Oppo unveils the Samsung beater we've been waiting years for

It was back in 2022 when we last saw Oppo's Find X series on global release – but now the brand is back with a bang for 2024, confirming that its new Find X8 and Find X8 Pro flagships will be available from today in the UK.

That's good news as it means more variety when choosing one of the best phones – and having spent the last two weeks reviewing the Oppo Find X8 Pro, it's clear that the mega-brand has the likes of Samsung well and truly in its sights.

The Find X8 Pro does things a little differently, you see, with five key features – design distinction, battery longevity, display, cameras, and performance – which, in some cases, even sit the X8 Pro a peg or two above even the best Android phone of this year, Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Distinct design

It's rare to say that a design is unique – but that's literally if choosing the Pearly White option, as each Find X8 Pro has a distinct pattern with a seashell-like reflective quality. There's also a Space Black version.

That's only for the Pro model, however, with the Find X8 base model instead offering Star Grey and Shell Pink options in addition to the Space Black – which is the one finish available for both handsets.

Battery

The latest battery technology is silicon-carbon, which has a greater density than typical lithium-ion, and doesn't wear out so quickly either. That means more battery capacity in the same equivalent space.

The Oppo Find X8 Pro has a 5910mAh battery – and if the numbers mean nothing to you then, well, just consider that it's 65% more capacious than an iPhone 16 Pro's equivalent. The Find X8 base model, as it's smaller, is 5630mAh – but that's still significant, especially when the larger Galaxy S24 Ultra has a smaller (but still significant) 5000mAh call.

There's also 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging for both Oppo handsets. Sure, there's even faster on the market – but the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is 45W by comparison, so not nearly as quick.

Display

The two Find X8 handsets aren't massively different in side: there's a 6.59-inch panel in the X8 and a 6.78-inch panel in the X8 Pro. The latter has a micro-curved screen edge, which makes the panel look almost 'raised', with an iPhone 16 Pro-like quality about its panel.

Brightness is also massive (at 4500 nits peak) – and thanks to the battery you needn't worry about excessively dimming it down. There are more resolute panels on the market – that's where Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra hits a higher pixel density win – but the sheer pop, brightness and clarity from the Oppo handsets is stellar.

Cameras

Whether or not you love or loathe the giant camera circle on the X8 series' rears won't affect how much you'll love the cameras within. Both are Hasselblad endorsed setups, a longtime collaboration that's also present on OnePlus handsets.

All of the Find X8 series' cameras are 50-megapixels apiece, ensuring camera consistency – a criticism of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra across its widely resolution-varied zoom options. The Find X8 Pro adds a 6x periscope zoom into the mix though, for even more zoom potential.

Performance

While the earlier Find X5 Pro utilises Qualcomm for hardware, the Find X8 Pro has made the shift to MediaTek – with the Dimensity 9400 now present in both these new flagships. It's the firm's most powerful – and a direct rival to the recently-announced Snapdragon 8 Elite.

As you can read in T3's Find X8 Pro review, the performance is super – and with 16GB RAM in the 512GB models and above (it's 12GB in the 256GB version) you won't be short of power. There's even a software setting to use a further 12GB RAM from the storage for the ultimate tap-open experience.

In conclusion

It's been a minute – well, more like almost three years – since Oppo was in the UK. The Find X5 Pro was a 5-star-awarded phone, showing pure excellence and a great camera. The Find X8 Pro only grows upon this.

At this stage, the UK price – £1049 for the Pro, available on O2 – puts the latest Find handset on par with its flagship competition, such as Samsung. There's no pricing mention for the base Find X8 model, however, so assume that's not going to be ranged everywhere.

Speaking of which, we're still awaiting Oppo's confirmation on whether the Find X8 series will arrive in the USA and Australia – and, if so, at what sort of price points. But, based on the above information and no price increase compared to its natural predecessor, it looks like Oppo is staying consistent and competitive. It's good to see the brand back in town.