The Find X10 Pro Max is a fantastic smartphone that is easy to love.
It continues the strong run started by last year’s Find X9 Pro, this time with an even bigger 8000mAh battery (in different regions, anyway), next-gen Dimensity Power and a triple 200MP rear camera setup – the first smartphone to offer such a high-res trio.
It’s a phone that I’ve loved using as my everyday phone for the past month. The screen is big and bright with those ultra-slim 1.1mm thick bezels that make everything look and feel premium, and when combined with battery life that easily lasts two days, long gaming sessions are truly enjoyable.
It goes without saying that it’s a pretty damn capable phone in the camera department as well. The 200MP sensors deliver consistently great shots, complete with Hasselblad tuning and an updated Master Mode that removes much of the artificial processing seen with almost every other smartphone camera on the market, offering much more natural results.
And I still think that, despite Oppo blatantly taking elements from iOS 27 (Liquid Glass, hello!) to integrate into ColorOS 17, it’s still one of the better Android skins around. It’s highly customizable without too much in the way of bloatware, plays nice with iPhones with AirDrop support and offers solid cross-device connectivity with Windows and Mac.
It’s a well-rounded smartphone then, ready to really challenge flagship Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro XL – well, it would be if it weren’t so damn expensive.
The Find X10 Pro Max is more expensive than I expected
There is no around it; the Find X10 Pro Max is an expensive smartphone – one of the the most expensive phones that don’t work, in fact, with a £1,499 price tag.
Granted, Oppo offers 512GB of storage as standard with the X10 Pro Max to try to justify the higher price tag – but that’s no different to what it did with last year’s Find X9 Pro, a phone that cost £1099 – £400 less than this year.
I imagine that Oppo would like to point out that it is not a right away Follow up – last year was a Pro, this year there is a Pro Max – but we all know this is a Pro in everything but branding.
One of Trusted’s contributors, Luke Baker, made a great point about this on TikTok a few weeks ago.
I’m paraphrasing here, and it’s worth watching his video on this, but he essentially predicted that many phone manufacturers will be making new Pro Max brand phones next year because they’re going to be more expensive. But with no previous Pro Max available to compare it to, manufacturers could argue that these are actually different tiers of phones and the prices aren’t directly comparable.
It is an argument that could It would make sense if Oppo had a Find X10 Pro – but it doesn’t. It’s just the X10 and X10 Pro Max. Again, it’s Pro in all but name.
This price also completely distorts Oppo’s wider portfolio; the Pro/Pro Max isn’t as top-end as the Ultra model, but the X9 Ultra – a phone that’s only six months old and offers a better camera setup than the 10 Pro Max – costs £50 less at RRP, at £1449. And that’s only if you go direct through Oppo; the phone can be found cheaper at other retailers.
Why would you spend more on the Pro Max when the Ultra costs less, even at RRP?
Could it be the first of many?
This might seem like a shocking price jump – and don’t get me wrong, it is – but it could simply be bad timing, with Oppo taking the brunt of what is likely to be a wave of ultra-expensive flagships in 2027. Someone has to be first, right?
That’s what my gut, and recently, rumours, are saying. Take the Samsung Galaxy S27 collection as a prime example. Released sometime in early 2027, rumors suggest that the new Galaxy S27 Pro — taking the place of the S26 Plus with specs closer to the Ultra — will cost the same as last year’s $1,299 S26 Ultra.
The S27 Ultra, on the other hand, could receive a price increase to around $1399/$1499 according to the latest online whispers, bringing it to a similar level as the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max. That’s a potential $200 year-over-year jump in terms of US price – and rumors don’t suggest a complete overhaul of Samsung’s Ultra hardware to justify such a jump in asking price.
And while pricing hasn’t been leaked yet, the fact that Honor has the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max this year suggests it will follow suit when it inevitably launches in the UK sometime in the coming months. Phones are available very expensive, people.
Old prices probably won’t return for a while
Of course, as we all know, this is all largely down to AI in data centers hogging RAM and storage, and more component manufacturers are pivoting to more lucrative AI-focused RAM and storage over consumer-focused technology like that used in phones. This creates scarcity, which in turn drives prices up.
The argument could be made to simply upgrade your phone in 2027 to avoid these crazy price hikes – and normally I’d agree. But not this time.
The problem is that there isn’t really an answer to the imbalance of RAM and storage – at least not in the short term. Melting takes time, effort and a a lot of money to build and brought online, after all.
Most believe this won’t be miraculously fixed until 2028, instead suggesting it could continue until 2030. Some, including Lenovo, also believe that this will essentially be the ‘new normal’ for component pricing.
With that in mind, waiting isn’t really such a good idea.
Essentially, in 2027 with very, very expensive tech, and the jury is out on whether we’ll ever get back to the relatively affordable prices of a year or two ago, so enjoy the current prices while you still can.