What we tested

  • Features
    A star rating of 4.0 out of 5.
  • Battery
    A star rating of 4.0 out of 5.
  • Camera
    A star rating of 4.0 out of 5.
  • Design
    A star rating of 4.0 out of 5.
Overall Rating
A star rating of 4.0 out of 5.

Pros

  • Unique design
  • Good specs 
  • Great display
  • Fast charging 
  • Battery out-does some competitors

Cons

  • Fingerprint magnet 
  • Hasselblad camera not best in class 
  • Expensive
  • Poor camera zoom function

The Oppo Find X5 and the Oppo Find X5 Pro are the latest smartphone releases from well-known Chinese brand, Oppo. The Find X5 Series is the successor to the Find X3 Series, which was released last year. Confusingly, there was no Oppo Find X4 Series. We got our hands on the Pro model to see if it's worth your cash.

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Both handsets have an unusual design, marked out from competitors by a distinctive camera bump and a curved display. Of course, the Pro is more feature-packed than the base model but it's more expensive too.

Oppo Find X5 Pro review: summary

The Oppo Find X5 Pro has all the bells and whistles you'd expect of a £1049 phone, competing with the other best offerings of 2022 so far, but does it come out on top?

During testing, we loved the phone's fast-charge facility but found that both the fast-charge facility and the much-lauded Hasselblad cameras fell short of the very best smartphones on the market right now. The Xiaomi 12 Pro smokes the X5 Pro for fast charging, but is a less well-balanced phone otherwise, while the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Ultra handsets generally perform better in the photography stakes.

Really, it's nip-and-tuck in the competition between the 'best of the rest' smartphones, (ie. those not from the biggest brands — Samsung and Apple). The Oppo Find X5 Pro faces off against the OnePlus 10 Pro and the Xiaomi 12 Pro, beating them in some departments and falling behind in others.

Key features:

  • Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor
  • 256GB storage, 12GB RAM
  • Hasselblad triple-camera array
  • 120Hz variable refresh rate display
  • IP68 rating
  • 5000mAh battery
  • 80W wired charger
  • 50W wireless charging capability

Pros:

  • Unique design
  • Great display
  • Good specs
  • Fast charging
  • Battery outdoes some competitors

Cons:

  • Fingerprint magnet
  • Hasselblad camera not best in class
  • Expensive

What is the Oppo Find X5 Pro?

Oppo Find x5 Pro camera bump

The Oppo Find X5 Pro is the higher-spec version of Oppo's latest smartphone, the Oppo Find X5. Confusingly, it's the successor to Oppo's Find X3 Pro, as there was no Find X4.

It's a top-end phone costing over £1000 and as a result, it's competing with some high-end handsets.

In an attempt to stake its claim in the market, the Find X5 is packed with features. Read on for our breakdown of the best and worst elements of Oppo's new phone.

How much is the Oppo Find X5 Pro?

The Oppo Find X5 Pro costs £1049 in the UK. That puts it right up there with premium handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, the Xiaomi 12 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro.

That's a bold pricing strategy that gives the Find X5 Pro a lot to live up to.

For more on these competitors take a look at our Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Plus vs Ultra breakdown, or check out our OnePlus 10 Pro vs Xiaomi 12 Pro guide.

Buy the Oppo Find X3 Pro for £1049 at Currys

Oppo Find X5 Pro features

The phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. This processor is the latest one going and packs plenty of power, but has issues too and in some handsets — like the Xiaomi 12 Pro — it's been party to some overheating issues.

We had a brief hands-on with the standard version of the phone, which is powered by an older chip — and that unit suffered badly with overheating issues, so we were concerned as we started our tests of the Pro model. During our testing period we did experience some moments in which the Find X5 Pro heated up but at no point did this reach a worrying temperature or force any apps to close.

The phone is available with 256GB and 12GB of RAM. That storage capacity equals the competition from OnePlus and Xiaomi, but both Apple and Samsung's competing handsets can be bought with more storage. In terms of RAM, that's more than the Xiaomi 12 Pro or the Samsung S22 Plus.

