Oppo Find X9 Pro Review

Design

• Redesigned chassis with flat edges
• Clean, premium design, but lacks personality
• New Snap Key shortcut button

The Oppo Find X9 Pro is a massive departure from last year’s Find X8 Pro in the design department. 

It has ditched the micro-curvature for a completely flat design, complete with the same flat edges and rounded corners as we’ve seen from a litany of smartphone manufacturers of late. It not only gives the phone a clean look, but it simply feels more secure holding flat siderails in the hand. 

That’s paired with a matte-finish aluminium frame and a matte glass rear that easily dispels fingerprints and other smudges. I also feel like the matte finish provides better purchase in the hand, but that might be more psychological than anything. 

Oppo has also ditched the iconic circular camera housing used in the past few generations of Find X for a new square housing that sits on the top-left. 

If it looks familiar, it should; it’s a near-identical module to the one used in the OnePlus 13T and the upcoming OnePlus 15. It’s clearly a OnePlus module, repurposed, rather than an Oppo innovation – but hey, it still looks nice, so who am I to say otherwise. 

I do wish Oppo had been a little more adventurous in the colour department, though; the Silk White and Titanium Charcoal finishes are definitely rather safe, and as such, they lack a distinct personality – especially next to the gorgeous Velvet Red Find X9. Some might call it a minimalistic look, others might call it boring. It’s down to personal preference, really.

The Quick Button, aka Oppo’s Camera Control dupe, is present once again, though rather annoyingly, Oppo has kept it in the same (awkward) position as that on the X8 Pro. It’s just a little further along the side of the phone than where your finger naturally rests, and you have to over-reach to use it. At that point, it’s just easier to tap the on-screen button. 

There is a new addition this year though: the Snap Key. It works just like the reprogrammable buttons found on a variety of other smartphones, though its iPhone inspiration is clear; even the UI where you choose its function is eerily similar to that in iOS.

It’s designed around the new AI Mind Space first introduced on the OnePlus 13T earlier this year, but you can set it to toggle the ringer, turn on the torch and other functions, but rather oddly, not open an app. The latter would’ve been the handiest function for me and my use case, as I want quick access to apps like WhatsApp way more often than I want to save something to Mind Space. 

It might sound like I’m not a big fan of the new design, but that’s certainly not the case. It’s still a very premium-looking device that’s nice to hold and use, and for the vast majority of users, these gripes won’t be a problem. It just could’ve been that little bit better. 

Screen

• 6.78-inch AMOLED screen
• Ultra-thin bezels add to the premium experience
• Bright, vibrant and colourful panel

The Oppo Find X9 Pro’s screen is a thing of beauty; there’s no two ways about it. Oppo made the right decision by ditching the curved screen of its predecessor for a flat panel, and I appreciate the change.

While the micro curvature of the X8 Pro did feel nice, especially when swiping in from the edges, there’s something much cleaner about flat panels that I appreciate – especially when paired with ultra-slim 1.15mm thick bezels, the thinnest in any Oppo phone to date. 

It just looks and feels more immersive, with none of the accidental touches prevalent on even slightly curved screens.

As such, it’s an absolute treat in everyday use. The 6.78-inch size means it’s large without being overly cumbersome like the 6.9-inch alternatives from Samsung and Apple, though those with smaller hands than mine might disagree. 

The AMOLED panel delivers the gorgeously vivid colours the tech is known for, and though it’s set to a slightly muted (but more accurate) colour palette by default, you can crank the colour up by selecting the Vivid mode in the Settings app. 

Combined with the 1.2K resolution and a smooth 120Hz LTPO-enabled refresh rate, it’s a pixel-perfect experience well tailored to not just binging episodes of Splinter Cell: Deathwatch on Netflix, but gaming too – but more on that later. 

It’s worth noting that, like with many high-res phones, the Find X9 Pro doesn’t actually run with the highest resolution enabled – you’ll have to do that in the settings. 

I get it, powering more pixels requires more power, but with the sheer size of the battery within the X9 Pro, I feel like it could’ve been enabled by default. Whether you can actually see much of a difference is another story – it looks pretty similar to my eye in both modes – but if the tech is there, why not use it to its fullest extent? 

Elsewhere, an upgraded under-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is allegedly 35% faster and works with wet and oily hands. While I can’t confirm the former, I can definitely say the latter is true. 

What’s more, there’s a much simpler fingerprint registration system, requiring you to only roll your finger over the sensor. It’s a much easier system, though admittedly something you’ll only ever need to do once. 

Cameras

• Fantastic 50MP main, ultrawide and selfie cameras
• 200MP 3x periscope lens with optional teleconverter accessory
• Fantastic performance across the range

The Find series has always been Oppo’s camera-focused flagship, so it’s no surprise that the X9 Pro has a pretty impressive combination of lenses that delivers some of the best, most consistent shots of any 2025 flagship.

It starts with the 50MP main camera, which, despite sounding familiar, sports the new Sony LYT 828 – a larger 1/1.28-inch sensor with a wider f/1.5 aperture that, according to Oppo, captures 30% more light than the previous-gen primary lens. While it’s hard to quantify the specifics, I have been very impressed with the quality of images captured from the primary snapper. 

