Oppo’s latest flagship smartphone Find X3 Pro comes with a lot of “billions”. It is said to have the world’s first “true billion colour” display. And to show these billion colours, it comes with two 50-megapixel (MP) cameras that are able to capture the 1 billion colours.
SPECS
PRICE: S$1,599 (available in Lazada and Shopee)
PROCESSOR: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (Quad-core 1.8GHz, triple-core 2.42GHz, single-core 2.84GHz)
DISPLAY: 6.7-inch AMOLED, 3,216 x 1,440 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate
OPERATING SYSTEM: ColorOS 11.2 (based on Android 11)
REAR CAMERAS: 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle, 50MP f/1.8 wide-angle, 13MP f/2.4 telephoto (2x optical zoom), 3MP f/3.0 micro
FRONT CAMERA: 32MP f/2.4
MEMORY: 256GB; 12GB RAM
BATTERY: Non-removable 4,500mAh
WEIGHT: 193g
DESIGN
In Singapore, the Find X3 Pro is available in matte blue and glossy black (version reviewed).
Regardless of the colour, the smartphone is a slab of beauty and sleekness. I especially love the glossy black version. Its rear looks like some liquid metal moulded into a ceramic mirror finish.
Furthermore, the Find X3 Pro’s camera lump is encased within this glossy back in an almost unibody-like fashion, unlike many smartphones will a protruded camera module that looks unsightly.
In front, the 6.7-inch OLED display takes up almost all of the smartphone’s front with very thin bezels and a small hole-punch camera.
FOR
+ Sleek looks
+ Gorgeous display
+ Superb performance
+ Great image quality
+ Microscope camera actually works
AGAINST
– 2x optical zoom seems short compared to competition
– Night mode can be better
– No expandable storage
With a high resolution of 3,216 x 1,440 pixels and a contrast ratio of 5 million: 1, any content – whether it is Youtube video or Instagram photos – looks amazing on this display.
The display also has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, allowing smooth visuals whether you are scrolling through Google searches to find the best char kway teow or playing Pokemon Go.
I also like that the display is only slightly curved on its sides, but otherwise flat. Thus, there are no instances of accidental touches when holding this smartphone.
The in-display fingerprint sensor works almost instantaneously. In fact, it is the fastest my fingers have experienced thus far.
On the downside, it does not come with expandable storage and only 256GB of internal storage. Also, the glossy rear is a smudge and fingerprint magnet.
But while the glossy rear might seem slippery, it actually offers a great grip. Even in Singapore’s hot climate and the resulting sweaty palms for some, you can still get a firm grip of the smartphone.
PERFORMANCE
Armed with Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 888 5G processor – the first consumer Android smartphone to have one in Singapore – the Find X3 Pro is unsurprisingly fast and responsive.
In the GeekBench 5 benchmark tests, the Oppo smartphone scores 934 (single-core) and 3411 (multi-core). By comparison, Samsung’s flagship S21 Ultra scores 939 (single-core) and 3092 (multi-core). In other words, the Find X3 Pro is one of the fastest Android smartphones in the market.
Playing games of any genres, from PUBG Mobile shooter to Genshin Impact role-playing game, proves to be effortless for the Find X3 Pro.
CAMERA
The Find X3 Pro’s rear quad-camera system consists of two 50MP cameras – one ultra-wide-angle and one wide-angle – a 13MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom and more interestingly, a 3MP microscope camera that offers 60x magnification.
This microscope camera is probably the biggest differentiator from the competition, compared to its two “billion-colour” 50MP cameras. This allows you to photograph a surface from as close as 1mm. At first, it feels like a gimmick but it was pretty mind-blowing.
The microscope camera comes with a ring light to illuminate your subject whenever you choose the microscope camera option in the native camera app.
I was able to photograph really close-up shots of the threads in the ear cup of Apple AirPods Max or the metallic surface of a camera. It was quite amazing to be able to see the microscopic world everywhere you go.
Otherwise, both 50MP cameras offer great image quality with vivid colours and great details.
On the downside, the 2x optical zoom camera seems a bit short when the likes of Huawei and Samsung are having at least 5x or 10x optical zoom camera. While the Find X3 Pro has a 5x digital zoom option, the images shot have some degradation and visible pixelations.
In addition, the shots taken using Night mode are decent but lack the sharpness and details like those in its flagship competition, for example iPhone 12 Pro.
BATTERY LIFE
In our video-loop battery test in which we loop a 720p video with display set at maximum brightness, Wi-Fi and notifications turned on, the Find X3 Pro lasted 10 hours 32 minutes.
This is on par with its predecessor, but nearly three hours less than the likes of iPhone 12 Pro Max. However, this is considered pretty good when you consider it has a 120Hz display while the iPhone 12 Pro Max only has a 60Hz display.
On normal usage of checking emails, reading news feed and scrolling through Facebook and Instagram through the day like every Singaporean does, I found that the Find X3 Pro still has around 30 per cent battery life by the time I put the phone to charge when I go to bed.
VERDICT
At S$1,599, the Find X3 Pro is quite expensive and not as price competitive as you might thought from a Chinese smartphone maker.
But apart from not having a longer optical zoom, the Oppo Find X3 Pro has everything you expect from a flagship smartphone like gorgeous display, great image quality and superb performance. The microscope camera is just the icing on the cake.
RATING
FEATURES: 8/10
DESIGN: 9/10
PERFORMANCE: 9/10
BATTERY LIFE: 8.5/10
VALUE FOR MONEY: 8/10
OVERALL: 8.5/10
