OPPO Find N3 Fold Review
We cannot have the best things all the time.
The OPPO find N3 Fold is not officially coming to the Philippines. While I think that it has something to do with this phone’s uncanny resemblance to the OnePlus Open, or to boost the upcoming sale of the Find N3 Flip, I am sure that OPPO has valid reasons of not releasing it here.
While I am not happy that this will not arrive in the Philippines, this gives more reason for OPPO Philippines to focus on the Find N3 Flip. The previous generation was a huge success here in the Philippines because of its acceptable price (especially when compared to Galaxy Z Flip 4), and it is just best and logical for them to launch the N3 Flip here instead.
Design
In terms of design, there is no question that this is one of the best-looking foldable smartphones of OPPO. I am not huge a fan of its over protruding camera bump and less slim “demeanor”, but I am totally digging it, overall.
The devil is in the details. If you take a look at the corner sides of the display and back panel, they are slightly curved, which make it feel and look less “boxy”. This is also OPPO’s thinnest foldable smartphone, and does not have any gap between its displays when folded. It measures 5.8mm thick when unfolded and weighs about 239 grams. It is still a bit thicker than the Huawei Mate X3, but that’s probably because the one from Huawei has a less producing camera bump.
What I have here is the Classic Black version, which sports a faux leather design. It has an amazing grip, despite being a foldable phone; and the folding experience is very smooth. This is all thanks to its third-generation Flexion Hinge, which now has a certification of up to 1,000,000 folds. The Galaxy Z Fold5 only certifies up to 200,000 folds.
The new flexion hinge is built with zirconium-based liquid metal, which is supposedly very rigid. The hinge also features OPPO’s aircraft-grade steel, which is five times stronger than traditional stainless steel. While this smartphone is not waterproof, OPPO implemented a weather-sealing process that protects it from water splashes.
The new OPPO Find N3 also has this new alert slider that will allow you to quickly change modes like silent, vibrate, and ring modes.
Display
When unfolded, the Find N3 shows this 7.8” AMOLED display. It has a peak brightness of 2800 nits, and pixel density of 426 PPI. It is compatible with Dolby Vision, and HDR10+, and features a refresh rate from 1 to 120Hz.
As you can also see here, the inner display is virtually crease free. Just to compare, take a look at the inner displays of the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 and the Tecno Phantom V Fold. Obviously, you can barely see the crease on the Find N3 and that says a lot about the ingenuity of OPPO especially in the R&D department.
The outside display is just as awesome as before! It features a 6.3-inch AMOLED display with the same level of peak screen brightness of the inner display. It has slightly more pixel density and has Dolby Vision and HDR10+ certification. Refresh rate goes from 1 to 120Hz, which can have a huge impact on usage and battery performance.
Performance
In terms of performance, this one is packed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. While they didn’t say that this is powered by the enhanced version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 – which is found on the Galaxy S23 Ultra – its overall performance seems to dwarf our other flagship smartphones in the gaming department.
Our artificial test applications show more granular information about its performance. If you take a look at these charts, the Find N3 performs better in 3D rendering, overall; but fails to squeeze the full potential of its chipset in productivity.
Camera Performance
One of the best features of this phone is its camera. You get a 48MP wide camera with 1.43” sensor and f/1.7 aperture lens with OIS. It also has 64MP telephoto camera with half-inch sensor and f/2.6 aperture. This one also has another 48MP ultra-wide camera with half-sensor and f/2.2 aperture lens. The main sensor is by Sony and features a restructured pixel design for image image quality that’s comparable to 1” sensor.
Now, when you switch its camera to Portrait mode, this is where Hasselblad comes into play, especially when you use 3X mode. This is equivalent to 70mm telephoto camera, which is ideal for portrait shots. You will need to move further away from the subject, but the result is really good even at low light… at least for me.
The phone works fantastically well on other modes like wide and ultra-wide. Regardless of the mode I used, the sensor always tries to give you the best output possible. Colors pop and the right amount of saturation and balance are achieved very well.
OPPO also has this OCP or also known as OPPO Computational Photography and ProXDR that helps you achieve and view better results of photo output.. OCP uses the phone’s HDR system to fine tune your shot to create a more nature image with the right amount of highlights and shadows. You will also be able to view the changes made by OCP on N3’s gallery thanks to ProXDR.
This is also the first foldable smartphone that I experienced to have more than 100x zoom. In fact, this phone can go beyond that – it can go up to 120X zoom. Since it has OIS and AI, the phone will try to stabilize the viewfinder so it’s easier for you to take a photo of your chosen subject.
Now here are some sample photos for your reference.
Software
ColorOS on this device was also refind is such a way that would enable you to maximize its foldable form factor. It has global taskbar that can let you access your favorite apps wherever you go, and also features Boundless View, that can let you use full-screen apps on its 7.8-inch display. You can enable it by launching two apps in split-screen view, and then tap Expand View. This is a very convenient way of switching up to three apps in full screen on a foldable device without sacrificing important details of the apps. This is something that I did not see in other foldable smartphones.
You also have the option to save Boundless View groups on your homescreen. This is the most convenient setting on a foldable smartphone I have ever used.
Battery and Charging
Now, in terms of battery, the Find N3 packs 4800mah battery and supports 67W SUPERVOOC charger. It also comes a SUPERVOOC charger inside, so if you have any plans of getting this out of the country, you’re already covered. I certainly hoped I was given more time to test this bit though. In my experience, I only managed to use this for only 14 hours and 32 minutes from a single charge with 16% battery remaining.
What OPPO could have done differently?
Now, what are the things that they could have done differently?
The camera bump is just too huge for me. I know that it packs all the good camera technologies that this phone can offer, but they could have at lease slimmed it down.
The hinge got a little hot when I was benchmarking and playing games. I am not sure if this is because of the software of our review unit, but that’s something that you should know. Knowing OPPO, they have the knack of improving the overall experience of their smartphones over time.
Verdict
The Find N3 Fold has great display, impressive gaming and camera performance, and insane battery charging speeds. It is an exciting new product, albeit not officially arriving to the Philippines.
It’s an amazing device, and I would have considered getting this one had OPPO decided to bring this here locally. Instead, what we’re getting here in the Philippines is the OPPO Find N3 Flip, which is equally as interesting that the Fold.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
