Foldable and flip phones are all the rage right now and whilst I feel a bit of this technology has somewhat stagnated a bit but there are still some new foldables that do entice the curiosity and entice you to have a further look at them and the new OPPO Find N3.
The OPPO Find N3 is the latest foldable phone that the company has launched here in Australia and whilst I do like foldable and flip phones, I have questions when it comes to longevity of the folding display.
The OPPO Find N3 is beast both in looks but the specs intrigued me and made me wonder if this could potentially replace my daily drivers, the Google Pixel 7a and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. So when the company let us take one out for a spin and see if can handle the craziness of the holiday period but also how it handles a thorough review and trial at the Ausdroid review bench.
So let’s take a look and see how the OPPO Find N3 went during our review of it shall we.
What’s in the box
Within the plain packing grey box you get the OPPO Find N3 itself, two plastic and somewhat flexible covers for the front side and rear side of the devices, a SUPERVOOC 67W charging base, a 1 metre USB-A to USB-C charging cord, the usual important warranty and paperwork, along with a SIM ejector tool.
The design
So Firstly I would like to point out that when taking the packing off the device, it does state very clearly that there is a factory-applied screen protector which you can’t remove, and to do so would damage the screen and the phone. There are plenty of warnings on the phone and in the box about not removing this, so pay attention!
With that little disclaimer out of the way, the front display is beautiful, crisp and crystal clear. The size of the outer front display is very bright, clear and super crisp in its colours and pixel density. The front outer display is a 6.31-inch OLED display that has curved corners to match the body and I have to say I very much like it. Also on the front outer display is the 32MP camera which I will go into further down in the review.
Another point of note is the hinge has been beautifully designed and crafted and doesn’t bulge out to much and does help the device fold neatly and completely without a gap and for me that is some really good engineering design work that really sets the device out from competitors.
Turning to the inside foldable display, you get a 7.82-inch LTPO3 OLED display that is honestly one of the most impressive and big screens I have seen on any foldable. Personally to me it does seem a bit wider than say Samsung Galaxy Fold but I might be incorrect but to me it’s just simply stunning.
Again the display corners have been rounded to match the aluminium body that all displays are all built into and it’s this attention to detail and engineering that for me sets this device apart from others I have tried or used. Inside the foldable display on the right hand side corner you will find another front facing 20MP camera which again I will go into further down in the review.
As stated, the body of the whole device has been made from an aluminium metal and the edges are not sharp to hold with your hands, however when fully unfolded it would be hard to use one handed but when its folded I found you could to some degree use the device one handed.
The left hand side of the OPPO Find N3 houses the ring/vibrate/silent toggle switch which was a little trippy at first when I pushed it in my pocket and switched the phone’s ringtone from on to silent.
The bottom of the Find N3 houses dual rear speakers to the left and right sides with the USB-C charging port located on the right side bottom in the middle when folded with the SIM card slot located next to this. There is a microphone for phone calls located on the left side of the bottom.
The right hand side of the Find N3 houses the standby/power button alongside the volume rocker with the top of the Find N3 housing additional speaker grills on each side and second mic to help with clarity during phone calls and video calls.
It is important to note that the Find N3 doesn’t come with a 3.5mm audio jack so you will need either a USB-C adapter or Bluetooth wireless headphones/earphones to connect to the device.
The rear of the Find N3 houses a huge round circular camera bump that protrudes out by approximately 3-5 inches. The camera housing bump houses the devices triple rear camera set up which is made up of a 48MP main camera, 16MP 6x times telephoto lens and a 48MP Ultra-wide Angle Camera. There is also a single LED flashlight located within the camera housing as well.
Furthermore the rear cover is made up of a black vegan leather which is a really nice touch and for me does remind me of the LG G4 from back in the day to the Moto G84 5G which is also reviewed and does for me give off a premium feeling and does compliment the metal housing and displays.
I will go further into the processor further down in the review.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Rear cameras are made up of a triple rear lens set up made up of a 48MP main camera, 16MP 6x times telephoto lens and a 48MP Ultra-wide Angle Camera.
OPPO have collaborated in partnership with Hasselblad to design the app software to take advantage of all the cameras OPPO have designed with this device and the software includes the following functions such as, Photo, Panorama, Pro, Night, Hi-Res, Portrait, Timelapse, Film, Long Exposure, Slo-Mo, Expand and Dual-View Video.
