As popular as the iPhone X is, copying its notch is almost like an admission of defeat. Yet, consumers clearly want all-display phones, and those cameras and speakers have to go somewhere.
It’s a dilemma that has left many phone companies scrambling to develop an alternative approach. And by the looks of it, Oppo’s might be the most adventurous yet. As reported by The Verge, the Chinese firm has revealed the Find X — a dual-SIM toting, Snapdragon 845-powered superphone with a very unique solution to the notch problem.
The Find X’s front-facing camera is motorized and pops out of the top of the frame. But unlike Vivo’s recently-revealed Nex S, the movable section on the Oppo isn’t just a tab with a camera on it — it’s an entire chunk of the phone.
Oppo Find X Specs
| Price | €999 (about $1,155) |
| OS | Android Oreo 8.1 |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | Up to 256GB |
| Rear Camera | Dual: 16-MP; 20-MP |
| Front Camera | 25-MP |
| Battery Size | 3,730 mAh |
The whole top edge of the Find X slides out and away from the front and back panels to reveal a pair of rear lenses and another for selfies. The panel containing the cameras actually pops out very quickly, in just half a second. Hopefully that means users won’t miss any photo ops while waiting for the motor to do its job.
You’ll be relying on that mechanism a lot, because as it turns out, the Find X is the first phone not made by Apple to utilize a 3D face-scanning camera system. This is a pretty significant breakthrough, and Oppo appears to be going all in on it, as the Find X does not have a fingerprint sensor.
The Find X will be available in August for €999 (or about $1,155), according to a separate report from The Verge. While the Find X will be released in North America and Europe, it's not clear where the Find X will be released first.
Whether the company will run into any of the resistance from Washington that has stymied Huawei and ZTE remains to be seen. For what it's worth, OnePlus is owned by the same parent company as Oppo and Vivo, named BBK Electronics. OnePlus is the only one of those brands that currently sells products on our shores, and so far hasn't been called out by U.S. lawmakers.
The way the Find X’s camera slides out of the phone’s body is reminiscent of a supercar. Underneath the metal and glass, it should be about as fast as one, too. Aside from the aforementioned Snapdragon 845 silicon, the Find X packs 8GB of RAM and a large 3,730-mAh battery with a fast charging system that reportedly works in much the same way as OnePlus’ Dash Charge protocol. That should make it very quick to top up, as the OnePlus 6 and 5T remain the fastest charging smartphones we’ve ever tested.
We’ll keep you updated with any new information about this exciting device.
