Oppo Find N3 Flip Review: Game Changer For Clamshell Foldable Phones
High notes: Optimised cover display, good battery, capable cameras.Low notes: Lack of wireless charging, ColorOS could be more refined.
There's been a notable surge in the launches in the foldable smartphones segment this year and buyers now have many options to choose from. The foldable smartphones segment was once dominated by Samsung which launched its fifth-gen Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 earlier this year. Intensifying the competition, OnePlus recently entered the bandwagon with a new book-style foldable smartphone, the OnePlus Open, joining the likes of players like Tecno and Motorola. Even though Samsung continues to be a strong contender in the segment, Oppo, an OEM under China's behemoth BBK Electronics, like OnePlus, is also making significant strides.
The Oppo Find N3 Flip retains a clamshell design language, reminiscent of last year's Oppo Find N2 Flip, but it comes with notable upgrades such as a display that is more functional than most competiting clamshell design phones. The Oppo Find N3 Flip is priced at Rs 94,999, for the 12GB RAM and 256GB onboard storage model. The phone is retailing on e-commerce platform Flipkart and select brick-and-mortar sellers. But is this phone worth your hard-earned money? Let's find out in the detailed review.
Oppo Find N3 Flip Design, Display, Looks And Build
The Oppo Find N3 Flip is not a significant departure from its predecessor, in terms of design language. However, compare it with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Tecno Phantom V Flip, you'll instantly notice that the N3 Flip looks better. The primary screen of the Find N3 Flip measures 6.8-inch. The AMOLED display features 1-120Hz of refresh rate, 1,440Hz PWM dimming, HDR10+ support and has a peak brightness of up to 1600 nits. The display delivers a delightful visual experience with amplebrightness, vibrant colours and smooth responsiveness. Oppo has made a remarkable achievement in minimising the crease, which can be attributed to the effectiveness of what it calls the Flexion Hinge. It has not just in reduced the crease visibility but also rendered a seamless design and enhanced overall durability of the Find N3 Flip.
Oppo has added IPX4 ingress protection against light water splashes. When folded, there's no visible gap between the two halves, and the hinge is now certified to endure 600,000 folds and unfolds, which is 200,000 more than the N2 Flip.
The phone folds seamlessly, creating a flat surface without any noticeable gap in the centre. The gently curved rear enhances the look and feel of the phone and renders a luxurious feel. A special mention to the expansive cover screen, which features a prominent circular camera module that also has a Hasselblad branding. The camera module is encircled by a metallic ring, which Oppo calls the Cosmos Ring. Also, as you can see, the phone can attract fingerprint smudged very easily.
The cover display of the Find N3 Flip is perhaps the major high point of the phone as it functions as a mini phone, and lets you access a range of apps such as WhatsApp, Gmail and Telegram. Apart from viewing emails and messages, you can also respond via a QWERTY keyboard. However, the QWERTY keyboard is cramped and not suitable for large fingers. Moreover, Google Maps for navigation can also be accessed, thanks to the cover screen. Another thing to be noted is that due to its vertical orientation, apps with vertical content on the cover screen offer an experience similar to the main display. Other apps are optimized to display on important information, given its size.
While Samsung's clamshell foldable might appear pricey, it's important to note that among the three flagship foldables, it stands out as the sole device featuring the upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. Additionally, it provides an IPX8 rating for water resistance and supports Qi wireless charging.
Oppo Find N3 Camera
The Oppo Find N3 Flip is the first foldable smartphone to come with a premium camera setup. The phone has a 50-megapixel primary camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), coupled with a 32-megapixel telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom and a 48-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with a 114-degree field of view. For selfies and video calls, there is a 32-megapixel front-facing camera. There is no denying that the Oppo Find N3 Flip brings a very capable set of cameras on a clamshell-design phone, but how good is the camera in real-life? The Flip N3 stands out with its camera setup, also a key selling point. Oppo has made a good attempt of adding a telephoto sensor to the Flip N3, making it the first flip phone to feature a triple-camera arrangement. While the telephoto lens proves beneficial for 2x optical zoom and is well-optimised for portrait shots, it shows inconsistency in achieving effective subject-background separation, like we've seen in regular bar-shaped flagship smartphones. The handset maker makes use of computational photography for precise HDR imaging, which is good for most times. Portrait shots definitely need improvement as they are soft on details and I would have loved to see more precise edge detection. Also, selfies shot with the inner display camera are only average.When the phone is folded, video recording is restricted to 1080p, despite the fact that the same camera can shoot 4K 30fps video when the device is unfolded.
Oppo Find N3 Flip Battery, Performance And Software
The Find N3 Flip delivers great battery life, and can sustain all-day usage with a mixed workload. Achieving this kind of battery life involves minimising the use of the primary foldable screen and making more use of the cover display for supported functions like reading notifications, checking emails, and replying to them via the QWERTY keyboard and listening to music. Additionally, the charging time is quick, requiring just over an hour for a full charge, courtesy of the included 44W fast charger. This is a big leap when compared to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5, which also needs investing in a 25W charger separately. Read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 here. The Find N3 Flip has no wireless charging.
In terms of software, the Find N3 Flip comes with ColorOS 13, on top of Android 13, providing a standard range of apps along with extensive customization choices. However, the N3 Flip could benefit from enhancements in this area, given the presence of numerous pre-loaded apps, some of which generate notifications that contribute to clutter in the notification panel. ColorOS has noticeably gotten refined in the past few years.
Oppo Find N3 Flip Final Verdict
Oppo has brought a fine clamshell foldable phone in the market with the Find N3 Flip and it brings more functionalities as compared to its first-gen counterpart. The phone boasts a good design, a very well optimised cover display with enhanced apps support, a foldable display with a almost creaseless screen and a capable camera system. However, the custom ColorOS could do better with more refinement. Given the capable cameras, battery life and functionality, the Find N3 Flip makes for a top foldable clamshell choice in the market right now.
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