The Oppo Find X2 Neo is a high-end alternative at a relatively affordable price. With a Snapdragon 765G chip, four cameras on the back, and an Oled screen with curved edges, it has something to seduce on paper.
But is it enough in the face of competition? This is what we will see in this comprehensive test of the Oppo Find X2 Neo.
After a Find X2 Pro launched at a high price of 1,300 dollars, OPPO unveiled a slightly more accessible smartphone, the Find X2 Neo.
A phone that takes advantage of the Snapdragon 765G chip, but also some tempting features at the photo or screen. Enough to serve as an alternative to the high-end models of 2020? This is what will be seen in this comprehensive review of the Oppo Find X2 Neo.
OPPO FIND X2 NEO Specifications
| Find X2 Neo | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 159,4 x 72,4 x 7,7 mm |
| Weight | 171 grams |
| Screen | OLED 6,5″ Full HD+ (402 ppp) HDR10 et DCI-P3 90 Hz |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 765G (7 nm) |
| OS | Android 10 + ColorOS 7 |
| RAM | 12 Go |
| Storage | 256 Go |
| microSD | no |
| Rear photosensors | 48MP + 8MP + 13MP + 2MP 2x optical zoom (5x hybrid) |
| Front photosensors | 32MP |
| Battery | 4025 mAh VOOC 4.0 fast charge (30 watts) |
| 5G | yes |
| Audio | Dual speaker No 3.5mm jack port |
| Biometrics | fingerprint sensor under the screen |
A Careful Design With a Look at the Time
The OPPO Find X2 Neo incorporates all the codes now classic of high-end smartphones in 2020. On the front, it sports a 6.5-inch diagonal screen with a rather elongated ratio of 20: 9. The borders are also quite thin at the top and bottom, respectively 2.25 and 3.15 mm.
Side
On the sides, the borders are even less visible, since OPPO has chosen to integrate a screen with slightly curved edges. We don’t have a smartphone here with “waterfall” borders like some brands, but simply slightly more curved edges to offer better immersion.
Top
At the top of the screen, on the upper left corner, there is a traditional punch to integrate the selfie camera. All around the screen, we will also note that OPPO has integrated a thin black border.
Back
For the back of the Find X2 Neo, OPPO offers two colors: shiny black or stellar blue. Here, it is the stellar blue model that we could test with its frosted matte glass back. An effect to say the least successful since it does not catch fingerprints too much.
The two-tone appearance of the smartphone, between ice gray and dark blue, also brings a welcome touch of originality to a smartphone whose design does not, however, breathe innovation. We will indeed find the photo module positioned at the top left, vertically. Classic.
On the side of the keys and connectors, the smartphone includes the standby button on the right edge. Easily accessible from the thumb, and the volume buttons on the left edge, unfortunately, a little high for the index.
On the lower edge, we will find the USB-C socket, the drawer for the nano-SIM card, and the speaker. We regret two things about this connection.
First, the Oppo Find X2 Neo does not have a headphone jack. Then, it’s not possible to take advantage of a second SIM card or even a microSD storage extension.
Fortunately, the smartphone catches up with its stereo speaker system, since the call speaker, at the top of the screen, is also used for media content like games, music, or videos.
Said like that, it’s true that the OPPO Find X2 Neo is not a dream. Admittedly, it offers beautiful finishes, but its design still remains fairly classic … until you take it in hand. With a 6.5 inch screen, maybe you would expect a lot of weight. But it is not so.
Weight
The OPPO smartphone weighs only 171 grams on the scale and it feels in hand: it is featherweight for a model launched in 2020. It must be said that the smartphone is particularly thin with a thickness of 7.7 mm only.
According to OPPO, it is “one of the thinnest 5G smartphones in the world” and we are happy to believe it. In use, it is this lightness that really makes the use of the OPPO Find X2 Neo pleasant, with both hands as with one.
A Very Good Invoice Screen
As we saw earlier, the OPPO Find X2 Neo has a 6.5-inch screen. This Oled screen with slightly curved edges on the sides and with a punch at the top-right displays 2400 pixels by 1080, a ratio of 20: 9, and a density of 402 pixels per inch.
In terms of maximum brightness, the smartphone can easily adapt to daylight to allow you to view the screen comfortably, even with a blue sky. The same goes for the extremely deep contrast thanks to the Oled panel of the smartphone.
Using a probe and CalMAN Ultimate software from Portrait Displays, I was able to measure infinite contrast, with perfectly black blacks, and a maximum brightness amounting to 486 cd/m². Without being on the level of a premium smartphone – some models of which reach 800 cd/m² – it remains very good.
