Design
Oppo Find N3 can be made of different materials depending on the color chosen. The black device with a back cover made of eco-leather was reviewed by socialbites.ca. The smartphone is enclosed in a metal frame, its outer screen is covered with glass, and the inside is covered with a film that does not tear, but also does not accidentally catch, as in all folding devices.
“socialbites.ca”
Although the Find N3 has flat edges, the device does not dig into your hand – it is comfortable to use when folded and unfolded. Separately, it is worth noting the dimensions: the thickness of the Find N3 is 11.7 mm when folded and 5.8 mm when unfolded.
For a device of this format, this is a very “light” smartphone, weighing only 239 grams. For example, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is 1 gram heavier, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 221 grams heavier.
The kit includes a protective case consisting of two halves. The part covering the back cover is made of material imitating leather, the second one is completely plastic.
“socialbites.ca”
screens
The main folding 7.8-inch LTPO3 OLED display with a resolution of 2268×2440 pixels is capable of displaying images with an adaptive refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 2800 nits. This is enough to use the device even in direct sunlight. The image quality is also at a high level.
The most surprising thing about the screen is the “absence” of a fold where the screen folds. It’s there and visible from certain angles, but the notches and bumps can’t be felt when you slide your finger across the screen.
The two folded halves of the screen fit snugly together.
“socialbites.ca”
The 6.3-inch external display received the same characteristics, only with a different resolution – 1116×2484 pixels. It is made in 20:9 format, so the use of the second screen is as convenient as a regular smartphone – only this gadget is a little thicker and can “turn” into a tablet.
The only thing that confused me about the display was the actual absence of adaptive refresh rate, which is technically provided here.
LTPO technology assumes that the picture will be displayed at a frequency of 1 or 10 Hz for internal and external displays, respectively, up to 120 Hz, but in reality this does not work. The frequency directly depends on the open application and remains at the same level. Maybe this will be fixed in future updates, but right now using the LTPO display and the adaptive frequency function on the Find N3 is pointless as they do not work.
“socialbites.ca”
cameras
One of the key advantages of the Oppo Find N3 was its three-camera system, developed in partnership with the Swedish company Hasselblad. The main 48 MP Sony LYTIA-T808 sensor is complemented by an ultra-wide-angle module with 48 MP resolution and a 64 MP periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The smartphone also has two selfie cameras of 20 and 32 megapixels.
It turned out that all cameras in the new product are at the flagship level. The main one copes with shooting in any lighting conditions, producing rich and detailed images. If you take a photo of an object or person, all focus shifts to it and the background becomes “blurred”.
The ultra-wide-angle sensor has autofocus and can be used to shoot in macro mode. At the same time, this camera does not provide optical stabilization (OIS) but has electronic stabilization (EIS). The shooting quality is good, but in terms of detail, the images from the ultra-wide-angle module are inferior to the main sensor. But this is the norm even for the iPhone 15 Pro.
“socialbites.ca”
The periscope telephoto lens features three times optical zoom and six times digital zoom without loss of quality due to image cropping. Moreover, in the case of periscope we do not get the most popular solution because manufacturers usually choose 5x or 10x. During a conversation with Oppo product specialist Coco Jan, the socialbites.ca correspondent found out what triggered the choice of 3x and 6x zoom.
“There are two reasons why we don’t use 5x zoom on the Find N3. “When using a wide-angle camera and 5x zoom, the entire range from 1x to 5x must be covered, while with 3-4x zoom, this will lead to dependence on digital zoom and deterioration in image quality,” he said.
Therefore, Oppo decided to give the device a 3x zoom that can cover the entire required range and still produce detailed images. You can zoom up to 120x. According to the manufacturer, this is the first foldable smartphone with this performance. This camera produces high-quality artistic portraits and images of distant objects with beautiful blur.
What I liked most about the cameras and finishing of the Oppo Find N3 is that in low-light images the picture is not filled with digital noise – the device does not try to emphasize the picture by sacrificing quality. Instead you get accurate photos that balance light and noise levels.
All cameras record video at up to 4K 60 FPS (frames per second), but you can’t switch between them once shooting has started. If you want to start a video with a telephoto lens and switch to, for example, the main or ultra-wide-angle cameras without interrupting shooting, you need to select the 4K 30 FPS mode or a lower mode.
