Oppo Find X5 Lite Review: Big Battery, Swift Charging | Tech US News

Oppo has three phones in its Find X5 range and the Find X5 Lite is the cheapest phone of the bunch. However, make no mistake. This mid-ranger still has a lot going for it, including a 90Hz flash, long battery life and 65W wired charging speed.

But with the Find X5 and X5 Pro remaining competitive in the flagship competition, how does the Oppo Find X5 Lite hold up among the likes of OnePlus and Realme?

Design & Build

• Designed by Oppo Reno 7 5G
• There are two colors
• No IP address

People familiar with Oppo phones will see the design of this phone as the new name of Oppo Reno 7 5G, which will only be released in China and India. Oppo has been known to release the same phone under different brands for different markets.

The phone comes with curved edges and a plastic back cover. You can get it in a choice of two colors: Startrails Blue or Starry Black. I tried the latter, which is more purple than black, with a gradient, shimmery finish. At a weight of 173g and a thickness of 7.81mm, it is slim and fits in large pockets and small bags easily.

Because it does not share the same design as other handsets in the Find X5 series, the camera module is rectangular instead of curved and does not connect to the phone in the same way. However, the finish still looks clean and feels more expensive than the price of the phone.

The phone comes with a USB-C port, along with a headphone jack and a dual-SIM port that also doubles as a microSD slot. Unfortunately, the phone does not have an IP rating, so it is more susceptible to dust and water damage than other phones.

Screen & Speakers

• Bright and impressive 90Hz display
• The speaker is incredulous

Oppo Find X5 Lite comes with a 6.43in AMOLED screen, with a punch hole camera that sits on the top left. The phone has an 84.9% screen to body ratio, making the display less distracting.

With a maximum brightness of 800 nits, the display is very good and clear even in direct sunlight. There is a fingerprint scanner on the bottom, which I only had a problem with after washing my hands.

You can toggle between a higher 90Hz refresh rate, or save battery power by using the standard 60Hz one. The phone automatically defaults to the higher option out of the box.

There is no change to the refresh rate on the Oppo Find X5 Lite, which more expensive phones have and are used to save battery life when the top refresh rate does not need anything on the screen. You can see 120Hz on phones at this price.

The phone only fits with one speaker at the bottom of the frame. This means that the sound is tinny and lacks power that you will find on handsets equipped with many speakers and audio software. It’s loud enough to listen to movies and podcasts, but music lacks clarity and depth.

Specs & Performance

• MediaTek Dimensity 900
• 8GB RAM and 256GB storage
• Work quickly with daily tasks

Oppo Find X5 Lite to be packed with MediaTek Dimensity 900 chip, which is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of expansion – this is the only configuration of the phone.

This system doesn’t deliver the same killer performance as what you’ll find on the OnePlus Nord 2T. However, it still has enough potential. See how it performs in our benchmarks below:

On a day-to-day basis, this means fast work with minimal chatter, even when multitasking in different apps. Of course, if you want something that can work harder than playing games with high graphics, then you should consider choosing something more powerful.

The Oppo Find X5 Lite has the same connectivity support found on other phones in the range: 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC.

Cameras

• Enjoy the main and front camera
• Wide-angle and macro give mixed results
• Night mode is used slowly

One of the main differences between this phone and the rest of the Find X5 range is that it doesn’t have Oppo’s dedicated Marisilicon X NPU, a chip the company says improves graphics performance. Instead, the X5 Lite boasts a camera made of three lenses, led by a 64Mp main with af / 1.7 aperture.

The texture of the main 64Mp lens is excellent, both indoors and outdoors, and it captures motion (like moving water) beautifully. Although the colors are strong and bright, the HDR mode of the Oppo Find X5 Lite can sometimes make the colors less true to life – especially the green color.

The 8Mp wide-angle lens loses some details of the images and makes them appear slightly distorted in appearance. I would only use this sensor if you need a large travel shot, or if you are trying to get a snap with a lot of people in it.

There’s no telephoto lens here so all zoom is digital. You can keep some details on images up to 5x zoom but beyond that the details start to look scattered. The macro mode on the camera can capture some close-up details, but like many other phones at this price point, it can take a few goes to get a good shot without optical correction of the lens.