With the default calibration mode of the OPPO Find X2 Neo, set with bright colors and a neutral temperature, the screen manages to display 154% of the RGB color spectrum and 103% of the DCI-P3 spectrum.
The colorimetry was also fairly respected, with an average delta E in the DCI-P3 space of 3.55. However, I was able to notice a white balance that drew far too blue, with a temperature raised to 7360K, well beyond the recommended 6500K of white sunlight.
Fortunately, the ColorOS 7 interface allows you to modify this calibration somewhat. The options are not legion and OPPO is content to allow to pass from the bright colors to the soft colors or to modify the temperature of the screen.
So there is no question here of fine-tuning the intensity of each red, blue, or green sub-pixel, but simply of adjusting the color intensity or white balance. Fortunately, these parameters are sufficient to approach an even better calibration.
So, by keeping the bright colors – to keep a high coverage of the DCI-P3 space – but by switching the cursor to the hottest colors, I was able to configure the screen so that it reaches 157% of the spectrum RGB and 105% of the DCI-P3 spectrum.
Better yet, the average Delta E has been reduced from 3.55 to 2.98. It is generally considered that below 3, it is impossible for the human eye to discern the differences between the colors.
Finally, the screen temperature dropped to 6408K, much closer to 6500K of sunlight. With these settings, we are therefore approaching a perfectly calibrated screen.
A Progressing Software Interface
The OPPO Find X2 Neo has the manufacturer’s ColorOS 7 interface. Based on Android 10, this interface is similar to that already found on the Oppo Find X2 Pro. Note that at the time of this test, it was the April 5, 2020 security patch that came with the device.
As we have already noted with the Find X2 Pro – and with the Realme X50 Pro whose Realme interface largely takes over the functions of ColorOS – the latest version of the OPPO software interface is a real success. OPPO seems to have listened to the feedback from the previous versions and corrected most of the criticisms. It solved its interface, hitherto too cluttered, inconsistent, and the obvious translation concerns.
Here, we are entitled to a well thought out interface with all the functions one would expect from a successful Android interface. We obviously find navigation by gestures, but also the dark theme, the optional applications drawer, the opening of the notification panel with a swipe of your finger from anywhere on the home screen or the possibility to reverse the navigation keys. In addition, OPPO has also added some particularly welcome features.
This is the case of cloning applications, practical for example if you want to use several WhatsApp or Facebook accounts on the same device, but also with a gesture to open the dual-screen mode to display two applications on the screen (just slide three fingers from the bottom to the top of the screen.
We also appreciate the possibility of password-protecting certain applications or, better still, hiding some so that they are only accessible condition to type a number in the phone application. Handy if you have applications to hide or you share your smartphone.
For biometric unlocking, the Oppo Find X2 Neo benefits from a fingerprint sensor integrated directly into the screen. Rather fast, it is also well placed to fall easily under the thumb and allows unlocking without too many false negatives.
Facial recognition is also part of it and also proves to be quite fast even if it is not a system as protected as a 3D recognition like on the Google Pixel 4 or the Huawei Mate 30 Pro.
For playback of high definition videos on streaming or VOD platforms, the Oppo Find X2 Pro also embeds the Widevine DRM system at the L1 level. It will, therefore, be easy to read Netflix, Disney Plus, Molotov, or myCanal content in HD.
Performance Below the Competition
While the OPPO Find X2 Pro is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chip, the most powerful currently available on Android smartphones, the Chinese manufacturer has decided to equip the Find X2 Neo with its little sister, the Snapdragon 765G.
As a reminder, this is a mid-range chip that still benefits from comfortable performance, particularly optimized for games, and which was announced last fall. The Snapdragon 765G thus benefits from a Cortex-A76 heart clocked at 2.4 GHz and a Corte-A76 heart clocked at 2.2 GHz, both for high performance, as well as six Cortex-A55 cores at 1, 8 GHz, more energy-efficient.
For the GPU, it has an Adreno 620 chip, compared to the Adreno 650 for the Snapdragon 865. Alongside this processor, Oppo has integrated 12 GB of LPDDR4X memory as well as 256 GB of storage in UFS 2.1.
In everyday use, however, difficult to detect the differences between the Snapdragon 765G and a smartphone equipped with the Snapdragon 865. The Oppo Find X2 Neo gets by without flinching in all the tasks that we are led to ask, as well for multitasking – or multiscreen – than for web browsing, 2D games, or 3D games.
By default, Fortnite launches with epic settings, a 30fps refresh rate, and a 75% 3D resolution. If I could not increase the fluidity, limited by Epic Games, I could however increase the 3D resolution to 100% without encountering the slightest slowdown, with a game that oscillated between 30 and 28 frames per second at the lowest.
