A stunning camera that’s disguised as a smartphone? Yes, I’ve said that before in my review of Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra, but hold on, let me explain why I’m repeating myself. Thanks to Vivo and Oppo finally bringing their “Ultra” smartphones to India, huge circular camera bumps on the rear of smartphones have become the norm. Oppo takes it one step further and reclaims the crown it has unofficially held (since it never officially launched outside of its home country of China).
The Oppo Find X9 Ultra has made me want to ditch every other smartphone and use this one exclusively for photos. Though, from time to time, I am tempted to go back to the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, mostly because of its fantastic photography kit, which houses the camera grip that I so dearly love. For what it’s worth, Oppo did not launch its photography kit (with the telephoto lens) in India.
The Find X9 Ultra is loaded with high-end camera tech and has more than enough power even for the most power-hungry consumers out there. Oppo has long had a partnership with camera-maker Hasselblad, and the Find X9 Ultra is fitted with a pair of 200MP cameras—main and telephoto (with 3x optical zoom)—and a pair of 50MP telephoto and ultrawide cameras. With these four powerhouse sensors, the results are nothing short of impressive.
Every photo from the main sensor has an extra bit of life and zip to them. These are not overprocessed, nor do they use a lot of AI enhancements. The photos come out with true-to-life colours, with plenty of natural bokeh, and there’s a sense of depth, and layers, to every shot. The thing is, once you transfer and see the photo on your monitor, it just lacks that extra zing.
However, once you switch to shooting master mode (mainly to change white balance settings) the photos will not only look good on a smartphone, but even blown up.
With the Find X8 Ultra, I used the default settings all day long and most, if not all photos, came out as though I had shot on a proper camera. The ultra-wide is, as always, the weakest camera of the lot. It’s the telephoto lenses that truly surprised me. The 3.5x lens, for portraits, gives you plenty of bokeh, depth and separation of subjects. Even the 10x lens does a pretty fine job. Thanks to the natural bokeh and smooth switching between lenses, videos are elevated further, though still not a match for an iPhone.
The Other Stuff
The 6.82 inch LTPO AMOLED display (3168x1440 resolution), with a 144Hz refresh rate, is one of the best I’ve used. It’s sharp, vibrant and will get bright enough for outdoor use. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, and coupled with 12GB of RAM, the smartphone flies through any task you throw at it. No lags, no delays.
The smartphone runs ColorOS 16 (based on Android 16), and though it is robust, it does have some quirks that I just can’t get used to. First, there are a lot of preinstalled apps, including an App Market, that are just redundant. It’s acceptable on budget smartphones, but not on a top-tier flagship.
Other quirks include the fact that you can’t expand on notifications unless you tap an arrow on the right-hand side. Second, when trying to go to the previous page in Google Chrome, via the swipe gesture, it sometimes minimizes the browser instead. There will be easy software fixes for these, but they do frustrate on a daily driver.
With a 7,050mAh battery, you needn’t worry about finding that charger. With everyday use, it’ll be hard to kill the smartphone in one day, even with the screen at full brightness. It’ll comfortably last you until lunchtime on day two, unless you’re constantly snapping photos and shooting videos. The smartphone supports 100W wired charging, and so, topping up happens in a breeze.
Best Ultra smartphone in India?
The simple answer is yes. The camera has sold me on this smartphone, despite it taking a little more effort (plus some editing) to get the perfect shot. The display is vibrant and crisp, the in-hand feel is superb, and the phone flies through every task you throw at it. With all-day battery life, the Find X9 Ultra find a happy place in your pocket as a daily driver. There’s no photography kit, which both Vivo and Xiaomi sell here in India, but that’s not a dealbreaker.
The price, though, might be a dealbreaker for many. For the 12GB+512GB variant, the smartphone is priced at a whopping ₹1,69,999. On the other hand, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra retails for ₹1,39,999 (and can even be obtained for as low as ₹1,19,999 on Flipkart). The photography kit may be extra, but it still comes in at a cheaper price point. That’s definitely something to ponder over.
Sahil Bhalla is a Delhi-based writer. He posts @IMSahilBhalla.