Oppo Find X3 Pro: Review – STUNNING
Now more than ever, smartphone manufacturers need to be pushing the envelope. The latest Oppo Find X3 Pro flagship is a boldly designed smartphone that pushes the boundaries of mobile photography and video in a way that we haven't really seen. It's packed with cutting-edge specs, and it also features a groundbreaking 10-bit colour display that lets you see more detail in every photo and video shot.
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Wow. It's not often that you hear about a phone bringing 1 billion colours to life, which you can't usually do anywhere else, at least in such an intuitive way. In this age of technology, the ability to present these colours through the Oppo Find X3 Pro is something pretty impressive. If you keep on reading my review, I'm going to dive deeper into this rabbit hole.
The Hardware
The quad-camera setup on the brings some intriguing things – while it looks like your typical wide, ultrawide, telephoto, and macro setup, there's more than meets the eye. The wide/ultrawide camera uses identical 50MP Sony IMX 766 sensors, with some slight differences. Then we have a 13MP 2x telephoto and a 3MP microscope camera with 60x magnification and a LED ring around it. Hell yeah! Micro cameras are great for capturing small objects and decorative details that would otherwise be too small or too hard to photograph.
Driving the internals of the Oppo Find X3 Pro is a Snapdragon 888 processor with a 5G modem that can handle 13-bands. There's only one version of this smartphone, and it comes with 12GB of RAM, 256GB worth of storage. Capable of handling anyone's abuse.
Dishing out some beats with some Dolby Atmos-certified stereo speakers and a sizeable 4,500mAh battery with the latest 65W VOOC charger from Oppo. It can even do fast wireless and reverse wireless charging if you fancy those features.
The fact that we have a 10-bit display, photography that's done in 10-bit, coupled with high-resolution cameras while throwing in the mix the waterproof IP68 certification is nothing else but impressive.
The hardware itself is impressive, but we all know that the software also plays a crucial role in delivering the experience. Without the software component to drive the hardware, you may as well have a paperweight. The Oppo Find X3 Pro runs on Android 12 with ColorOS 11.2. The question is, did Oppo optimize the software to take every bit of advantage?
What's inside the box, you ask?
Among other things, the Oppo Find X3 Pro, inside, you'll also find a 65W VOOC 2.0 power adapter and a 6.5A-rated USB-A-to-C cable that you'll need to reach the max wattage.
The retail version contains a USB-C in-ear headset and a black protective case made of rubber with a visually appealing matte finish.
Look at the unboxing video I did on its launch day.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtnXEQbcp4k[/embedyt]
Let's talk about Design
The Oppo Find X3 Pro looks just like other phones from the front. But if you hold it, its curved design is unmistakable. A unique characteristic of the Oppo Find X3 Pro is the melting curved back glass that encompasses the camera array, a discernible difference from other devices on the market. When you look at the back, you will recognize it immediately as something unique, which consumers who want to stand out and differentiate themselves from the crowd will want to get.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance. It's good to see that Oppo continues to keep its Oppo Find X3 Pro up to the standards set by its predecessor.
The AMOLED screen delivers itself with a 6.7″ QHD 120Hz refresh rate, making the experience buttery smooth. The glass itself is curved to fit around the housing. The bezels, what bezels? They are so thin! The punch hole camera at the top is reminiscent of others.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro is a superlative piece of technology. The AMOLED panel is impressive on paper, but only a handful of high-end phones equipped with the same panel can exceed its capabilities. As the first phone to support 10-bit colours and 1 billion colours per pixel, the Oppo Find X3 Pro sets the bar for future display advancements.
There is a fingerprint scanner under the screen, and it's the fastest one you can get today. Its performance, both speed and accuracy, is comparable to that of conventional readers, and my experience with the sensor was trouble-free and very satisfying.
What you see here is a speaker grille at the top that hides one of the stereo speakers. I couldn't tell you if the earpiece is a separate component. What should also know is that both the top and bottom speakers are as powerful as each other. Something that I haven't seen in most smartphones produced.
Starting with the positive, again! The glossy back on the Oppo Find X3 Pro's back is just like a high-gloss mirror. I love it. But there's that negative – fingerprints and smudges. I know because I keep cleaning the damn thing.
One of the main elements of this device is the crazy camera snappers. On the right, it contains a dual-LED dual-tone flash, the 3MP micro camera housing an LED ring, and a 13MP telephoto camera. On the left side, we have two 50MP wide, ultra-wide-angle shooters.
I can see the volume keys on the left while the power/lock button on the right. On the top, we have a tiny pinhole mic. You can find the dual-SIM tray, USB-C, mic and stereo speaker.
Overall, I like the design of the Oppo Find X3 Pro – it has a unique back with an approach to how the camera bump should look, and it's working well for them. I also appreciate the IP68 rating, this provides added peace of mind. I know that tiny bezels aren't for everyone, but I think I'm ok with it. It's a polished look.
