With its Find X5 Pro, Oppo is slowly entering the category of manufacturers who make their own chips. For this first step in this direction, rather than going on a 100% in-house chip like Google and its Pixel 6/6 Pro, Oppo started with an image processor that we have already told you about, the MariSilicon X. But at the controls, we still find Qualcomm’s flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Read also : Interview with Simon Liu, the eccentric director of Oppo’s photo division (February 2022)
Choice of components, integration, tweaking of Android and of course, photo partition: a chip is not everything. The challenge of each terminal is to know if the manufacturer has found a good balance. And here to know if Oppo finally manages to impose itself in high-end terminals.
Powerful, autonomous and quickly recharged
Oppo masters the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 well at the controls of this Find X5 Pro. With solid autonomy – 2:08 p.m. in general-purpose mode and 1:43 p.m. in video streaming – the terminal will perfectly last the full day of activity – or even more if you are careful. The discharge is regular, and the recharge fast. Very fast: 42 minutes are enough to go from 0% to 100% with the supplied 80W charger – yes, there are still brands that supply chargers!
If it is not the king in terms of so-called “synthetic” tests which average the tasks entrusted to a CPU, its GPU is however a model of power. Under AntuTu 9 Gpu, it displays a score of 432233, the highest of our tests currently (at the time for Samsung which integrated a custom GPU from AMD for the lower score of 399060!).
Players therefore have every interest in keeping an eye on this smartphone – well, if they have more than €1,000 to put in a smartphone. Be careful though, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 heating remarks do not come out of nowhere. The chip engraved in 4 nm by Samsung goes up to 43°C when it is very busy. We understand the rumors of a return to TSMC next year, the Taiwanese mastering better nodes with low energy consumption.
In terms of operating system, the device comes with an Android 12 on which Oppo places its Color OS overlay. A fast and functional version of Android, which does not encounter the slowdowns that can sometimes be experienced with Samsung’s One UI for example. The icons in material design are a little bland, but very readable. The device is not saturated with unwanted applications and those that are – PUBG or Amazon – uninstall in a second. The system update is flawless and very fast, not like some brands (hello Sony!).
Screen: correct colors in “natural” mode
In « default » mode as delivered, the color rendering of the terminal is wrong. And even archifaux: with a Delta E of 5.73, we are entitled to flashy tones that would have their place in the (bad) pubs of the 1980s. At the start of 2022, where good taste reigns (no), we recommend that you switch the color rendering to “Natural” mode. Mode which, with its Delta E of 1.78, makes it possible to take advantage of fair shades.
Without being the champion of screens, the Find X5 Pro offers a very good performance, whether in terms of contrast level, in terms of maximum brightness (768 cd / m² including 803 cd / m² peak) or fluidity screen. With a native definition of 3216 x 1440 pixels, this 6.7-inch panel offers a very good image resolution of 526 dpi. And thus offers excellent reading comfort.
Configured from the factory in 120 Hz, the screen does not suffer from any jerks – we also feel that Oppo has very good control of Android and its overlay. If the terminal manages to switch from 1Hz to 120 Hz as needed (reading text, video, games), those most concerned about autonomy will however have an interest in limiting themselves to 60 Hz.
Photo 1/3: sensors certainly large, but not giant
The Find X5 Pro is spoiled when it comes to ultra wide-angle: rather than relying on a small sensor as most competitors do, the module equivalent to a 15mm f/2.2 receives the same sensor as the module main, the IMX766. Thanks to its larger photosensitive surface, this 50 Mpix sensor (12.5 Mpix output) in 1/1.56 » format gives much better results than smaller models, especially in low light.
It is this same sensor which is therefore at the heart of the main module, a 25mm f/1.8 equivalent. A sensor not bought off the shelf, but co-developed with Sony, which Oppo must begin to master since it was introduced last year in its Find X3 Pro.
On paper, the X3 and the X5 seem quite similar, but the optics have been revised (15mm instead of 16mm for the ultra wide angle, 25mm f/1.7 instead of 26mm f/1.8 for the wide -angle and a glass front lens). And above all, the sensor of the main module benefits from mechanical stabilization of the sensor which is combined with optical stabilization. In fact, operator blurring is rare.
The level of detail is good, the color rendering fair (especially the ultra wide angle and wide angle modules) and Oppo has found a balance between digital noise and smoothing in dark areas. But we do not take advantage of the richness of details that can be produced by larger sensors such as 1/1.28 » (Huawei Mate 40 Pro) or even 1/1.12 » (Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra).
