The last review of the Oppo Find X9 series showed the effort and innovation the brand is investing in its flagship lineup. On a similar note, the company recently unveiled a new member of the family — the Oppo Find X9s. Starting at ₹79,999, the smartphone enters a segment where competition is already intense. More importantly, it arrives at the same price as the Vivo X300 FE, a phone that has already established itself as a strong all-rounder. This naturally raises the question: does the Oppo Find X9s bring enough to justify its place in the lineup? More importantly, which phone makes more sense for buyers? After spending time with the device, here is my detailed take.

Design

The Lavender Sky colour variant that we received for review looks absolutely gorgeous and is easily one of the better-looking smartphones in this segment. The shade attracts attention without appearing flashy. Oppo also includes a matching protective case inside the retail box, and I would strongly suggest using it because the glass finish can become slightly slippery with prolonged usage.

The Oppo Find X9s carries a premium construction with an aluminium frame and a glass rear panel. While the overall design language closely resembles the standard Find X9, it still feels refined and well put together. The squarish camera island at the rear creates a distinct identity, while the flat frame and flat display contribute to a modern flagship appearance. At 203 grams, it is not the lightest smartphone around, but the weight distribution remains balanced.

The phone measures 8mm in thickness and comes with IP66, IP68, and IP69 certifications for dust and water resistance. That means it is well protected against everyday accidents and environmental exposure. Oppo has also introduced a dedicated AI Mind button on the left frame, giving users quick access to smart functions and shortcuts.

Ports and buttons are positioned exactly where you would expect them to be. The USB Type-C port, SIM tray, and speaker grille sit at the bottom, while the power button and volume controls are located on the right side. The front of the phone has a very open appearance thanks to slim bezels surrounding the display. Combined with the symmetrical layout, the Find X9s looks every bit like a premium flagship when viewed from the front.

Display

The Oppo Find X9s features a 6.59-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution, a 120 Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass 7i protection, and up to 1,800 nits of peak brightness in High Brightness Mode. Colours appear vibrant without becoming overly saturated, while contrast levels remain excellent. Whether it is streaming content, browsing social media, or gaming, the display consistently delivers an enjoyable viewing experience. Viewing angles are also impressive, and outdoor visibility never became a concern during my usage.

However, this is also where the comparison with the Vivo X300 FE becomes interesting. While the Oppo Find X9s delivers a beautiful viewing experience, Vivo offers a more advanced LTPO AMOLED panel with a dynamic 1 Hz-120 Hz refresh rate, higher peak brightness, and a sharper 1.5K resolution. On paper and in practical usage, the Vivo X300 FE holds a slight advantage in display technology. That said, users upgrading from older devices will find little to complain about with the Oppo Find X9s. The combination of smooth animations, vivid colours, and responsive touch input ensures a premium experience.

OS and AI

The Oppo Find X9s runs ColorOS 16 based on Android 16 out of the box. Over the years, ColorOS has matured into one of the most polished Android skins available, and the latest version continues that trend. Animations feel fluid, multi-tasking remains smooth, and the interface offers plenty of customisation options. Features such as resizable folders, lock screen personalisation, custom widgets, and notification management tools help users tailor the experience according to their preferences.

On the AI side, Oppo has packed several useful features. AI Popout combines motion photos with still images for social sharing, AI Portrait Glow enhances portrait images, AI Glow improves image quality, AI Recompose generates alternate compositions, and AI Eraser removes unwanted objects from photographs. There is also AI Perfect Shot and the dedicated AI Mind button that adds another layer of convenience. Oppo promises five years of Android updates and six years of security updates. While that falls slightly behind the Vivo X300 FE’s seven years of security support, it still places the Find X9s among the better-supported Android devices in the market.

Performance

Powering the Oppo Find X9s is the MediaTek Dimensity 9500s processor. My review unit came with 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256 GB UFS 4.1 storage. On paper, the chipset sits slightly below flagship processors such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Dimensity 9500, but in day-to-day usage, the difference is difficult to notice. App launches are quick, multi-tasking remains effortless, and the software experience feels consistently smooth.

Benchmark figures provide a clearer picture of where the phone stands. The Oppo Find X9s scored 2,260 in Geekbench single-core tests and 7,455 in multi-core performance. Its GPU score reached 19,635, while the AnTuTu score stood at 2,937,430. By comparison, the Vivo X300 FE scored 2,787 in single-core, 8,926 in multi-core, 17,091 in GPU tests, and 2,891,439 on AnTuTu. This creates an interesting scenario. Vivo retains an advantage in CPU performance, while Oppo manages to edge ahead in graphics and overall AnTuTu scoring.

