As Apple and Samsung struggle to make that dream all-display bezeless phone, we have seen several Chinese phone makers like Vivo beat them to the punch. This trend for 2018 continues with Oppo’s new Find X, which is being officially announced in Paris today, combines a number of cool design ideas, plus some even newer tricks, to fit an extremely large 6.4-inch display into a phone that you can still hold in one hand. Offering over 92.25 percent screen to body ratio, the Find X has a striking remarkableness to Samsung’s Galaxy s9. And it does this without utilizing a notch, which should make at least some people happy.
The most interesting aspect of the Find X’s design is its camera system, which is completely hidden when the phone is off or the camera app is closed. When you turn the Find X on and open the camera app, the entire top section of the phone motorizes up and reveals a 25-megapixel front-facing camera, 3D facial scanning system, and 16-megapixel + 20-megapixel dual rear camera. Close the camera app and the whole assembly motors back into the phone’s chassis. Oppo says the camera can open in just 0.5 seconds, and based on my experience, that seems fairly accurate.
Goodbye to the Notch
The iPhone X made the Notch popular last year and all other phone makers have been trying to copy that. But, are motorized camera assemblies the key to a notch-free future? I’m not so sure, there are new compromises to make with the Find X, such as a lack of water resistance and a motorized system that is more susceptible to damage. But it’s certainly an interesting approach, and the Find X shows it can be executed in a surprisingly functional way.
Its display is a vibrant OLED panel with 1080 pixel wide resolution, and both the front and back of the phone feature curved glass.
The Find X does not have any sort of fingerprint authentication system, whether a traditional scanning pad or an under-screen system. Instead, the phone uses a 3D facial scanner, housed in that pop-up camera assembly, for biometric authentication. Turn the phone on, swipe up on the lock screen, and the top of the phone will motor up, authenticate your face, and unlock the phone. It does this all shockingly quickly on the pre-production device I spent time with — fast enough that it doesn’t feel like it will impede use of the device in my day-to-day.
Inside the Oppo Find X
It uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, has 8GB of RAM, and offers up to 256GB of storage. It has a 3,730mAh battery with Oppo’s VOOC fast wired charging that’s similar to OnePlus’ Dash Charge. The Find X is a dual-SIM phone that’s also globally compatible.
For software, the Find X is running Android 8.1 Oreo with Oppo’s Color OS customizations. Color OS borrows a lot of ideas from iOS and Samsung’s spin on Android, which makes for an interesting combination. It won’t be familiar to anyone used to a Pixel device, but it’s not the worst Android interface I’ve used.
The Find X will be available to order in China starting today, and it should cost less than other comparably equipped Android smartphones.
