My Pixel Bit The Dust, So I’m Trying A Phone That’s Not Apple, Google, Or Samsung

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

My household hasn’t had much luck with technology so far this year. First, my wife’s foldable was on the fritz, and now my trust Pixel 8 Pro has bit the dust. In all my years of owning swanky tech, I can’t recall the last time I’ve had two expensive gadgets fail on me in quite such quick succession. Talk about bad luck.

It’s hard to pinpoint precisely what’s gone wrong with my beloved Pixel 8 Pro (besides the picture above, of course), but it’s become unusable in several different but equally debilitating ways. The display flickers randomly when there’s any moderately demanding task to do, obscuring virtually everything from view. The interface crawls to a halt after I’ve used the camera or played a game. And the fingerprint scanner now fails to read my print about 90% of the time. Putting it all together, I think the phone’s Tensor G3 processor is on the way out — hardly a convincing inning for a little over a year of use, but not entirely surprising either, given Google’s dubious history with chip development.

I could jump to the highly recommended Pixel 9 Pro, of course, but I’ve been sitting in the Pixel comfort zone for probably too long now, and this setback provides the perfect opportunity to really get my teeth into what else is out there. I’m fortunate enough to have a selection of the best recent flagships to test out, and I quickly settled on the OPPO Find X8 Pro. Why? Well, I’ve been eyeballing OPPO’s brilliant photography capabilities with the X6 Ultra and X7 Ultra but couldn’t abide the Chinese software. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t eagerly anticipating OPPO’s return to Western shores, so I took this chance to jump right in.

Trying to match the Pixel experience

Having lived in Pixel-land consistently for over a year, you grow accustomed to a few things, both good and bad.

Sluggish charging, for example, has been the bane of my existence. I’m a chaotic person and will rarely bother to plug my phone in overnight, even though I have a plug at my bedside. On work days, it’s no problem to charge my phone at one of the countless ports by my desk, but when I have to dash out, Pixel’s slow charging has all too often left me checking the battery percentage, hoping I have enough to get home. OPPO’s SuperVOOC might not be blazing fast on the Find X8 Pro, but it’ll still take me to full in two-thirds the time of my old Pixel 8 Pro. What’s less good is that the Find X8 Pro is a bit slow from non-SuperVOOC chargers, so I’ve had to slot one of those at my desk now.

Talking of speed, the Find X8 Pro’s Dimensity 9400 far outpaces the Tensor G3 (and the newer Tensor G4, for that matter). Not that you’ll notice doom-scrolling the web or flicking through social feeds, but you will feel that higher frame rate when racing through the latest and greatest Android games. Anecdotally, switching between sleeping apps may feel a tad sharper on the OPPO, but I wouldn’t want to put money on it, and I’m not going to suggest Google’s chip feels too slow. Still, given its the Tensor chip that’s died on me, I have no hesitations about ditching it for virtually anything else.

Faster charging, processing, and new camera tricks certainly feel like an upgrade over last year’s Pixel.

What about all those AI things that you can do on a Pixel? They still run fine on the MediaTek chip, too. Gemini is the default assistant out of the box, complete with Live, Photo’s Magic Editor, Circle to Search, and the latest summarization tools built into Gmail; they all work just fine, probably because most of these features rely on the cloud anyway.

Software-wise, I like the Pixel’s mostly hands-off approach to features — there are extras if you want them, but they don’t demand your attention. The same can’t be said for the Find X8 Pro, which was flush with bloatware and has a bunch of tools like AI Studio and O Relax that I can definitely live without. Once you’ve removed those, Color OS is a familiarly lean experience, with a sensible settings menu and helpful features ranging from battery limit and smart charging to App Lock Private Safe and tools.

Although I like how Google does things, I’ve never loved the overly bubbly aesthetic; ColorOS certainly looks a lot slicker. In all honestly, I’d call it a tie between the two; what you gain from one, you lose something from the other. I like both.

Can you beat the Pixel camera?

Andy Walker / Android Authority

Google’s cameras are brilliant, and the latest Pixel 9 series takes things up another level. Still, I’ve not always been convinced by the Pro phones’ portrait shots, owing to their choice between a default wide (23mm) and relatively long-range 5x (125mm) zoom camera rather than anything ideal for natural portraits. OPPO solves this problem with its dual zoom camera approach, with a 3x (73mm) lens that’s ideal for portraits and a 6x (135mm) option for longer-range subjects. Paired with robust bokeh edge detection, three portrait lighting options, and more filters than I could care to count, it’s easy to get creative with the pictures I snap the most.

