Oppo Find X9 Ultra review

Upgrades all around, but the 1.0-inch main camera is now gone

Update, 30 April: Don't miss our Oppo Find X9 Ultra Hasselblad Earth Explorer Kit hands-on.

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra changes up quite a few things in its camera system - a lot more than we're normally used to seeing within just one generation. There's a new main camera on the back, the ultrawide and one of the telephotos get larger sensors, the other telephoto gets more reach, the selfie camera is improved too - quite the overhaul.

Starting on the main camera, you'd be forgiven to think of it as a downgrade - the sensor format has gone down from the 1.0" of the previous model (and a couple of generations prior) to a 1/1.12" type imager. That leaves just the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a 1.0" main camera (technically, there's a Huawei out there with a 1.0" sensor too, but it's seen a limited release only).

There's more to it though, since it's a brand new Sony sensor with a 200MP nominal resolution (old one was 50MP), and it's paired with a brighter lens - the old model's aperture was f/1.8, this one is specified at f/1.5 (though hardware apps list it as f/1.58). The lens is stabilized, of course.

3x telephoto camera gets a larger sensor • Second telephoto upgraded to 10x zoom

The short telephoto's focal length remains 70mm for a 3x zoom magnification. Resolution has gone up to 200MP from the 50MP of the X8 Ultra's 3x zoom. It's not the Find X9 Pro's 200MP sensor though - that one has a 1/1.56" optical format, this one is 1/1.28", so it's also larger than the ones fitted on vivo telephotos.

The second telephoto has gotten a bump in zoom power to 10x - the new high-res 3x camera will happily stand in for the old model's 6x zoom camera, and now you'll be getting more optical reach thanks to this new 10x telephoto. The sensor isn't too large, at 1/2.75", but that's the best they could fit, we reckon. It's placed behind a multi-fold prism that makes the whole assembly pretty compact. The trade-off is that this camera can't focus from closer than 100cm, but you have the other telephoto for your macro-related endeavors.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra 50MP 10x periscope telephoto camera details

The ultrawide camera gets upgraded to a 1/1.95" sensor - it's the same Lytia 600 that the X8 Ultra used for its 6x telephoto. The vivo X300 Ultra remains the best bet on paper with its 1/1.28" ultrawide camera sensor, but the Oppo is still ahead of the Xiaomi in this regard (1/2.75" sensor on the 17 Ultra's ultrawide).

The other new development is the selfie camera. It's a 50MP unit that's based on the Samsung JN5 sensor and features a 21mm-equivalent lens. You'd think it's the exact same module as the one in the Find X9 Pro, but the aperture is smaller on the Ultra (f/2.4 vs. f/2.0, believe it or not), and the lens is marginally longer here.

What hasn't changed, as you can already tell, is the collaboration with Hasselblad, which brings film and lenses simulations as well as the XPAN ultrawide aspect shooting mode.

• Wide (main): 200MP Sony Lytia 901 (1/1.12", 0.7µm-2.8µm); 23mm, f/1.5, OIS, PDAF (13cm - ∞); 8K30/4K120 video recording.
• Telephoto 1: 200MP OmniVision OV52A (1/1.28", 0.61µm-2.45µm); 70mm (3x zoom), f/2.2, OIS, PDAF (15cm - ∞); 8K30/4K120.
• Telephoto 2: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JNL (1/2.75", 0.64µm-1.28µm); 230mm (10x zoom), f/3.5, OIS, multi-directional PDAF (98cm - ∞); 4K60.
• Ultrawide: 50MP Sony Lytia 600 (1/1.95", 0.8µm-1.6µm); 14mm, f/2.0, multi-directional PDAF; 4K60.
• Front camera: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN5 (1/2.75", 0.64µm-1.28µm); 21mm, f/2.4, multi-directional PDAF; 4K60.

In addition to the 'real' cameras, there's also the True Color 3.2MP multispectral sensor for more nuanced light temperature readings and zonal white balance calculation.

Unlike the vivo Ultra, which has lost its dedicated camera control button for its global debut this year, the Find X9 Ultra gets to keep the X8 Ultra's Quick button. It's only sort of a button because it doesn't actually click but it's pressure-sensitive and gets haptic feedback from the vibration motor.

