OPPO Find X8 Ultra review: Better than the best

OPPO is crushing it in 2025; the debut of the Find X8 and X8 Pro allowed the brand to build decent momentum going into the year, and the Find N5 showcased just what's possible with foldables. OPPO is building on that with the introduction of the Find X8 Ultra, its best phone yet. Last year's Find X7 Ultra was one of my favorite phones, and it was only bested by Vivo's X100 Ultra when it came to photos and videos, so I was keen on taking a look at what OPPO is doing this year.

The Find X8 Ultra has a new design that's in line with the standard X8 and X8 Pro, and while the overall aesthetic doesn't quite stand out quite as much as previous years, it's great to hold and use. Thankfully, the phone retains the quartet of 50MP cameras at the back, and you get a 1-inch main sensor that takes outstanding photos and videos.

There are the usual upgrades in other areas, and I like that the phone has a 6100mAh battery; it lasts longer than just about every other device I tested in 2025, and is on par with the Vivo X200 Pro in this regard. While there's obviously a lot to like, the Find X8 Ultra has the same foibles as its predecessor; the phone is limited to China as of writing, and there are no plans to bring it to global markets.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Pricing and availability

OPPO unveiled the Find X8 Ultra at a launch event in Xi'An, China, on April 10. I was invited to attend the event, but I wasn't able to go due to a visa rejection (which is incredibly annoying). Anyway, the device is now available in China, where it is sold in three storage configurations: the base 12GB/256GB model costs ¥6,499 CNY ($891), the 16GB/512GB edition is ¥6,999 CNY ($959), and the 16GB/1TB model is ¥7,999 CNY ($1,096).

The 1TB model is the only one that gets satellite messaging, and as I'm using the 16GB/512GB edition of the device, I wasn't able to test the feature. The Find X8 Ultra was joined by the Find X8s+ and Find X8s, with both devices offering incremental updates to the Find X8 and X8 Pro.

Annoyingly, the Find X8 Ultra won't be available outside China, and in a statement to Android Central, OPPO said: "The Find X8 Ultra is planned for release only in mainland China. However, many of the technologies featured in this device will be incorporated into future OPPO products, which will be available in more regions."

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Design

OPPO always delivered standout designs with Find X models, but it is taking a conservative approach this time around. The Find X8 Ultra has a similar aesthetic as the X8 and X8 Pro, and it misses out on some of the design flair of previous generations. The Find X7 Ultra was one of the best-looking phones of 2024 thanks to a gorgeous dual-tone leather and glass design, and the Find X6 Pro also had a distinctive design.

While the X8 Ultra misses out on some of that flamboyance, it has the same great build quality. Most phones now use flat sides — ostensibly to deliver bigger batteries and increased longevity — and the X8 Ultra is no different. Thankfully, the sides are beveled, and that makes holding and using the device that much more comfortable. Coming in at 226g, it has a good heft and doesn't feel unwieldy in the least, and OPPO did a good job with the weight distribution.

Notably, it is thinner than the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but you don't notice it that much because of the sheer size of the camera island at the back. Like previous years, the oversized camera dominates attention at the back, and the quartet of lenses are arranged symmetrically. I got the white model, and it has a matte texture that's good to hold — all while minimizing smudges.

The phone is clearly built to last; I didn't use it with a case, and after two weeks of testing and several tumbles, there's no visible damage or scratches whatsoever. You also get IP68 and IP69 ingress protection, and I didn't see any issues using the device in a sauna.

OPPO also switched to an ultrasonic module this time, and it is fantastic; it is fast to authenticate and doesn't have any issues even if you use the sensor with wet fingers. The location is ideal — unlike previous years — so I was able to use my thumb to unlock the device without any hassle.

