Our favourite camera phone just got bumped for something even better
1. Oppo Find X9 Ultra – Best Overall
Given just how outstanding a camera phone the Oppo Find X9 Pro is, it was hard to imagine something coming along and making the handset feel somehow inferior, and yet that’s exactly what the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is able to do. Bear in mind that you do have to pay quite a bit more for the privilege of owning this phone as it’s priced at £1,449/€1,699, but if you can afford it, this is a photographer’s dream phone.
There are no fewer than four cameras on the back of this phone, including two 200Mp Hasselblad cameras and the first ever 50Mp 10x optical telephoto in a phone. It’s capable of capturing the type of shots that honestly look like they’ve come from a DSLR. You can see as much in the photos we took over the course of our review, but the X9 Ultra is just leagues ahead of the competition – you have to try really hard to take a bad picture with this phone and that’s without using the optional Earth Explorer Kit, which adds a camera grip and 300mm detachable zoom lens, among other things.
In addition to the cameras, you’re getting a flagship experience with practically every other facet of the X9 Ultra. The 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display looks stunning, and thanks to a 144Hz refresh rate, it feels silky smooth to the touch. There’s a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset under the hood to power the show, and that means you can enjoy all the usual high-end trappings such as demanding 3D games and side-by-side multitasking, all without any hiccups. We also love the unique design of the Tundra Umber model shown.
The battery, although not quite as big as the one found in the X9 Pro, is still massive at 7050mAh, and carries enough juice to get you through a heavy day of shooting and filming. There’s super-fast 100W wired charging too, so you don’t have to wait around long for the phone to get back to 100%. We did find that the phone can get quite hot through extended use, but it’s not enough of a dealbreaker to get in the way of just how much fun the X9 Ultra is to use.
Who should buy the Oppo Find X9 Ultra?
Photographers who want a professional-grade camera on their smartphone.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra: Further considerations
It’s very expensive, and the Oppo Find X9 Pro is better value for most people.