Oppo Find X With Pop-Up Cameras Ships in August for More Than $1,000

Oppo is a massive smartphone maker in Europe, but its presence in Europe and North America has been extremely limited. That’s changing with the flashy new Oppo Find X. This phone (apparently named after a math problem) will be the first Oppo phone to launch internationally since the ill-fated N1. It has an edge-to-edge screen with no notch thanks to its bizarre pop-up camera module. This funky design won’t come cheap, though. Oppo is looking to sell the device internationally for €999. That works out to around $1,155.

Phones like the LG G7 ThinQ, OnePlus 6, Lenovo Z5, and Huawei P20 Pro have all embraced the notch design popularized by the iPhone X. By clipping out a little screen at the top, designers can push the panel all the way to the edge and still fit the front-facing camera. However, many smartphone buyers have objected to the aesthetics of notches.

The Oppo Find X is an attempt to offer a full-screen phone without the notch. Instead of having the front-facing camera on the front of the phone, it’s hidden on a tray that tucks into the top of the phone. When the camera activates, this section of phone pops-up to give the phone a “temporary bezel.” It’s not just the front-facing camera. The two rear cameras are also on the sliding motorized tray.

Durability is a potential concern here. If that camera tray fails, you might not be able to take photos with the Find X anymore. The tray is going to get a lot of use, too. This phone doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor anyplace — the only biometric option is face unlock with the front-facing camera. Thus, you need to open the camera tray every time you wake up the phone if you want to use face unlock. Otherwise, it’s traditional PIN and password unlocks.

Oppo is not a well-known name in Europe and North America, so it’s surprising it would come out of the gate with such an expensive phone. This is a high-end phone with a Snapdragon 845, 8GB of RAM, a 6.4-inch curved OLED, and up to 256GB of storage. It runs Android 8.1 with Oppo’s Color OS skin. The $1,000+ price tag isn’t far off from phones like the Galaxy S9+ that have similar specs, but the brand recognition isn’t there.

The Oppo Find X will start shipping outside of Asia in August. It’s an unlocked phone, so it should work on any major GMS/LTE network like T-Mobile or AT&T. it is unlikely there will be payment plans like you can get from established smartphone sellers in North America and from carriers.