Oppo Find X9 Ultra review: I’m in love with the 10x telephoto camera
22/6/2026
Pictures: Jan Johannsen
There are plenty of smartphones with excellent cameras, but only the Oppo Find X9 Ultra has a telephoto lens with 10x zoom. I’ve fallen in love with it.
Telephoto cameras with three- or five-fold zoom are commonplace in smartphones. Until recently, longer focal lengths were only available digitally or as bulky clip-on lenses. However, Oppo has equipped the Find X9 Ultra with a telephoto camera offering ten times the focal length of the main camera. The 230 millimetres – converted to 35mm equivalent – open up entirely new perspectives and even deliver good image quality. The rest of the smartphone is also well equipped. However, this massive smartphone does not come cheap.
A second telephoto camera sets the Find X9 Ultra apart
Oppo has fitted the Find X9 Ultra with two telephoto cameras: one with a focal length ten times that of the main camera. This sets the smartphone apart from other top-of-the-range models. The Vivo X300 Ultra and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra have only one telephoto camera, and Samsung has even reduced the focal length to a five-fold zoom since the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Key specifications of the Find X9 Ultra’s cameras at a glance:
10× telephoto camera with the largest sensor and highest resolution
Oppo has not only equipped the Find X9 Ultra with a 10× telephoto camera, but is also pulling out all the stops: it is the first smartphone camera with this level of optical zoom to use a 50-megapixel sensor. And in terms of surface area, this is the largest sensor ever used in such a camera. It also captures 322 per cent more light than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which was the last smartphone to feature a 10× telephoto camera three years ago.
For shots like this, taken from the Steinwerder jetty across the River Elbe, I’d have to resort to digital zoom on other smartphones and would never achieve such good image quality.
Many telephoto cameras perform less well in the dark, despite having a night mode. The Find X9 Ultra’s 10× telephoto camera does not. Neither are the lights overexposed nor is the darkness of the night completely lost – and yet I can still make out everything in the picture.
3× telephoto camera with the largest sensor
The superlatives continue with the 3× telephoto camera. The Omnivision OV52A is said to be the largest image sensor ever fitted to a telephoto camera. Together with the f/2.2 aperture, it’s said to capture 49 per cent more light than the 3× cameras on the Find X9 Pro or X8 Ultra.
As much as I’m impressed by the 10× telephoto camera, I already like the ones with shorter focal lengths. They allow me to capture subjects that aren’t possible with the main camera – at least not unless I can walk on water. And if I don’t have to put up with any loss of quality, I’m very happy.
In night mode, the photos taken with the telephoto camera actually remain night shots, and are neither unnaturally brightened nor of poor quality. The level of detail suffers slightly, but the exposure is almost perfect.
Main camera: smaller sensor, higher resolution and larger aperture
With the Find X9 Ultra, Oppo has moved away from the 1-inch sensor used in previous models. Instead, it uses the Lytia 901, a sensor developed by the manufacturer in collaboration with Sony. At 1/1.12 inches, the sensor area is still large, though smaller than that of the Vivo X300 Ultra or Xiaomi 17 Ultra. However, according to Oppo, it is currently the largest sensor with a resolution of 200 megapixels. Combined with the f/1.5 aperture, it is said to capture just as much light as the larger sensors in its predecessors. And even with 2x in-sensor zoom, 50 megapixels are still available. By default, the main camera takes 28-megapixel photos, which are easily over 10 megabytes in size.
Regardless of the technical details, I’m very impressed with the results. The Find X9 Ultra’s main camera delivers outstanding photos. The colours look natural, it balances contrasts well and the level of detail is high.
In low light, the camera automatically switches to night mode with correspondingly longer exposure times. The result looks natural: bright areas aren’t overexposed and night isn’t turned into day.
Ultra-wide-angle captures more light
Things are a bit more subdued with the ultra-wide-angle camera. Although it has a larger sensor than the 10x telephoto camera, Oppo cites only the 56 per cent increase in light capture compared to the previous smartphone model as a standout innovation. The remaining key specifications are more in line with industry standards when compared to the other cameras. That doesn’t mean the pictures aren’t good, though.
On closer inspection, slight blurring in the corners is noticeable. I like the colour reproduction, but the level of detail lags slightly behind that of the main camera. Overall, however, the ultra-wide-angle camera is perfectly suited to tourist snapshots.
On the smartphone display, the photos look wonderful in low light. Night mode ensures good exposure. However, when I view the photos on a large PC screen, they become more pixelated.
The clip-on lens isn’t a must-have
The clip-on lens that Oppo offers for the Find X9 Ultra looks impressive and, with its tripod mount, comes across as very professional. However, it makes the smartphone less portable, and given the 10× telephoto camera, the benefit of the teleconverter is less than I’d expected.
I took it out with me – just as I had done with the Vivo X300 Ultra’s clip-on lens – to a American football match, and the edited photos look great on Instagram. However, the camera can’t capture fast movements in sharp focus straight away. If I open the gallery app quickly enough, I can see the shots being sharpened. This doesn’t always work perfectly. In the following image, the AI has only sharpened a frame around the players and not the entire artificial turf.
