OK, without going around it too much, I have to be honest: OPPO has changed, maybe it has matured, but it has changed. And while many of the enthusiasts continue to associate the brand name with crazy devices like the first Find X, or with cutting-edge technologies like the first periscope zoom in the world of smartphones (yes, the periscope zoom was invented by Oppo), the The reality is that generation after generation, that wow effect has been a bit lost. We saw it with the Find X2 Pro, with which the path taken by the company could already be seen more clearly, and we find it again with the Find the X3 Pro.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the new flagship of the Chinese company is not an exceptional device, on the contrary: the Find X3 Pro from OPPO it is undoubtedly among the best top of the range on the market but, considering the type of innovations it introduces, it could be considered by many as a smartphone and conformist.
And not only for its design because, especially in the opaque blue color, theOPPO FIND X3 PRO it might seem rather anonymous, but because if all the innovations it introduces are not analyzed with criteria and knowledge of the facts, that "WOW" effect that until a couple of years ago was inherent in all the new flagships of the company, could become a "Ok, wow". Anyway, on one thing those of OPPO with me have won: I can not deny that Find the X3 Pro is one of the smartphones that, in the last period, most managed to arouse conflicting thoughts in me. Because the innovations it introduces may be crazy for some, irrelevant for many.
And no, I'm not talking about the microscope camera, that in my opinion is one of those "totally useless cool", but I'm talking about the idea of the company aim totally at 10 bit, both in the screen and in the cameras. Yes, that's right, OPPO said goodbye to the periscopic zoom and this is a great pity, but the idea of using the same sensor for the main lens and the ultra-wide angle lens, and the attention paid by the company also in the choice of optics, are an excellent business card for the new top of range by Tony Chen. Too bad, however, that those who are not technical or passionate will hardly be able to understand the differences.
Index
OPPO Find X3 Pro review
Package Contents
The packaging ofOppo Find X3 Pro is treated in every detail. Starting from the coloring, up to its content. Inside, in addition to the smartphone, there is a protective cover, the USB-A / USB-C cable and the SuperVooc charger for fast charging at 65w.
Design and materials
I'll be very blunt: seen in the videos or renderings, the design of theOPPO FIND X3 PRO I really didn't like it. But taking the smartphone out of the box I totally changed my mind. It will be for the coloring we received in test (which, incidentally, is beautiful to look at but damn it suffers from fingerprints), it will be for theextreme comfort that you have when you use it. The fact is, that by putting a OPPO FIND X3 PRO and a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, there is a huge difference in terms of weight and ease of use, in favor of the Chinese company's newborn.
With measures equal to 163,6 x 74,0 x 8,26 mm and a weight of 193 grams, OPPO FIND X3 PRO it is light but at the same time very solid. The rear camera module seems to mirror that of an iPhone 12 Pro Max, but the fact that the Gorilla Glass 5 (which protects the smartphone both front and rear) has been shaped to avoid any sharp edges, makes the device much more comfortable not only to handle, but also to insert or take out of the pockets. In short, aesthetically theOPPO FIND X3 PRO I like it, but this is personal.
No ceramic or eco-leather, materials that were available in the previous one Find the X2 Pro, but it would be poco not realistic to say that attention to detail is at its best: Key placement, weight balance, and touch-and-feel are undoubtedly ultra-premium phones.
It is also among the top of the range more comfortable to use with one hand, despite the 6.7-inch curved edge screen, it is water and dust resistant in terms of IP68 certification and integrates two stereo speakers, one of which is integrated into the ear capsule.
Display - OPPO Find X3 Pro
The screen of theOPPO FIND X3 PRO it's a AMOLED LTPO from 6.7 "to 10 bit, with a QHD + resolution of 3216 x 1440 pixels and a prominent brightness of 1300 nits. And, I'll tell you right away, I found it fantastic, with vivid and incisive colors and exceptional contrast and a pixel per inch density of the highest level equal to 525 ppi.
As an LTPO (Low-temperature Polycrystalline Silicon and Oxide) display, the OPPO FIND X3 PRO is able to handle an update rate that varies between 5 Hz and 120 Hz, in a similar way to what we have seen onSamsung's S21 Ultra, the only one (besides Oppo) to integrate a display made with this technology.
We are in the presence of a real 10 Bit panel, capable of reproducing a billion colors and all those wondering what the news is, especially considering that even the OPPO Find X2 Pro boasted a 10-bit display, it is important to underline one thing: it is true that last year the 'company advertised its flagship screen as a 10-bit panel, but in reality they were 8 bits with 2 bits of dithering.
The difference between 10 bits and 8 + 2 is huge, especially for photographers or industry experts. And it is so marked, that Oppo is confident of the panel used that, in addition to emphasizing the coverage of the DCI P3 color space, it has declared that the display of the Find the X3 Pro it can even cover part of the Rec.2020 space.
But even if in our tests we found that what the company said is not very far from reality, the point is another: if all these figures seem incomprehensible numbers and letters, then probably you won't notice the difference using the company's new device.
What even the less experienced should have well imprinted in mind about theOPPO FIND X3 PRO, is that the entire smartphone and the related production chain of photo / visual content are based on the concept of respecting color spaces: starting from the source (the cameras) to the display that must reproduce them, the full-path 10-bit Color Management System by Oppo makes colors extremely realistic. And this is something that, until now, has never been seen in a smartphone.
But it doesn't stop there. To ensure optimal vision for everyone, OPPO has also thought about people who suffer from slight alterations in color perception: to do this, it has integrated the Munsell 100 test with which each person can calibrate the reproduction tint of the screen, according to their needs and in the case of slight color blindness.