Call of Duty Mobile was able to launch by default with high graphics and a high frame rate too. If the game allows the frame rate to be increased to the max, it is however not possible to activate the very high quality at the same time.
However, I was able to go up to a very high quality while configuring the frame rate in the same setting and activating the anti-aliasing. Even under these conditions, the Oppo Find X2 Neo was able to remain fluid to offer a game without the slightest slowdown with good graphic quality.
To assess the performance of the OPPO Find X2 Neo, I subjected it to a series of benchmarks and then compared its results to those of other smartphones sold at similar prices: the OnePlus 8 Pro, launched at 220 dollars from plus, the Realme X50 Pro, sold at 100 dollars less, the Huawei P30 Pro, now available at an equivalent price, just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.
| Oppo Find X2 Neo (90 Hz) | OnePlus 8 Pro (120 Hz) | Realme X50 Pro (60 Hz) | Samsung Galaxy Note 10 (Full HD+) | Huawei P30 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoC | S765G | S865 | S865 | Exynos 9825 | Kirin 980 |
| AnTuTu 8 | 326 327 | 584 217 | 591 734 | NC | NC |
| PCMark 2.0 | 8 548 | 11 364 | 12 126 | 7 421 | 9 173 |
| 3DMark Slingshot Extreme | 3 276 | 7 089 | 7 170 | 4 872 | 4 243 |
| 3DMark Slingshot Extreme Graphics | 3 278 | 8 103 | 8 211 | 5 659 | 4 374 |
| 3DMark Slingshot Extreme Physics | 3 270 | 4 929 | 4 966 | 3 276 | 3 841 |
| GFXBench Aztec Vulkan High | 13 / 8,5 FPS | 18 / 20 FPS | 30 / 20 FPS | 19 / 15 FPS | 16 / 13 FPS |
| GFXBench Car Chase (onscreen / offscreen) | 19 / 21 FPS | 26 / 51 FPS | 45 / 51 FPS | 32 / 33 FPS | 29 / 33 FPS |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.0 (onscreen / offscreen) | 49 / 56 FPS | 59 / 123 FPS | 60 / 125 FPS | 59 / 86 FPS | 59 / 89 FPS |
| Reading/sequential writing | 979 / 479 Mo/s | 1 731 / 754 Mo/s | 1 745 / 764Mo/s | 1 518 / 590 Mo/s | 903 / 232 Mo/s |
| Random reading/writing | 41,2k / 36,1k IOPS | 52,8k / 50k IOPS | 53,9k / 51,6k IOPS | 46,6k / 48k IOPS | 43,4k / 6,6k IOPS |
Overall, we therefore clearly have a Snapdragon 765G which offers less power than the Snapdragon 865 used on the Realme X50 Pro or the OnePlus 8 Pro. This can be seen in computing power tests like PCMark or 3D rendering tests like 3DMark or GFXBench. However, the SoC is close to the power offered on high-end models from last year.
Still, in everyday life, the Oppo Find X2 Neo remains a particularly fluid smartphone and these limitations are not really that. This is about playing the most powerful even if, in 99.9% of the cases, the fact that the smartphone is less powerful than those with the Snapdragon 865 will not be felt.
A Versatile Photo Module But Lacking Consistency
On the back, the Oppo Find X2 Neo has four cameras with, from top to bottom:
-
8-megapixel (f/2.2) ultra wide-angle camera, used for macro mode.
-
48-megapixel main camera (f/1.7).
- 2 megapixel (f/2.4) monochrome camera, used for portrait mode.
- 13 megapixel (f/2.4) telephoto camera, x2 optical zoom, x5 hybrid.
If it does not allow to go up to a 10x hybrid zoom or a 60x digital zoom like the Oppo Find X2 Pro, the Find X2 Neo camera offers a comfortable focal range on paper going from ultra-large – 5x lossless hybrid zoom angle.
On the photos below, all prices in automatic mode without AI, we can discover the capabilities of the camera in ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle, 2x optical zoom and 5x hybrid zoom.
Portrait mode
Overall, note that the Oppo Find X2 Neo does quite well in daylight and correctly in low light, provided it is not in total darkness.
However, there is a fairly noticeable problem of colorimetry between the different sensors. It’s noticeable even in broad daylight with sky and clouds that sometimes turn yellow, sometimes green.
The same goes for the color of the trees, the green of which can vary greatly from one shot to the next with sometimes a lot of saturation, sometimes duller colors.
However, overall, the smartphone does well in daylight without being exceptional. It’s more complicated at night, but luckily the smartphone also has a night mode that you can activate.
