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Somehow, the X9 Ultra improves upon the X9 Pro with a remarkably good camera system that includes a stunning 10x optical zoom. Everything else is pretty much perfect too.
The Good
- The best phone cameras ever
- Superb battery life
- Highly premium design
The Not So Good
- Expensive
Need-to-knows
- Five rear cameras, all custom-developed with Hasselblad
- 10x optical periscope telephoto is remarkable
- 7,050mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 5 years of OS updates promised
“Your next camera.”
That’s what OPPO is calling the Find X9 Ultra, and they’re positioning it as “the biggest breakthrough in the history of OPPO imaging.”
Bold claims. Big words. But does it live up to them? And more importantly, does any of this matter for a normal person who just wants to take good photos? Someone, for example, like me – a 45-year-old dad from Northampton who just wants to get sharp images of his son and a relentlessly-not-stationary fox red labrador?
I’ve been using the OPPO Find X9 Ultra as my daily driver for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve been trialling its camera system straight out of the box; no pro mode faffing about, no custom film simulations, no manual white balance. Just point, shoot – bosh.
The only fly in the ointment might be the OPPO Find X9 Pro, which was already really, really good. Can it really get better with the Ultra?
Spoiler: it can.
Shop the Oppo Find X9 Ultra below!
At a glance
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Display | 6.82″ LTPO AMOLED, 1-144Hz, 3168×1440 |
| Main camera | 200MP, f/1.5, 23mm equivalent |
| Ultra-wide | 50MP, 14mm |
| 3x telephoto | 200MP, f/2.2, 70mm equivalent |
| 10x telephoto | 50MP, f/3.5, Quintuple Prism Periscope |
| Spectral camera | 50MP True Color Camera, 24-channel |
| Front camera | 50MP Samsung JN5 with autofocus |
| Battery | 7,050mAh silicon kryptonite |
| Charging | 100W wired SUPERVOOC / 50W AIRVOOC wireless |
| Storage | 12GB+512GB / 16GB+1TB |
| OS | ColorOS 16; 5 years OS + 6 years security updates |
| Water resistance | IP66, IP68, IP69 |
| Weight | 235-236g |
| Price | £1449 |
OPPO Find X9 Ultra specs, availability and pricing
Let’s start with the headline numbers, because there are a lot of them.
The X9 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and is available in 12GB+512GB and 16GB+1TB configurations. The display is a 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED unit that runs at 1-144Hz with a 3168×1440 resolution, 1800 nits of full-screen brightness, 3600 nits peak HDR, and 2160Hz PWM dimming for anyone who gets headaches from cheaper OLED panels.
The battery is 7,050mAh (silicon kryptonite, naturally), with 100W wired SUPERVOOC charging, 50W AIRVOOC wireless, and both reverse wired and wireless charging thrown in for good measure. In the baffling world of multiple IP ratings, it’s also IP66, IP68, and IP69 rated, which means it can definitely get wet. And dusty. Without any problems whatsoever.
Connectivity-wise, you’ve got Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, USB 3.2 Gen 1, NFC and dual SIM. It ships with ColorOS 16, and OPPO is promising 5 years of major OS updates plus 6 years of security updates, which is nice.
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Crucially, this is OPPO’s first global Ultra launch. The Find X9 Ultra is going to be available in most key markets, including Europe. That’s a big deal, even if I can’t quote the exact countries in which it will actually be available (hey, don’t shoot the messenger).
OPPO hasn’t confirmed the pricing at the time of writing, I’m afraid. The press briefing mentioned that prices have been “modestly adjusted” due to memory and AI supply chain pressure, and that final figures “will be announced at the official launch event.” Which, by the time this goes live, will have already happened.
OPPO Find X9 Ultra design: a PROPER camera phone
You get two colourways to choose from, and they’re made from different materials.
Tundra Umber is the eco-friendly vegan leather option, weighing 236g at 9.10mm thick. Its inspiration is the Hasselblad X2D 100C Earth Explorer Edition, which is a lovely nod if you know your medium-format cameras (I confess I don’t). Canyon Orange uses a new aircraft-grade fibreglass and comes in at 235g and 8.65mm, so it’s ever so slightly thinner.
I went for orange. Because, orange. But I wish I’d gone for the Tundra now, because boy does that look good. Not that the orange version doesn’t, but I think I have over-orange’d my tech recently.