Hardware and Performance
Under the body of theOPPO FIND X3 PRO there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, hooked by 12 GB of RAM type LPDDR5 e 256GB of internal memory UFS 3.1 type not expandable via microSD. And those with the best Qualcomm processor, and the fastest memory currently available on the market, expect maximum performance, will not be disappointed.
The top of the OPPO range is able to guarantee very high performance and a good optimization of the battery, and even if with the same SoC and type of memories the Find the X3 Pro obtained a score on GeekBench 5 markedly lower than that obtained by the Mi 11 (3348 points vs 3762 points), this is a difference that probably no user would be able to notice in the daily use of the device.
With the'OPPO FIND X3 PRO practically everything, from the operating system, to animations, to heavier applications or games with more complex graphics, it works that is a marvel. The slowdowns are practically non-existent and the loading times are practically reduced to the bone. In short, from a smartphone of this kind we expect high-level performance, and with Find the X3 Pro you are not disappointed.
Excellent capsule audio and cellular signal reception, perfect performance of the WiFi module 6 which is able to exploit the entire bandwidth of technology. Very fast too impression sensor digital, which has been integrated under the screen and is of the optical type (which I found significantly faster than that of the Xiaomi Mi 11), the stereo speakers are also good, even I noticed a slight imbalance in the playback volume: the lower speaker is significantly more powerful than the one integrated into the ear capsule. The USB-C port is compatible with the 3.1 standard.
Camera - OPPO Find X3 Pro
As for the cameras of OPPO FIND X3 PRO the point is this: practically everyone now links the "innovation" factor to micro-lens that plays the role of a microscope in the company's new device. Personally, however, I don't really see it that way. Ok, the possibility of being able to take (3 megapixel) super-magnified images is one of those things that make you think “wow” from the first use, it's an innovation and it's one of a kind. But I see it like this: it is totally useless.
It's a lot of fun, but it's totally useless. Sure, here it goes into personal experience, but I doubt that - passed an initial period of novelty excitement - an average user starts using this camera daily by magnifying objects or materials up to 60x. Also because it's a fixed focus camera, and it is very inconvenient to use: there is a small electronic stabilizer that helps in the frame, there is a circular LED with which to illuminate the subjects, but finding the right focusing distance and having your hand totally still to be able to shoot, is not a thing for all.
The real, most important, innovation of the cameras integrated into theOPPO FIND X3 PRO basically hides in two factors: both the main and ultra wide-angle cameras use it same same 50 megapixel sensor that Sony produced just for Oppo and OnePlus, also in the ultra wide one was used F2.2 free form lens, which ensures a focal length of about 16mm and with which the typical chromatic and perspective aberrations of ultra wide-angle lenses are managed significantly better.
The result is exceptional. When shooting in 10-bit with the main camera (which uses a stabilized f / 1.8) or the ultra wide camera, the captured images are not only of high quality, but they practically have the same exact color management, shadows and contrast. In short, there is a feeling of uniformity that is difficult to find in an Android smartphone.
In 'OPPO FIND X3 PRO the Sony IMX766, 1 / 1.56 "with 1.0μm pixel gives its best, pixel binning works very well in the production of 12.5 megapixel images (with which the pixels become 2.0μm): all in all it is a sensor very similar to what we saw in the Find X2 Pro, in which the technology is exploited 2 × 2 OCL for focusing in every direction and there is the possibility of using the dual iso mode for high dynamic shots.
The difference, however, is in the number of colors it can handle. The new sensor integrated into theOPPO FIND X3 PRO integrates a 12-bit converter and is therefore capable of shooting in 12-bit RAW, or in RAW +: it is a mode very similar to Apple's ProRAW, and it is nothing more than a RAW process obtained using the dual-io mode, therefore with different sensitivities and therefore with a wider and more manageable dynamic range during editing.
The periscope zoom, present on the 2020 model, disappears, in place of which a more traditional one has been integrated 2x 13 megapixel zoom. And this is perhaps the real Achilles heel (indeed, killer heel) of the photographic sector of theOPPO FIND X3 PRO. The quality of the images taken with the zoom is good, but certainly not at the levels of those taken with the other two cameras integrated in the smartphone, and it is really a shame because it is a difference that unbalances everything a bit. Oppo's zoom is capable of reaching a 5x magnification in hybrid mode, which is quite good, or to go to 20x in digital mode: and even if the quality with this magnification is higher than what we have seen in other devices, they are still very battered and hardly enjoyable images.
In short, you will agree with me that the real innovations in the photographic sector of OPPO FIND X3 PRO they are very different than the microscope lens, and you can also find them in the video recording: they are exceptional and I would dare to say almost as excessive as the camera. You can clearly record in 4K at 60 fps, using different color profiles and also taking advantage of HDR, but the real gem is that they can be also registered in LOG.
What does it mean? In a nutshell, a video in LOG can be imagined as a photo in RAW: it is a video recording using all the dynamics of the sensor, which will then be modified and managed during the editing phase. And, again, record 10-bit video in LOG, it's a difficult thing to find (and manage) even in the world of cameras.
Software
To animate OPPO FIND X3 PRO he thinks about it Android 11, customized with the now well-known Color OS that comes to version 11.2. And if in the vast majority of Android devices, the difference between the GUIs is substantially linked to the appearance of the Google operating system, with the OPPO Color OS they are introduced many possibilities for customization. On the OPPO smartphone practically everything is customizable, starting from the icons, colors, and various animations, up to the notification menu or even the on-screen color management.
