OPPO Find X9 review: A pricey powerhouse

Ever since we ditched unkillable Nokia bricks in favour of smartphones all those years ago, the people (me) have yearned for longer-lasting phone batteries. One full day of use has become the norm, and while I’ve made my peace with that fact, it doesn’t mean I like it.

Fortunately, this year, the OPPO Find X9 series is here to try and destroy battery anxiety once and for all. And, unlike previous attempts that have resulted in some sort of sacrifice—be it form factor or performance—the OPPO Find X9 makes no compromises.

Performance at a price

This year, the base model OPPO Find X9 will set you back a huge $1,799—the same price as the OPPO Find X8 Pro was last year. For comparison, that’s $100 more than the Google Pixel 10 Pro, the same price as the iPhone 17 Air and about $50 cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s current RRP. While I believe that the OPPO Find X9 does perform at a high level, it still feels overpriced for a device without that “Pro” badge.

Speaking of performance, the OPPO Find X9 runs on the same MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset as its Pro sibling, albeit with 12GB RAM instead of 16GB. It handles both simpler everyday apps and more graphically demanding games like Asphalt 9: Legends without skipping a beat.

OPPO's ColorOS 16 feels eerily reminiscent of iOS 26’s Liquid Glass design. Hell, there’s even a liquid ripple effect when you use the in-screen fingerprint scanner to unlock the Find X9. And while ColorOS is customisable enough, I’m not a fan of the bloatware that comes along with it. It’s also worth noting that OPPO has committed to five years of software updates, which is decent but not on par with the seven years you get from Samsung and Google flagships.

Battery-wise, however, the OPPO Find X9 blows its competition out of the water. Not only will the Find X9’s beefy 7,025mAh battery get you through a full day, you’ll likely find that it’ll get you through two. And, refreshingly, you get an 80W charging brick in the box, which is powerful enough to fully charge that behemoth of a battery in a little over an hour from flat.

Unfortunately, the OPPO Find X9 does not support the latest Qi2 wireless charging standard, which isn’t surprising given that it’s also missing on the pricier Find X9 Pro. Still, it feels like a major missed opportunity when so many of its flagship contemporaries—the iPhone 17 series, the Samsung Galaxy S25 (albeit with an additional accessory) and the Google Pixel 10 series—do support it. While likely not a deal-breaker for many, it does limit the kind of accessories (e.g. battery packs and phone mounts) the Find X9 works with.

Hot shots

Photography has always been a strong suit of OPPO’s Find X series, and the Find X9 is no different. It boasts four lenses (a 50MP ultrawide, 50MP wide-angle, 50MP telephoto and 2MP monochrome), all of which work in harmony to create beautiful, crisp, natural-looking images.

Despite not being a “Pro” model, the OPPO Find X9 brings pro-level camera controls to the baseline, allowing you to manually adjust ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focus, and white balance. That said, even if you choose to ditch those pro settings and let the Find X9 simply do its thing, the results look, more often than not, exceptionally good—even when you’re pushing that zoom beyond its 6x optical limit.

Night photography tends to be a weak point for many smartphone cameras, but I was pleasantly surprised at how capable the Find X9’s low-light performance turned out to be—none of the usual noise or blur, just daytime-level quality.

The only downside of the Find X9’s camera is OPPO’s slightly over-the-top AI image processing, which struggles beyond 15x or 20x zoom (particularly when it comes to parsing text) and can tend to make textures appear smoother than they are.

OPPO Find X9 camera samples

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Check out these camera samples taken on the OPPO Find X9. Click or tap on any photo to see a larger version. 

This year also marks a return to a square camera bump on the OPPO Find X series, which for the past few generations has been a circular array. The result is a form factor that quite strongly resembles the iPhone 16 Pro, particularly with the addition of OPPO’s identically placed take on the Action Button (dubbed the Snap Key), which can be programmed to open your camera, turn on your torch, take a screenshot, switch to silent mode, and more. I do wish the device came in some fun colours, though. Space Black and Titanium Grey are fine—just a bit boring.

The display, as usual with an OPPO flagship, is stunning, with some of the thinnest bezels you’ll find on the market today. The 6.59-inch screen is fluid and responsive, reaching up to 3,600 nits of brightness for maximum visibility even in bright sunlight.

Durability is a major focus for the Find X9, which sports not one, but three dust and water-resistance ratings: IP66, IP68, and IP69, meaning the device can even withstand high-pressure, high-temperature water jets. My only disappointment is that, despite receiving a five-star drop resistance rating and being crafted in “aerospace-grade” aluminium, my review did get a few scuffs quite easily during my week of testing.

OPPO Find X9 - Final Thoughts

OPPO has pulled no punches with this year’s Find X series, and the Find X9 is proof. Despite its eyewatering price tag and the lack of a “Pro” badge, the Find X9 really does feel like a premium device.

The value of a battery that can last two full days without a top-up can’t be overstated, and when you throw an exceptional camera array and near-flawless performance into the mix, it’s impossible not to label the OPPO Find X9 as one of the best Android phones on the market right now.

Georgia Dixon

Managing Editor - Singapore

​Georgia Dixon is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Singapore and an award-winning journalist. She has over a decade of experience as a journalist and copywriter, covering everything from consumer technology to entertainment and lifestyle.

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