It’s easy to say that images are packed with detail, but it’s only when comparing them with another phone that Oppo’s superior imaging processing shines. Even zooming into images taken with the main sensor, there’s still plenty of detail to be found; where competitors lose detail in elements like hair, it feels like you could count the individual hairs on a person’s head with Oppo’s snapper. 

Everything is crisp, with a much more natural, true-to-life look to shots than the X8 Pro, while still managing to remain vibrant and eye-catching. It’s a balancing act that even titans like Samsung struggle with, especially when it comes to colours like red, blue and green. 

Of course, that big sensor and wider aperture also translate to impressive low-light performance, again up there with some of the best you’ll find in 2025. Images capture a lot of light without looking unnaturally bright, with decent levels of detail in most scenarios. 

Where last year’s X8 Pro had two zoom lenses – 3x and 6x – the X9 Pro ditches the latter for a high-res 200MP 3x periscope lens, similar to that found on the Honor Magic 7 Pro and Xiaomi 15 Ultra – two of the better cameras on the market right now. Some might lament the loss of a dedicated lens, but the periscope tech and high-res nature of the lens mean you can easily punch in to the 6x of the previous generation without a hint of processing. 

It technically goes up to 120x, beating the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 100x zoom, but the AI processing is obvious and unavoidable at such high zoom levels. It does a pretty good job of hiding it up to around the 30x mark, but go further and you’ll end up in the uncanny valley where photos look detailed, but slightly off. This isn’t any different from other top-end phones, but it’s worth pointing out nonetheless. 

To boost the zoom without sacrificing quality, you’ll need Oppo’s (slightly crazy-looking) Hasselblad Teleconverter. It’s a dedicated lens that twists into place on the 200MP camera – though you’ll need a specific case and an accessory that slides over the camera module to attach it. 

It’s a bit of a hassle to carry around and set up, but once you do, the results are seriously impressive. The lens offers 10x optical and up to 200x digital zoom, while offering up to 50x zoom in the video mode. It is a niche product as many won’t ever need such extreme levels of zoom, but taking it to a Sigur Rós concert at the Royal Albert Hall, the results speak for themselves.

I not only got much closer to the action than with the built-in lenses, but I did so without sacrificing overall quality – and that’s in a low-light environment. Shots taken in bright daylight do even better, making for a surprisingly versatile lens that gives the Find X9 Pro a unique spin. 

The catch? You’ll need to purchase it separately – this one isn’t included in the box. It’s not even confirmed for the UK market, with pricing and availability TBC, so I wouldn’t buy the phone based on using the optional lens.

The 50MP ultrawide is an equally solid sensor, though it’s not one I find myself using too often. I think that’s more down to style and preference than anything else though; the ultrawide delivers consistently sharp images in daylight, with autofocus that allows it to double up as a macro lens, and the colours are consistent with the other lenses too. It’s just not quite as capable at night, with a slightly soft, blurred look to certain shots taken. 

Flip the phone over and you’ll be greeted with an equally high-res 50MP selfie snapper, complete with autofocus capabilities. It’s a decent snapper with multiple crop options that make group selfies shine, and it takes a pretty decent portrait-style shot too. 

Content creators will also appreciate the 4K@60fps Dolby Vision support on the selfie snapper, along with all rear lenses, while the primary and zoom lenses also offer support for 4K@120fps Dolby Vision.   

Performance

• Dimensity 9500 and 16GB of RAM
• Phenomenal day-to-day experience
• Doesn’t get too hot during demanding gaming sessions

The Oppo Find X9 Pro, alongside the regular Find X9, are the first phones to launch with the new top-end MediaTek Dimensity 9500, paired with a healthy 16GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. It’s not the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 offered by other Chinese giants like the Honor Magic 8 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, no, but in all honesty, you likely won’t notice any difference. 

The Find X9 Pro absolutely flies in everyday use, thanks not only to the sheer power of the All Big Core design of the Dimensity chipset but also to Oppo’s software-level optimisations, like CPU Vitalization. All of this combines to deliver a smartphone that, as far as I’m concerned, can handle whatever you throw at it. 

Combined with Oppo’s new Luminous Rendering Engine, which makes opening and closing apps feel even faster, the Find X9 Pro is rapid and responsive. It can easily handle everyday tasks like social media and casual video editing, as well as powering some of the most demanding gaming titles around. 

The phone has no problem running games like Call of Duty Mobile and even Honkei Star Rail without much complaint or heat build-up – even with top-end graphics and optional settings enabled on the former, which usually pushes phones to their limits, especially at 120fps. I was pleasantly surprised by this, considering it’s not a dedicated gaming phone. 

Benchmarks largely back this up, with strong results compared to the rest of the 2025 competition in both the CPU and GPU departments, as well as in specific tests like the ray-traced Solar Bay test – but with the caveat that these are all running the last-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite. 

