I attempted utilizing China’s finest flagship telephone this summer time, however it fought me each step of the best way

I have been attempting to land a brand new sweet bar flagship telephone to make use of as a day by day driver since getting barely tired of the in any other case distinctive Vivo X Fold 3 Professional, and my sights have been set on a tool I truly reviewed a number of months in the past however completely forgot about. 

Nonetheless, as a lot as I needed to pop in my SIM card inside this machine and name it a day for the remainder of the summer time, the gremlins related to this in any other case superior telephone as soon as once more raised their heads.

{Hardware} that is reduce above the remainder

Okay, let me speak you thru my thought course of as to why the forbidden Oppo fruit seems to be so candy however oh-so-high up the tree. 

In terms of {hardware}, I stand by my phrases that no different telephone is as well-endowed. It has the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is among the many finest cellular chipsets proper now, and it’s an undisputable necessity once you desire a correct flagship in 2025. Paired with 16GB of RAM and as much as 12GB of digital reminiscence, this one is completely able to assembly any multitasking wants. 

Extra importantly right here, nonetheless, is the merely pretty digital camera setup on the rear. The Oppo Discover X8 Extremely boasts quad 50MP cameras on the rear, with a brief 3.0X telephoto and an extended 6.0X periscope zoom, however the important thing quantity right here is the dimensions of the sensor behind the primary digital camera. It is an 1-inch sensor, which places the telephone in an unique membership of telephones with exceptionally giant digital camera sensors. Clearly, a really interesting {hardware} function that I might definitely like to have on deck!

Then, there’s the extra-large 6,100mAh battery, which helps the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely discover itself within the prime three by way of battery life amongst all 2025 telephones we have examined to this point. With an almost nine-hour battery estimate, it is just about forward of its rivals in our customized assessments, save from the Vivo X200 Extremely. 

Now, some might argue that the Vivo X200 Extremely is technically a superior machine, and I might undoubtedly agree to a degree, however the mixture between superior digital camera, battery life, and efficiency is admittedly superior on the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely in our assessments. This makes it the logical alternative if you wish to squeeze out the very best worth out of any 2025 Extremely flagship. 

And the remainder of the bundle is great, too! We get extraordinarily first rate stereo audio system, a really vibrant OLED display, exact and robust haptic suggestions, IP69 water and dirt resistance, and a capacitive digital camera button that is truly helpful. 

Nonetheless, that is the place the {hardware} bliss ends and the software program nightmare begins. 

The Oppo Discover X8 Extremely has the very best digital camera I’ve seen

Software program nightmare

See, I actually wished to make use of the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely. I assumed I used to be completely conscious of all of the sacrifices I might should make when coping with a telephone supposed for the interior Chinese language market.

I used to be prepared to surrender the Google Uncover panel to the left of the house display, I used to be okay with dropping Circle to Search, and I used to be virtually able to half methods with Gemini because the default voice assistant. Likewise, I used to be additionally mentally ready to debloat the interface by uninstalling no matter preinstalled Chinese language apps I may.

Then, I migrated all of my information with Oppo’s helpful PhoneClone app and went via the tedious means of establishing all accounts and apps, customizing the house display structure and all different telephone settings, after which the problems started.

First issues first, though there wasn’t an apparent challenge with my SIM card, the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely would solely obtain half of all of the messages I used to be purported to obtain. 

How do I do know that? Properly, I did not obtain 2FA for half of the apps I take advantage of, and the worst half is that these apps are banking and messaging ones, so completely essential. Telegram, an important app for me, would not let me log in as a result of the SMS code I used to be purported to obtain by no means truly got here via. And whereas Google Pay seemingly works fantastic on this telephone, the app merely would not let me add a selected bank card, which is one other main deal-breaker. 

My unlucky muscle reminiscence all the time appeared to set off the Breeno assistant on the telephone with the ability button. One may assume {that a} potential workaround could be to obtain a button mapper and manually map Gemini to get enabled as a substitute of the inventory Chinese language AI assistant with the ability button, but not one of the apps I attempted appeared to work reliably; the system simply would not let me do what I wished. 

The identical applies to the inventory launcher. Whereas Android launchers actually fell off up to now few years with nothing thrilling taking place on the scene, I attempted working the nice ol’ Nova Launcher on the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely, and lo and behold, ColorOS would as soon as once more present its enamel and put a stick in my wheel. I needed to undergo some loopy hoops to have the ability to set a customized Android launcher because the default one, and each time I might swipe as much as get to the house display, the telephone would intentionally lag for 2 seconds.

Whereas I am no quitter, the mix of all these software program issues sadly sealed the destiny of this telephone as my day by day driver. 

Conclusion

For this reason I can not suggest the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely, although its {hardware} is just about good. 

You’ll have a great expertise with telephones supposed for the interior Chinese language market. A few of you undoubtedly have the talents essential to nullify all of those interface handicaps and switch a telephone by no means destined to succeed in the Western markets into a superbly usable and succesful machine. 

To my nice ire, the Oppo Discover X8 Extremely by no means obtained a worldwide launch, so no matter you, or I do, it is going to by no means work 100% as supposed outdoors of China.