What impressed me more was the sustained performance. The phone remained stable even during extended workloads. Whether it was video recording, navigation, streaming, hotspot sharing, or running multiple applications simultaneously, the device never showed noticeable slowdowns. Thermal management also deserves praise, as heat buildup largely remained under control.

Gaming performance is equally strong. Titles such as BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile run smoothly with stable frame rates and responsive controls. Graphics look sharp, touch response remains quick, and long gaming sessions do not result in uncomfortable temperatures.

Camera

Expectations from the Find X series are usually high, and the Oppo Find X9s does a commendable job of living up to them. Oppo markets the phone as a Hasselblad Travel Companion, and after using it extensively, it is easy to understand why. The camera system delivers exactly what it promises. Images look premium, colours remain balanced, and there is a level of consistency that makes photography genuinely enjoyable. More importantly, unlike the Vivo X300 FE, Oppo focuses on delivering natural-looking results rather than heavily contrast-driven processing.

The smartphone features a 50 MP primary camera with OIS, a 50 MP ultrawide sensor with a 120-degree field of view and a 50 MP periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and OIS support. On the front sits a 32 MP selfie camera. The hardware itself looks impressive, but it is the Hasselblad tuning that helps elevate the overall experience. Modes such as Hasselblad, XPan, and Master provide additional creative flexibility for photography enthusiasts.

Daylight photography is undoubtedly one of the strongest aspects of the Find X9s. Images appear sharp, detailed, and rich without crossing into oversaturated territory. Dynamic range is excellent, allowing both shadows and highlights to retain information. Compared to the Vivo X300 FE, the Oppo smartphone captures more natural colours and slightly brighter images. The difference becomes even more obvious with the ultrawide camera. Thanks to its 50 MP sensor, the Find X9s produces significantly more detailed and balanced ultrawide shots than the Vivo’s 8 MP solution.

Portrait photography is another area where the phone excels. Subject separation remains clean, edge detection works accurately, and skin tones appear natural. Hair strands and complex outlines are handled well, creating portraits that feel polished rather than artificially processed. The telephoto camera contributes significantly here, producing flattering focal lengths that work particularly well for portraits.

Night photography is equally impressive. Images remain detailed with relatively low noise levels, and the phone avoids the common tendency of turning night scenes into artificially bright daylight shots. Reflections, street lights, and darker areas retain a realistic appearance. The camera does an excellent job of balancing detail retention with natural colour reproduction. Selfies from the 32 MP front camera also come out clean and balanced, with strong dynamic range and accurate skin tones. Overall, Oppo has delivered one of the most complete camera experiences in this segment.

Battery

The Oppo Find X9s houses a massive 7,025 mAh battery, which is significantly larger than the 6,500 mAh unit found inside the Vivo X300 FE. On paper, that immediately sounds like a major advantage. In real-world usage, the phone comfortably lasts a full day with moderate to heavy workloads that include photography, navigation, media consumption, and social media usage.

Charging is handled through 80W SuperVOOC fast charging. The phone takes roughly 55 minutes to charge from 20% to full. While that remains fast by industry standards, Vivo does have an advantage here with its 90W wired charging and 40W wireless charging support. The absence of wireless charging on the Find X9s feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering its premium pricing. Even so, battery anxiety is unlikely to be an issue for most users.

Verdict

The Oppo Find X9s is an easy smartphone to like. It offers a premium design, capable performance, polished software, vibrant display, and a camera system that consistently delivers impressive results. The Hasselblad partnership is not merely branding here. It genuinely enhances the photography experience and helps the phone establish its own identity in a crowded flagship segment.

The challenge comes from the competition. The Vivo X300 FE offers a sharper LTPO display, stronger benchmark performance, faster charging, wireless charging and longer security support. However, the Oppo Find X9s fights back with a superior ultrawide camera, natural image processing, excellent sustained performance, and a polished overall experience.

If photography is your top priority and you prefer realistic image output, the Oppo Find X9s makes a compelling case for itself. If you want the better all-round package, the Vivo X300 FE still holds a slight edge. That said, the Oppo Find X9s remains one of the most enjoyable flagship smartphones I have used in this price segment.