Samsung Android rival returns to UK to give Galaxy a run for its money

The slick looking Android device has quadruple rear cameras that, so the brand claims, makes it the first ever phone sold in Europe with two periscope zoom lenses, which should offer better quality and further-reaching zooms than regular optical zoom lenses. Notably, each of the four lenses is a whopping 50MP.

Those cameras are branded with Hasselblad, the legendary camera company, who has worked with Oppo to tune the lenses.

“With Hasselblad Portrait Mode, Find X8 Pro puts the iconic Hasselblad look in your pocket – a perfect pairing with the periscope cameras – and is the only global smartphone to offer optical 135mm portraits for high-impact, dynamic photos of people and pets”, Oppo said.

Express.co.uk has had the Find X8 Pro in hand for about a week and we’ve been impressed. Despite the camera chops, the bump on the back is relatively minimal, and our review unit’s white marble colour hides fingerprints thanks to a matt finish. If you get this colour, Oppo says every phone is unique due to the random marbling effect. There’s a plain black version if you prefer.

It’s a large device with a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen that’s most flat apart from some subtle curves right at the edge. It means when swiping around this phone has no sharp edges.

On the right edge is a ‘Quick Button’ that mimics the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16, except Oppo’s version is a haptic button that doesn’t physically move. It can open the camera app and be used as a shutter button or to control zoom.

Notably the phone has a clever Touch to Share tool that allows one-tap wireless file sharing between it and iPhones or iPads, handy if you want to stick with Android but are jealous of your friends using AirDrop.

Unlike many flagship Android phones in the UK, the Find X8 Pro does not have a chip made by Qualcomm. Instead, it uses the Dimensity 9400, the brand new processor from MediaTek that’s set to go head-to-head with the recently announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. Expect one of these two chips to be in most high-end devices (bar Apple’s) over the next twelve months.

Oppo’s new Find X8 Pro runs the company’s Color OS 15 software based on the latest Android 15, which beats Samsung to market - Samsung has said it won’t release Android 15 for any of its phones until the next Galaxy launch, presumably of the Galaxy S25 that is rumoured for late January. Oppo is offering five years of Android updates to Android 20 and six years of security updates until 2030, still lagging a tad behind Samsung and Google’s seven years across the board.

You’ll also get superior IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, which means the phone is “able to withstand being submerged in 1.5m of water for 30 minutes and jet sprays of water up to 80ºC for total peace of mind”, according to Oppo. Phew.

There’s also a huge 5,910mAh battery that can charge at blistering 80W speeds with - hooray! - a charger included in the box. The phone also supports 50W wireless charging, which is faster than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra can charge up with a cable.

It wouldn’t be 2024 without a slew of AI features too including AI Clarity Enhance, AI Unblur and AI Reflection Remover, which should all do what they say on the tin. There’s also writing tools to help you draft texts and emails or summarise them as well as Google’s Circle to Search and other handy tools on board.