Oppo Find X5 review: a flagship smartphone that costs a little less

This Oppo Find X5 review is for anyone who wants one of the best Android phones but who isn’t keen on paying top-end prices for it. It’s a more modest flagship but it’s a flagship nonetheless. 

Sitting in the middle of the series, between the pricier Oppo Find X5 Pro and the cheaper Oppo Find X5 Lite, the Oppo Find X5 gives you the best of both worlds combining a decent price with impressive specs and up to date features. 

Having scored a huge 5-stars in its T3 review, the Oppo Find X5 Pro has it all. For me, its standout feature was the camera system but it also boasts a 6.7-inch QHD+ screen, seriously long battery life and insanely fast charging. But not everyone will be willing to spend such a jaw-dropping amount of money on it, in which case, could the Oppo Find X5 be the next best thing? You’ve come to the right place to find out. 

Oppo Find X5 review: price and what’s different 

You can buy the Oppo Find X5 now for £749 in the UK. Take a look at the widgets to see where you can buy one. 

This phone won’t be available in the US and we are yet to hear anything about availability in Australia. 

If you’re wondering whether to buy this or the Oppo Find X5 Pro, there are a few differences worth knowing about. Firstly, the Oppo Find X5 has a smaller 6.55-inch FHD+ display and much more manageable dimensions. While both have 120Hz refresh rate, only the Pro model is an LPTO panel which means it can drop to as little as 1Hz to save on battery life. 

The Oppo Find X5 isn't officially waterproof or dustproof, unlike the Oppo Find X5 which is rated IP68 which means it'll withstand dust and can be submerged in up to 1.5m of water for 30 minutes. 

Performance on the Oppo Find X5 Pro is slightly better thanks to its processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 which is paired with 12GB of RAM. In comparison, the Oppo Find X5 uses last year’s Snapdragon 888 with only 8GB of RAM. You’ll also get a smaller 4,800mAh battery here although both phones come with 80W SuperVOOC charging. Both phones have the same camera setup although the X5 Pro has a slightly more sophisticated 5-axis stabiliser. 

The biggest and arguably most important difference though is the price. The Oppo Find X5 is £300 cheaper than the Oppo Find X5 Pro which costs £1,049.

Oppo Find X5 review: design and display 

From the front, the Oppo Find X5 looks just like the Pro model of the phone, just smaller. Its curved display wraps around the edges of the handset with a discreet hole-punch style camera in the top left corner. 

Flip it over and things are a little different, you don’t get the same sleek ceramic design with an integrated camera module. Instead, the glass back looks almost like rubber with an aluminium framed camera notch. It feels less premium but also a touch more durable, and it won’t pick up any dirty fingerprint marks. You do also get a protective case included in the box to protect it. 

A metallic edge surrounds the phone, with a USB-C port to charge it, a volume rocker on the left-hand side and a power button on the right-hand side.

Measuring 160.3 x 72.6 x 8.7mm and weighing 196g, the Oppo Find X5 feels comfortable in the hand. It’s not too big and it won’t be a struggle to slip it into your trouser pocket. Unlocking the display is a breeze as well using the fingerprint scanner, it’s well-positioned and quick. You’ll also be able to use facial recognition if that’s what you prefer.

The 6.55-inch FHD+ AMOLED display isn’t quite as eye-popping as what you get from X5 Pro, but it still looks fantastic and is definitely worthy of a flagship phone. Featuring 10-bit colour depth, it’s vibrant and lively with sharp details and plenty of brightness to it as well. You’ll easily be able to watch TV shows and movies on this, as well as edit photos and play mobile games.

You’re guaranteed a smooth experience on the Oppo Find X5 thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate, although it's a shame that it’s not LPTO because that means it won’t be able to drop down to as little as 1Hz to conserve battery life - it only goes down to 60Hz.

Oppo Find X5 review: camera system 

The camera system is where the Oppo Find X5 really shines. Mostly the same as the X5 Pro, there’s a 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide angle camera and a 13MP telephoto camera on the back, with a 32MP selfie camera on the front. Oppo has partnered with Hasselblad to create the software, so of course, you would expect some big things and this phone won't disappoint. 