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QHD AMOLED Display
The screen is a 6.7″ LPTO AMOLED display of 3,216 x 1,440 pixel resolution or 525ppi density. Supporting 10-bit colours and can display more than 1 billion colours. Quite interestingly, it is HDR10 and HDR10+ certified.
When it comes to the brightness, it is plenty bright on automatic. Indoor and outdoor, the screen reflects the right level of brightness to ensure you can have an optimal viewing experience. Oppo promises 100% coverage for the DCI-P3 colour space for the Oppo Find X3 Pro screen with near-perfect accuracy. I opted for the cinematic option as it's the one that looked to be the closest to the DCI-P3 colour space.
I've rarely seen the display dip below the 90Hz screen refresh rate; You can tell the difference if you've been used to the 120Hz and how smooth the transitions are.
How's the Battery Life?
Powered by a battery that's 5% larger than the previous gen, the Oppo Find X3 Pro holds 4500mAh. The battery is just average compared to others running with similar hardware; Meaning that you can definitely finish your 10-hour day and still get home with 40%. I would expect someone to need to charge their smartphone the next day. Your own mileage will vary, but I think this gives you a good picture.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro comes with a 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 really fast wired charging, and you get the VOOC power adapter as part of the package. I have 30W AirVOOC for wireless fast charging. It can also do reverse 10W wireless charging.
Let's talk CPU/GPU (Performance)
The Snapdragon 888 offers an improved eight-core triple cluster processor that drives up to 25% better performance over the SD865 CPU and better power efficiency. In-line with eight cores is a Kryo 680 Prime @ 2.84GHz based on the ARM's top Cortex-X1 design. Next, up is a set of Kryo 680 Gold @ 2.42GHz based on regular Cortex-A78. Finally, we have a bunch of Kryo 680 Silver @ 1.8GHz based on Cortex-A55.
The SD888 comes with a new Adreno 660 GPU, which in theory offers a 35% performance increase over the Adreno 650 inside the SD865 and Find X2 Pro. It does offer OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulcan 1.1, and a new type of rate shading tech.
The SD888 also brings the new Hexagon 780 DSP with a sixth-gen AI engine. You can find a new ISP and with a new integrated X60 5G/LTE modem. Wi-Fi 6 is supported, with native support for UFS 3.1, and also a new QuickCharge 5 option.
Oppo Find X3 Pro has 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, non-expandable.
What does that mumbo jumbo mean for you? This shit is fast. It will play all your games; It won't stutter or lag.
Benchmarks
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Android 11 and ColorOS 11.2
The Oppo Find X3 Pro gives an Always-on display, and you can schedule it or leave it on/off all the time. ColorOS brings a whooping load of new AOD themes you can choose from to make it yours.
The edges of the display will flash with colours upon new notifications if you enable the feature.
The customization aspect is a big part of ColorOS, and you can change a lot. There are many pre-installed static and live wallpapers AOD faces you can choose, different icon styles in both UI and Notification areas, change the system colours, system font, Edge Lighting, and more.
The ColorOS Phone Manager app can scan your phone for possible optimization options, manages your privacy and app permission, and protects your payment. It also includes a diagnostic tool for finding hardware malfunction.
The number of custom things you can is bountiful.
Quad-Camera Configuration
The main camera makes use of a 50MP Sony IMX766 1/1.56″ sensor with 1.0µm pixels and a Quad-Bayer RGGB filter. The sensor is paired with a 6-element 26mm lens that is stabilized and has an f/1.8 aperture. The ultra-wide camera uses the exact same 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor with a QB filter and all-pixel Omni-directional PDAF. Oppo uses a 7-element 16mm-ish f/2.2 lens with a freeform lens and anti-reflective coating. Minimizing chromatic abbreviation and barrel distortion.
The telephoto camera uses a 13MP sensor sitting behind an f/2.4 52mm lens. PDAF autofocus is available, with no OIS.
These cameras support 10-bit colour. The phone will save the photos in 10-bit HEIF format, which is incompatible with most devices at this time. They also support 10-bit HDR video capture if you'd like to get some nice HDR clips.
One of the intriguing cameras shoots at 3MP f/3.0 with a 1:1 aspect, for microscopic-like photos with autofocus between 1mm and 3mm distances and a lens that offers up to 60x zoom.
Camera Photo Quality
Click the Gallery name to visit the album.
Here's my review Verdict
The next-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset is remarkable, but it doesn't bring breath-taking performance improvements. The quad-cameras has seen substantial improvements, including new high-end sensors and this unique 3MP microscope camera.
I like the Oppo Find X3 Pro as my daily driver. Delivery a marvellous screen and design, beast-like performance, and a multi-camera setup that delivers on every promise. You'll appreciate how fast it can charge with its VOOC charger.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro isn't without competition in its area. There's a fierce battle to grab the top spot. It will boil down to features, price and how its perceived in the hands of consumers.
My review for this smartphone wasn't easy. I tried to pack as much information about it.
Get your own Oppo Find X3 Pro on Amazon or Amazon Canada.
