OPPO Find X9 Barcelona Photo and Zoom Test - Pro-level performance without the "ultra" price tag

I recently had the chance to visit one of my favorite cities on the planet, Barcelona, Spain, to attend the launch of the newly released OPPO Find X9 Series.

OPPO Find X9, a mobile photography powerhouse?

Barcelona is a vibrant city rich in history, art, and culture, on land or sea, where centuries-old Gothic architecture coexists with the world-famous modernism of Antoni Gaudí. It's also a gastronomic paradise—enticing every kind of foodie with authentic Catalan cuisine, beloved Spanish classics, and a bounty of fresh seafood and premium meats.

Find X9 at Casa Batlló

Having said that, this city is an ideal location to try and test the camera capabilities of the OPPO Find X9 (PHP 69,990 SRP), a phone with Pro-level camera specs and features without the "Ultra" price tag.

Find X9 camera UI

That said, Barcelona offers the perfect backdrop to put the OPPO Find X9's camera to the test. With its Pro-grade imaging specs and features that skip the "Ultra" price tag, it promises flagship-level performance without the premium.

But does it truly deliver?

Crazy zoom performance

1x vs 10x zoom

In case you missed it, the OPPO Find X9 is equipped with the Hasselblad Master Camera System featuring a 50MP f/1.8 Sony LYT-808 OIS main shooter paired with a 50MP f/2.0 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 50MP f/2.6 3x telephoto main shooter.

It also has a True Color Camera with 9 spectral channels and 48 zones for improved color accuracy.

Cropped from the 10x zoom above

The zoom is incredible, highly detailed, and with accurate colors. You will only notice the artifacts when you crop the zoomed image.

0.6x to 60x

For ultra-long-range zooms, the OPPO Find X9 combines all the power of its sensors, Hasselblad technology, and the power of AI to produce this level of zoom.

In fact, I could hardly see the W logo of our hotel using its ultra-wide shot, but with its  60x AI Telescope Zoom, the W logo is clear, crisp, and realistic looking.

1x, 60x, 120x zoom

While the AI Telescope Zoom isn’t flawless—occasionally producing slightly cartoonish results—it's a noticeable step up from previous iterations I've seen from OPPO and even other brands. It now delivers more accurate and usable shots more often than before.

1x, 3x zoom

Ultra-wide, 6x zoom

6x zoom, 10x zoom

AND yes, I had a lot of fun with the zoom of this camera phone. This can compete or even beat many early 2025 flagships. Only a few "Ultra" and "Pro" flagships might best it.

23mm to 146mm zoom

1x, 3x zoom

Even in low light, the zoom is "social media ready" up to 6x zoom with usable shots up to around 30x.

3x, 6x zoom

Shot under these conditions will still look natural with plenty of details and minimal noise, some of the best I've seen on phone shots.

Incredible Portraits

2x and 3x Portrait modes

OPPO keeps on getting better with Portraits, and I'm not complaining. Edge detection is amazing, bokeh is very nice, details are on point, and proportions are not distorted—particularly at 48mm and above.

3.4x Portrait and cropped the same shot

The use of filters like black and white could create even more amazing and dramatic shots. As you can see in the shot above, it is highly detailed with some of the best edge detection and subject separation around. 

Note: If you need higher resolution shots for cropping and even printing, you can switch to Hasselblad Hi-Res mode, which takes 50MP shots with pretty accurate color reproduction and enhanced sharpness.

OPPO's portrait algorithms and optimizations separated the curly hair of the subject very well from the background. This is very hard to achieve even on many high-end phones.

f/5.0 73mm bokeh effect

The 73mm or 3x zoom mode produces the best Portrait result out of this phone, capable of mimicking an image quality that competes with some bigger digital cameras in clarity and colors. Even the digital bokeh effect at the default f/5.0 doesn't look that artificial anymore unless you unnecessarily push it all the way down to f/1.4.

Challenging conditions? No problem, most of the time

Gloomy weather shots

Indoor dim

48m food shot

73mm food

The large sensors, combined with Hasselblad tuning and other technologies, allowed the device to capture images with impressive accuracy for a phone in different conditions across multiple focal points. 

In gloomy conditions, it won't overbrighten shots. It keeps its natural colors and maintains minimal noise for near true-to-life shots. Food snaps, even in dim lighting conditions, will look amazing too, particularly at 2x and 3x zoom modes that show mouthwatering colors and generally clear definition.

 

It shines in the dark

Ultra-wide, 1x mode

Light painting mode

23mm and cropped

1x and 3x mode

Ultra-wide low light shot

Ultra-wide and 1x

Ultra-wide night shot

Unlike phones that tend to overbrighten night shots, the Find X9 keeps scenes naturally balanced. It's smart night mode activates only when needed—and avoids overprocessing, preserving realistic dynamic range and exposure.

It generally captures crisp and high-resolution shots even in low light. It even has several fun modes too, like the long exposure mode with different effects.

I also liked that the colors are similar to ultra-wide, 1x, and 3x modes, which is hard to achieve, even with other high-end phones.

Selfies are decent, but could be better

Well-lit selfie

Indoor event lighting selfie

Outdoor Portrait selfie and outdoor low light selfie

The Find X9 uses a fairly large 32MP selfie camera with an f/2.4 aperture. 

This is a decent selfie camera with improved algorithms for better details, color accuracy, and dynamic range. It shows that it is one of the nicer selfie cameras around, even with the minimal beautification effect in different lighting conditions.

It is also one of the best for Portrait selfies around due to its incredible edge detection.

The weakness, it isn't the best around for low-light selfies. My suggestion is to turn on the screen flash to avoid duller-looking selfies.

Our thoughts

The camera system of the new OPPO Find X9 priced at PHP 69,999 SRP generally delivers exceptional consistency, natural colour reproduction, and impressive clarity across all of its back camera lenses, even from afar—making it one of the most refined and versatile mobile imaging setups in its class.

With minimal compromises, it offers Pro-level performance without the "ultra" price tag.

From portraits and landscapes to challenging night scenes, the Find X9 excels across scenarios.

OPPO has also enhanced its video capabilities, supporting up to 4K at 120fps on the main camera and up to 4K at 60fps on the front-facing shooter.