[OPPO Find X5 Pro General] TferThomas:
For the past couple of weeks, my SIM Card has been inserted into a new OPPO Find X5 (Black, 256GB on-board storage, 8GB RAM, and Model CPH2037), which I received from OPPO (thank you for the OPPOrtunity!), as one of their 20 global OPPO Product Ambassadors. It has become my daily driver, and replaces my previous OPPO Find X3 Pro. The following are my views and opinion only.

In real life, I enjoy Smart Phone technology, and manage all of my online presence (including my twitter (more than 181,000 tweets so far), Instagram and LinkedIn accounts), directly from my Smart Phone.

I’ve broken down my OPPO Find X5 Product Review into shorter sections, which makes it either easier to read everything, or perhaps you may just jump to the topics that are important to you:

Summary

Build Quality and Design, and Overall Performance (you are here)

Camera Performance and Other Performance Features

Best ColorOS Features and Battery Review

Conclusion

Build Quality and Design:

The screen (Gorilla Glass Victus) is as I’d hoped for, bright and a massive range of colours (1 billion apparently… not that I would know, being colour blind), but importantly very easy to use in direct sunlight. While lower in absolute brightness than the Find X3 Pro, I am not disappointed, and it’s still brighter than the Pixel 6 Pro.

The rear of the Find X5 is black frosted matt glass, which is curvier than the front screen, and while super smooth, it does has a visible sandy appearance. That curvier rear really does help the Find X5 to fit snuggly into your hand and it instantly felt comfortable (probably because I was used to the feel of the Find X3 Pro).

Being smaller than the Find X3 and the X5 Pro’s (6.55 inches to 6.70 inches), does make it easier to go one handed, and with very narrow bezels (especially the sides), there is plenty of screen area to make use of, and after two weeks of use, I’ve not missed the extra screen area.

Another big positive coming from the Find X5’s size is the Volume Rocker (mid-upper left side) and the Power Button (mid-upper right side) fall naturally to my left thumb and middle finger respectively (yep, left handed) … there’s no stretching or pushing the wrong keys (looking at you Motorola Edge 20 Pro and Google Pixel 6 Pro).

Weighing in at 196 grams, the Find X5 is not the lightest, nor the heaviest, but in real life the design and fit makes it feel lighter than it should, with its weight well distributed. We still have to undertake QR check-ins here in Australia for certain venues (Hospitals, Restaurants, etc) and my test for balance is a simple one … find a QR Code that has been placed too high on a pole, and then see if you feel comfortable reaching up to scan one handed. With the Find X5, the answer is; yes, it does. It’s a very pocketable device.

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Overall Performance:

Last year’s Snapdragon 888 powers the Find X5, and is assisted by the slightly smaller screen size, but also from the use of the standalone, OPPO developed, MariSilicon X Neural Processing Unit (NPU). NPUs are usually built into the chipset and runs the AI and computations for the Camera array. With this setup, the Snapdragon 888 does not have to share its processing power or storage with the Camera Array, with day to day usage resulting in consistently quick processing power and super smooth scrolling with the 120Hz screen refresh rate.

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While the on-board RAM is listed on my Find X5 at 8GB, you have the option to add from RAM Expansion (within the Settings), either by 2GB, 3GB or 5GB (storage space permitting), and while I haven’t noticed huge differences, I have noticed how smooth the Find X5 runs.

Together with ColorOS, it provides a velvety smooth experience and so far I have not experienced any stuttering or freezing (something that both the Find X3 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro have been guilty of). The Find X5 has pushed through every task like a proverbial steam train and has not been found wanting at all (I’m not a gamer, but will regularly be working between multiple apps for my social media activities, listening to music, and emailing, so there is a lot happening all at once).

Thank you for taking the time to read my Real Life Product Review of the OPPO Find X5. I welcome any questions you may have (noting I'm not an experience Tech Reviewer), and if I cannot answer them, I will seek the answer from either another OPPO Product Ambassador, or from the OPPO Team.

Thomas