Oppo Find X10 Pro Max: Global version apparently further downgraded beyond the battery

Shortly after the launch in China Oppo started a reservation campaign in Germany and other countries for the Oppo Find X10 and Oppo Find X10 Pro Max. In addition to discounts and bundle deals, the campaign includes a best-price guarantee until Black Friday for those who commit to the global or European version now. Meanwhile, the Chinese model is available for those willing to import, traditionally the cheapest way to get hold of the latest smartphones from China.

Global model could face further downgrades

Importing does come with limitations, for example regarding eSIM or Android Wear support, but the global version is not entirely without shortcomings either. A smaller battery is already fairly certain, at least in some global models, although there might be regional differences. But could there be even more technical differences between the version available to import from China and the models intended for Europe or other global markets? That is currently being claimed by Reddit user u/Xx_DuLe_xX, who is among the top 1% of posters. According to his claims, the global Find X10 Pro Max will be further downgraded in addition to its 7,150 mAh battery (rather than 8,000 mAh in the China model):

• One example mentioned is a different OLED display, which reportedly lacks both the 5.5% deep red technology and the 95% BT.2020 plus 140% DCI-P3 coverage. Instead, the global model is said to use a standard 100% DCI-P3 panel that will also offer no improvements in blue light emissions.
• The glass covering the Hasselblad camera on the back is also said to be different. According to these claims, a standard Gorilla Glass solution from Corning is used instead of the premium anti-reflective coating used on the Chinese model.
• Last but not least, the screen protector apparently will not have anti-reflective properties either.

Combined with the fact that Europe and potentially other international markets will only get the 12/512 GB memory configuration, rather than the optional 16 GB of RAM models in China, at what will probably be a higher price according to a leak, this sounds pretty bad. However, it is fair to ask whether these claims are actually true. Apart from a few illustrative photos, the Reddit poster provides no evidence for his claims.

No evidence for these claims

Instead, he cites anonymous sources and personal research and asks readers seeking evidence to wait for the global version's spec sheet, which is expected at the global launch on September 21. This should at least provide the display specifications mentioned. As with any leak, caution is therefore warranted. Theoretically, Oppo could of course be looking for ways to cut costs given high component prices. On the other hand, some of these rumored compromises seem somewhat arbitrary to us.