Monday, December 23, 2024

The Oppo Find X8 Pro is first with an Android take on Camera Control | Stuff

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It’s usually just a matter of time between Apple announcing some whiz-bang new smartphone feature and someone from the Android world making a version of their own, but Oppo truly had its skates on this year. Not even two months since Camera Control arrived on the iPhone 16, the Oppo Find X8 series has landed with a touch-sensitive shutter button of its own.

Revealed for Oppo’s native China ahead of a global rollout in November, the Oppo Find X8 and Find X8 Pro are a pair of photography-focused flagships powered by MediaTek’s latest top-tier silicon, the Dimensity 9400.

The more mainstream model has a 6.59in, FHD+ resolution flat OLED screen with an LTPO 1-120Hz refresh rate, while the Pro variant gets a larger 6.78in panel with subtle quad-curved glass. I’ve yet to see it in person, but expect it’ll feel very much like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra‘s slightly rounded screen. Both phones have flatter metal frames than I’m used to seeing from Oppo, but the giant circular camera bumps show a clear lineage to previous models like the Find X6 Pro.

There’s been no skimping on sensors for either model. The Oppo Find X8 gets a 50MP Sony LYT-700 lead snapper with optical image stabilisation, paired to a 50MP ultrawide with autofocus and a 50MP telephoto (also with OIS) that’s good for 3x optical zoom. The Find X8 Pro steps up further with a larger 1/1.4in LYT-808 main sensor, and a second 50MP periscope zoom with 6x optical magnification.

Only the Pro model gets the dedicated shutter button, which Oppo is calling the “Quick Button”. Double-press it to open the camera app, press again to fire the shutter, or swipe to zoom in and out of photos. It’s not clear if you can trigger any other camera features, like aperture or exposure. Hasselblad is back once again to provide image processing help, and Oppo has added a new live photo mode to its camera app.

Oppo Find X8 colours

Both phones start with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage; the Find X8 tops out at 16GB and 512GB, while the Find X8 Pro can be had with 16GB and 1TB if you’re after maximum capacity. The smaller phone has a sizeable 5630mAh silicon-carbide battery, while the Pro gets an even beefier 5910mAh cell. Both can handle 80W wired charging and 50W wireless top-ups.

Chinese shoppers can expect to pay CNY 4199 (around $590) for the Oppo Find X8, while the Find X8 Pro starts from CNY 5299 (about $745). Expect those prices to climb significantly by the time they make their way abroad. There’s no clue exactly which countries it will head to in November, but Oppo has committed to a big European return after several years in the wilderness; I’m betting the UK will see an official launch in the coming weeks.

Anyone demanding the absolute cream of the Oppo crop will be in for a slightly longer wait. The firm didn’t announce an Ultra variant to replace the Find X7 Ultra – but one is allegedly in the works for early 2025.

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