Oppo Find N3 review

introduction

The original Oppo Find N from two years ago was a foldable like no other – really compact when folded, only medium-sized when unfolded – and it made us wish more companies would choose that path to flexible smartphones instead of the clear divide between clamshells and phone – turns into tablet designs. Well, with the third generation, Oppo has abandoned its alternative ways and brought us a full-size foldable with the Find N3. And we can’t blame them after seeing the excellent hardware they’ve made.

Sure, the Find N3 is larger than the previous two iterations, but it remains reasonably light and still has more sensible screen aspect ratios than the de facto standard for the class, the Galaxy Z Fold. And some really cool screens are, too.

Of course, high-end internals can be found here: a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset is in charge, storage space starts at half a terabyte and 12 or 16 GB or RAM ensure smooth operation, even with the many multi-tasking features on offer from ColorOS 13.2 (some of which are unique and really useful).

But it is precisely the camera system that is the real strength of the Find and not just because of the Hasselblad badge. The trio of modules on the back makes for a very versatile system: the primary wide-angle camera ushers in a new generation of Sony sensors, the telephoto is almost as good at 6x as it is at native 3x, and ultrawide, while not spectacular in isolation, is potentially much better than its Galaxy counterpart.

All of this comes in a body that’s quite possibly sexier than what Samsung will give you, and while it’s not as slim as, say, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, the Find is still pretty easy on the eye. Its splash resistance doesn’t live up to the Galaxy’s IPX8 rating, so aim for the Z Fold there.

Now, as always with Finds, the question of availability is a little complicated, this year even more so. While the previous two generations were limited to the Chinese market, this one will also be sold in other countries, although we can’t point to them on a map. The global software we have running on our review unit (no China-specific apps or leftovers or untranslated and possibly untranslatable menu items) is a good indication of the N3’s broader reach.

This isn’t surprising, given that the Find N3’s alter ego, the One Plus Open, is being sold in the US and Europe right now. Yes, the two related brands sell two products that aren’t all that different, in fact quite the same, aside from different colorways and different names for some otherwise identical software features. We recently tested the Open and were pretty thrilled with what we saw, so we figured another try with this same, but different but also the same device wouldn’t hurt.

Oppo Find N3 specifications in brief:

• Body: 153.4×143.1×5.8mm, 239g; Glass front (Ceramic Guard) (folded), plastic front (open), glass back or eco-leather back, aluminum frame; IPX4 splash resistant.
• Screen: 7.82″ foldable LTPO3 OLED, 1B colors, Dolby Vision, 120 Hz, 2800 nits (peak), 2268×2440 px resolution, 9.68:9 aspect ratio, 426ppi; display on the cover:, LTPO3 OLED, 1B colors, Dolby Vision , 120 Hz, 2800 nits (peak), 6.31 inches, 1116 x 2484 pixels, 431 ppi, ceramic protection.
• Chipsets: Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 and 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 and 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 and 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS4.0.
• Operating system/software: Android 13, ColorOS 13.2.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.7, 24mm, 1/1.43″, 1.12μm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 48 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 114˚, 1/2″, 0.8μm, PDAF; Telephoto: 64 MP, f/2.6, 70 mm, 1/2″, 0.7 µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom.
• Front cameras: Internal: 20 MP, f/2.2, 20 mm, 1/4″, 0.7 µm; Cover: 32MP, f/2.4, 22mm, 1/3.14″, 0.7μm.
• Video Capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps gyro-EIS, HDR10+, Dolby Vision; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, Gyro-EIS.
• Drums: 4805mAh; Wired 67W, PD, 1-35% in 10 minutes, reverse wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3, aptX HD; NFC; Infrared port.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers (Dolby Atmos enhanced).

Unboxing of the Oppo Find N3

Presentation has always been particularly important for Oppo, and this premium segment requires special attention to detail (although Samsung, for example, doesn’t really care). So the Find N3 ships in a big box with some kinetic opening tricks to make you feel extra special.

The contents list is also longer than that of the Galaxy. Here you get a 67W charger and a suitable cable, already better than the Z Fold’s cable-only approach. Also included is a two-piece protective solution with a snap-on back cover and cover display frame. Samsung will sell them to you for an additional fee; here, they are packaged.