On its default point-and-shoot settings, the Oppo Find X5 does a great job at capturing realistic, detailed shots. Colours came out looking vibrant but not overly so, and whatever the subject was the photos looked impressive. I tested out the camera on a cloudy day and it did sometimes struggle to balance light and dark areas of the shot suggesting some problems with the Auto HDR but it wasn’t always a problem so I wouldn’t let that put you off. 

Take a look at the Gallery below to see some sample shots from the Oppo Find X5.

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The automatic Night mode takes a couple of seconds to capture the photo but once it has, you’ll get a clear precise photo that lightens up the scene well. You’ll be able to snap decent shots no whatever time of day it is.

Using the telephoto lens, there's 2x optical zoom whilst the digital zoom can reach up to 20x. Other 2022 flagships like the Huawei P50 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra boast up to 100x zoom, so in comparison, this meagre 20x zoom isn't going to blow you away. Even at as little as 10x zoom, there was a noticeable graininess to the image.

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Oppo Find X5 review: performance and battery 

Running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, the Adreno 660 GPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, this phone might not be the most powerful but that doesn’t mean it's lacking in that department. I found it coped well with just about everything I could throw at it including more demanding mobile games like PUBG Mobile which comes pre-installed on the device. 

On the Geekbench 5 benchmarking test, the Oppo Find X5 scored 782 in single-core and 3,394 in multi-core which isn’t that far off the Oppo Find X5 Pro, and places it just below other flagships like the OnePlus 10 Pro. It easily beats some of the similarly priced competition including the Google Pixel 6 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.

As you’d expect the Oppo Find X5 comes loaded with 5G support and Wi-Fi 6 so you’ll get the fastest connection speeds wherever you go (as long as your network is set up for it that is).

The 4,800mAh battery did a great job at keeping me up and running throughout the day and it even lasted well into the next day. To compare it to other phones on the market, I ran a local video over the space of two hours on full brightness. The battery percentage dropped by 10% in that time so would have lasted a total of 20 hours which is excellent. It then took me about 34 minutes to get a full charge using the 80W SUPERVOOC charger that’s included in the box. You can also charge the Oppo Find X5 wirelessly if you own the compatible kit. 

Software-wise, the Oppo Find X5 uses ColorOS 12.1 which is based on Android 12. It’s a pretty good Android operating system that doesn’t look cartoonish or over-the-top like some others. There are tonnes of ways to personalise the phone including some really cool always-on display designs and animated wallpapers. 

My only big problem with the OS is how many pointless apps come pre-installed like O Relax, Tile Master 3D or even TikTok. I’d much rather choose and download my own apps from the Google Play Store rather than have to go through and delete the ones I don’t want. 

Oppo Find X5 review: verdict 

The Oppo Find X5 is a fantastic phone with lots to offer across the board, but it especially thrives at taking photos using its advanced three-lens camera system. Alongside that, you also get a sleek curved screen and massive battery life with super-fast charging so you’ll never be caught short again. 

Admittedly the design on the back isn’t going to wow anyone but most people will cover that up with a case anyway. 

I would definitely recommend the Oppo Find X5 and actually, I think it’s a better buy than the Pro model if you don’t want such a big screen, you don’t mind losing out a little on display quality and you're not fussed about your next phone being waterproof. 

Oppo Find X5 review: also consider  

If you like the idea of fast charging, you should also consider the Xiaomi 12 Pro, it only takes 20 minutes to replenish the battery thanks to its 120W charger which is included in the box. The phone itself is a stunner too with a stylish design and a gorgeous WQHD+ 6.73-inch display. It is a little more expensive than the Oppo Find X5 though. 

Looking for a more affordable flagship? The Google Pixel 6 is your best bet. It’s well-priced and runs on pure Android which means it's set up for all sorts of smart features and it manages to deliver excellent photography through its two-lens camera system.