I’ve been paying close attention to the launch of the OPPO Find X10 Pro Max. Mostly because I’m still using the phone it has to improve on.
Almost a year after reviewing the Find X9 Pro for Geekhub, it remains as one of my daily drivers, and I still absolutely love it. With the arrival of ColorOS 17 a few weeks ago, an already brilliant phone now feels even better. That does create a slightly awkward situation for its successor, because I don’t find myself sitting here wanting an upgrade.
OPPO launched the Find X10 Pro Max in South Africa on Wednesday evening, 11 November, at Vodacom World. With a triple 200MP Hasselblad camera system, an 8,000mAh battery and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro processor, it certainly offers a lot to warrant my attention.
Whether that translates into a better everyday experience is something I’ll need to establish through testing. But my expectations are high, and OPPO has itself to blame for that.
Last year, the Find X9 Pro surprised me enough to become part of my daily tech routine. It subsequently earned Geekhub’s Smartphone of the Year 2025 award, thanks to how well its cameras, battery life, performance and software came together in daily use. And having lived with it since then has only strengthened my appreciation for it.
Which brings me to something that continues to frustrate me about this industry. You can build an incredible phone and still struggle to get people to consider buying it.
The market doesn’t reward great products automatically
Having spent years on the other side of this business, I know how much happens between building a good device and getting it into someone’s hands.
There’s the marketing that makes the name familiar, the retail presence that puts it in front of you, the contract offer that tries to makes it accessible (honestly, this is the part that often fails) and the salesperson who either recommends it or points you towards something else based on the value of the incentives they are paid. By the time a customer starts comparing cameras, a significant part of the decision may already have been made.
That’s where I think brands like OPPO and Xiaomi face a particularly difficult challenge in South Africa. Their flagship products deserve serious consideration, but I don’t think their visibility consistently reflects how competitive those products have become.
Samsung, HONOR and Huawei feel much more present in the local marketing conversation. I don’t have their respective South African marketing budgets in front of me, so I’m not going to pretend this is an audited comparison of spending. I’m talking about the visibility a consumer encounters and the familiarity that builds over time.
And familiarity matters enormously when someone is committing a substantial amount of money to a phone.
If you’ve seen a brand everywhere, know people who use it and recognise its flagship range, choosing it feels easier. An unfamiliar alternative has to work much harder to earn that same confidence, even when the product itself is exceptional.
There’s nothing wrong with Samsung, HONOR or Huawei doing that really well. They make excellent products too. But I would like to see more South Africans give OPPO and Xiaomi a proper look before deciding that their next premium phone has to come from the usual shortlist.
Three 200MP cameras, and quite a lot to prove
The Find X10 Pro Max’s headline feature is its triple 200MP camera system, spanning the main, ultra-wide and telephoto cameras, developed around OPPO’s collaboration with Hasselblad.
That’s an attention-grabbing specification, although megapixels alone won’t tell us whether this is a great camera phone, but last years model certainly provides a good indication.
What interests me is how consistently those three cameras perform together. Can I move between them without the colour changing noticeably? Will faces look natural in difficult lighting? Can the phone capture a moving subject quickly enough to preserve the moment I actually wanted?
OPPO says its True Colour Imaging is designed to deliver more faithful colours and natural skin tones. That’s exactly the sort of promise I want to test, because my affection for the Find X9 Pro has a lot to do with photographs that still look like the scene I remember.
I want detail, but I also want people to look like themselves. A camera shouldn’t need to turn every family gathering into a make-up campaign.
The new phone also supports what OPPO calls 4K Cine-Grade HDR Video. For anyone creating content on a phone, the practical questions will be how it handles changing light, movement and the transition between indoor and outdoor scenes.
At the launch, OPPO demonstrated the device through portrait setups and a lens-kit display featuring scenes ranging from a stadium to a night-time cityscape. Those are useful ways to introduce the camera system, but my verdict will come from using it in the less cooperative conditions of everyday life.
An 8,000mAh battery gets my attention
The camera may dominate the launch messaging, but the battery is arguably just as interesting to me.
OPPO has fitted the Find X10 Pro Max with an 8,000mAh battery, supported by up to 80W SUPERVOOC wired charging and 50W AIRVOOC wireless charging.
Having become accustomed to the Find X9 Pro, I have very little patience left for a premium phone that needs constant battery management. On a busy day, I want to take photographs, navigate, answer messages, work and use my phone without mentally calculating how much charge I need to save for later.
The capacity is promising. Actual endurance will depend on the complete device, including its display, processing demands and software, so I’ll reserve judgement on how much further it goes.
The MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro has a similarly practical job to do. I’ll be looking at responsiveness under a busy workload, heat during extended camera use and whether performance remains consistent after the initial excitement has worn off.
My current phone already handles my day extremely well. A newer processor needs to improve something I can actually feel.
OPPO has made its own upgrade argument harder
There’s an interesting consequence to how much I’m enjoying ColorOS 17 on my Find X9 Pro.
It makes me more confident in OPPO, while also making me less inclined to replace the phone I already own.
That’s a good position for an existing customer to be in. A flagship should remain enjoyable well beyond its launch window, especially at these prices.
For the Find X10 Pro Max, though, it raises the standard. I want to find out whether the camera improvements, extra battery capacity and overall experience add up to a meaningful step forward. Existing Find X9 Pro owners deserve an answer to that question just as much as people considering OPPO for the first time.
The South African price needs a proper look
The Find X10 Pro Max arrives in Titanium Grey with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, at a recommended retail price of R39,999 through participating retail channels.
Let’s be honest, that is a serious amount of money. OPPO is asking to be judged alongside the most expensive mainstream flagships, pushing into foldables territory, and expectations should reflect that.
Its launch offers also need to be read carefully, because the recommended retail price and online bundle price differ.
According to OPPO’s launch information:
- OPPO online store: R42,000 through 2 January 2027, including Enco Buds3 Pro earbuds, 12 months of accidental damage protection, an additional 12-month warranty and factory-fault replacement within 180 days. Buyers can add an OPPO Watch X2 for R3,499.
- Lens kit: Available as a R5,000 add-on until 2 December 2026, against a recommended retail price of R7,000.
- Vodacom: A proposed offer of R1,699 per month over 36 months, including free Enco Clip2 earbuds. Contract package details remain subject to confirmation.
OPPO also lists a promotion for the first 10 qualifying customers at Vodacom World, including a lens kit, Enco Clip2 and insurance benefits. Availability, eligibility and the final insurance terms need to be confirmed. A Vodacom lens-kit add-on is expected from December, with pricing still to follow.
The ownership benefits could add value, but I would compare the final package and its terms before deciding which offer makes the most sense.
I want this phone to get a fair hearing
I’m looking forward to testing the Find X10 Pro Max because OPPO has already earned my interest through a product I continue to use and enjoy.
It still has to earn my recommendation though. At R39,999, there are many great options out there. The Find X10 Pro Max therefore has plenty of difficult questions to answer, and the success of its predecessor doesn’t answer them automatically.
But I also think it deserves to reach more people than those who already follow smartphone launches closely.
OPPO has a responsibility here too. If the product is as good as the company believes, it needs to help customers discover that through visibility, availability, demonstrations and clear reasons to consider switching. Enthusiastic reviews and fancy launch events can only do so much.
For anyone shopping for a premium phone, my request is simple: put these brands on your shortlist. Try the cameras, spend some time with the software, compare the ownership support and decide for yourself.
I gave OPPO that chance last year, and I’m still enjoying the result.
Now I want to see whether the Find X10 Pro Max can persuade me to put it down.