The camera module is the star of the show. It’s a Hasselblad-inspired hexagonal design that mimics the aperture blades of a professional lens, with CNC knurling around the edge, echoing a lens focus ring. There’s a signature splash of Hasselblad orange too, because of course there is.
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OPPO has also repositioned the Quick Button, pushing it 5mm higher than before and finishing it in the same orange. It works in both portrait and landscape, which is a small but genuinely useful change if you shoot a lot of video.
Yes, it’s a chonky phone thanks to that camera bump. But here’s the thing: the bump acts as a lovely finger prop when you’re holding it horizontally. And it looks vastly different to the Find X9 Pro, which is a good thing.
The X9 Ultra, in my opinion, looks stunning. But it is big, and that won’t be for everyone.
OPPO Find X9 Ultra camera: the main event
Right. This is what you’re here for.
The OPPO Find X9 Ultra has five rear cameras, and every single one was custom-developed with Hasselblad. They’re also equally bonkers in terms of specs.
The 200MP main sensor is the largest 200MP sensor ever put in a phone, with an f/1.5 aperture and 23mm-equivalent focal length. The 50MP ultra-wide is 14mm. The 200MP 3x telephoto is, again, the largest telephoto sensor ever in a phone, with an f/2.2 aperture, 70mm-equivalent focal length, and a 15cm minimum focus distance. Then there’s the 50MP 10x telephoto, with an f/3.5 aperture and an industry-first Quintuple Prism Reflection Periscope with Sensor Shift stabilisation.
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The fifth camera is a new-generation True Color Camera with a 24-channel spectral sensor. It now works for motion photos and video, not just stills.
The front camera is a 50MP Samsung JN5 with autofocus.
So, what’s it like to actually use?
Out of the box, the default Auto mode captures 25MP shots and auto-switches to 12MP in low light to reduce noise. Real-Time Triple Exposure on the main sensor means you’re getting HDR baked in without having to think about it. Hasselblad colour science is on by default. You don’t need to touch a thing.
There’s a Hasselblad Master Mode with 9 film simulations, XPAN mode, a Portrait mode that now goes up to 10x, and new Hasselblad HNCS HDR certification. It’s worth flagging that these features exist for the pro smartphone shooters, but I never needed any of that stuff to get genuinely gorgeous shots.
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best smartphone camera I’ve ever used.
Out of the box, it takes absolutely beautiful photos in perfect and low light. But it’s those zoom ranges which make it so useful. The 3x and 10x are incredible, and even the digital zooms in between are superb. The 0.6x to 10x range is genuinely useful in a way that some phones with bigger numbers on paper just aren’t.
I won’t lie – getting my hands on a proper 10x optical focal length has been a real breath of fresh air and might be the X9 Ultra’s crowning glory.
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Interestingly, it does take a second or so to process each image (even those taken at an optical focal length), but the results are so good, who cares?
Video on the OPPO Find X9 Ultra
Video is hugely overkill for the average viewer, which is kind of the point.
You get 4K 60fps Dolby Vision on every lens, 4K 120fps Dolby Vision on the main and 3x telephoto, 8K 30fps, new O-Log2 with ACES certification, and 3D LUT support with real-time preview and burn-in.
I used it on a car shoot for my YouTube channel, and it was faultless, bar some slightly annoying stabilisation “locking” when I was trying to get deliberate movement on the zoom lenses. Otherwise, this is iPhone-quality video shooting (with better optical zoom ranges).
The Hasselblad accessory ecosystem
There are two accessories worth mentioning that you probably won’t buy, but you should know about.
The Hasselblad Explorer Case adds a physical grip, shutter button and zoom dial for video work, and the bonkers new 300mm Explorer Teleconverter provides 4.3x magnification, taking you to an effective 690mm reach at 30x. Both are OPPO Find X9 Ultra exclusives and are not compatible with the Find X9 Pro.
I’m expecting to get that 300mm teleconverter soon. Follow me on Instagram if you want to see some results from that.
This is an enormous amount of camera for a phone. The question is: would you actually benefit from any of the extras over the already brilliant Find X9 Pro?
OPPO Find X9 Ultra vs OPPO Find X9 Pro
I called the Find X9 Pro “one of the best Android phones I’ve ever used” with a transformative 4-day battery and a camera system that provides great photos straight out of the box. That’s the benchmark we’re working with.