The functionality is straightforward and intuitive. Double-press on the key can be used to launch the camera or launch and immediately snap a photo. You can also disable the double press action and only use the Quick Button once you're already in the camera app.

In Photo mode, a press on the button will take a photo, while long-pressing it will do a burst of photos. In Video mode, it can be used to start and end a recording. There's also a capacitive sensor underneath so you can slide your finger for zoom action (but only in landscape orientation), and you can choose whether you'd like it to be continuous or switch between the fixed zoom presets.

Daylight photo quality

The Find X9 Ultra is one of the least reviewer-friendly handsets we've tested so far, with a ton of cameras and focal lengths, plus multiple resolutions for each one, including multiple resolutions for the intermediate, non-native focal lengths (2x and 6x).

In addition to the nominal and binned-down resolutions (12.5MP for all, in 'Standard resolution' mode) for each camera, the wide camera and the short telephoto on the back have 50MP modes, and for whatever reason there are also 50MP modes for the 2x and 6x zoom levels.

All that is on top of the 'High resolution' mode, which is enabled by default and saves 28MP files at 1x and 2x, and 26MP at all other zoom levels up to 10x. So brace yourselves for the sheer volume of the camera section that lies ahead.

Main camera

The main camera's 28MP High resolution photos at 1x are properly excellent. They're packed with detail, random textures look organic, noise isn't a thing. Dynamic range is great, tonal extremes are developed well, but there's also plenty of contrast. The auto white balance is about as infallible as you can get and colors have a reasonable level of pop - not as vibrant as vivos like to render them, admittedly, but nowhere near dull either.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 28MP

Alternatively, you can shoot in Standard resolution and enjoy superb 12.5MP 1x photos as well, though FOMO might torment you for all that detail that you're not quite capturing.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 12.5MP

The main camera's 50MP shots are also quite great, with intricate detail and natural processing. The 200MP ones, on the other hand, aren't worth it.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 200MP

Portraits at 1x are excellent too. The Photo mode shots come out at 28MP if you have the High resolution setting enabled, while the Portrait mode images are saved at 12.5MP, so that might be a consideration. The Portrait mode blur is believable and subject separation is great. We'd still prefer the 'real' photos for their extra detail, unless you have a particularly unsightly background that needs to be blurred away. Skin tones are lovely, by the way.

Human subjects, main camera (1x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

At 2x zoom, the 28MP photos are still pretty great, though there are now some signs of softness at 1:1.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), 28MP

The 12.5MP ones are pin-sharp.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), 12.5MP

The 50MP photos at 2x zoom aren't as easily likeable, with more pronounced sharpening in foliage, and an overall softness, particularly strong in brightly lit areas - like the pavement.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), 50MP

The 2x portraits turned out superb again, though - the 28MP Photo mode shots have excellent sharpness on the subject. The 12.5MP Portrait mode images are solid too.

Human subjects, main camera (2x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

3x telephoto camera

The 3x telephoto camera is also doing an amazing job at its native focal length, in High resolution mode. We're looking at excellent detail, wide dynamic range, and great colors.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), 26MP

The 12.5MP shots are almost too sharp for their own good - perhaps slightly more lax processing would help them look more natural. We're not saying they're bad, it's just that grass can look a little odd on occasion.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), 12.5MP

The 3x camera excels at portraits too, with great facial proportions in headshots, top-notch detail, and plenty of background separation. Portrait mode can add more blur, if that's what you're after.

Human subjects, main camera (3x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

The 50MP 3x results are also very sharp if you're shooting in bright conditions and noticeably less so in dimmer indoor settings. The 200MP mode is, once again, of little practical use.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), 50MP

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), 200MP

6x zoom photos in 26MP are also reasonably good with foliage remaining somewhat natural-looking.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (6x), 26MP

The 12.5MP versions of these images are great in their own context - sharpness is top-notch.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (6x), 12.5MP

For completeness' sake, here's a handful of 6x 50MP shots. One is better than the others, which doesn't mean we can understand why this mode exists.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (6x), 50MP

140mm is on the long end of the portrait focal length range but if that's your preferred focal length, you can still count on the Find to deliver the goods. Indoors, 26MP Photo mode shots might be a little softer than ideal, but they're plenty good enough. The 12.5MP Portrait mode versions also left us a little wanting in terms of subject sharpness, though we would still not call them problematic.

