Look, I’m just gonna come right out and say this at the very start: the Oppo Find X9 Pro is a simply brilliant smartphone and one of the best I’ve ever used.
I know that’s a bold claim to make right at the start of a review, but the way the X9 Pro refines - and yes, even perfects - the Android smartphone experience, while also integrating some of Apple’s better ideas for good measure, makes for a startlingly complete package.
Oppo made a significant change in design this year, moving away from the large, distinctive circular camera module found on last year’s model to a new, square unit. The overall aesthetic is incredibly premium, ditching any slight plasticky feel of its predecessor for something dense, solid and truly premium.
The X9 has adopted a fully flat design (other than that camera bulge) with an aluminium frame and squared-off edges that do feel quite similar to an iPhone, but the matte finish all around gives it a purposeful feel and also means you won’t have to worry about fingerprint smudges.
The phone feels every bit the flagship and is built tough, featuring smart resistance ratings (IP66, IP68, and even IP69, which means it can handle high-pressure water jets) and the only real aesthetic disappointment is the limited color palette of Titanium Charcoal or Silk White, which feels a bit boring compared to some rivals. And I hate white phones with a passion...
Power the X9 Pro up and you’re greeted by a vibrant 6.78-inch AMOLED display that features a 120Hz refresh rate and boasts ridiculously thin bezels (just 1.15mm on all sides) that are truly the slimmest on any smartphone I have ever experienced.
With a peak brightness of 3600 nits, you'll have no trouble seeing the screen even on the sunniest of days, while the screen is remarkably swift and responsive.
The X9 Pro packs the latest MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip - an octa-core powerhouse - paired with a generous 16GB of RAM (that is expandable up to 28GB by allocating some of the 512GB of storage to processing), making for truly superb performance. Indeed, benchmark tests done by people far smarter than me show phenomenal results, with the X9 Pro outpacing competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Google Pixel 10 Pro with ease.
The X9 Pro runs Oppo’s ColorOS 16 over Android 16, which is fast and easy to use, but Android purists be warned: it does have a distinct Apple influence.
And this shows while using it, even for undemanding tasks; the X9 Pro is insanely fast and responsive, with everything from the face and fingerprint sensors, to opening apps and firing up graphically demanding games being ridiculously swift.
The X9 Pro runs Oppo’s ColorOS 16 over Android 16, which is fast and easy to use, but Android purists be warned: it does have a distinct Apple influence, including a Dynamic Island clone and features designed to work better with the Apple ecosystem, like O+ Connect for MacBooks. Still, this does make for an easier life if you regularly cross over both ecosystems.
Of course, being a cutting-edge flagship, AI features are abundant, but mostly ignorable if you don’t want to use them, which is nice. One useful addition though is Mind Space, which acts as a repository for notes and screenshots, accessible via a new customisable “Snap” side button.
The camera system is truly one of the X9 Pro’s greatest assets: the rear features a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP ultra-wide, and a colossal 200MP telephoto lens, while Oppo leans heavily into its collaboration with Hasselblad, tuning the color profiles that results in simply stunning photographs.
For simple point-and-shoot users, the out-of-the-box performance is stellar, producing sharp, detailed, and accurate images. The real headliner is the zoom capability: the 200MP telephoto allows for up to 13.2x lossless zoom and an ambitious 120x digital zoom.
Probably the most revolutionary feature of the X9 Pro, however, is its utterly incredible battery life, which truly transforms what you expect from a phone.
While the extreme digital zoom can deliver impressive results on predictable objects (like distant buildings), generative AI assistance can sometimes make unpredictable scenes (like human faces) look messy.
For serious photographers, there’s even an optional Hasselblad teleconverter kit – a metal-and-glass lens that attaches to the phone via a bayonet mount, transforming the 3x telephoto into a nearly 10x equivalent zoom.
Probably the most revolutionary feature of the X9 Pro, however, is its utterly incredible battery life, which truly transforms what you expect from a phone. The X9 Pro is armed with a colossal 7500mAh silicon-carbon battery - the largest Oppo has ever put in a flagship, and which puts its competitors to shame.
In real-world testing, I was left with 15 percent battery remaining after nearly four days of use, without power saving turned on. This totally changes how you use your phone, and I feel confident saying that most regular users will get about three to four days of regular use without charging.
Even if you push the phone hard, two days is easily achievable, and to top it off, when you finally do need to top up, the 80 wired charging is incredibly rapid, getting you to 50 percent charge in around 30 minutes.
If you are looking for a new Android flagship, the Find X9 Pro should be right at the top of your list. Simply put; it's a masterpiece.
At $2599 Oppo Find X9 Pro is certainly expensive, topping even the iPhone 17 Pro’s price, but given its stellar all-round performance, excellent camera and the simply staggering battery life, the cost feels more than justified.
The X9 Pro will genuinely change your expectations for how long a modern smartphone battery should last, and if you are looking for a new Android flagship, the Find X9 Pro should be right at the top of your list. Simply put; it's a masterpiece.
What's it like in a car?
Oppo has avoided the trend to simply make its flagship phone enormous. That doesn’t mean it is small, but it does mean it easily fits into any modern car’s wireless charging pad or phone shelf.
The more modest size and rounded corners makes it considerably more pocketable than the likes of a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra as well, meaning that you don’t actually need to fish it out of your pocket every time you hop into the car either.
The X9 Pro’s super-responsive nature makes it ideal for digital keys as well, with its ability to both turn the screen on and unlock almost immediately.
Despite the camera’s impressive tech and abilities, the camera bulge isn’t actually that huge – while it does stick out a bit, you won’t run into any niggling issues with wireless charging in a car.
Bluetooth and Android Auto connections were strong and stable, but I did experience considerable lag with Android Auto, depending on what car it was hooked up to – it was fine in a Cupra Tavascan, but truly awful in a Zeekr X, which is apparently known for its poor Android Auto performance – so wasn’t likely to be the phone’s fault.
The X9 Pro’s super-responsive nature makes it ideal for digital keys as well, with its ability to both turn the screen on and unlock almost immediately meaning that it is utterly seamless to pull the phone out and wave it at an NFC sensor with minimal effort.
