Motivated by recent experiments, the dynamics of the ferroelectric soft mode and the ferroelectric phase transition mechanism in 18O isotope exchanged systems SrTi(16O1−x18Ox)3 (abbreviated as STO18-x) are reinvestigated as a function of the 18O isotope exchange rate x, within a quasiharmonic model (QHM) for quantum ferroelectric modes in double-Morse local potential with mean-field approximation interactions between modes. The approach was realized within the framework of the variational principle method at finite temperature through the quantum mean-field approximation and by taking into account the effect of isotope replacement through the predominant mass effect, the cell volume effect, homogeneity of the composition throughout the material and the concentration-dependent ferroelectric mode distortion effect. The dynamics of the lowest-frequency soft phonon mode clearly presents an increased softening phenomenon with increasing x and a complete one at the corresponding phase transition temperature Tc, demonstrating the perfect soft-mode-type quantum ferroelectric phase transition for x ⩾ xc. Also, a ferroelectric–paraelectric phase coexistence state has been found near the quantum critical point xc and its origin is discussed. The ferroelectric phase transition mechanism is analyzed and its nature discussed, where a second-order phase transition close to the tricritical point is predicted. In addition, the effect of quantum fluctuations on the soft mode dynamics is discussed which reveals its reduction with increasing x and the crossover of the soft mode dynamics from the quantum to the classic one at the full 18O exchange limit x = 1, for which the origin seems to lie in the new homogeneity associated with the direct reduction of quantum fluctuations effects on the soft mode behavior. Within the QHM, consistent agreement with some of the previous experimental results and theoretical predictions of quantum ferroelectricity throughout the full range of x are achieved.