Video capture is very smooth on any of the three available sensors. It is worth noting that the switch between cameras occurs without jerks, and all three sensors “paint” the picture equally.
in a separate report
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Yield
Despite the fact that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor has already been introduced and the first smartphone with such a chip (Xiaomi 14) is on sale, Oppo decided to equip the Find N3 with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a model towards the end of 2022. This hasn’t slowed down the smartphone: It runs multiple application windows and even three demanding games simultaneously without any problems.
However, Oppo Find N3 behaves strangely in some titles. In Genshin Impact, one of the most resource-intensive mobile games, the smartphone does not heat up, but the device software “makes concessions” for this. For example, it resets the screen brightness or even cuts the FPS (frame rate) – instead of a decent picture at 60 frames per second, after 10-15 minutes you can already see 45 FPS.
This can be explained by the fact that the actual thickness of the device (when opened) is only 5.8 mm, so it was impossible to fit a cooling system and hardware suitable for such a space in such a case. To prevent the smartphone from heating up during long gaming sessions, the manufacturer probably decided to prevent heating with such restrictions.
This behavior of Oppo Find N3 can be forgiven, because it is unlikely that anyone will buy a smartphone for mobile games for almost 2 thousand dollars. This is more of a status device for work tasks than a gaming device.
“socialbites.ca”
WITH
Oppo Find N3 runs on Android 13.2 operating system with the proprietary ColorOS 13 shell. The firmware offers many features designed specifically for folding devices. One of the most important of these is the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously and open up to three windows simultaneously.
At the bottom of the screen is a dock panel with an App Library button that displays all programs, like Start in Windows, and a dedicated File Pocket section with files that can be dragged to any other app (be it notes or a Telegram chat). The dock can be hidden by compressing the area it is located in and can be called in the same way.
Foldable smartphones are still not as widespread as manufacturers would like, so many applications are not adapted for them.
For example, the Genshin Impact game launches without any problems, while Honkai Star Rail from the same manufacturer opens on a large screen with bars at the top and bottom.
These shortcomings are not the fault of Oppo, Samsung and other manufacturers, but the responsibility of the application developers. However, some may get confused if their favorite game or app does not open in full screen.
“socialbites.ca”
Durability
Oppo claims that the Find N3 can last up to 1 million cycles, and this is confirmed by the result of an independent study by TÜV Rheinland (an international organization, headquartered in Cologne). These are “cosmic” figures compared to the values guaranteed by other manufacturers. During a visit to the company’s production line in China, a socialbites.ca correspondent had a chance to see how Oppo tests its devices and checked with Oppo Find head Peter Lee how long the new smartphone can work.
“Oppo Find N3 can be folded 1 million times without wearing out. “To weaken the structure of a smartphone, you would have to fold and unfold it 73 times a day for 10 years,” Lee said.
The only thing in which the new Oppo product is inferior to the popular Samsung Galaxy Z Fold is the degree of moisture protection. Here the IPX4 level (splash protection), while the Koreans have IPX8, which can be submerged in water up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.
“socialbites.ca”
Battery
The 4805 mAh battery is charged in approximately 40 minutes with the included 67 W charger. A full charge of the device is easily enough for a day of use or 5-6 hours of active use.
“The main problem with foldable smartphones is that their batteries do not always last all day. We wanted to prioritize the battery life of the device because that is the key to a good user experience and wireless charging is not. It increases the thickness of the device and its use will force us to enlarge the smartphone or reduce the battery size,” Oppo product specialist Coco Jan said.
Other features
Oppo Find N3 supports two physical SIM cards or one eSIM and one regular card. The smartphone also has an infrared port that allows you to control home appliances and NFC for contactless payments.
Although there are no JBL or Harman/Kardon inscriptions on the ends of the device, Oppo Find N3 manages to surprise with the sound of its speakers. It’s not the loudest smartphone, but the sound is deeper and the bass is stronger than some tablets.
On the side of the Oppo Find N3, they placed a three-position sound mode switch called the Alert Slider, which OnePlus fans know. With it, you can choose three modes: silent, vibration and normal.
“socialbites.ca”
Solution
Unlike many other foldable devices, Oppo Find N3 can be used like a normal smartphone thanks to its useful external screen and dimensions. The new product is better than its direct competitors in this segment in terms of photo and video quality, and in some cases Find N3 is not inferior to ordinary all-in-one devices.
The manufacturer promises that Oppo Find N3 will appear on the Russian market soon. Its value in rubles is still unknown, but A smartphone is offered abroad for about 163 thousand rubles. We can safely say that Find N3 is the best smartphone in this category if it is cheaper in the Russian Federation or at least priced at the price of its main rival, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5. Moreover, with the manufacturer’s official warranty and support.
Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.