A notable addition is a dedicated button on the right that serves as a shutter button. Pressing it twice launches the camera, and you get to shoot with a single press, with a slide along the button to adjust the zoom level. The button sits flush with the mid-frame, and while it is a decent enough addition, I didn't use it quite as much — just like Camera Control on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Another new inclusion is the Shortcut Button, with the alert slider making its way to a multifunction button. The feature is identical to the Action Button on an iPhone, and it allows you to toggle DND, launch the flashlight, take notes, memos, and so on. The menu to configure the button is also identical to iOS, and some originality in this area would have been better.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Display

I'm not going to talk about the panel too much, as there isn't much that's new. The Find X8 Ultra uses a similar-sized 6.82-inch AMOLED as previous years, and it has a QHD+ resolution of 3168 x 1440 and 120Hz dynamic refresh that goes down to 1Hz. The main difference is that the panel is fully flat, and it has uniform bezels of 1.4mm on all sides.

The panel has standout colors and contrast levels, and I had no problems in this regard. It gets bright in outdoor use, and only the Pixel 9 Pro XL outmatched the device in overall brightness. Stereo sound is loud and detailed, and gaming is enjoyable on the device. With 2160Hz PWM dimming as standard, it's easy on the eyes too.

ColorOS has decent customizability when it comes to always-on styles, and you get a decent set of choices in tailoring the device to your tastes. While the overall brightness is lower at 2500 nits, the phone gets brighter in real-world use, and that's what you actually need.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Hardware

While the regular Find X8 Pro used the Dimensity 9400, the Find X8 Ultra goes back to Qualcomm silicon. There is no difference in daily use between the two, but the X8 Ultra tends to get hotter. This isn't just limited to the X8 Ultra — all phones I used powered by Qualcomm silicon this year had issues with overheating.

That said, the Find X8 Ultra is one of the fastest phones you can buy today. I didn't see any slowdowns whatsoever, and even demanding games ran without breaking a sweat. Having used over a dozen devices powered by this silicon, it's clear to me that there's more than adequate headroom; now we just need console-quality games to test the caliber of the hardware.

As I'm using the Chinese edition of the phone, I ran into issues with connectivity in general. Calls tended to be glitchy (those on the other end couldn't hear me), and OPPO has hard-coded DNS as standard, so if you use a custom DNS, you'll need to go into the settings and use a static IP and manually change your DNS server.

Other than that, there are no issues. The vibration motor is among the best on Android, delivering granular feedback when navigating the interface and using the keyboard. While it doesn't have Bluetooth 6.0 like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, that's about the only limitation I can think of, and it has one of the best hardware packages of any device in 2025.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Battery life

One of the biggest changes this year is the introduction of silicon-carbide batteries, and the X8 Ultra uses the tech to good effect. The phone has a much bigger 6100mAh battery, and it lasts a day and a half comfortably. In two weeks of heavy use, I didn't have to charge the phone before the end of the night, and more often than not, I just had to charge the phone once a day and a half.

There is no reason to worry about the battery, and aggressive memory management with Chinese ColorOS 15 makes the device last a little longer. Charging it takes just over 44 minutes thanks to 100W tech, and as an added bonus, it goes up to 50W over USB PD, so you don't need to use the bundled charger all the time.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Cameras

OPPO knows how to deliver a strong camera package, and the Find X8 Ultra is one of the best phones I've used this year. It has a 1-inch 50MP Sony LYT-900 sensor (the same as last year), 50MP Samsung JN5 wide-angle, 50MP Sony LYT-700 tele lens with 3x zoom, and a secondary tele 50MP that uses the Sony LYT-600 imaging module going up to 6x. There's a 32MP camera at the front with autofocus.

The caliber of the imaging modules alone makes the Find X8 Ultra a real powerhouse, and the brand is leveraging Hasselblad's tuning to eke out magnificent shots. The interface itself is unchanged, and you can easily access the shooting modes and lenses via the viewfinder or the dedicated button on the right.

The device excels at taking videos, with all four cameras at the back able to shoot Dolby Vision footage at 4K60. That is a big deal in and of itself, but what's particularly great this year is that the device shoots Dolby Vision footage even when the ultra-steady stabilization mode is enabled.