And I think that’s the one defining thing I like more about the Find X8 Pro’s camera than the Pixel’s I’ve been used to these years — creativity. I’m not saying you can’t get creative with the Pixel; you absolutely can; look at any of the photos my colleague Rita (and others) have taken. However, the options are mostly technical (such as astrophotography or Add Me) rather than emotive (like filters) unless you want to mess around in Google Photos after the fact. The Find X8 Pro offers superb image quality and easy-to-reach tools, as well as toggles to tweak your photos while you’re hitting the shutter. The results occasionally have that natural mirrorless look that so often evades even the best camera phones. In addition, the Find X8 Pro has the same Stage, Fireworks, and Silhouette modes that we found brilliantly useful on the OnePlus 13.

Unfortunately, my Pixel’s KIA status means I can’t grab side-by-side snaps, but I have a few samples here to show just how impressed I am with the Find X8 Pro. In any case, it’s not just about quality; I think both are rock solid. Instead, I’m having more creative fun with the OPPO. At least for now.

The camera isn’t without its flaws, of course. Details become overly soft pretty quickly when the lights dim, and the long exposure mode auto-clicks into action before it really gets dark, so you have to contend with motion blur. That’s something you don’t have to worry about with the Pixel, which is as consistent at night as it is in the day. Contrast can also be a little harsh, but this isn’t applied when using the phone’s Master mode, and I think the Pixel has far superior long-range zoom. I have barely touched the phone’s dedicated camera button either; it’s quicker to stick with muscle memory.

As much as I want to praise the Find X8 Pro’s camera, the best camera phone I’ve used recently (probably ever) is the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. If you’re primarily looking for a phone to leapfrog what the already impressive Pixel can do, look to Xiaomi instead of OPPO.

So, am I missing my Pixel?

Paul Jones / Android Authority

After a few weeks away, I honestly can’t say I’m really missing my Pixel all that much. Yes, I wish I still had some conveniences like Call Screen, and others might miss novel features like Best Take, Quick Tap, or Live Translate. But I’ve never been particularly tied to Pixel-exclusive features; maybe because I review so many devices, I’ve never really settled into a consistent rhythm with them.

I can still use Photos, Drive, Gemini, and most of Google’s core apps and features no matter where I go, which has always been one of Android’s most significant benefits. Overall, the transition has been a net positive compared to the minor stuff I’ve given up.

Switching from Pixel, what you lose in software you gain back in hardware.

One sidegrade I’m not a big fan of is that the Find X8 Pro has an optical fingerprint scanner, just like my Pixel 8 Pro. Google upgraded to an ultrasonic model in the Pixel 9 series, which is really what you want at this price. OPPO’s scanner works fine, but it’s placed relatively low, and I still don’t like being blinded when I unlock my phone in dim light.

Putting that aside, settling into a different hardware package has reminded me that the Pixel certainly isn’t compromise-free. Between the sluggish charging, sometimes questionable network coverage (I’ve had zero drop-outs with the OPPO, even in rural England), and clearly dubious Tensor chip, you’re often missing out on dabbling in the very latest cutting-edge hardware to live in the admittedly very comfortable Pixel software bubble.

The Find X8 Pro is great, but you should buy the OnePlus 13

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

While I’m converted to the OPPO Find X8 Pro, it’s not a slam-dunk recommendation. It’s pretty expensive in the UK at £1,050, and I haven’t found an official retailer in the US. Either way, you’re talking somewhere just below Pixel 9 Pro XL or Galaxy S25 Ultra money. Not that the phone isn’t worth it, but not everyone will want to stretch that far to try something different. With that in mind, I’m inclined to recommend the OnePlus 13 — a fairly equivalent and perhaps even marginally better pick — if you’re looking to try something outside of the big two US Android names.

Wait, what? Why am I suddenly recommending an entirely different phone? Well, the two aren’t unrelated. OPPO and OnePlus are sibling brands; peek at the spec sheets, and you’ll find a lot of crossovers. Oxygen OS and Color OS share a lot of their best tools, too. They even look a bit alike, don’t they?

The OnePlus 13 has a lot of the Find X8 Pro’s best bits at a fraction of the price.

Notably, the OnePlus 13 is much cheaper at $899 (£899), yet the two share identical camera specs minus the 6x periscope lens you can certainly live without, thanks to OnePlus’ brilliant software zoom. Plus, you marginally trade up to the speedier Snapdragon 8 Elite chip over the Dimensity 9400. We also found that the OnePlus 13 charges faster and will receive the same number of future updates, which is obviously very good for the asking price.

It’s all too easy to settle somewhere in the Apple, Google, or Samsung triangle these days; their hardware is brilliant, they’re reliable, and the phones are easy to get hold of virtually anywhere. Despite the mostly settled nature of the modern smartphone landscape, more adventurous types can still find gems outside of the big three. OnePlus and OPPO are very good places to start your search if you want to try something a little different without compromise.