Oppo is readying the launch of its upcoming Find X7 flagship smartphone series, and ahead of the launch, the brand has fully revealed the design of the handsets. The lineup will include the Oppo Find X7 and the Find X7 Ultra with glass and leather back versions. As much as the design and the overall device look impressive, there’s a big problem that still needs to be addressed.
Oppo Find X7 Series: Design
The Oppo Find X7 and the Find X7 Ultra will have similar designs, and the major differences between the two would be in terms of colour options and specifications. Both of them have a dual-tone design where the bottom half is covered with leather while the upper half is glass. There are three colour options for the Find X7 Ultra, including brown, blue, and a completely black one.
Four colour options are there for the vanilla model, including the same three as the Ultra plus a pink model. The design looks impressive and, in our opinion, distinctive. It creates an identity for the Find X series flagship line and is nothing short of premium.
Furthermore, the Find X7 series also borrows a feature from OnePlus phones: the alert slider. For those unaware, the Alert slider allows users to switch between silent, vibrate and ring sound modes with ease and convenience. It has been a fan-favourite feature in OnePlus handsets and making it a part of the Find X series is an intelligent move in our opinion.
Oppo Find X7 Series: The Issue
The Find X7 series, as we mentioned, will provide a top-notch experience in terms of both specs and design. It will launch in China on January 8, 2024, and will potentially launch in global markets soon thereafter.
However, the major issue is the availability here in India. Oppo hasn’t launched any Find series smartphone in India after the Find X2 series, and there’s been no news regarding the launch of the Find X7 series in India. The reasons behind it could be many, including not enough demand, the series not doing well for the brand in India, or it wants its sister brand (OnePlus) to take the limelight in the flagship segment.
According to a recent report from research agency IDC, the premium segment (US$600<US$800) registered a huge 52 per cent year-on-year growth with a 3 per cent market share. Smartphones such as the iPhone 13/14, Galaxy S23/S23 FE and the Moto Razr 40 have contributed to this growth.
This shows that there’s still a lot of potential to gain traction in the premium price bracket for smartphones in India, and if brands such as Motorola for the first time entered the foldable segment and were able to do well, then brands like Oppo who already have quite a bit of recognition in the country can make a play out of it.
The only flagship-level smartphones Oppo currently sells in the country are its Reno series and the Flip foldables. Our persistent complaint with the Reno series is that it is generally too overpriced for the value it offers, but on the other hand, the Find N3 Flip and the N2 Flip had an acceptable price tag in India.
We currently need a proper slab-style flagship product from Oppo, such as the Find X7 series, with a better pricing strategy that can turn the tables for them. It would give consumers more options and allow Oppo to showcase its high-end products in India. We can see that the Find X7 series has potential, but whether Oppo can leverage it and make the most of the opportunity, at least here in India, is in its own hands.