Photos taken with the triple rear camera set up are very much true to real life in the colour, detail, exposure, though it is worth noting when I was trying to take A photo of a Kookaburra on a very overcast day, wasn’t able to really provide a lot of clarity and detail and that photo just seemed darker than what it really was.
That being said the x6 times zoom lens did allow me to take a couple of picture showing my partner in the middle of Narrabeen Lagoon from a distance without getting into the water to take said shot – I could take it from the far bank.
The inside front facing camera is a 20MP whilst the front display has a 36MP front facing camera and again the cameras were clear with no over or under exposure being detected and colours again being true to real life.
Performance and Software
Powering the device under the hood is an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform processor alongside a Adreno 740 @680MHz GPU, 16GB RAM and there is 512GB onboard storage, although the storage cannot be expanded due to the lack of a MicroSD card slot so you will need to make sure you have enough cloud storage for photos and more.
With this combination I found the OPPO Find N3 was able to handle quite a lot of multi-tasking duties going between social media apps like X – formerly Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok to then Google Docs, Gmail, to then various mobile apps games such as Pokemon Go, Asphalt 9: Legends, Mini Metro to streaming apps like Netflix, Stan, iView without slowing down, overheating or having brain farts. Honestly I was very surprised at how well it took everything without having a moment to have a tantrum and I was very much pleased and impressed.
The OPPO Find N3 comes with Android 13 with ColorOS version 13.2 laid over the top of the base Android firmware and I have to say that I am glad that OPPO have been refining ColorOS from its original versions that were horrible to use. Of course there are a couple of things that I would change, such as deleting OPPO based apps like gallery or radio, music etc which Google do offer similar apps and I just believe it is a little pointless to have similar apps which google have already available and generally are pre-installed on the device but this is a little frustration on my end.
In terms of an update to Android 14, OPPO haven´t stated whether the Find N3 would get such an update but it is most likely to do so when they have an updated ColorOS version available.
OPPO have also confirmed that the Find N3 will get 4 years worth of OS upgrades and 5 years worth of security firmware updates which I think does make this at least the only OEM within the Android ecosystem to do so – besides Google with the Pixel 8/8 Pro guaranteed 8-9 years worth of upgrades so thank you OPPO.
Battery Life
The OPPO Find N3 has a 4805mAh non removable battery, which honestly I was a little sceptical that it could handle even a day’s worth of usage but I was pleasantly surprised. With some medium usage I would have approximately 50% give or take battery life at the end of the day, of course that is if I mainly used the cover or outer display. With the bigger display usage did vary a little give or take 10% battery life at the end of the day.
The one saving grace is that the OPPO Find N3 comes with OPPO´s 67W SUPERVOOC charger which is included in the box alongside the USB-C to USB-A charging cable. Using the SUPERVOOC charger can charge the device fully within 45-50 mins from 0% battery life and that just blows my mind how fast it can charge.
The Find N3 also supports 15W wireless charging which won´t charge the device as fast as charging with the included 67W SUPERVOOC charger but it certainly does help when it comes to charging throughout the day at work if you have a wireless charger like I do at my desk just in case of an emergency.
Should you consider buying one?
Honestly I am extremely impressed with the OPPO Find N3 and as a foldable I do like the bigger inside screen and the cameras and software and the overall experience in my book is just off the scale impressive.
Granted there was one or two little things I would like to be changed such as the overlapping apps along with possibly redesigning the massively huge camera bump at the back but otherwise for me, the OPPO Find N3 screen premium, high end performance and luxury and it is a worth competitor and possibly the winner of best foldable so far for 2024 in my books.
My only question still remains – longevity of the device and foldable screen, especially with the price but also with the majority of consumers holding onto their phones for longer periods than previous generations. This to me is just a question but given technology is moving at a faster pace when it comes to improving designs and engineering nowadays.
The OPPO Find N3 can be purchased from the following websites and bricks and mortar stores such as JB Hi-Fi and the OPPO website itself for $2,699.
However, just an update from OPPO is that Find N3 has sold out and the company is not expecting to get any more devices into the country at this stage, but we will keep you up to date if this news changes.
