A Photo Story: Taking the OPPO Find X9 Ultra to the UEFA Champions League Final in Budapest
From historic landmarks and riverfront vistas to one of football’s biggest nights, the OPPO Find X9 Ultra was put through a real-world photography test across Budapest and inside the packed Puskás Arena.
When a Smartphone Becomes a Travel Companion
Few assignments offer a better opportunity to evaluate a flagship smartphone camera than a weekend that combines international travel, iconic architecture, and the UEFA Champions League Final.
That was precisely the scenario when the OPPO Find X9 Ultra accompanied a trip to Budapest, Hungary, for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League Final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. As an official global partner of UEFA, OPPO was heavily involved in the event, showcasing its latest imaging technologies while football fans from around the world gathered to celebrate Europe’s biggest club competition.
Rather than conducting a laboratory-style camera review, the experience became a visual journey through Budapest’s historic streets, riverside landmarks, fan festivals, and the drama of a championship match. The result was a practical demonstration of how modern smartphone photography is increasingly capable of handling situations once reserved for dedicated cameras.
Exploring Budapest Before Kickoff
Before heading to Puskás Arena, the weekend began with an exploration of Budapest’s most recognizable attractions.
Fisherman’s Bastion: Capturing the City’s Panorama
One of the first stops was Fisherman’s Bastion, the famous UNESCO-recognized landmark overlooking the Danube and the Hungarian capital. Perched near Buda Castle, the location offers sweeping views across the city, making it an ideal setting for testing different focal lengths and zoom capabilities.
The Find X9 Ultra’s telephoto options allowed distant architectural details to be framed cleanly while preserving the broader urban landscape.
St. Stephen’s Basilica and the Low-Light Challenge
The next destination was St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church in Budapest and one of the city’s most ornate religious sites.
Unlike outdoor photography, the basilica presented a more demanding challenge. Dim lighting, intricate decorations, and expansive interiors often expose weaknesses in smartphone cameras. According to the photo story, the church became an excellent environment for evaluating the Find X9 Ultra’s performance under difficult lighting conditions. Images captured inside showcased the device’s ability to photograph architectural details and interior artwork despite limited illumination.
Football Culture Beyond the Stadium
The UEFA Champions League Final is much more than a single match. In the days leading up to the event, Budapest transformed into a celebration of football culture.
Champions Festival Brings Fans Together
One highlight was a 5v5 exhibition match featuring football legends Claude Makélélé and Theo Walcott.
The event formed part of UEFA’s annual Champions Festival, where supporters from around the globe gather for football-themed activities ahead of the final. The festival offered another opportunity to test the Find X9 Ultra’s zoom and action-photography capabilities, capturing fast-moving players and interactions between football icons and fans.
OPPO itself also organized football-related experiences around the final, including activities featuring Makélélé and Walcott. The company emphasized how its flagship imaging technology could capture key moments from sporting events with clarity and detail.
Budapest Through a Telephoto Lens
Beyond football, the city itself became a major subject.
Liberty Bridge and Everyday City Life
The Art Nouveau-inspired Liberty Bridge offered a different photographic challenge. The structure’s distinctive green design, combined with Budapest’s iconic yellow trams, created visually rich compositions ideal for street photography.
Here, telephoto focal lengths proved useful not only for zooming but also for compressing perspective, highlighting architectural patterns and urban details that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The Danube After Dark
As daylight faded, the journey continued with a cruise along the Danube River.
Among the standout scenes was the Hungarian Parliament Building illuminated against the night sky. Night photography remains one of the most demanding tests for smartphone cameras because it requires balancing detail, exposure, and noise reduction. The dramatic lighting of Budapest’s waterfront provided a fitting showcase for the Find X9 Ultra’s nighttime imaging capabilities.
Inside Puskás Arena: The Real Test Begins
While Budapest’s landmarks offered excellent photography opportunities, the true challenge awaited inside Puskás Arena.
Large stadiums create unique difficulties for smartphone cameras. Fans are often seated far from the action, lighting conditions constantly change, and fast-moving players require responsive imaging systems.
This is where the OPPO Find X9 Ultra’s 10x optical telephoto system and teleconverter setup became the center of attention.
According to OPPO, the device’s Hasselblad-powered 10x optical telephoto camera was specifically designed to help users capture distant action with greater detail and clarity, even from the upper sections of a stadium.
For much of the match coverage, a 300mm teleconverter setup was used, enabling close-up shots of players and crucial moments on the pitch.
The UEFA Champions League Final Unfolds
Arsenal Strike First
The evening began with a pre-match performance by The Killers before the two teams entered the field.
Arsenal made an early breakthrough when Kai Havertz scored in the sixth minute, giving the English side a 1-0 lead. PSG responded with sustained pressure but struggled to create clear scoring opportunities during the opening stages of the match.
The telephoto setup enabled detailed captures of player reactions, celebrations, and critical moments that unfolded far from the stands.
PSG Fight Back
The French side continued pushing forward and nearly received a penalty after a handball incident involving Bukayo Saka. Officials ultimately judged the contact unintentional and allowed play to continue.
Later, PSG finally found a breakthrough when Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratshkelia inside the penalty area. Ousmane Dembélé converted from the spot, leveling the score and shifting momentum toward the French champions.
Defensive Resolve and Penalty Drama
Despite PSG’s growing pressure, Arsenal’s defense held firm for the remainder of regulation time.
With neither side able to find a decisive winner, the final moved to a penalty shootout. A dramatic sequence followed, including a crucial save by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. Eventually, Gabriel sent the tenth penalty over the crossbar, allowing Paris Saint-Germain to secure victory and retain the trophy.
The award ceremony that followed provided yet another opportunity for long-range photography, with the Find X9 Ultra continuing to document celebrations from a distance.
Why This Event Matters for Smartphone Photography
The Budapest experience highlights a broader trend in mobile imaging.
Not long ago, photographing a football match from the upper levels of a stadium would have required a dedicated camera body and expensive telephoto lenses. Today, smartphone manufacturers are aggressively expanding optical zoom capabilities to bridge that gap.
The Find X9 Ultra’s 10x optical telephoto system has become a focal point of this competition. Its zoom capability is notable enough that industry rumors suggest rival manufacturers, including vivo, are now testing similar 10x periscope camera systems for future flagship devices. The race for better long-range smartphone photography is clearly accelerating.
At the same time, OPPO continues to position imaging technology as a central part of its football partnerships, creator programs, and fan engagement initiatives worldwide. The company argues that advanced smartphone cameras can help fans preserve and share memorable sporting moments more effectively than ever before.
More Than a Camera Test
The journey through Budapest demonstrated that smartphone photography is no longer confined to casual snapshots.
From UNESCO heritage sites and historic churches to nighttime river cruises and one of the world’s biggest sporting events, the OPPO Find X9 Ultra was challenged across a wide range of scenarios. The combination of telephoto reach, low-light capability, and travel-friendly convenience allowed a single device to document an entire weekend of experiences.
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway is not simply the quality of the images themselves, but what they represent: a future where capturing professional-looking travel and sports photography may increasingly be possible with the device already in your pocket.
