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Phone Arena
an hour ago
- Phone Arena
I tried using China's best flagship phone this summer, but it fought me every step of the way
I've been trying to land a new candy bar flagship phone to use as a daily driver since getting slightly bored with the otherwise exceptional Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, and my sights were set on a device I actually reviewed a few months ago but totally forgot about. However, as much as I wished to pop in my SIM card inside this device and call it a day for the rest of the summer, the gremlins associated with this otherwise awesome phone once again raised their heads. The phone in question is the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, and the reason for my woes is the Chinese version of the ColorOS software on board, and all the intricate issues that are associated with it. Okay, let me talk you through my thought process as to why the forbidden Oppo fruit appears to be so sweet but oh-so-high up the tree. When it comes to hardware, I stand by my words that no other phone is as well-endowed. It has the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is among the best mobile chipsets right now, and it is an undisputable necessity when you want a proper flagship in 2025. Paired with 16GB of RAM and up to 12GB of virtual memory, this one is perfectly capable of meeting any multitasking needs. More importantly here, however, is the simply lovely camera setup at the rear. The Oppo Find X8 Ultra boasts quad 50MP cameras at the rear, with a short 3.0X telephoto and a longer 6.0X periscope zoom, but the key number here is the size of the sensor behind the main camera. It's an 1-inch sensor, which puts the phone in an exclusive club of phones with exceptionally large camera sensors. Obviously, a very appealing hardware feature that I'd certainly love to have on deck! Then, there's the extra-large 6,100mAh battery, which helps the Oppo Find X8 Ultra find itself in the top three in terms of battery life among all 2025 phones we've tested so far. With a nearly nine-hour battery estimate, it's pretty much ahead of its rivals in our custom tests, save from the Vivo X200 Ultra. Now, some may argue that the Vivo X200 Ultra is technically a superior device, and I'd definitely agree to a point, but the combination between awesome camera, battery life, and performance is admittedly superior on the Oppo Find X8 Ultra in our tests. This makes it the logical choice if you want to squeeze out the best value out of any 2025 Ultra flagship. And the rest of the package is excellent, too! We get extremely decent stereo speakers, a very bright OLED screen, precise and strong haptic feedback, IP69 water and dust resistance, and a capacitive camera button that's actually useful. However, this is where the hardware bliss ends and the software nightmare begins. The Oppo Find X8 Ultra has the best camera I've seen See, I really wanted to use the Oppo Find X8 Ultra. I thought I was perfectly aware of all the sacrifices I'd have to make when dealing with a phone intended for the internal Chinese market. I was ready to give up the Google Discover panel to the left of the home screen, I was okay with losing Circle to Search, and I was almost ready to part ways with Gemini as the default voice assistant. Likewise, I was also mentally prepared to debloat the interface by uninstalling whatever preinstalled Chinese apps I could. Then, I migrated all of my data with Oppo's handy PhoneClone app and went through the tedious process of setting up all accounts and apps, customizing the home screen layout and all other phone settings, and then the issues began. First things first, although there wasn't an obvious issue with my SIM card, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra would only receive half of all the messages I was supposed to receive. How do I know that? Well, I didn't receive 2FA for half of the apps I use, and the worst part is that those apps are banking and messaging ones, so absolutely crucial. Telegram, an essential app for me, doesn't let me log in because the SMS code I was supposed to receive never actually came through. And while Google Pay seemingly works fine on this phone, the app simply wouldn't let me add a specific credit card, which is another major deal-breaker. My unfortunate muscle memory always seemed to trigger the Breeno assistant on the phone with the power button. One could think that a possible workaround would be to download a button mapper and manually map Gemini to get enabled instead of the stock Chinese AI assistant with the power button, yet none of the apps I tried seemed to work reliably; the system just wouldn't let me do what I wanted. The same applies to the stock