The 70-millimetre difference in focal length has little effect on the frame of the shot. A 400-millimetre clip-on lens, as seen on the Vivo X300 Ultra, would have been more appealing here.
When I view the photos on the smartphone, I can’t see any difference in quality. It’s only when I view them at full size on a PC monitor that I notice – particularly with text – that the clip-on lens provides more detail.
I can also use the teleconverter for digital zoom, reaching up to 1380 mm. At 690 mm, however, I already find it difficult to frame subjects handheld, and the level of detail suffers as a result of the digital magnification.
But spend 500 euros on that and lug that bulky lens around with me? No. What’s more, the case needed to attach the teleconverter makes the smartphone too bulky. The shutter button and zoom rocker don’t quite make up for that.
Hasselblad remains a prominent partner for the camera
With the Find X9 Ultra, Oppo is continuing its collaboration with Hasselblad. This is evident in the camera filters and the smartphone’s design – particularly in the black version. The arrangement of the cameras on the back is also said to follow the Swedish camera manufacturer’s design philosophies.
I find the announcement that “Hasselblad Master Mode” – the camera app’s mode for manual settings – is intended to deliver natural colour tones without any AI intervention particularly exciting. Compared to the automatic mode, the result looks like this:
The difference in colour intensity is particularly noticeable in the yellow of the bins and the orange of the VW camper van. It’s also evident on the building on the left and in the sky.
‘Xpan Mode’ has been around for several years now, and I still like it. With an aspect ratio of 65:24, it produces completely different shots to the classic 3:2 ratio that smartphones usually offer. In addition, there are countless analogue film types available to simulate, so you don’t have to adjust the look of the image after taking the shot. For me, that’s already too much choice.
Very long battery life, bright display and plenty of power
The rest of the Oppo Find X9 Ultra’s spec offers some of the very best hardware currently available in a smartphone. So here’s just a quick rundown:
With the silicon-carbon battery, which has a capacity of 7050 mAh, I recorded a runtime of 27 hours and 39 minutes. This makes it the model with the second-longest battery life in our tests at present, surpassed only by the Find X9 Pro, which has a larger battery and offers 35 minutes’ more runtime. A power adaptor is not included in the box. If you use one that supports the SuperVOOC fast-charging standard, the smartphone can handle up to 100 watts. Wireless charging via AirVOOC supports up to 50 watts.
Whilst the battery life is ideal for long photography trips, the screen is perfect for use as a viewfinder for the cameras. The 6.82-inch AMOLED display boasts vibrant and natural colours. The standard brightness reaches 800 nits. High-brightness mode increases this to 1800 nits, ensuring everything remains clearly visible even in direct sunlight. With a high resolution of 3168 × 1440 pixels, this results in a pixel density of 510 ppi and a sharp, detailed image. If this is important to you for gaming: the display offers a refresh rate of up to 144 hertz.
The Find X9 Ultra can be used for photography and other tasks even in adverse conditions. With IP68/69 certification, it’s not only protected against being submerged for 30 minutes at a depth of 1.5 metres, but also against water jets. I’d see this less as an invitation to take underwater photos, and more as reassurance that you can still pull out your smartphone even during heavy downpours. The touchscreen responds reliably to damp fingers, though the water droplets on it shouldn’t be too large. Above a certain size, they too can trigger actions. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is designed to prevent scratches and other damage to the screen.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is responsible for the processing power. Qualcomm’s currently most powerful chipset is supported by twelve gigabytes of RAM. Based on the average of several benchmark tests, the Find X9 Ultra even outperforms the Vivo X300 Ultra and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, both of which feature the same chipset.
The internal storage, which must accommodate not only the photos and videos taken, has a capacity of 512 gigabytes. In other countries, Oppo also offers variants with 256 gigabytes or one terabyte. The former is rather limited for this type of smartphone. It is not possible to expand the storage via a microSD card.
ColorOS 16: AI tools and Quickshare with AirDrop
Oppo has installed ColorOS 16 on the Find X9 Ultra. The software is based on Android 16 and features its own unique interface, whilst adding functions not universally available on Google’s operating system. These include, amongst other things, a replica of iOS’s Dynamic Island.
In a nutshell
The camera with a 10x zoom makes all the difference
The Find X9 Ultra takes superb photos. The same applies to other smartphones, albeit with slight differences. The major advantage in the Oppo’s favour is the telephoto lens with 10x zoom. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to use such a long focal length in such a compact device. This fourth lens currently makes the smartphone my first choice when it comes to photography.
The rest of the specifications are among the best that current top-of-the-range smartphones have to offer. The exceptionally long battery life stands out in particular, leaving the competition far behind.
However, all this technology takes up space, which is why the Find X9 Ultra is one of the larger smartphones. And it’s not exactly cheap either. A further cause for concern could be the fact that Oppo has only just returned to the market in Germany and Switzerland. The brand had disappeared from both countries for various reasons and must first rebuild trust in its customer support.
Pro
- 10× telephoto camera
- very long battery life
Contra
- high price
- A clip-on lens that offers little added value given its bulkiness
Header image: Jan Johannsen
Jan Johannsen
Senior Editor
Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.deAs a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
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