The first of the 2025 flagships are already here. If that doesn’t illustrate the competitiveness of this space, here’s another one for you — the race to make artificial intelligence (AI) infusions more relevant for you. It is a dual pronged proposition that Oppo places upfront, with the new Find X8 Pro flagship phone. Apart from an early mover advantage, Oppo may well be hoping that it draws a pricing trump card as well, because does require you to part with ₹99,999 (just one spec; 16GB RAM and 512GB storage). In a way, this sets the performance marker for Android flagship phones that are to come.
On the pricing aspect, timing of this launch may give Oppo some room to work with. For a phone that is priced at ₹99,999 at this time, they’d be hoping that when Samsung unleash their flagships in early 2025, they’d be able to recalibrate this pricing to define better comparative ‘value’. It’d also give Oppo some runway in terms of software updates, between now and then, to refine what needs that treatment. It’s often the cameras, which need some work, and the Oppo Find X8 Pro does have considerable potential in that aspect. The Hasselblad partnership isn’t one to be taken lightly.
There is a conventionality to the design we’ve come to expect from the higher tier Android phones. It is built well, there is attention to the ergonomics and all things considered, sits rather well in the hand. There can be a slight argument about its tendency to slip a little if your hands are slightly moist, but since most users will have used a case anyway, that doesn’t remain a concern. The aluminium frame, a rather useful alert slider and significant bulk control which tips the scales at 215 grams, some highlights you’ll notice soon enough. I must note, Find X8 Pro’s space black doesn’t catch fingerprints, not something that can be said about many other phones with similar colour tones and finish.
It is likely the Hasselblad foundations will give you a fair idea of the photography credentials, but there’s substance to build on that promise 50-megapixel quad camera array. There’s the dual telephoto, for instance, in 73mm and 135mm lenses and the result is comparatively better depth in photos of subjects or landscapes from afar. In parallel, these as well as shorter distance zoom photos will take advantage of the gapless zoom.
Why this is important is, unlike most smartphones, this camera uses the focal length of the two periscope telephoto cameras instead of cropping a magnification from the primary sensor in addition to. The result is not just smoother zoom transition, but also consistent quality through to the 6x periscope limit. The results are clear, at least in photos taken in large indoor spaces and before the inevitable Delhi winter smog envelope.
The Hasselblad prowess in smartphone cameras, something Oppo’s sister brand OnePlus’ phones too keep testifying too regularly, is very much on show with the Find X8 Pro as well. There’s substance layering the optical hardware in play. Lightning Snap, for instance, can be invoked by long-pressing the shutter button which results in a burst of 7 frames per second—pick one of these that accurately captures the moment your toddler did something really naughty, instead of a blur of limbs ruining the shot.
Oppo’s building beyond excellent photographs the 50-megapixel quad cameras deliver. The underlying hardware change means a new image processing flow, which Oppo calls the HyperTone Image Engine, which draws own some speed improvements as well. The result is, accurate and pleasant colours, and since 9 uncompressed frames are being merged into a single image, there is an incredible level of detail that comes through as well. However, the only caveat to this would be photos in inconsistent lighting conditions, which still see some noise in the shadow zones. That said, this is a camera that sets the benchmark which subsequent Android flagships will have to match up to, particularly the ones closer to the Find X8 Pro’s price point. It’s easier said than done.
There is very little to complain about much else with the Find X8 Pro. The 6.78-inch AMOLED display has ticked the main requirements for refresh rate, ProXDR support and brightness. The only complaint I really have, this screen is calibrated to err on the side of caution in really low ambient lighting, and therefore remains slightly brighter than is perhaps optimal—manual intervention sorts that issue.
One of the reasons for the lower than expected pricing that Oppo has been able to achieve with the Find X8 Pro, is because it is a MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chip, the flagship that in the real world, seems to be successfully standing up to competition from Qualcomm’s flagship chips. Generationally too, a big step forward with 35% faster CPU and 41% claimed faster graphics performance. Typical flagship-esque performance, a lot of that aided by refinements to ColorOS 15 that sees significant visual tweaks and those that are lighter on the system resources too. There can of course be differing, subjective opinions about which visual elements and which software elements work for you and which don’t, but since there is enough customisation available , there’s chance of middle ground being found.
The AI layer is now substantial. Primary push comes from the Google Gemini integration for Circle to Search, which is finding its way into more Android phones. As you’d expect, the recorder app gets transcription capabilities, the Notes app can restructure and format, web pages can be summarized and AI Writer can help counter creativity stumbles as you stare at a blank document. The more interesting ones for photographers would be the AI Clarity Enhance (in our opinion, this works rather well in 9 out of 10 photos), AI Unblur (mileage varies, not always as accurate as you’d want) and AI Reflection Remover (incredibly useful for photos taken from an aircraft window).
It is impressive how cool the Find X8 Pro manages to remain even after 15 minutes of gaming, and only then does a lukewarm transition begin to be felt on the back panel. That’s more than what many a competition can boast of, and it is a combination of the chip’s optimizations as well as the cooling system that resides within the innards. Perhaps 2025 will be better for Android flagships, as a collective, on this front.
Little to complain about the Oppo Find X8 Pro as an overall package. For a flagship that is trying to play the first mover advantage with some smart(er) than usual pricing tactics we see in this echelon of phones, there is substance. Performance is what you’d expect from a premium device, the AI functionality adds the relevance of future-proofing, while cameras continue to deploy the Hasselblad expertise to make a strong case. That really is the Find X8 Pro’s biggest calling.