launcher. While Android launchers really fell off in the past few years with nothing exciting happening on the scene, I tried running the good ol' Nova Launcher on the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, and lo and behold, ColorOS would once again show its teeth and put a stick in my wheel. I had to go through some crazy hoops to be able to set a custom Android launcher as the default one, and every time I'd swipe up to get to the home screen, the phone would deliberately lag for two seconds. While I'm no quitter, the combination of all these software problems sadly sealed the fate of this phone as my daily driver. This is why I can't recommend the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, even though its hardware is pretty much perfect. You may have a good experience with phones intended for the internal Chinese market. Some of you definitely have the skills necessary to nullify all of these interface handicaps and turn a phone never destined to reach the Western markets into a perfectly usable and capable device. To my great ire, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra never got a global release, so whatever you, or I do, it will never work 100% as intended outside of China. Alternatives? Of all Ultra phones released so far in 2025, only the Xiaomi 15 Ultra got a global release, but it was ruined with a smaller battery, which isn't ideal when paired with HyperOS 2's awful battery optimization. The Vivo X200 Ultra is out of the question, as it's also a China-exclusive. What you're left with is the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which isn't bleeding-edge tech, and you also have to deal with the quirks of One UI 7. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
GSM Arena
7 hours ago
- GSM Arena
iPhone 17 Pro Max's battery capacity rumored to be larger than its predecessor's
Vlad, 03 July 2025 The iPhone 17 Pro Max will come with a larger battery than its predecessor's 4,685 mAh cell. According to a new rumor out of China today, the iPhone 17 Pro Max will finally be the first iPhone to reach 5,000 mAh. As you may know, that's pretty much been the default capacity for flagship Android devices up until recently, when Chinese brands started using Si/C batteries thus taking them past that limit, while Samsung and Google have been content to stay around the 5,000 mAh mark, for now at least. iPhone 16 Pro Max Throughout Apple's iPhone Pro Max line, every new generation brought with it a slight increase in battery size, aside from the iPhone 14 Pro Max which actually had an ever so slightly smaller cell than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB 8GB RAM $ 1,154.97 $ 1,154.97 512GB 8GB RAM $ 1,265.00 Source (in Chinese)
GSM Arena
9 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Deals: the Poco F7, F7 Pro and F7 Ultra are on sale
Xiaomi's site in the Netherlands still offers Early Bird discounts on the Poco F7. After adding it to the cart, the price falls to €384 thanks to a €15 discount. You can find it here – it comes with a free 120W charger, free Xiaomi Smart Band 10 and a choice between a free Xiaomi Sound Outdoor 30W Bluetooth speaker or Redmi Buds 5 Pro. Amazon sells it at a slightly lower price, although without the freebies. The Poco F7 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 – the same chipset used in the Nothing Phone (3), which will become available soon. The F7 has a bigger 6.83' OLED display and a higher capacity 6,500mAh battery. Its cameras are fairly basic, however, with a 50MP main (1/1.95') and 8MP ultra-wide. Of course, the Nothing starts at €800 – double the price of the F7. We will talk about Nothing more in the coming weeks, but the Poco F7 Ultra is a more direct competitor – and can be had for as little as €640. It is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and a 5,300mAh battery with 120W wired and 50W wireless charging. The camera setup includes a 50MP main (1/1.55'), 50MP 2.5x/60mm telephoto (1/2.76') and a 32MP ultra-wide. The middle ground is the Poco F7 Pro. That one also has a faster chipset – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 beats the 8s Gen 4 by a small margin – and a sharper 1440p+ display (the Nothing Phone (3) has a 1260p+ panel). The 6,000mAh battery is bigger, but it only offers 90W wired charging. And the camera is similar to that of the vanilla F7, save for the bigger sensor in the main (50MP 1/1.55'). The Poco X7 Pro is part of the more affordable series, but its Dimensity 8400 Ultra performs close to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. Again, you're looking at pretty basic cameras (50MP 1/1.95' main, 8MP ultra-wide) and a large battery (6,000mAh, 90W wired-only charging). We may get a commission from qualifying sales.
