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Last weekend I enjoyed some time off from work, exploring the island nation of Malta, a holiday trip for which I did not pack my dedicated “real” camera.
That’s because I used Oppo’s latest flagship, the Find X10 Pro Max, which I put in my pocket, safe in the knowledge that it would be a photographic beast.
While my full X10 Pro Max review is coming, Oppo is already running a pre-order promotion to get a £200 discount on the latest product release – which starts on October 21st, so it’s just around the corner.
The same promotion also includes a free gift, which can be either an Oppo Watch X3 or the Hasselblad Teleconverter Kit. It is the latter that I would be most interested in, as the strength of this product’s camera is – and the reason I am writing this article.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
It’s no secret that the Find X10 Pro Max has a trio of 200-megapixel cameras on the back – in fact, none of the specs are a secret (per GSMArena) as the handset has already launched in China – complete with Hasselblad backing.
That’s what the ‘H’ symbol in my pictures of the phone represents if you’re not familiar with Hasselblad’s work – it’s a renowned lens and camera manufacturer based in Sweden that has worked with Oppo for a few years now.
And it makes very good lenses. In the X10 Pro Max, however, its services are also deployed in collaboration for processing, image styles and color balancing – the use of the True Color Camera (the fourth lens on the rear) for great accuracy.
Dreamy zoom options
But it’s the zoom that really blew me away in my use. Check out the gallery below. Sure, it’s just a pizza on a table, right? Click through to the 3x zoom option and then full 6x zoom, however, and you’ll see just what this device is capable of delivering.
Picture 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The glistening truffles sitting on a burrata are packed full of detail – and this is a shot straight out of the camera, I don’t need to do anything else to the picture. It’s beautifully color-matched with the other images, also showing off Oppo and Hasselblad’s finesse when it comes to consistency across its camera suite.
200MP clarity
It was really great to roam the streets of Maltese cities – from Valetta to Saint Paul’s, even to the island of Comino – knowing that I could just quickly launch the Find X10 Pro Max camera and shoot confidently, whether close-up, portrait distance, or zooming in.
Picture 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
A radiant cat, sitting on top of a car, I caught licking his whiskers in a burst shot at 6x zoom, during a walk through the city. It was honest, easy to shoot, and I didn’t notice the tongue until afterwards – but it’s a great shot.
Of course, the camera setup is not only capable of distance shots, as its wide angle is also quite capable, as you can see in the coastal shot second in the gallery. The third shot, of a late sushi lunch, gives an impression of how the 200-megapixel squeezes a lot of detail into an image (which, by default, is oversampled and output at 25MP).
day or night
Malta is magnificent during the day, but when the sun goes down – often in dramatic style – the night takes over, and there is plenty of nightlife. Low-light scenes are a minor problem for this camera’s triplet of large sensors, capable of maintaining detail and low noise throughout.
Picture 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The only weakness I really found in this camera is the occasional setback in focus and limitations to the movement of the subject in low light conditions.
Obviously, it’s tricky to avoid subjects disappearing in dark scenes due to their movement, because there’s only so much light available and even with a large aperture, there are limitations.
Nevertheless, what I managed to shoot with the Find X10 Pro Max puts the other big names to shame in many cases. You don’t get this kind of zoom clarity from Samsung or Apple right now, that’s for sure.
Should I buy the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max?
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
If you are primarily in the market for a camera phone, then I have no doubt that this Oppo flagship is among the best of its kind. It made my vacation without a separate camera totally carefree.
It’s probably quite expensive, though, so the pre-order promotion is worth considering. You have until this Wednesday, October 21, to drop £49 to £200 off the list price.