Human subjects, main camera (6x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

10x telephoto camera

At the long end of the zoom range we have the new 10x camera. Its 26MP shots' sharpness is somewhere between good and very good depending on subject and lighting, and global properties are excellent.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (10x), 26MP

Again, the 12.5MP resolution may well be the sweet spot, offering excellent pixel-level detail.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (10x), 12.5MP

The 50MP shots are on the soft side - we'd refrain from shooting in this resolution at this zoom level.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (10x), 50MP

Oppo insists on having the 10x zoom level available in Portrait mode as well, the 230mm focal length only really being good for large open spaces. The 26MP Photo mode results and the 12.5MP Portrait mode shots are all generally very good.

Human subjects, main camera (10x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

20x zoom photos aren't flawless, but in bright outdoor scenes and with the right expectations, you should be quite happy with the results.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (20x), 12.5MP

The 30x setting is stretching things beyond the comfort levels of this camera, though if you don't expect pixel-level greatness, you'll still find these photos quite usable.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (30x), 12.5MP

Ultrawide camera

Ultrawide 26MP photos are great as well, for the most part. What's not rendered too well is grass and similar fine textures that can get a gritty, made-up looking quality to them. Other than that, detail is great, and dynamic range and colors are excellent as usual.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 26MP

The 12.5MP photos are top-class, with just the right amount of detail and a natural look to fine textures.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 12.5MP

The full-res shots are like the 26MP, but 50MP - reasonably good looking with the right subject, but with a somewhat unpleasant rendition of random textures.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 50MP

Close-ups

When it comes to closeups, there's a Macro shot toggle in the Photo mode context menu (not the mode selector) that adds a manual focus option to the viewfinder and also lets you expand your depth of field in the 'Full clarity' mode by focus-stacking multiple frames. We only shot regular photos - without the 'Full clarity' enhancement, but even then there's more than one way to capture close-ups.

First, you can shoot at 2x on the main camera, and for whatever reason these only come out at 12.5MP, even with the phone set to 'High resolution). Even so, they're pretty great.

Close-up samples, main camera (2x), 12.5MP

At 3x, the resolution setting does work as expected and you can have either 12.5MP or 26MP shots. Shooting at the 3x zoom level, at minimum focusing distance, you'll get a similarly sized subject to the 2x shots but with a different perspective and shallower depth of field. Quality is comparable.

Close-up samples, telephoto camera (3x), 12.5MP

Close-up samples, telephoto camera (3x), 26MP

Then there's the 6x zoom level which will get you the largest reproduction and very good quality too.

Close-up samples, telephoto camera (6x), 12.5MP

Low-light photo quality

Main camera

The Find X9 Pro does keep things simple at night - its full auto photos benefit from all the low-light processing it can muster, and you don't need to overthink which mode you should be shooting in. Of course, if you'd prefer, you can take things into your own hands and shoot in Master/Pro mode, but that's outside of the scope of this review.

It's also worth mentioning that the High-resolution mode does not work below a certain light level, and, at night, you'll be getting 12.5MP photos regardless of how you have set the resolution in settings.

The Find's main camera 1x shots at night are generally wonderful, with a few nitpicks that can be spotted if you look long enough. Exposures are well judged, dynamic range is excellent and you'll get great shadow development without having your highlights all blown. The auto white balance is reliably accurate, with maybe a hint of warmth in some scenes, and colors have pleasing saturation levels. Detail is very good, though some textures in the shadows may have been smoothened out too aggressively.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

The 2x zoom results are more... wobbly - there are more readily apparent imperfections here, and different ones too, depending on the scene. Shadows can be particularly gritty, facades can get their detail flattened, darker scenes can be a little soft. These comments come from a place of particularly high expectations, however, and may sound like nitpicking when they are in fact just pointing out the small missteps in otherwise solid-looking photos. That said, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra does better at 2x in the dark.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

3x telephoto camera

The 3x camera's results in the dark at its native focal length are pretty much flawless. Detail is excellent, dynamic range is great, colors are on point.

