This Would possibly Be the World’s Finest Telephone Digicam

It’s not precisely a Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, however Oppo’s acknowledged aim with the Discover X8 Extremely’s design was to tug off “the thinnest digicam cellphone.” At 8.78mm thick in comparison with its 9.5mm-thick predecessor, the Discover X7 Extremely, Oppo has certainly slimmed the Discover X8 Extremely down past any of its cutting-edge rivals. However due to its boxy, squared-off design, it doesn’t essentially appear that a lot thinner within the hand. This yr’s Xiaomi 15 Ultra, for instance, is 9.48mm thick however has tapered edges that don’t dig into your palms as a lot.

That’s to not say the Discover X8 Extremely is unwieldy. Oppo has principally achieved what it got down to right here; it basically appears like a really barely thicker iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is a powerful achievement contemplating the {hardware}. However the design is extraordinarily simple and austere, which can or is probably not to your style. Oddly, the Discover X8 Extremely seems near-identical to the bottom Discover X8, whereas the mid-tier Discover X8 Professional is sleeker and flashier than each.

The show is pretty much as good as you’ll discover on any premium cellphone. It’s a 6.82-inch flat-sided OLED panel with a variable refresh fee (1 to 120Hz) and 1440p decision. The Discover X8 Extremely will get as much as 1,600 nits shiny in common outside utilization and peaks at 2,500 nits with HDR content material. The bezels are equally slim on all 4 sides. It has Dolby Imaginative and prescient help and, extra unusually, Oppo’s Splash Contact know-how to restrict undesirable inputs when it’s moist. I did make a degree of testing this in a sizzling tub, for science, and the cellphone actually does truly keep kind of usable even when it’s coated in drops of water.

I’ll additionally point out the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, not only for its pace enhancements over the X7 Extremely’s optical reader, however for the way Oppo improved the way in which you set it up—now you may register your thumb by simply rolling it in a circle just a few instances relatively than tapping the sensor repeatedly with each a part of the tip. Not the most important deal on this planet, however a welcome enchancment in case you’re a weirdo like me who goes by way of that course of dozens of instances a yr when testing new telephones.

One other design quirk is Oppo’s shift away from a mute slider swap, a well-liked differentiating characteristic on telephones from its subsidiary OnePlus. There’s now a customizable button on the highest left of the cellphone referred to as the Shortcut Button, and sure, it really works kind of identically to the iPhone’s Motion Button—proper all the way down to the full-screen UI that pops up if you select its perform. I’m positive with the {hardware} change, however the implementation is slightly brazen.

Elsewhere, the Discover X8 Extremely’s spec sheet contains what you’d anticipate from the highest shelf of Android flagships in 2025. The processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and the cellphone could be outfitted with as much as 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. (The bottom mannequin has 12GB and 256GB, respectively.)

That is Oppo’s first Extremely-class cellphone to incorporate silicon-carbon battery know-how, following its debut within the X8 Professional and a subsequent look within the folding Find N3. Principally, this enables Oppo to get much more capability out of a smaller bodily area—regardless of its slimmer body, the Discover X8 Extremely’s battery weighs in at 6,100mAh versus 5,000mAh on the X7 Extremely. As for charging, Oppo’s personal 100W SuperVOOC adapter can get you from zero to 100% in underneath 40 minutes, which is spectacular contemplating the elevated capability of the battery. The Discover X8 Extremely additionally helps wi-fi charging at as much as 50W with a suitable proprietary charger. Between the quick charging and the massive battery capability, I’ve discovered the cellphone unlikely to die on me in common use. I’m not going to say it’ll by no means occur on a protracted day of taking pictures within the solar, however it’s been as strong as any comparable cellphone I might title.

That brings me to the digicam system, which—as ever with “Extremely”-class Chinese language flagships—is the principle level of differentiation right here. The Discover X8 Extremely doesn’t essentially have one of the best {hardware} in each single class, however there’s a powerful case to be made that it’s probably the most well-rounded and versatile digicam system round.

The Discover X8 Extremely’s main digicam makes use of a 1-inch-type sensor, which is the class-leading commonplace for Chinese language flagship telephones; it’s the identical dimension as what you’ll discover on Sony’s RX100 range of point-and-shoot cameras or Fujifilm’s new X half. What this implies in observe is that the lens you employ probably the most offers you much more depth and dynamic vary than what you get from an iPhone or Galaxy. The sunshine-gathering capacity is solely on one other degree, and also you’re capable of separate topics by way of shallow bokeh (background blur) with out resorting to portrait mode, which frequently nonetheless reveals imperfections between the foreground and background.