Even the night mode brings the color of the camera, it is not like what I have seen from other phones such as Realme 9 Pro+. It also takes a long time, which means that if you are frequently holding hands, the final image can be blurry.

The 32Mp front camera captures details and colors well. You can adjust the strength of the bokeh effect on the sliding scale, although I noticed that a small hair was lost in the blur above the medium. For best results, I recommend keeping blur to a minimum.

Video wise, Find X5 Lite can shoot up to 4K and 30fps, or 1080p at 60fps. AI mode helps if you’re shooting in low light and helps keep the details sharp.

Battery Life & Support

• Get two days of battery life
• Will pay quickly for 95% in 30 minutes
• No wireless charging

One of the best features of the Oppo Find X5 Lite is its fast charging. The company collaborated with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the release of this phone, and while it doesn’t charge at the speed of sound, it’s still pretty cool, thanks to the 65W SuperVOOC charger included in the box.

This can drain the phone to 59% in 15 minutes and 95% in 30 minutes. It gets a little warm, but I have seen the same with other phones that have this technology.

Fast-charging aside, the battery life of this phone is also very good. I couldn’t get the PCMark app’s battery test to run, but on Geekbench 4 the Oppo Find X5 Lite managed 12 hours and 6 minutes.

In real life, this 4500mAh cell (made up of two 2250mAh batteries connected) means about two days of juice, depending on your usage. Even streaming Twitch for hours while scrolling Twitter does not make a big dent in the battery.

The phone doesn’t support wireless charging, but that’s a small price to pay for ultra-fast charging and a durable battery.

Software

• Shipped with Android 11, not Android 12
• Some apps are broken
• Digital health and children are available

The Oppo Find X5 Lite runs on Oppo’s ColorOS flavor of Android 11. This is one of the biggest problems of the Oppo Find X5 Lite, considering that Android 13 is currently in beta, so the software is outdated compared to rivals. Oppo has confirmed that the phone has received two years worth of Android updates though, so it will see Android 12 and 13 down the line.

The company also promises four years of Android security updates, which is worth the price of the phone.

The ColorOS experience is very consistent and clean compared to other Android skins I’ve reviewed. Swiping upwards gives access to the app drawer, and you’ll find all the Google features like Google Discover, Google Photos integration and more.

There is some app bloat like PUBG and Booking.com, but these can be removed. Plus, it’s not as impressive as what I’ve seen from phones from the likes of Honor and Xioami.

Oppo has many customization options, so you can tweak and tidy up your home screen to suit your preferences with widgets, or toggle between normal display. You can use split screen, switch windows and smart faces to quickly switch between apps and tasks.

If you are a parent planning to buy Oppo Find X5 Lite for your child, then there is a small setting where you can limit screen time, limit apps, and protect user accounts and using data. There are similar features for your personal digital health, if you are guilty of being tied to your smartphone (I know the feeling).

Price & Availability

The Oppo Find X5 Lite costs £419, and you can now buy it from Oppo, Amazon, Very and Argos. If you want to pay monthly, then there are contracts available from Mobiles.co.uk, Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone and O2 – with prices starting at £22.99 a month.

Like other Oppo phones, the Find X5 Lite is not available from retailers or carriers in the US.

If battery life is important to you, then this is a phone that is durable, but also charges very quickly. However, for a little cash it is still worth considering the new product OnePlus Nord 2T, which we have said is the best mid-range phone of this year so far.

To see how other competitors compare, check out our chart of the best mid-range phones. We also have a roundup of the best Oppo phones overall, so you can see how the other phones in the Find X5 compare.

Judge

With a good battery, fast charging and good lighting, the Oppo Find X5 has many important features that the average consumer of the phone will be looking for. The experience of ColorOs is still one of the cleanest skins in the market – although it is a shame that it ships with Android 11. At least Android 12 and 13 are promised.

In addition, the cameras do not match the standard of competitors, and the performance under the hood is better than other phones – some of which are less expensive. If you can overcome these problems, then the Oppo Find X5 is still an average competitor.