2018 has been the year of notches, thanks to the desire by every OEM to build a phone with a near bezelless display. So far, we have had more than 10 smartphones launch with display notches on them, something that has not sat well with a number of consumers who find the notch a fault in the star.
To counter this, Chinese smartphone makers have been busy cooking up ways to get rid of the notch and since there’s no technology to hide the selfie camera and front-mounted sensors underneath the display, these companies are resulting to including moving parts on their phones, in particular, pop-up selfie cameras.
We first saw this implementation with the Vivo Nex, after Vivo showcased the technology a while back on a concept smartphone. Now, Vivo’s sibling, OPPO has pulled a technical miracle and launched their own interaction of a bezelless smartphone with a pop-up camera.
Unlike Vivo’s implementation where only a small section of the top device pops-up to reveal the selfie camera, OPPO’s mechanicals pop up the whole top of the phone to reveal the selfie camera, 3D face scanners and even the main camera. I have not seen the phone in person, but videos of the process in action are a marvel to look at.
Aside from sounding like a mathematical equation, the OPPO Find X has an impressive 93.8% screen-to-body ratio – at least according to its makers. The AMOLED display stretches to fill 6.42-inches with curved sides and rounded corners like Samsung flagships, maxed at 1080p. The back and front are made out of glass, unfortunately, there’s no wireless charging. There’s 8GB of RAM with 256GB of onboard storage, powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor. The Find X runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with the infamous ColorOS 5.1 on top. The battery is of 3730mAh, capable of fast charging thanks to the company’s proprietary VOOC Flash Charge.
Back to the pop-up mechanism, the main camera on the back is a dual 16MP and 20MP setup with a 25MP selfie shooter. On the front, we also have a 3D facial scanning system that will be used to unlock the phone – it’s the only biometrics available, we have no fingerprint scanner. Aside from biometrics, the scanner can be used to create personalized animated emojis.
OPPO has informed us that the Find X will be making its way to Kenya, much later in the year. The number one concern, however, is the price. Currently, the Find X retail price has been set to around $1000 in certain markets, but OPPO says our market will be getting a trimmed-down version of the device, that will cost significantly less than that Everest of a price.
