Review

OPPO K3 Review: Budget Phone With Pop-up Camera And Full Screen

May 31, 2019

OPPO launched a new product line last year, which focuses on online marketing, called K series.

OPPO K1 impressed us last year with its design, color and in-display fingerprint. This year, OPPO launched OPPO K3, which has an update on the predecessor. Let’s take a look.

Design:

Difference from the other budget phone, OPPO K3 comes with full screen and pop-up front-facing camera.

The pop-up mechanism is set on the middle of top side. The front-facing camera of OPPO K3 will rise when taking selfies and unlocking the phone by face in 0.74 second.

OPPO claims that the pop-up mechanism module of K3 can be used over 200,000 times. On average, it’s used 100 times a day for five years.

Although the handset comes with pop-up mechanism, OPPO K3 is capable of water repellent, which is enough for daily use.

OPPO K3 comes with a 6.5-inch Samsung AMOLED screen having the resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, which rivals most of the mid-to-high end smartphones.

The screen of OPPO K3 shows cool tone normally, and users can manually adjust the color tone in setting.

OPPO K3 keeps bezel-less, although the bottom bezel is a little wider, the screen-to-body ratio of K3 is up to 91.1%.

In addition to the amazing screen, OPPO K3 ships with in-screen fingerprint coupled with compensation transmission, which is to gain clearer fingerprint image.

OPPO K3 comes with one of the best in-screen fingerprint tech at the marketing, which is faster than OPPO K1 and as same as OPPO Reno.

Because of the marketing target and pricing, OPPO K3 adopts plastic body instead of metal and glass body. Through higher level of processing, OPPO K3 still achieves a good look.

The middle frame and back cover of the handset are processed separately. Look at the image, the middle frame of Nebula Purple variant adopts mat processing, and the gradient color corresponds to the back cover.

Look at the back cover, OPPO K3 uses 3D stereo technology. The two sides of the handset is obviously cured, which looks thinner. The rear camera is set at center with little protrusion, and the protective ring around the camera is slightly higher than the back cover.

In addition to Nebula Purple, OPPO K3 also offers Black and Morning White variant.

Performance:

OPPO K3 is powered by Snapdragon 710 processor, and arrives with 6/8GB of RAM and storage between 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. The operation system is ColorOS 6.0 based on Android 9.0.

OPPO K3 also retains full software optimization capabilities, including GameBoost 2.0 which has a certificate of TÜV.

OPPO K3 reserves 2×2 Wi-Fi, keeps 3.5mm earphone jack, and supports Dolby Atmos.

OPPO K3 is fueled by 3765mAh battery with VOOC 3.0 flash charging, which is enough for daily use. It can charge 55% in 30 minutes.

Camera:

OPPO K3 ships with 16MP front-facing camera with IMX 471 sensor, which has AI capabilities.

In the rear camera, OPPO K3 chooses a dual camera design of main camera and depth of field lens. The 16MP camera with IMX519 and f/1.7 aperture is one of two in the main setup on the back.

This sensor is first launched at OPPO R15, which can’t get an edge on night shot.

In order to optimize the night shot mode, OPPO K3 comes with handheld night mode. The handheld shots take longer than OPPO Reno, and it need to take at least 4s in low light.