing these days. The top has a couple of mics and an IR blaster. The bottom has the second speaker, two mics around the USB-C port, and the SIM tray.

The volume and power/lock keys are on the right, while the quick shortcut key is on the left.

Oppo has copied the iPhone here with this action-like button, but it can be of some use, so why not?

Then there is a camera button similar to the one on the recent iPhones, with capacitive touch support and similar software functionality and interface. Oppo really wanted to make iPhone feel at home with the Find X8 Ultra, it has even implemented Dynamic Island-like animations and functions!

Anyway, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra is a large but reasonably thin smartphone if we don't count the fat camera module. The handset measures 163.1x76.8x8.8mm and weighs 226g, making it about as large as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and heavier and a bit thicker than the Find X8 Pro.

The Oppo Find X8 Ultra is an incredibly well-built smartphone, durable and water resistant. It offers good enough grip and lovely smudge resistance thanks to the smooth body. We found it to be just the right size and thickness, with balanced weight distribution across the body, and we enjoyed the time spent with it.