MANILA, Philippines – Oppo announced the Philippine retail price for its striking new flagship, the Find X: P49,990.

It’s Oppo’s most expensive phone to date, and represents a huge jump for the brand that made a name for itself with affordable but solid phones whose selfie cameras were marketed heavily. 

In the case of the Find X, Oppo – the 3rd best-selling brand in the Philippines after Cherry Mobile and Samsung – is marketing the Find X’s bold approach to design and functions. They’re positioning it as a work of art, launching it in no less than the Louvre Museum in Paris, France back in June. The grand launch felt almost like a declaration to the world that they desired a piece of the pie currently enjoyed by premium phone makers Apple and Samsung. 

Earlier, in March 2018, that was Huawei making a similar kind of declaration with its bar-setting P20 flagships that topped the Dxomark mobile camera rankings, stealing the top spot from the Galaxy S9 Plus – and with a beautiful design that, in spite of having the iPhone X notch, finally felt distinctively theirs alone. Another country rival, Xiaomi, also launched a phone, the Mi Mix 2, in Spain last year, and is expected to unveil the Mi A2 later this month in the same country. 

While phones from China started out as budget alternatives, it’s clear from these high-profile international launches that they’re looking beyond the segment, looking to take over the world, and looking to be seen as tech leaders much in the same way Apple and Samsung have been in the smartphone era. Globally, the two still lead in sales, but the Chinese phones aren’t far behind with Huawei momentarily overtaking number 2 Apple late last year. 

The swell has been on the rise, and Oppo’s Find X is merely the latest play from the China giants. It touts cameras that pop up from the top when the camera app is activated – a design choice needed for its notch-less design with a 93.8% screen-to-body ratio, possibly the highest ratio today. Its camera set-up includes a 25-megapixel (MP) front camera and 16MP plus 20MP dual rear cameras. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip, has 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage.

Notably, the price point of the Find X in the Philippines is so much lower than its £999 (around P70,000) announced price in its Paris launch. Europeans may want to consider buying a Find X here. 

The phone is now available for pre-order until August 1, 2018. The phones will be released on August 6. Customers can pre-order at Oppo concept stores nationwide, and can reserve a Find X with a P5,000 down payment. – Rappler.com