On the photos below, taken at the same time as those in automatic mode, we can, therefore, discover the night shot mode on the various devices from ultra-wide-angle to x5 zoom:
There is a big gain in brightness when we switch to nighttime snapshot mode. This is particularly visible on the last series of shots when in the automatic mode we could not distinguish anything.
Still, we are seeing the same colorimetric concerns as in auto photo mode. Another problem is that the main sensor takes over from the telephoto lens, which is not bright enough, in zoomed photos.
If it goes on the x2 zoom thanks to the 48 million pixels, it is much more complicated on the x5 zoom where we mainly have a digital zoom. The ultra-wide-angle module also clearly lacks brightness and the gain provided by the night mode remains fairly anecdotal on this focal length.
For the video, the Oppo phone is capable of recording video in 4K at 30 FPS or in Full HD at 60 FPS. The smartphone also benefits from an ultra-stable mode that can be activated with Full HD at 60 FPS, but not in 4K. For selfie vlogs, the smartphone is only able to record in Full HD at 30 FPS.
A Comfortable Two-day Autonomy
The Oppo Find X2 Neo has a 4025 mAh battery. Enough to easily last the day or even an additional day. In use, with the screen configured in automatic mode, so that 90 Hz is only used incompatible applications, I was able to hold 40 hours before going from 100 to 10% of battery.
During this period, the screen remained on for 5.17 hours, including 104 minutes on Twitter, 68 minutes on Chrome, and 53 minutes on a screen calibration application.
In 60 Hz mode, after 40 hours of use, with 5h13 of the screen on, the Find X2 Neo still had 25% of battery in reserve. The interface told me then that it was still able to last 7 hours more. Over this period, I watched YouTube videos for 95 minutes, Chrome for 69 minutes, Twitter for 52 minutes, and Facebook Messenger for 15 minutes.
For fast charging, the Oppo Find X2 Neo does not benefit from SuperVooc 4.0 charging from the Pro version at 65 W, but from 30 W (5V/6A) Vooc 4.0 fast charging. Enough to allow the smartphone to go from 10 to 60% of battery in 20 minutes, to 80% in 30 minutes, and to 100% in 46 minutes.
The Oppo Find X2 Neo is however not compatible with wireless charging.
OPPO Find X2 Neo Network &Communication
The Oppo Find X2 Neo is compatible with all the 4G frequency bands used in most Europe, as well the B1 (2100 MHz) as the B3 (1800 MHz), the B7 (2600 MHz), the B20 (800 MHz) or the B28 (700 MHz). The smartphone is therefore fully compatible with the entire 4G network of French operators.
For 5G, the Find X2 Neo is compatible with the bands n1 (2100 MHz), n3 (1800 MHz), n5 (850 MHz), n7 (2600 MHz), n28 (700 MHz), n38 (2600 MHz), n40 (2300 MHz), n41 (2500 MHz), n77 (3700 MHz) and especially n78 (3500 MHz).
It is this last frequency range that will indeed be used in France from the launch of 5G on the territory, by the end of the year. Unfortunately, it should be noted that the smartphone is not compatible with the bands beyond 6000 MHz, called millimeter, which will arrive later and allow a much faster speed.
Regarding the Wi-Fi connection, the smartphone is compatible with Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a / b / g / n / ac) at frequencies of 2.4, 5 or 5.8 GHz. For Bluetooth, it is compatible with the 5.1 standards as well as with the SBC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, AAC, and TWS + codecs.
The smartphone also benefits from an NFC chip which can be used in particular for contactless payment. Finally, for geolocation, the Find X2 Neo can rely on American GPS satellites, Chinese Beidou, Russian Glonass, and European Galileo.
Regarding call quality, the Oppo Find X2 Neo does not perfectly filter out ambient sounds for the caller who may hear engine noise here and there or someone talking next to you. However, your voice will remain very intelligible and it will be put forward in relation to the surrounding sounds.
OPPO FIND X2 NEO Prices And Availability
The OPPO Find X2 Neo will be available starting May 28 at a price of 760 $. It will only be offered in a single version, with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Two colors are however available, in matt stellar blue and brilliant lunar black.
Conclusion
Without looking at the price, the Find X2 Neo is a good smartphone. It is far from the best. But its compactness, its good handling, its screen, its beautiful qualities in the photo, its fast charge worthy of being qualified as fast, without the fluidity of its platform in practically all situations make it a choice that you would not regret.
Especially since OPPO was generous in terms of RAM and storage, to make people forget the absence of a microSDXC port. And that the phone is 5G compatible.
