Apple desperately needs to copy 3 Oppo Find X9 Pro features for iPhone 18

THE Oppo Find X9 Pro is one of the most complete phones of the year. It offers a versatile camera system, powerful performance, an excellent screen, and excellent battery life. All this, packaged in an ergonomic design. In his review for CNET, Andrew Lanxon said: “Oppo’s Find X9 Pro might just be one of the best Android phones I’ve tested in 2025 – and I’ve tested a lot of them. »

While it may not be available for purchase in the US, Oppo is taking on Apple with features that aren’t even available on the latest iPhone 17 Pro. And that puts the Cupertino, Calif.-based phone maker in a tough spot. Apple must continue to innovate and add new features to the iPhonewhile keeping pace with what its competitors, like Oppo, are doing.

I’ve been using the Find X9 Pro for a week and wish Apple would steal three features from Oppo for the iPhone 18.

1. Improve iPhone photography

Apple’s iPhone Pro models are leaps and bounds for mobile videographers. After all, the iPhone 17 Pro brings action camera-like stability and post-editing versatility to video recordings, even at 8x zoom. However, it lags behind its Chinese competitors, such as Xiaomi and Oppo, in terms of portrait quality, low-light photos, and long zoom shots.

The Oppo Find X9 Pro features a 200-megapixel telephoto lens with a 3x optical zoom lens, delivering images with sharp details. In contrast, the iPhone 17 Pro offers a 4x 48-megapixel telecamera with 8x “optical zoom” which in my testing produced noisy results compared to the Oppo phone, especially in low-light conditions.

I enjoyed taking 10x photos with my Find X9 Pro, but I wouldn’t go beyond 4x on my iPhone for photos because of the aforementioned image noise. Oppo has better quality digital image processing, and this extends to portrait mode, low-light scenarios, and macro shots.

The Oppo phone tends to better detect edges around subjects and add bokeh effect in portrait mode. Neon lights appear more vibrant in dimly lit images and there is less noise in dark environments. Macro shots, even at 6x zoom, have excellent detail and, as a result, you don’t need to get very close to your subject to get great macro photos, like the example above. You can check out more shots here.

In all these scenarios, you get better-looking photos than with an iPhone with just one click. I wish Apple would introduce such camera processing in portrait, macro and low light modes.

2. Add more battery capacity

The Oppo Find In CNET’s lab testing, the 17 Pro Max topped all of our tests when it debuted in September. It’s worth noting that because Apple controls the hardware, software, and processor design, the company is able to achieve greater power efficiency than Android phone makers.

I am someone who regularly uses my phone for 8+ hours every day. While the Find X9 Pro doesn’t offer double the battery life of my iPhone 17 Pro Max, I wasn’t able to kill it in a single day. If you’re a moderate phone user, you can expect it to last up to two days on a single charge.

In fact, the Find As CNET Senior Photographer and Editor-in-Chief Andrew Lanxon wrote in his review of the Find X9 Pro: “After 3 hours of streaming video on YouTube, the phone went from 100% to just 92%.” The iPhone 17 Pro dropped to 85% after the same amount of time, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL dropped as much as 76%. And even though its battery is low, you can fast charge it at 80 watts compared to the iPhone 17 Pro’s 40 watts fast charging.

The Oppo’s excellent battery life is partly explained by its capacity. The Find I wish Apple would borrow this silicon-carbon battery technology for its next iPhone, so I can be on the go without carrying my power bank for long days. This would be a boon for travel. Can you imagine the kind of battery life an iPhone Pro Max would get with a 7,500 mAh battery?

3. More miscellaneous additions for iPhone

There are a few other things I like about my Oppo Find X9 Pro that I wish I had on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. These are :

• Multifunction action button: Apple stuck with a double-tap shortcut for the Action button, which seems limiting. I want to be able to use my shortcut as well as silence my phone using this button. Oppo lets you add two features to its AI Plus Touch with a long press to record voice notes and a single press to save a screenshot in its “Mind Space”. I don’t want Mind Space on my iPhone, but it would be cool to similarly assign two shortcuts to one button.

• Expandable folders on the home screen: I loved this capability on Honor’s MagicOS, and I love it the same on Oppo’s ColorOS. My home screen setup includes a folder containing five apps, expanded to provide one-click access to three of them. This gives my home screen an organized look with grouped apps while still maintaining the instant access capability of a single app.

• Improved quality in Live Photos: I turned on Live Photos because it offers a behind-the-scenes look at the raw emotions captured in my photos. It’s also great for Reels and TikToks, where you can turn them into mini clips to add to your short videos. But I wish Apple would give these converted mini clips the same quality as its videos. Currently they appear to be low resolution and have a lower frame rate. However, on the Oppo Find X9 Pro, you can convert Live Photos to 4K videos, which is ideal for creating short-form content.

The iPhone 17 Pro is a great device for prosumers, but I’m sure most consumers would love to have these Find X9 Pro features on their Apple device. From better-looking portraits to iOS improvements, my wishlist for the next iPhone is ready. I hope Apple keeps its promises.

Editor’s note: The author’s travel expenses related to the launch of the Oppo Find X9 Pro were covered by Oppo. CNET’s judgments and opinions are our own.