If the irregular messy periscope bokeh balls irk you, you'll be irked by these photos though. That said, they're hard to escape on a modern zoom camera (without major trade-offs, like on the Galaxy S26 Ultra).

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x)

6x zoom shots are good, with mostly excellent global properties and alright sharpness and detail.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (6x)

10x telephoto camera

The 10x camera's low-light results are actually quite impressive, given the relatively dim lens and small-ish sensor. With just a bit of light to work with, you'd get ample detail, dynamic range is still great, colors are good too.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (10x)

Go beyond 10x and you'd be wise to adjust your expectations, but the 20x photos are still pretty decent.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (20x)

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (30x)

Ultrawide camera

The Find X9 Ultra's convincing low-light performance continues on the ultrawide camera, which captures sharp images with wide dynamic range and likable colors. A certain high-profile rival, which we are also in the process of reviewing, isn't necessarily better despite its substantially larger sensor.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Selfies

We'd struggle to think of a bad word to say about the Find's selfies - maybe, if we must, we'd nitpick about the slightly conservative overall saturation, but that's grasping at straws.

Skin tones in these selfies are accurate and life-like, dynamic range is nicely wide, sharpness is excellent, the 21mm native focal length (the 0.8x zoom setting) provides ample context, the AF allows for close-ups up your nose (if you insist).

Selfie samples, 0.8x

The 1x zoom level (25mm equivalent) does take away a smidge of the pixel-level quality, but photos remain excellent.

Selfie samples, 1x

Video quality

The Find X9 Ultra comes with a rich video recording feature set with plenty of quality options and a capable (well, at least moderately capable) Pro mode. 4K60 across all cameras should go without saying, but let's say it nonetheless.

On the back, you also get 8K30 from 1x and up, but the 10x 8K30 is still sourced from the 3x camera - so effectively, you have 'native' 8K30 at 1x and 3x. It's the same with 4K120 - the 10x 4K120 still comes from the short telephoto. The Pro video mode adds a 24fps frame rate to all resolutions.

Dolby Vision recording is enabled by default and is available in all quality settings, except for 8K. The Pro video mode allows for Log recording (Oppo's O-Log2) with 4 pre-set live preview LUTs (which you can also have directly applied to the final video) and an option to import your own. There are also shooting aids, like a waveform (a decently large one too), focus peaking, and audio levels monitoring.

There's always-on video stabilization in all quality settings, with an Ultra Steady mode also available up to 4K60 on the rear cameras and up to 1080p30 on the selfie camera. In Pro mode, you get three stabilization options - Off (completely), OIS (only), and Enhanced. This Enhanced option is apparently different from the regular video mode's stabilization - at least the coverage is different from both the regular and the Ultra Steady modes.

You can hit 'play' below and use the 'next' button to advance through the playlist of all video samples, or you can watch the full playlist on YouTube.

Video quality is very good. Dynamic range is excellent and you get great contrast and well developed extremes. The auto white balance is dependable, treating you to an overall accurate and vibrant representation of the world, and the rear cameras are well matched in their output. What's not so great is sharpness - the main camera and the 3x telephoto deliver merely good detail and we were hoping for excellence. The 10x telephoto and the ultrawide are looking a lot better in their own particular contexts - possibly even class-leading.

Video screengrabs, daylight: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 6x • 10x

In the dark, the Find maintains great properties from a global perspective, with wide dynamic range and good color output. Sharpness remains a bit underwhelming on the main camera, though the 3x telephoto is above average in its detail against competing efforts. The 10x footage is also looking good next to major rivals, while the ultrawide is more in average territory.

Video screengrabs, low light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 6x • 10x

Stabilization is good to very good on the Find X9 Ultra. Walking shake is ironed out well, with only minor imperfections left in the end result. When shooting from a stationary position, the ultrawide camera's footage is nicely stable, the main camera is pretty great too. The 3x telephoto is slightly fidgety, but not to the point of being an issue, while the 10x telephoto is nearly perfect. Pans tended to be a bit more abrupt than we'd have liked.

We found no meaningful difference between the regularly stabilized footage and the Ultra Steady stabilization mode.