Oppo has collaborated with photography brand Hasselblad on the phone's camera offering. On the reverse, there's a 50MP wide-angle camera, a 50MP ultra-wide and a 13MP telephoto snapper. On the front, there's a 32MP selfie camera.

Oppo Find X5 Pro display

The FInd X5 Pro rocks a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, which seems to be about standard for flagship releases right now. The OnePlus 10 Pro, Xiaomi 12 Pro and Google Pixel 6 Pro all offer more or less the same same size display.

Again meeting a new industry standard, the Find X5 has an adaptable refresh rate, scaling down from 120Hz as required. This means you can have smooth scrolling during more intensive use and then a lower refresh rate when suitable to save battery.

During testing, we streamed a variety of videos from platforms like YouTube and Netflix and found that the display consistently rendered colour and detail impressively well. However, during extended streaming, the handset did heat up noticeably, especially around that distinctive camera bump.

Oppo Find X5 Pro battery

The Oppo Find X5 Pro packs a 5000mAh battery, which is as good size as can be expected. It's quite resilient too and during testing, we found the Pro's battery very comfortably lasted the whole day, even with fairly intensive use. It slightly outperformed the OnePlus 10 Pro and Xiaomi 12 Pro in that regard.

What's more impressive though is the phone's fast charging. In the box, there's an 80W fast charger that can take the battery from 1% to 100% in 30-40 minutes. This isn't the best on the market right now, but it's a fantastic offering.

The phone also packs a 50W wireless fast-charging capability, but you'll need to source the wireless charger yourself.

Oppo Find X5 Pro camera

Other than the Hasselblad XPan mode — which offers a nice, old-school wide-angle shot, reminiscent of shooting on film — we didn't see much evidence that the Hasselblad-Oppo crossover had borne much fruit.

That said, it's still a very solid camera offering. It's quick and easy to use, with a wide range of settings. The meagre 2x telephoto zoom falls a little short, but the wide-angle capabilities of this camera array are impressive.

The selfie camera is good too, though it doesn't deliver colours with quite the depth of some competitors.

When shooting video, you can do so in 8K if you so wish and there's some pretty solid image stabilisation too. Overall, we were impressed with the video offering.

Ultimately, this is a very good smartphone camera that falls just short of besting the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus.

Oppo Find X5 Pro design

The distinctive look of the Find X5 is probably the first thing you'll notice about it. The way that distinctive camera bump slopes into the back panel really stands out from competitors and all-in-all the handset feels very premium. It has a little bit of weight to it too and feels heavier than some competitors — like the OnePlus 10 Pro.

However, we found the ceramic back panel a little frustrating. It's a nice enough surface to the touch, but it also makes the phone an absolute fingerprint magnet. Of course, that won't matter to those of you who use the phone with a case, but for others, it's a real drawback in an otherwise appealing design.

There's nothing unexpected here when it comes to volume and power button layout, plus the USBC and SIM ports on the bottom.

Overall, this is a really unusual design and we love it, it's just a shame how easily the back of the phone marks up during use. The matte back of the standard model is much better in this regard and feels nice too, despite being a cheaper option.

Our verdict: should you buy the Oppo Find X5 Pro?

The Oppo Find X5 Pro is a very, very good smartphone with some frustrating hitches. That finger-print magnet back will frustrate some users and the fuss Oppo made about the Hasselblad camera collaboration doesn't feel justified. Really, it's debatable whether this phone is a big improvement on its predecessor — the Oppo Find X3.

In terms of consistent performance, it does seem to outgun the Xiaomi 12 Pro — which costs exactly the same — thanks to Xiaomi's overheating issues. Some of its specs even best the equivalent Samsung handsets, but as an overall experience, we preferred the Samsung Galaxy S22 series phones.

There are lots to like here if you're an Oppo fan though and that unique design really stands out from the crowd. The battery is a good size and the fast-charging capabilities — both wired and wireless — are a real bonus.

Where to buy Oppo Find X5 Pro

The Oppo Find X5 Pro is available at a range of UK retailers right now. We've also included links to some key competitors.

Noteworthy alternative buys: Samsung Galaxy S22, S22 Plus and OnePlus 10 Pro

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For more on the latest phones head over to our technology section or check out our complete guide to the best smartphones to buy in 2022.

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