To be honest, I was sad when I first saw the Find N3. For small phone lovers like me who want a foldable phone, OPPO’s Find N series is a very good option. But after having it for over two weeks, I could be wrong about it. Now that the Find N3 has gotten bigger, it just doesn’t seem as unique as it could be. But that’s not all bad, the bigger size also means the N3 can put more stuff inside. For example, much better cameras.
Camera
If you just look at the camera specs, it’s definitely the best photographic foldable phone out there. Except for the 1-inch sensor that just won’t fit in, the other two are at the top. You won’t believe how poorly lit when these photos were taken, it picked up all the details that my eyes can’t even see, that’s the advantage of having a bigger sensor. Both the telephoto and ultra-wide cameras take almost as great photos as the main camera, whether in the daytime or at night.
The telephoto in particular, despite the optical zoom is only 3x, can zoom up to 6x with in-sensor zoom technology. Even at 10x, it takes super sharp photos without much sharpening algorithms. I would say this is the best photography foldable phone I’ve ever used, even a little better than the MIX Fold 3.
Design
The one we got is the global version of the N3. The N3 has the OnePlus’ signature alert slider, and there are also a number of colorways that the OnePlus Open doesn’t have, such as the red vegan leather, and the gold glass version I have here. This gold color isn’t too intense, it’s as elegant as a sunset hitting on a white phone.
Thanks to its flat frame, it doesn’t slip when I unfold it. This time I have updated the weight and thickness list of foldable phones, and as you can see, the Find N3 is not the smallest, thinnest, or heaviest. As I said at the beginning, I still prefer the compact look of the N2. But with such a large camera module, I can totally accept it. It also explains why other brands don’t want to use good cameras because they would be heavier and thicker.
Display & Hinges
Of course, the Find N3’s screen gets regular upgrades. The gap between the internal and external screens has been reduced, with clarity and brightness looking more unified. The external screen also doesn’t have any curved edges, it’s a completely flat screen.
In fact, I think the biggest improvement has to be the hinge, with the new hinge making the creases in the screen almost invisible. Of all the foldable phones we’ve reviewed, it has the flattest internal screen I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty happy with the screen, and there’s nothing to complain about there.
Benchmark & Gaming
It was only a 5 days gap between the release of this phone and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, this puts the N3 with 8 Gen 2 in a bit of an awkward position. But given that there are still not any other 8 Gen 3 foldable phones released yet, the N3 is still the most powerful foldable phone for now. We tested PUBG Mobile and it supports up to 60 FPS extreme graphics and can run very stably. We can say it has full control in light-load gaming.
Charging & Battery
The 67W of charging power isn’t particularly good, but it’s above the pass line, and you can get a full charge in 40 minutes. Not being able to support wireless charging would be a small shame for me, the good thing is that the battery life is good. It’s much better than the MIX Fold 3 in light-load gaming. It seems the Find N3 battery life is not too much to worry about.
ColorOS 13
ColorOS 13 adds a couple of new split-screen features specifically for the Find N3. First up is this very familiar Taskbar, where OPPO has brought PC control logic to the N3—the button at the very left looks like the Windows Start menu with all the apps in it.
If you drag and drop an app to either side of the screen, it displays the two apps separately. Drag it to the center and it becomes a floating window. If there are apps that can’t be turned into floating windows, OPPO still found a way to make them run at the same time. Although you can only see two apps, the switch between three apps is very smooth. And you don’t have to worry about them being killed by the system in the backstage.
I don’t often use 3 apps at the same time, but this mode does work better than floating windows. No wonder OPPO highlighted this feature at the launch event, it does work better than expected.
Conclusion
So it seems that OPPO did make a flagship foldable phone, this Find N3 is top-notch except for the performance we couldn’t confirm whether it is good or bad. The camera system is definitely the king among foldable phones, if you are a photography lover who wants to buy a foldable phone, it is the best choice.
