How OPPO’s Find X series has learned to innovate rather than imitate

The key to any great smartphone is innovation. Any time a device launches with new features, other OEMs find themselves scrambling to catch up. At OPPO, the goal has always been to land on the side of innovation. The company’s portfolio has grown extensively in recent years, and the best example of powerful innovation comes from the OPPO Find X series.

You probably recognize the original Find X for its sliding camera design, and the Find X2 Pro for its leather construction and 65W SuperVOOC charging. However, the Find X journey actually kicked off almost 10 years ago. Ready for a trip down innovation memory lane? You just might learn something new.

Also read: OPPO Find X3 Pro buyer’s guide

The beginning of the Find X series – 2011

A new smartphone series doesn’t just happen overnight. The team at OPPO poured years of research into the innovations it wanted, and ultimately launched the Find X903 in 2011. It marked the company’s foray into the smartphone sphere, complete with a side-sliding keyboard.

OPPO took just one more year to launch the Find 3, dropping the “X” moniker and moving closer to a modern smartphone design. The device combined a durable metal frame with stylish brushed stainless steel that never seems to go out of style.

The Find 5 followed the Find 3 in 2013, again skipping over even numbers. It redefined OPPO’s already high standards with a new 1080p display and impressively thin 3.25mm bezels. While they might seem large by today’s standards, the Find 5 secured OPPO its very own iF design award.

2014 saw the launch of OPPO’s Find 7, while Apple and Google released the iPhone 6 and Nexus 6 respectively. The Find 7 pushed smartphone camera technology to new heights, coming with a 50MP main shooter on the back. It also featured a 5.5-inch QHD display and the first version of OPPO’s VOOC flash charging.

Sliding into the OPPO Find X – 2018

OPPO’s early Find installments helped set the stage by the time we reached 2018. Then OPPO launched the Find X, what the company calls its first panoramic-designed phone. It blends two pieces of glass for a seamless experience, topped off by a 6.4-inch display with an incredible 93.8% screen to body ratio.

However, you’re most likely to remember the Find X for its revolutionary sliding design. It freed the display from any notches or punch holes, instead using powerful 3D stealth cameras. You could simply press a button and the Find X’s cameras would silently slide into place.

The pop-up camera is now a design that we’ve seen replicated by other brands, but the Find series isn’t done yet.

See also: OPPO Find X review

Reaching new heights with the Find X2 Pro – 2020

The Find X2 Pro launched just one year ago in March 2020, and it lived up to its name in a way some phones can rarely match. OPPO didn’t leave anything to chance with the Find X2 Pro. It all started with the 6.7-inch display.

OPPO selected a crisp QHD+ AMOLED unit to lead its charge into 2020, adding an emphasis to the refresh rate, color depth, and HDR support. As if that wasn’t enough, OPPO wanted to make sure that you could keep your Find X2 Pro running at peak power for hours on end. It paired the large 4,260mAh battery with 65W SuperVOOC charging to get you back to full power in as little as 38 minutes.

See also: OPPO Find X2 Pro review

The high-end possibilities of the OPPO Find X3 Pro – 2021

We’ve now reached the present day, and the new OPPO Find X3 Pro is just around the corner. You might be wondering what’s even left to innovate at this point, and OPPO’s answer is to add a billion colors. The large 6.7-inch QHD+ display comes complete with a full-path 10-bit color management system combined with a flowing, curved design.

OPPO’s brand-new Find X3 Pro is graced by elegant sheets of glass on both front and back, and the rear panel peaks at the raised camera housing. It relies on two main Sony IMX766 lenses to capture wide and super-wide images. A 60x microlens brings macro-level closeups into view.

The Find X3 Pro is built for more than just pictures, thanks to the powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset that should deliver all of the punch you need. The 4,500mAh battery is just the right size for all-day power. When you do need a quick boost, you should be able to get 40% of your battery back in just 10 minutes.

Next: OPPO Find X3 Pro review

OPPO hasn’t been innovating for the sake of innovation. Rather, it has set its sights on human-centric needs. Its Find X series has paired premium hardware with new features at every step of the way. We’ve seen how far the company has come in its first decade, so we’ll just have to wait and see where the Find X series goes next.