Phones be crazy right now.

 

And not always in a good way. Manufacturers keep squeezing more and more features in, forcing the price up and in many cases, making the handsets look a bit bloated and silly.

 

You can compromise of course - giving up certain functions you don't really need can save you hundreds.

 

But what if you could have it all? And still end up with a phone that looks like a phone?...

 

 

 

The OPPO Find X2 Pro doesn't have wireless charging.

 

I know that seems like a weird thing to point out right at the beginning of a phone review but I'd thought I'd get it out of the way because it's pretty much the only thing this handset doesn't do. So if wireless charging is the only thing you care about, the Find X2 Pro might not be for you. Except...

It does charge faster than just about anything I've ever seen. Still interested?

 

The Find X2 Pro ships with a 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 charger in the box, charging the 4260mAh battery to 40% in just ten minutes, fully charging in less than forty. In real terms, you can basically watch the percentage points go up while you charge it. I've tried it. It's actually quite relaxing.

 

Okay, seriously now. Compared to other recent flagship phones, the Find X2 Pro is positively nondescript - well, if you get it in Ceramic Black as pictured above. It also comes in Orange Vegan Leather - admittedly that one definitely stands out a bit more and feels amazing too. But other than that, it's a classy looking, high end device with curved edges and a decent sized screen.

 

The camera module is prominent, but obviously it's way more subtle than some of the huge, square eyesores that seem to be in fashion lately. Interestingly, OPPO has refrained from going with a four or even five-lens array because guess what? You probably don't need it. What we do have is a 48MP wide-angle lens, a 48MP ultra wide-angle and a 13MP periscope telephoto. It's not technically accurate to refer to these as "lenses" - each one is more of a whole camera in its own right, some tuned for night shooting, some for super-steady video capture and obviously, there's some pretty decent zoom capabilities on offer too.

 

And that's before you get to the 32MP selfie cam, which, as usual for any OPPO device, is standout. Standout - but not pop-up. Remember; the original Find X was remarkable for introducing one of the first pop-up camera modules we'd seen on a phone... and it surprised the market by working brilliantly. Now OPPO has gone for a small cut-out in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Importantly, that becomes the bottom left-hand corner when viewing content in landscape and as a result, I think that's my favourite place for it; it just never distracts or gets in the way.

 

As for the photos themselves, I'm very impressed. The camera app is easy to use and uncluttered with options and settings you're unlikely to need. Inside, outside, bright light or dark conditions, in most cases I've been able to just point and shoot and come up with a clear, detailed shot with true-to life colours. The zoom on offer is 3X optical and up to 10X hybrid and the results are great. You can wind it up to 60X digital if you really want to and while things do get pretty noisy at that magnification, if you can keep the phone steady enough you might be surprised what you can see from a distance.

 

The HDR, Ultra-Steady video quality is also first-rate and indeed, wonderfully steady. But there's no point shooting high quality vids if you don't have an equally great screen to watch them on. Drum roll please...

 

The 6.7inch, 120Hz Ultra Vision OLED screen is, simply put, one of the best displays you'll find on a phone today. The blacks are so black yet it's capable of blinding brightness, even in sunny conditions. Everything is adjustable if you're worried about conserving battery life. Resolution can be set to FHD+ or QHD+. The refresh rate can be 60Hz or 120Hz. But the best thing is you can switch both those settings to auto and let the phone decide what's most suitable for the video you're watching or the game you're playing. There's even a feature called the O1 Ultra Engine - this is similar to the upscaling technology in many high-end, modern TV's. Somehow it takes low-res content and sharpens everything up to make your viewing experience as high-def as possible. The detail and depth when viewing half-decent video files or streaming is so lustrous, it's almost 3D - as though you could reach right into the picture. No wonder OPPO sent the Find X2 Pro to me in this box - it's the closest thing to a TV I've come across that's still the size of a phone.

 

Even the speakers sound rich, full and deep, combining both top and bottom firing speakers to create a convincing stereo effect when the device is held sideways. I'm not a massive fan of watching TV shows or movies on my phone but if I had to, this definitely the phone to use.

 

Of course, the only reason any of this stuff works so well is the Snapdragon 865+Dual-Mode 5G chip running it all. It doesn't get much better than that in a 2020 handset, especially on with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Everything is fast and smooth. Facial recognition, instant. In-display fingerprint reader, the quickest I've used yet. There's nothing flashy about this phone but that's the beauty of it; it works so well you don't really notice because it never doesn't work.

 

Make no mistake, this is a flagship device through and through, with all the features, camera functionality and tech-specs of other phones priced well over $2000. Even if you're still not familiar with the OPPO brand, before you pay more than two-grand for your next phone, try the Find X2 Pro. I'm confident you'll be impressed with what you see.

 

 

Click here for more information on the OPPO Find X2 Pro.