New phones going forward will likely utilise the upgraded Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, so it likely won’t be at the front of the pack for very long. Qualcomm’s top-end chipsets do tend to outperform the MediaTek alternative, after all. 

Software

• ColorOS 16 based on Android 16
• Works with Apple Watch – kind of
• Suite of AI and productivity tools

I’ve always been a bit of a fan of Oppo’s ColorOS, as it’s one of the few highly custom approaches to Android that offers the same level of polish as the stock Android experience without the extra bloat – along with a few genuinely useful, unique features and functionality. That story hasn’t changed much with the Find X9 Pro’s ColorOS 16, based on Android 16. 

This year brings a few new visual flares to the experience that have been, ahem, clearly influenced by Apple’s Liquid Glass UI. While not as technically impressive as Apple’s refractive UI, you’ll see hints of Gaussian blur used across the Oppo UI to try to emulate the experience.

While on the topic of Apple, ColorOS 16 actually brings support for the Apple Watch – yes, the watch that famously only works with iPhones – though there are a few caveats to this; most notably, you’ll still need an iPhone for setup and management. 

Instead, you can install a new Oppo companion app on the Watch, which makes it play well with the Find X9 Pro. It allows support for basic features like notifications, remote camera, fitness tracking and phone location tech – but it still needs Wi-Fi or an iPhone for internet access. 

As such, it’s a nice feature to have if you’re making the jump from iPhone to Android, but I wouldn’t recommend buying an Apple Watch alongside the X9 Pro.  

Other new additions to ColorOS 16 prove more useful, including an updated O+ Connect experience that lets you connect to both Mac and PC wirelessly, allowing you to not only mirror your phone screen but also run up to five phone apps simultaneously in different windows. For Android apps without Windows or Mac counterparts, it’s extremely helpful. 

It also allows you to copy text and paste it on another with ease, and like other desktop integrations, it allows for easy file transfer both to and from the smartphone. 

There’s also a bunch of new and updated AI tools because, well, of course there is. The upgraded AI recorder will now not only transcribe conversations in real time but also assign speakers and generate a summary post-recording, while AI Portrait Glow looks to add dramatic lighting effects to portrait shots. 

AI Mind Space is near-identical to OnePlus’ alternative, serving as a place to save screenshots and voice notes for later reference. AI analyses the content of the screenshots and voice notes, making it easier to search for and find what you need, and you’re also able to save content to specific collections for easier manual search.

Interestingly, it also works with Gemini, allowing you to, say, ask Gemini to make you a trip plan based on all the locations you’ve saved in your upcoming trip collection in Mind Space. 

None of these are a game-changer that’ll completely rewrite how you use a phone, but combined with existing AI tools like AI Writer, which now writes social media posts based on what you’re sharing, it’s a pretty solid alternative to Apple Intelligence or Galaxy AI. 

Battery Life

• 7500mAh battery is the biggest around
• Multi-day battery life
• 80W charging, but it’s still slow

When I first saw the Find X9 Pro’s spec sheet, I got very excited. Why? In a world where we’re used to seeing 5000mAh cells in flagship phones, the Find X9 Pro packs a whopping 7500mAh alternative. That makes it one of the biggest batteries in a flagship smartphone right now, if not the biggest, and expectations for excellent battery life were through the roof. 

As such, I enabled practically every optional setting the X9 Pro has, from a full-screen AOD experience to the full 1.2K resolution (it still defaults to FHD+ despite the massive battery), to see what I could really get from the phone. 

The X9 Pro certainly hasn’t disappointed in that regard over my few weeks with the phone – but equally, I was expecting something a little better considering just how capacious the silicon carbon battery is.

On days when I worked from home, where I wouldn’t use it for much beyond a bit of casual gaming, social media scrolling and the occasional WhatsApp, I could get to bed with the phone sat at 60%. That’s a pretty spectacular showing, and with that level of usage, it’s easily a two-day phone. 

However, on days where I used the phone a little more – for tasks like navigating using Google Maps, taking photo and video samples, listening to Spotify on my commute and the like, with around four hours of screen time – I’d get to bed with around 40% left in the tank. 

That’s not too dissimilar to what I’ve experienced with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Honor Magic 7 Pro, neither of which has a particularly big cell compared to Oppo’s alternative.

I decided to push it further and see how far it’d get without charging following that level of usage. With four hours of screen-on time on day one and around 2.5 hours on day two, I only managed to get to the mid-afternoon before scrambling for a charger. 

Again, this is very good for a smartphone and massively alleviates the battery anxiety I feel with smaller cells, but it shows the phone isn’t as efficient as I expected, and power users will likely still need to charge it every night.

Charging is pretty speedy with support for 80W SuperVOOC charging and 50W wireless AirVOOC charging, but you won’t get a charger for either in the box.

Luckily, I had a 100W SuperVOOC charger to hand, but with such a large capacity to fill, it’s not as fast as you might expect. Even with the fastest wired charger to hand, it still took 27 minutes to reach 50%, with a full charge in an hour and 18 minutes. That’s a little slower than the 45W Galaxy S25 Ultra, albeit with a 40% larger battery. 

Should you buy it?