The first several times I saw the Oppo Find X reveal its camera via its slide-out mechanism, I felt downright giddy. "This is a damn clever way to do a full-screen phone," I said to myself. And then I said something else: "Is this just a gimmick"

Amazingly beautiful design; Clever sliding stealth cameras; 3D facial recognition works well; Good use of gestures

Some apps are redundant; No wireless charging or NFC; Hard to buy in U.S

The pop-up camera at the top is the first of its kind. And the Chinese phone maker, riding on a wave of interesting designs from the country, has rightly in the spotlight. Question is, is that enough to make this flagship win over users

OPPO is defying the competition with a new flagship: the Find X. This is a smartphone that's impressive at first glance thanks to its innovative design, and furthermore, the Chinese brand has always stood out by daring to propose something new with its devices.

Innovative design; Fast charging; Good photos in good lighting conditions; Unlocks with fast and precise face recognition; Dual SIM

High price; No wireless charging; No IP6x certification; Non-expandable memory; No NFC; Mono speaker

So all in all, I'd sum up this flagship as a glass cannon. But I think OPPO deserves some credit for trying to think out of the box with the motorized camera. Combined with the aesthetic design, high-end tech-specs, features and performance factor, it's quite a good phone to have but the camera for...

Oppo's Find X offers a refreshing new approach to the smartphone that maximises screen real estate by intelligently hiding the camera until you need it. It is a bold device that's a pleasure to use.

Slick design; Massive screen real estate; Stealth camera appears when you need it; Great battery life; Fast charging; Impressive camera; Generous onboard storage and RAM

Not water resistant; No NFC; No expandable storage; Onboard speakers weak

When all is said and done, 2018 will probably end up being looked back upon as the year that Chinese brands like Oppo and Huawei stopped playing catch-up to global titans like Apple and Samsung.

All-screen look is gorgeous; Great performance

No wireless charging or waterproofing; Hidden camera is a dust-magnet

This slick slider has the price, but not the quality, of the best smartphones

Best face unlock system among Android phones; Gorgeous and notch-less; Slider is a cool gimmick; Battery lasts a reassuringly long time

Countless software annoyances; The most slippery phone of the year; Oppo App Store spam is insulting; Slider mechanism undermines phone's long-term durability

For the past few weeks, I've been using the Oppo Find X. And I think I'm just going to go ahead and say it. I really like this phone. I'm actually sure there's no one who wouldn't like this phone.

While the Oppo Find X succeeds in pushing the boundaries of the modern smartphone, it does so at the expense of many staples that we've come to expect from a contemporary flagship. The Find X doesn't have NFC, a headphone jack, waterproofing, a microSD card support or a fingerprint scanner.

Fantastically sleek; no-bezel design; Plenty of power; Novel pop-up concept

No waterproofing; No NFC; microSD; or headphone jack; No fingerprint scanner; Mechanism feels like it won't last

How far would you be willing to go to avoid the notch For some, a notched smartphone screen is as inconsequential as which side the SIM tray sits. For others, as in the case of the Oppo Find X, erasing the notch has become a feat of design and engineering like never before.

Stunning design; Impressive engineering; Great performance; Good battery life and fast charging

Mechanism reliability concerns; No headphone jack; ColorOS 5.1 is restrictive; No NFC