The Oppo Find X7 Ultra is boldly claiming to be the ultimate camera phone, and that might not be an exaggeration. Oppo is continuing their partnership with camera firm Hasselblad to create their new flagship Android smartphone, which features some of the largest camera sensors seen in a smartphone, including the debut of Sony’s new LYT-900 1-inch sensor, and two periscope zoom cameras.
There are four 50MP cameras in the main array in total — a wide angle camera that uses Sony’s new sensor, an ultra-wide camera with a 1/1.95-inch Sony LYT-600 sensor, a 3x zoom periscope camera, and a 6x zoom periscope camera. That’s optical zoom, not digital, just edging out the 5x periscope zoom camera seen on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The hardware is formidable, but the results will depend heavily on Oppo’s HyperTone image processing, which has been tuned specifically to prevent photos from having an over-processed look to them.
The 50MP wide camera features Sony’s new LYT-900 sensor, which is paired with a 23mm-equivalent lens with a f/1.8 aperture and OIS. The huge sensor will take in a lot more light, making photos more detailed and greatly improving low-light performance. That’s going to tax that image processor (and the battery) quite a bit, which is why it’s great news that the LYT-900 sensor is more efficient than previous sensors. This is the camera you’ll use for most of your pictures!
The ultra-wide 50MP camera uses Sony LYT-600 sensor, with a 14mm-equivalent f/2.0 aperture lens, and a 4cm nearest focus distance. This will be the one to use for your landscape shots, although with that close nearest focus distance, it should produce some crisp macro shots, too.
The Oppo Find X7 Ultra’s dual periscope cameras include a 50MP 3x periscope zoom camera with a 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX890 sensor and an f/2.6 aperture, 65mm-equivalent lens with Prism OIS. Meanwhile, the 50MP 6x periscope telephoto camera has a 1/2.51-inch Sony IMX858 sensor with an impressive 135mm-equivalent lens with Prism OIS and a nearest focus distance of 35cm.
The 6x zoom periscope camera is new, with the 3x periscope zoom camera using the Sony IMX890 sensor looking like a holdover from last year’s Oppo Find X6 Pro, which had three cameras total in its array. The dedicated 6x zoom camera, along with the use of the new Sony LYT-900 sensor in the wide camera, look to be the two main reasons to upgrade to this year’s model.
With a 6x zoom camera, not only can you grab some really nice telephoto shots in all settings, you can take macro-like shots just by zooming way in on a subject from a distance without sacrificing too much in terms of image quality. The ultra-wide is probably still best for macro shots, but it’s nice to have that telephoto option in your back pocket, too.
Cramming a 135mm-equivalent lens into a smartphone is quite the achievement, and it’s made possible by using periscope zoom. It’s a technology that Oppo (and others) have been working on for almost a decade now, and we’re finally starting to see the fruits of that labor.
By using a prism to reflect incoming light at a 90-degree angle inside the phone as light passes through the lens, Oppo can make the zoom lens extend along the smartphone’s length, instead of out the back of the device. While the bulge in the back that houses the camera array is still pretty big on the Oppo Find X7 Ultra, it would have needed to be even more pronounced to house a traditional mobile 135mm-equivalent lens.
It’s important to note that, like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, we’re not talking about continuous optical zoom here. Zoom is optical at 0.6x, 1x, 3x, and 6x, but not necessarily everything in between. While the Oppo Find X7 Ultra will use AI processing to help improve zoom at anywhere between 14mm and 270mm focal lengths, it still won’t get any better than photos taken with optical zoom at those four focal lengths.
The Hasselblad collaboration brings two significant features to the Oppo Find X7 Ultra. Returning from last year’s device, Hasselblad Portrait Mode works with the four set optical zoom focal lengths and promises to capture cinematic bokeh with foreground and background depth, all while respecting individual differences in skin tone and ensuring minimal shutter lag.
This is where you’ll look to HyperTone image processing to make sure the lines and details around the subject come out sharp, and the blurred background doesn’t look faked.
Complementing this is the Hasselblad Master Mode, which is your pro user mode. You’ll find advanced controls like manual ISO, shutter speed, EV, focus, and white balance, along with additional controls for saturation, contrast, sharpness, and vignette when capturing JPEGs.
For the photography enthusiasts seeking maximum flexibility, the introduction of RAW MAX in Master Mode captures 50MP RAW photos with 13 stops of dynamic range and 16-bit color depth in BT2020 color space.
While these features sound promising on paper, the true test lies in real-world performance, so I’m keen to see if the Oppo Find X7 Ultra lives up to the hype during everyday use.
Camera features aside, the Oppo Find X7 Ultra is still every bit a 2024 flagship Android phone. It has a 120Hz QHD+ screen with a DisplayMate A+ rating. The screen can hit up to 1600 nits of brightness, and it offers support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and OPPO’s ProXDR technology.
Under the hood, the Oppo Find X7 Ultra has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, supports up to 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, and has a dedicated security chip for an extra layer of privacy. Battery anxiety takes a back seat, as Oppo has stuck with a hefty 5000mAh battery and 100W SUPERVOOC charging that should juice up the battery in less than 30 minutes.
And if you prefer a wireless option, Oppo says the 50W wireless charging will get your battery to full capacity within a respectable 60 minutes, which is awfully good for wireless charging.
Design-wise, the Oppo Find X7 Ultra has an elegant two-tone design, the camera casing complemented by the return of vegan leather on the back. This year, that vegan leather back comes in Ocean Blue, Sepia Brown, and Tailored Black.
Oppo Find X7 Ultra Availability
The Oppo Find X7 Ultra will be launching exclusively in China, with prices starting around $850.