Oppo’s Find X takes a radical approach to killing the notch

While a number of Android phone brands have embraced the notch at the top of their device screens, a couple of them are bucking the trend with innovative approaches to creating a bezel-less front fascia without ditching the selfie camera. The latest entry is Oppo’s clever new design for its Find X handset.

The 6.42-inch AMOLED display doesn’t have a cutout on its screen; instead, a front camera module slides up from the top of the device whenever you invoke selfie mode or use its face recognition feature for unlocking the device.

I’ve been looking forward to Android phones trying new things in design for a while now, so I’m glad to see Oppo making a bold move in that direction – and away from aping whatever compromises Apple makes with its products.

But as The Verge notes, mechanical components like a sliding camera module could pose issues with water resistance, durability, and longevity of the device.

Sure, that’s a cause for concern, but it remains to be seen how well the Find X holds up over time. It also stands to reason that phone companies will get better at building devices with such components if the trend sticks.

It’s worth noting that Oppo isn’t the first hardware maker to try hiding a front camera within the body: last week, Vivo debuted the Nex, which features a smaller pop-up camera at the top of the device body. We’re currently taking it through its paces and will have a review out soon.

Sans a notch, the Find X has a screen:body ratio of 93.8 percent, and the back is made of glass. Under the hood, you’ll find flagship-level components for 2018, like a Snapdragon 845 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of onboard storage, and a large 3,730mAh fast-charging battery.

The pop-up module houses a 25-megapixel selfie camera, and dual 16-megapixel rear cameras. It all runs on Android 8.1, with Oppo’s ColorOS 5.1 skin on top.

The Find X will cost £999 (roughly $1,150) in Europe and will ship in August across the continent; it isn’t clear when it’ll arrive in North America, and if it’ll come to other regions.