Oppo Unveils Find X8: Worthy Successor To Find X7?
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 SoC, 50MP primary sensor with 3x optical zoom, 50MP dual periscope camera with 6x optical zoom and Dolby Vision support
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OPPO has unveiled the Find X8, its latest top-of-the-line smartphone. The new series introduces a plethora of features, including the world’s first dual periscope camera system, advanced AI-powered zoom and a range of professional-grade imaging tools aimed at both casual photographers and serious content creators. Furthermore, there is a nifty little Quick Button that allegedly replicates the iPhone 16's Camera Button.
The Find X8’s primary 50MP camera utilises Sony’s LYT-808 sensor, which boasts an advanced two-layer transistor pixel structure. This design improves dynamic range and light capture, making it especially effective in low-light situations. The result is more vivid and detailed images with enhanced contrast, even in challenging lighting environments.
At the heart of the Find X8 Series is the dual periscope camera system. This system incorporates both a 3x and a 6x optical zoom, made possible by OPPO’s new Triple Prism Folded Lens design. This reduces the weight and size of the camera system by 30 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, while minimising lens protrusion to just 3.09mm.
To further improve image quality, the Find X8 Series includes a new 2-DOL HDR system and the upgraded HyperTone Image Engine. Unlike traditional HDR, which combines multiple exposures to enhance dynamic range, 2-DOL HDR captures two separate exposures using alternate pixels within the same frame. This method ensures sharp images with well-balanced highlights and shadows, even when photographing fast-moving subjects.
The HyperTone Image Engine processes RAW sensor data to deliver higher image quality across mid-tones, highlights and shadows. This computational photography system improves images of challenging scenes, such as golden hour lighting or concert shots, by enhancing colours and preserving fine details.
A feature that really stood out and felt like deja vu during the unveiling of the Find X8 Series was the introduction of AI-powered Telescope Zoom. This zoom technology uses AI to preserve clarity and accuracy even at extreme zoom levels, up to 120x. At 10x to 20x magnification, the system enhances resolution using AI models, while at 20x to 60x and 60x to 120x, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and other AI models focus on detail preservation and pixel-level image reconstruction. As a result, users can achieve high-quality zoomed-in shots without over-sharpening or introducing blurring, even at long distances. How this feature measures up against Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's AI-powered 100x zoom will be interesting to see.
The Find X8 also offers advanced video capabilities with Dolby Vision recording, which allows for frame-by-frame adjustments of brightness and contrast. This offers smoother gradients and richer colours in videos. The device’s 12-bit processing pipeline captures over a billion colours, offering more lifelike and immersive video experiences.
What Dolby Vision essentially does is offer deeper darks, expanded contrast, refined detailing and ultravivid colours in the end product which in this case are video files. This must be similar to what we saw in the Xiaomi 14 series. The videos made with Dolby Vision turned on result in some of the most spectacularly vivid videos I’ve seen made on a smartphone.
Along with the camera system, OPPO has introduced a Quick Button on the Find X8 Series, offering users an intuitive way to launch the camera app and take photos or videos with ease. A single press captures an image, while a long press activates continuous shooting. The button can also be used to zoom in when shooting in landscape mode, streamlining the photography process.
We all expected this to happen sooner or later. Brands all over the world will follow suit and create a dedicated camera button. Oppo too, has fallen in line and created something similar. While the actual usage and utility of such a button are still under speculation, it is always good to have a feature like this under the sleeve. The Sony Ericsson Satio had a dedicated camera button when it launched in 2009. The Nokia Lumia 610, for instance, had a dedicated camera button too and it wasn’t even a flagship phone. Forget all that, even the Nokia 3600 Slide (2011), a phone with a 3.2 MP camera had a button that acted as a focus and shutter button. In fact, the new Sony Experia line already had one before Apple made a sensation about its own camera button on the iPhone 16 series.
Another notable feature is the integration of Hasselblad Camera Mode. This mode brings professional-grade photography features, including natural bokeh effects and accurate colour reproduction to the smartphone. Users can capture shots with a dynamic range that mirrors Hasselblad’s medium-format cameras, with focal lengths ranging from 24mm to 135mm. The Hasselblad Mode offers both Auto and Pro shooting modes, allowing users to either take professional-grade photos automatically or fine-tune settings for more creative control.
For those who do not know, medium format cameras have a larger sensor than full frame cameras. The Sony A73 , Nikon Z8 and Canon 5D are examples of full frame cameras (35mm sensors). Medium format cameras have a 48 mm × 36 mm sensor. Medium format cameras are larger, primarily due to the larger sensor sizes and offer more detailed shots with better colour accuracy and detailing.
The Find X8 has large shoes to fill. The Oppo Find X7, despite not officially entering the Indian markets, was a huge leap in terms of features. The Find X series is a camera-centric line of smartphones from Oppo that aims to bring the top of the lines camera specs to the end users and Find X7 proved that.
The base variant has 12GB of RAM while the top variant comes with 16GB of RAM. The Tailored Black colourway especially caught the eye as it had a double stitch that starts from the bottom end of the huge circular camera island and runs downwards towards the bottom of the phone. Apart from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of USF 4.0 storage, the phone also came with an Alert Slider, 5G, NFC, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.4, IR blaster, 5,000mAh battery and 100W wired charging. The display on the Find X7 is a 6.82-inch QHD+ AMOLED panel that did a more than decent job of giving a great user experience.
More updates on the Oppo Find X8 are to come soon on BW Businessworld and BWTV. Stay tuned.
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