[OPPO Find X5 Pro General] keebfox:
Intro​

Welcome to the last Part 3 of my OPPO Find X5 review! In this last part I would like to go over my favourite ColorOS 12 features as well as some things I wish it included.

Table of contents​

Part 1: Build Quality & Design, Performance & Gaming, Display

Part 2: Camera, Battery

Part 3: ColorOS Features (Currently reading)

At the end of each part I will also include the conclusion of the part and the index for navigation.

ColorOS Features​

Overall I really do enjoy the experience of ColorOS 12 on the Find X5. The system feels very refined and smooth. While I do prefer a system that is closer to stock Android, or similar I did like all the extra features ColorOS bright. Also especially with the 120hz enabled this is a great user experience as you would want to expect from this high performance chip and display.

Lock screen​

Lockscreen has a very minimal design and is useful with customisable quick access buttons. I have mine configured to a payment card and camera. I especially like that you can swipe up to the pin code, and from there can swipe up again to get back to fingerprint unlock. Another good detail is after 72hr you are required to enter your pin if you only have been using your fingerprint so you do not forget it.

Notifications shade​

Pulling down the notification shade, either from the lock or home screen allows for a very convenient access to the quick access toggles which also are super customisable. I enjoy small details such as a blurry background, nice font spacing and a very easy overview. For example when toggling on the flashlight you get a notification that easily lets you disable it, or enable it. Something that did take getting used to however was the way you dismiss notifications: Using other devices it was common to simply swipe to the right to dismiss, but on ColorOS you always get the settings toggle and bin icon, forcing you to stop the swipe and initiate a second longer swipe. This can be avoided by swiping left, it dismisses the notification immediately, but I found it a bit odd. Example: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ipMmiCtBAJCHU16M8

Extra features​

Furthermore the system has a lot of powerful features built into it such as flexible windows, a feature I found particularly useful when multitasking. It allows you to pop over small windows of apps such as chrome, calculator, etc. These can even be combined while watching YouTube picture in picture.

Widgets & Homescreen​

Most widgets that are available in Android 12 are present, which also comes with the Material You colour theming. What I noticed however there are still some bugs with for example the official google clock widget not scaling properly, or the missing google weather widget. For other widgets I had no issues. Example: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LyCHWwc6J4HwVyCS7 However, this can be resolved by using a different launcher. In Lawnchair I had no widget issues.

Another ColorOS specific thing I have noticed, is that you cannot swipe up on widgets on the home screen. While this is not a big issue for me it can be a slight inconvenience as I like to access the app drawer from anywhere on the homescreen and having a widget placed at the bottom area where your thumb rests makes it slightly harder to open.

Customisation​

My first customisation was to disable the search to allow for access to swipe down to the notification shade. Swipe up to enter the app drawer. My only issue I encountered was that you can not swipe up/down to enter either when you initiate the tap from a widget. Instead you scroll inside the widget view, which can be a bit irritating but is easy to get used to.

Customisation doesn't stop there, you can long press to enter the edit mode and change everything from the layout grid such as 3x5 to 5x6 and also transitions which have a few choices such as roll, cube, flip, card and tilt. Of course you can also access the widget drawer, change wallpapers or icons.

Unfortunately one thing I was missing from the customisation was in the icon field: there is no support for material you icon theming or system colour palette choosing. Supported apps are able to pick the colours from the wallpaper but it sadly ends there. For me this would have been very nice to have, as it allows for even more personalisation which has so far been great!

Haptics​

Other details I really did enjoy were the great use of the built in haptics engine, which provided a very satisfying feedback when scrolling to the end, using sliders in the system such as the volume or brightness, or while typing.

Bonus​

A bonus feature that I did enjoy a lot was when using my OPPO Enco Buds, they immediately connected each time and when opening the case you get a pop up view showing the battery status of each earbud and the case. It’s similar to what AirPods do and seeing this built into the system is extremely cool! Unfortunately, when using other buds such as the Galaxy ones you do not get any pop up animation and need to rely on the galaxy app, or use the widget to see the battery status of each bud individually.

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Conclusion Part 3​

Overall I did really enjoy ColorOS, it's well optimised and in my opinion adds a bunch of extra features that are helpful, a bit unexpected which feels innovative and runs overall smoothly. There are also a lot tweaks done to make things easier which I did quite like such as extra customisation. But also a few things did bother me such as not a full integration of Material You theming and how the launcher handles widgets or certain interaction patterns like notifications. However these smaller details are things that I could get used to and was able to enjoy the experience it provides!

Continue reading​

Part 1: Build Quality & Design, Performance & Gaming, Display

Part 2: Camera, Battery

Part 3: Currently reading