The Discover X8 Extremely’s telephoto lenses—sure, there are two—are additionally a selected energy. The 3x periscope digicam has an unusually giant 1/1.56-inch sensor paired to an f/2.1 lens with close-focus capacity, permitting for wonderful mid-range and macro photographs with pure shallow depth of area. There’s additionally a 6x f/3.1 lens with a 1/1.95-inch sensor. The one disadvantage is the 1/2.75-inch ultra-wide digicam, which isn’t essentially weak subsequent to the competitors however does really feel like a compromise within the title of thinness; earlier Oppo flagships carried out significantly better.

Oppo has additionally adopted a considerate strategy to digicam software program. The common photograph mode seems footage alongside the traces of what you’d anticipate from a high-end smartphone, with crunchy sharpness and HDR element preserved in each shot. I feel Oppo has one of the best shade science in that sense, which is why telephones just like the Discover N3 can outperform their {hardware}. However in case you’re not into the standard smartphone photograph look—which I personally am not—you may swipe on over to the Hasselblad-branded Grasp mode, which supplies you far more pure outcomes proper out of the field. Whereas Grasp mode is absolutely customizable, its default settings are inclined to line up with what I’d be aiming for when modifying information from a devoted digicam.

This yr, Oppo’s picture processing is aided by what the corporate calls a “True Chroma Digicam,” a low-res sensor devoted to capturing correct shade info throughout the body for higher automated white stability. It’s tough to check precisely how the digicam system would work with out this extra {hardware}, however I did see spectacular ends in difficult conditions like low-light portraits.

The taking pictures expertise can also be helped by the “Fast Button,” which is just about a facsimile for Apple’s Digicam Management. It offers fast entry to the digicam app and shutter launch, however it’s absolutely capacitive and far simpler to press; I discovered myself utilizing it much more usually than I do alone iPhone 16 Professional.

The Discover X8 Extremely has a vastly extra succesful digicam system than you will get on any smartphone bought within the US, and it trades blows with one of the best out there from home rivals like Xiaomi and Vivo. That mentioned, I can’t actually advocate anybody exit of their manner to purchase it until they’re primarily based in China. I’ve personally discovered it to work properly on my NTT Docomo SIM card in Japan, however I can’t communicate to bands or protection wherever you is perhaps studying this.

Oppo’s China-focused model of ColorOS is fairly usable and comes with built-in compatibility for Google Cellular Providers by way of a settings toggle, that means you need to use the Play Retailer and Google apps together with any third-party software program that depends on Google’s APIs. Nonetheless, an uninitiated Western consumer would possibly really feel blindsided by a bunch of Chinese language bloatware and providers they received’t ever be capable to use. The Discover X8 Extremely’s eSIM help is simply accessible by way of the built-in ORoaming app, for instance, and you may solely pay for information by way of WeChat or AliPay.

However the larger image right here is that the Discover X8 Extremely demonstrates how Chinese language cellphone makers are merely miles forward of what’s out there within the U.S. and Europe. Whether or not you’re looking for a Galaxy, Pixel, or iPhone this yr, you’re getting a uncooked deal in terms of pure {hardware} functionality and digicam efficiency. This cellphone launched at 6,499 yuan in China, which works out to round $900.

Given the current political local weather, it appears much less seemingly than ever that Chinese language OEMs will discover a technique to promote their highest-end units within the U.S. That’s unlucky for anybody interested by one of the best {hardware} out there. The Oppo Discover X8 Extremely might be my go-to digicam cellphone till one thing higher comes alongside, and I’ve a sense that that one thing received’t be out there within the U.S. both. It’s not like this specific cellphone essentially adjustments the sport—Chinese language firms have been leapfrogging Apple and Samsung for years.

All in all, the Discover X8 Extremely is an superior cellphone that’s pretty much as good an instance as any of what’s succesful as we speak with trendy cell know-how. I feel it’s clearly higher than something Apple, Samsung, or Google are promoting within the U.S. as we speak. Does that imply it is best to import it? Most likely not. But it surely does imply it is best to elevate your requirements for the following time these firms attempt to promote you on new {hardware}.