We reviewed OPPO's Find X2 Pro a little while back and found it to be a true flagship experience from aesthetics through to performance, and it's the phone I keep returning to between each review unit. Since then, the Find X2 range has expanded somewhat with the affordable Find X2 Lite, and the mid-range Find X2 Neo.
The OPPO Find X2 Neo runs on the Snapdragon 765 platform with a 90Hz display and quadruple rear cameras for a £599 price tag, which means it's running into OnePlus 8 territory, so is OPPO's Find X2 Neo a worthy alternative?
Design
While the Find X2 Neo doesn't sport the same unique Vegan Leather finish as the Pro, instead our review unit came in Midnight Black and while it doesn't exactly stand out, it isn't drab and the ‘elemental color process', as OPPO describes it, offers differing illusions depending on the lighting. The Starry Blue finish is much more striking if being able to stand out is important to you.
Featuring a glass and metal construction, the Neo feels sleek and comfortable in the hand, in or out of the included case. It is slippery thanks to the glass rear panel, so you will want to make use out of the case that is included in the box.
The punch-hole selfie camera sits in the top left of the display, while the quad-cam setup is housed in a vertical strip on the left-hand side of the rear panel, with the OPPO logo located on the bottom right.
At just 7.7mm thick and weighing in at 171g, the Neo is a well-balanced phone whose curved edges make it comfortable to hold, feeling much smaller than it actually is.
Hardware
| OPPO Find X2 Neo | |
|---|---|
| Announced | May 27, 2020 |
| Released | |
| Software | Android 10, ColorOS 7 |
| Display | 6.5-inch Curved AMOLED, FHD+ Resolution (2400 x 1080), 402ppi, 90Hz Refresh Rate |
| Processor | Snapdragon 765 Octa-core, Adreno 620 GPU |
| Memory | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB |
| Rear Cameras | 48MP Main Camera (OIS+EIS), 13MP Telephoto Lens, 5x Hybrid Optical Zoon, 8MP Wide-angle lens, 2MP Monochrome sensor |
| Front Camera | 32MP Sensor |
| 5G | Yes |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.1, WLAN 2.4G / WLAN 5.1G / WLAN 5.8G / WLAN Display OTG, NFC |
| Fingerprint Sensor | Yes, In-display |
| Sensors | Geomagnetic sensor, Gap light sensor, Gap proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Gravity sensor, Gyroscope, Step recording function supported |
| Battery | 4,025mAh |
| Charging | VOOC Flash Charge 4.0, USB Type-C |
| Wireless Charging | No |
| Dimensions | 159.4 x 72.4 x 7.7mm |
| Weight | 171 |
| Colors | Starry Blue, Midnight Black |
| Price | £599 |
Performance
The AMOLED display is a beaut with vibrant colors and capable of up to 800 nit, while the 90Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through web pages and home pages a slick experience. The curved edges of the display light up with notifications, which is a striking feature if you notice the two times that it flashes, and the in-display fingerprint sensor is nice and accurate.
The combination of 12GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 765G processor means that the Neo is a speedy performer, and only the eagle-eyed user with experience of the top-drawer SD865 chip will notice much difference other than when it comes to gaming.
Battery
The Find X2 Neo is good for a full day's usage or two days if you enable some of the power-saving options. I averaged between 5-6 hours of screen on time on some days where the Neo saw heavy usage, and streaming Netflix sipped 7% battery per hour, which means a 10-hour long-haul flight in normal times would still leave you with around 30% battery life. Disappointingly, the £599 Neo doesn't sport wireless charging, which is a pity because the OnePlus 8 that it's competing in price with does. It's not a surprise that it isn't present, though, seeing as none of the Find X2 range feature wireless charging.
The VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 charging technology takes the Neo from 0-50% in just over 20 minutes, which should remove any battery anxiety you might have.
Software
Based on Android 10, ColorOS 7 has come on in leaps and bounds since we reviewed the Reno 10x Zoom last year. Flatter, less cluttered, more consolidated features, with dark mode built-in, ColorOS 7 is now on par with Samsung's One UI, which is a compliment. There are tons of options when it comes to customizing your software experience by changing the shape and size of app icons or fiddling with the Always-on-Display.
OPPO could still do with clearing up the menus a bit as there are some features present in places you wouldn't expect them to be. There isn't too much in the way of bloat other than the presence of the Opera browser, the Soloop video editing app, and the mindfulness app called OPPO Relax. Needless to say, there are better options on the Play Store than these pre-installed apps but in a pinch, they will do a job.
All-in-all, ColorOS 7 is feature-rich and easy on the eyes, there's a lot to like about it and it shows that OPPO is on the right path when it comes to developing its own software. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, you can learn more about ColorOS 7 from our Find X2 Pro review here.
Camera
Unsurprisingly, the Neo doesn't share the same camera specs as its flagship sibling, the Find X2 Pro. With its 48Mp main sensor that features OIS, though, it is capable of taking images of solid quality which can be souped up a little by enabling the Dazzle Color AI mode that ups the saturation levels. In general terms, the Neo's cameras won't disappoint you as they are perfectly competent in normal conditions although low-light left a bit to be desired. The 2x zoom comes in handy with usable results, and the dedicated ultra-wide lens is adequate for the price point albeit a touch noisy.
As on the Find X2 Pro, the Neo's camera app is easy to navigate with user-friendly menus and features such as Night, Pano, Expert, Time-Lapse, Slo-Mo, and Text Scanner hiding in the expanded menu. The AI Dazzle Color function, HDR, and Filter options are situated on the top of the app.
Is it worth it?
This is where things get tricky.
Without taking the competition into consideration, it would be easy to recommend the Neo as the phone to buy, but when you take into consideration that the OnePlus 8 comes in at the very same £599 mark, then a slightly different perspective takes shape. One where the shadow of the similarly priced OnePlus 8 with its more powerful Snapdragon 865 processor looms, and even a couple of competitors from OPPO's own stable of brands such as the OnePlus Nord and the Realme X50 5G that come in at the £300-£380 mark.
The Find X2 Neo is a pretty enough phone with a premium build that is ergonomically comfortable, there is more than adequate performance, as well as a high-quality AMOLED panel. It's slim, trim, and simply gets the job done without a fuss.
OPPO has done so much right with its Find X2 range, and the Neo is a worthy example, it's just a shame that it's a smidge overpriced at its RRP.
Buy it Now: Amazon
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