Here’s how the two stack up.
| Spec | OPPO Find X9 Pro | OPPO Find X9 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 9500 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Display | 6.78″ 120Hz | 6.82″ 144Hz |
| Main camera | 50MP, 1/1.28″, LYT-828 | 200MP, 1/1.12″, LYT-901 |
| 3x telephoto | 200MP (Samsung HP5) | 200MP, 1/1.28″ (largest ever) |
| Long zoom | 13.2x lossless via 3x sensor crop | Dedicated 50MP 10x optical periscope (true 10x, up to 20x optical quality, 460mm) |
| Battery | 7,500mAh | 7,050mAh |
| Charging | 80W wired / 50W wireless | 100W wired / 50W wireless |
| Weight / thickness | 224g / 8.25mm | 235-236g / 8.65-9.10mm |
| UK price | £1,099 | TBC at launch |
On that note, the battery life on the Ultra is still stupidly good. You lose 450mAh on paper, but in day-to-day use, I didn’t feel the difference.
The Ultra’s real pitch over the Pro comes down to a handful of genuine upgrades. You get a proper dedicated 10x optical periscope (the Pro relies on digital assistance beyond 3x). You get the biggest main and telephoto sensors ever put in a phone. You get a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 instead of a MediaTek Dimensity 9500. You get 8K video, O-Log2, and 4K 120fps on two lenses. And you get that Hasselblad accessory ecosystem (case and teleconverter), which simply isn’t available on the Pro.
What does the Find X9 Pro do better? It’s lighter, thinner, has a bigger battery (7,500mAh vs 7,050mAh), and is going to be meaningfully cheaper.
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The OPPO Find X9 Pro already covers the “great camera, great battery, great build” brief for most people. The OPPO Find X9 Ultra is for someone who genuinely cares about the extra optical reach and the Hasselblad ecosystem. Not just the “biggest spec sheet” crowd.
Should you buy the OPPO Find X9 Ultra?
The OPPO Find X9 Ultra is for anyone who wants the camera to be the star of the show on their smartphone.
If the Find X9 Pro is the smart buy, the Find X9 Ultra is the enthusiast buy. Equally, if you just want the best smartphone camera available on the market today, get it. It really is that simple.
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The fact that the X9 Ultra is going to be available outside of China is genuinely wonderful news for anyone who’s been watching OPPO’s top-tier hardware from the sidelines for years.
One last thing worth flagging: OPPO also announced the OPPO Watch X3 alongside this, which is worth a look if you’re buying into the ecosystem. I’ll have more on that soon.
In the meantime, get involved in the comments and let me know if you’re tempted by the Ultra, or if the Find X9 Pro is already enough phone for your pocket.
3 Comments
I not tested the X 9 line up. Been watching already, a lot of pictures of both.
How impressive the X 9 U camera system is, I am ok, with my 8 U, only a year old. I think the biggest improvement is that now all cameras are in peer.
But, just studying the samples, I like some things better of the 8 U. That is first the more natural look, of the pictures in standard mode, and others. The sharpening looks natural, when the 9 U, seems to follow the path of the Vivo, who want to impress you with sharpening. On standard mode, can live with the outcome, if I have to take a quick shot. I use the Master mode less, then I would have imagined, before buying the phone. I see too many pics, on the 9 U, that look, less natural, too agressive colors, and so more processed.
But I am sure on 10 x pics, the investment is worth it, but I not use this so much myself. I not want to carry extra gear with me neither, so I am just happy, with the phone I have, how impressive the specifications are of the new kid in town. What does intrique me, is the Master mode, and the improvements that has been made, but it still has too much limitations.
@Pokepath TD
the mention of the OPPO Watch X3 suggests that OPPO is continuing to strengthen its broader ecosystem of connected devices, encouraging users to invest more deeply into the brand’s products. Overall, the content portrays the OPPO Find X9 Ultra as a premium, camera-focused flagship smartphone that stands out as one of the best choices currently available for mobile photography enthusiasts.
The 10x optical reach is impressive, but the point-and-shoot tests with a moving dog are more persuasive than the headline specs. Since OPPO is pitching this as a camera replacement, it would be fascinating to see whether its depth and multi-camera data can support an image to 3D reconstruction of a small product or pet as easily as it captures a sharp still. That would make the Ultra feel like a genuinely different creative tool rather than only a better zoom phone.