However, we must welcome the fact that these good performances are maintained in low light. No major color drift, no excessive digital noise. The pictures are well exposed and the colors are correct. Again, the slightly larger sensors give a little more detail, but Oppo signs an excellent score here.
Photo 2/3: limited zoom power
In the balancing act represented by the design of a high-end smartphone – you have to juggle power (heat, energy consumption), available space, the price of components, etc. – Oppo has made a quality choice of components. And since choosing is giving up, here Oppo has spent its turn on the telephoto lens, as with last year’s Find X3 Pro.
Logical, but a little surprising for a company that had acquired its first letters of nobility with the super telephoto lens of the Find X2 Pro. A terminal that offered a 129mm f/3.0 equivalent, i.e. a 7.6x zoom starting from the ultra-wide-angle.
Next to this 129 mm, the 52 mm equivalent of the Find X5 Pro is much more modest. If this allows him to stay in the running against the iPhone 13 Pro / Pro Max (77 mm), this does not allow him to replace a compact travel as the Find X2 Pro could do. To take advantage of a powerful zoom, the Google Pixel 6 Pro (eq. 104 mm) or especially the Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G (eq. 230 mm) are more suitable.
Please note, this is not a judgement: on a daily basis, taking advantage of camera modules integrating better quality and larger sensors (impossible to integrate into a tele/super telephoto lens) is more useful. But you have to know the limits of the choices made by the manufacturers.
Regret in terms of optical design: as with too many terminals, the oleophobic treatment on the front lens is either absent or ineffective (difficult to know). The risk of veiling is real, so much so that Oppo has integrated a dirt detection algorithm into its shooting software (which must undoubtedly measure the contrast ratio in relation to an optimal ratio). But as the image above shows, nothing beats a good wipe.
Picture 3/3: Hasselblad and MariSiliconX
Started with OnePlus, the partnership with the Sino-Swedish Hasselblad (which belongs to the Chinese DJI), is expanding to the parent company Oppo. A partnership that we outlined for you during our meeting with Simon Liu. And which, for the time being, mainly concerns a working framework in terms of colors. For the rest, apart from an orange trigger button (Hasselblad color), an X-Pan style panoramic mode and a « Pro » mode with manual clutches, there is not much to put under the tooth.
We are also quite skeptical about the level of color science that Oppo can recover from Hasselblad. If, due to their film heritage in particular, the Swedes know how to make boxes – as well as calibrate the colors of their medium format sensors of recent cameras – they do not however have the colorimetric expertise of Fujifilm or Kodak. However, it is in these emulsion simulations or in colorimetric profiles which have “dog” that we hope that Oppo stands out.
Read also: The French DNA of GoPro’s technological prowess (2019)
When it comes to MariSiliconX, GoPro’s precedent suggests we haven’t seen anything yet. For its Hero 6, launched in 2017, GoPro got rid of its chip supplier Ambarella and developed its own chip, the GP1. A chip that equipped nine generations of cameras (from the Hero 6 to the Hero 9) before being replaced by the GP2 in the Hero10.
However, between the Hero 6 and the Hero 9, GoPro learned to master its chip, better calibrated the amount of memory available, changed the sensors, refined its algorithms, etc. So much so that the performance level – digital noise processing, but above all electronic stabilization quality – of a Hero 9 is far above a Hero 6. With exactly the same chip!
Also, if the Find X5 Pro already offers a good performance, it’s a safe bet that if the MariSilicon X chip brings any advantage, it will only be in several months. Or for the following terminals. Because for now, the chip has so far failed to make a major difference with the competition. However, you have to keep an eye on the terminal and monitor software developments to measure the evolution of Oppo’s mastery.
Not enough storage for an “image” product
With such photo and video potential, we expected Oppo to offer enough storage options for photographers and videographers who would make heavy use of it. Without asking for a 1 TB version, 512 GB seemed to us to be a good compromise for those who would like to limit their access to the cloud. We were right… except for France, which decided not to market the 512 GB version and to focus on a single 256 GB version.
If we can understand that this limits the number of references with which the young French division of Oppo has to juggle – the company is not yet very well known in France – this remains very regrettable, both in terms of uses and picture. Even if it means offering a terminal with a high-end camera part, you might as well accompany it with storage that reflects its capacities, right? And if economic reasons prevent it, it would be welcome to offer a memory extension in Micro SD format, right?
In any case and unlike Apple and Samsung, Oppo does not manage, in France, to align the storage capacities with the photo and video potential of its device. And that’s a shame.