Last week I became the proud owner of a brand new OPPO Find X5 Pro, the new flagship phone from the trendy mobile communications company OPPO. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t planning on changing phones at the moment as the smartphone I had was only a few months old. But the opportunity came and it was too good to let it pass. Besides, I heard great things about the built-in camera! And since I was leaving for Mallorca a few days later, I was excited to see how it would perform on my trip there. Did I like using it? and even more, would I dare to take on the challenge of leaving my camera home and shooting pictures only with the OPPO Find X5 Pro?
Phone case
Let’s have a look at what’s inside the box, shall we? The first thing we notice when we take a peek inside the box is a phone case. A nice little present from OPPO, as the company realises that phone cases for a new model are hard to find when the device is first released, even more when the brand is still working on establishing its place in the market. But it’s the little things like these that can win the hearts of the consumers.
Adapter inside the box!
Unlike many other brands that try to maximise their profits, the OPPO Find X5 Pro does come with both a USB-cable and an 80W adapter. This is a huge plus in my book. The other adapters you already own, are most likely from previous – older – devices from other brands and they’re never 100% compatible. I never understood how the competition can claim super-charge capabilities when they don’t include an appropriate adapter.
Super charge!
Since the OPPO Find X5 Pro comes with its own adapter, you can be sure the phone will have ultra-fast charging capabilities. And wow! The battery goes from 0 to 50% in less than 15 minutes! I was overwhelmed to say the least. This performance makes other brands on the market look like a bunch of amateurs.
Battery life
At the time of writing I’ve been using the OPPO Find X5 Pro quite intensively for about a week now and during my trip to Mallorca I had to rely on this flagship phone for numerous tasks. I had to use Google Maps, manage my social media accounts, and take professional pictures, all with the Find X5 Pro. I imagine my screen time was well over 8 hours a day! The battery lasted about a full day even when used extensively for navigating and camera use. The energy-saving mode does a decent job and when the battery did run empty, I could just supercharge it for a few minutes and I was ready to hit the road again.
A bit of a letdown
The Find X5 Pro only really disappointed me in one aspect: the build quality. The screen protector that comes with the phone wasn’t attached properly, it had some air bubbles caused by dust underneath. It looked sloppy so I had to remove the screen protector right away. And – without exaggerating – literally within the first hour of using the phone, I noticed a deep scratch on the screen. I hadn’t even put the phone in my pocket, I was still busy with the installing process! Maybe the scratch was already there from the start and I only noticed it after an hour? I’ll never know, but it does prove that there are some improvements to be made in terms of quality here. The back of the phone though consists of ceramic material instead of glass, which is a lot more resistant to scratching than conventional glass.
Camera capabilities
As a travel photographer, what interested me the most, is how the camera is performing. And I must say OPPO impressed me here. There are some gimmicky features like Dual-video, or XPAN which tries to recreate the experience of using a Hasselblad XPan camera, and although I appreciate the effort that OPPO has put into this, let’s be honest this is not what we’re here for. Basically it comes down to this: can the OPPO Find X5 Pro take high-quality images that don’t require all that much post-processing?
In the main photo tab we find the classic wide-angle, standard and telelens options. I was expecting to be using the PRO-mode all the time. However The HDR function performs quite well and delivers vibrant pictures, while the AI Scene Enhancement can adjust tones and brightness depending on the setting. So OPPO’s standard photo tab produces stunning images straight out of the camera. The PRO-mode gives you a lot more adjustability, although I wish it would have RAW pre-selected instead of JPEG. There’s an impressive 50-megapixel option but keep in mind that the zoom lens is no longer available. Night photography with the Find X5 Pro is literally unrivaled. One other feature I really liked was the long-exposure tab. Can you believe the photo below is a 5-second handheld long-exposure shot? A-ma-zing.
Verdict
Overall I’m happy with my new flagship smartphone. My previous phone was also a high-end phone from a well-known brand and was less than a year old when I traded it in for the OPPO Find X5 Pro. I can tell there is a noticeable difference. Everything works a tad bit smoother and is a bit more user friendly than the competition. Unlocking the phone by facial recognition works smoother than every other phone I tested. All in all I’d say OPPO has done a great job here! As a bonus, I can recommend the OPPO Enco Free 2 noise-cancelling earphones. I used them on my flight to Mallorca and couldn’t even tell I was on a plane, they’re just that good!