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Daylight photos have faultless detail and color vibrancy, and there isn't anything to criticize in this area. It's great that the X8 Ultra retains the 1-inch sensor; it allows the device to take better photos than just about any other phone today. I didn't see any problems in low-light conditions, with the phone consistently delivering vibrant shots with no visible noise.

But it's the auxiliary lenses that are truly noteworthy; you get four great cameras on the back of this phone, and the inclusion of two tele lenses makes things that much more interesting. The ability to get detailed shots at 6x and beyond is wonderful, and I got passable shots at up to 20x.

Basically, the Find X8 Ultra has one of the best camera packages I used until now. It does a better job than the Find X8 Pro, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Pixel 9 Pro XL, and holds its own against the Vivo X100 Ultra and X200 Pro. The only issue with the camera is that the device isn't launching globally, limiting its potential. While the brand says it will use these technologies in other products, it would have been great to see the Find X8 Ultra outside China.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Software

The Find X8 Ultra is available only in China, so it's using the Chinese version of the ColorOS skin based on Android 15. It is visually similar to the global model, but includes a ton of extras, including a local digital assistant dubbed Breeno. It is just as fluid in regular use, and the interface looks modern and has a cohesive design. That said, it ends up looking like iOS thanks to the changes introduced this year.

My biggest issue with the software is the sheer amount of bloatware that's pre-installed; it's definitely more than what's bundled with the global versions. Thankfully, most of the utilities can be uninstalled. There are the usual issues with push notifications and aggressive memory management, and it makes using the Find X8 Ultra a little annoying.

Continuing with the list of annoyances, ColorOS 15 has the worst DND of any Android phone; it clubs calls and messages into a single category, so there's no way to mute message notifications and not get calls. This is clearly set up by someone who doesn't make or receive any calls, because in regular use, it just doesn't make any sense.

Usually, I'll have to do at least some tweaking to get Google Mobile Services installed on a phone running a Chinese build, but that wasn't the case on this device. The Play Store APK is included, and it can be easily installed, and then you can log in to your Google account and install everything else.

Coming to updates, the Find X8 Ultra will get five years of Android updates along with six years of security updates, and that is in line with most Chinese devices. Honor is delivering seven years of Android updates to the Magic 7 Pro, but that device continues to be an outlier — at least in the context of Chinese manufacturers.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: The alternatives

I really like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and the device has a standout camera package along with a great design and all the other extras. The best part is that the phone is available outside China — it is now on sale in India and the U.K. I prefer the color balance of the Find X8 Ultra over the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but there's no arguing that Xiaomi has the better software package as it comes with the Play Store and all associated Google services out of the box.

I'm interested in seeing what Vivo does with the X200 Ultra, because that may just be the only device that can do better than the Find X8 Ultra; the device is slated to launch in May, so we don't have to wait too long to see what it delivers.

OPPO Find X8 Ultra: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You need the best camera package
• You want a phone that takes stunning portrait shots
• You need versatile cameras that shoot great videos
• You want a battery that lasts a day and a half
• You need all the extras

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You need a phone with the Play Store pre-installed
• You need the same number of software updates as your Pixel

The only negative with the Find X8 Ultra has to do with the software; the Chinese version of ColorOS has too many inconsistencies to be usable outside the country — particularly if you want to use Google services. That's why it's annoying that the device won't be debuting in global markets; OPPO has to do better in this area, and launch its best products to a wider audience.

Other than that, there isn't anything to fault with the device. It has a great AMOLED panel, the best hardware currently available, standout battery life with the best charging tech in the industry, and the best cameras. The main 1-inch camera continues to be a delight to use in 2025, and the auxiliary lenses are among the best of any phone I used this year.

The Find X8 Ultra does a fantastic job with videos as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed using the phone. That said, I still wouldn't recommend it unless you've used a device with a Chinese interface in the past. If you don't mind the hassle of buying it via a reseller and missing out on after-sales service, then I'd suggest getting the phone solely because of the cameras.