Oppo Find N3 Flip Review: An All Rounder Flip Phone That Dresses To Impress
Flip phones or foldables are not new anymore. What’s new is the technology the smartphone manufacturing companies keep on adding to get customers to buy these things. If you really think about, and I mean, really ponder over it, you will ask yourself the question, “Why even go for a foldable smartphone?” At the price point that these phones come at, you can easily afford other flagships from Apple, Samsung and Nothing. Even Oppo has great non-foldable smartphones in its catalogue.
Oppo has tried very hard to make this phone likeable. The design resembles the Oppo Find N2 Flip, which was already a very good design to begin with. With little additions here and there in the aesthetics department and a new chipset from MediaTek, the Find N3 Flip attempts to deliver a fresh product. However, I strongly believe that the phone falls short in some areas. Let us look at the details.
A constant battle that foldables have to fight is making sure the user experience is top-tier. This is where elements like the hinge used in the device come into play. In the case of the Oppo Find N3 Flip, the hinge is not one of its strong suits. The smartphone feels quite flimsy, to be honest. It lacks the much-needed sturdiness that its competition possesses.
A smartphone that costs almost a lakh rupees cannot justify bloatware of any kind. The very reason one goes for a flagship device is to get that crème de la crème experience. Personally, bloatware is where I draw the line.
This one is not a deal breaker but it does make you wonder. Why can’t Oppo fix the abundantly evident crease while its competition has found a way to do away with this minute inconvenience.
The phone uses flexible display technology, which essentially means it folds. This makes having an additional screen protector a difficult task.
The phone comes with an 80W adapter but only supports 44W charging.
In the end, we have the broader question. Are foldable smartphones really worth the price tag? What exactly are foldable smartphones providing that their non-foldable counterparts aren’t? Given the price bracket of the Find N3 Flip and most of the foldables in the market, there is a plethora of smartphones that pose as better options. Even if you look at it from a foldable smartphone-only perspective, the market is packed with tempting options. Samsung, One Plus, Motorola and Techno offer some very good value for money foldable smartphones that
The phone has often been touted as a companion for content creators due to its camera unit and its front display which can be useful for vlogging. This, however, begs the question why would someone buy a smartphone with this price tag for content creation when they can easily go for alternatives like the GoPros, the Insta 360s or the DJI Osmos that have already proven their mettle when it comes to content creation. They are durable, versatile and utilitarian. As a content creator, I would obviously go for something that does not cause a cardiac arrest every time it bumps into something. This brings us to the next point, the Find N3 Flip is simply too fragile or at least it appears to be.
The device is not that delicate, to be honest. I have dropped it multiple times and it still works. However, it does appear to be more delicate than it actually is. The hinge makes a very subtle noise while the smartphone is being folded. Surprisingly this is not the case in the new One Plus Open, which is essentially an iteration of the Find N3 Flip with a wider display, of course.
Oppo’s flagship foldable does have its fair share of negatives but it does have some amazing features too.
Having a flagship processor does have its perks. The smartphone is a beast of a machine with MediaTek’s top-tier SoC. The chip can handle anything and everything thrown at it. Games run smoothly with no lag at all. Top games such as BGMI and FC 24 get good frame rates and run like a hot knife through butter. Thermals are a concern, though. The phone gets heated up quickly while running high-end games.
With an Antutu score of 1,019,520, the 8-core 64-bit 4nm Dimensity 9200 is a marvel of technology that looks you in the eye and makes you witness its computing prowess.
The camera unit in the Oppo Find N3 Flip is impressive and is developed by Hasselblad. The 50MP+32MP+48MP trio gets the job done. While the front-facing 32MP sensor is not the best in the game, it does well. The primary sensor has built-in OIS which makes videography on this device a delight. The primary and ultra-wide lenses take sharp photographs. The 2X zoom lens isn’t behind either. It retains a good amount of clarity in day-time photos.
The phone can take 4K videos at 30fps and 1080P videos at 60fps. Night mode is automatic and does not disappoint. The thing that bothered me the most was that while folded, the primary camera cannot record 4K videos. The phone also does not support 4K recording if you turn on the cover screen while shooting.
The vertical cover screen is a fun feature. It acts as a viewfinder during photography and videography. It’s an added advantage if you’re planning on filming yourself. The camera wont shoot 4K , though. The phone only shoots 1080P video if you record yourself using the primary camera and the cover screen as viewfinder.
The cover screen also allows you to use apps like Netflix, YouTube, alarm, weather, calculator, Uber, Zomato, WhatsApp, Outlook, LinkedIn and much more. Although having a smaller screen for viewing chats and emails did seem to be a bit redundant, it has grown on me over time. The more I used it, the more comfortable I became with it. Sending messages, however, is still a task at times. The squeezed keyboard poses as a challenge at times.
The 6.8-inch FHD flexible AMOLED display offers 1,600 nits of peak brightness which means readability will never be an issue. The display also supports HDR10+, meaning that blacks will be deeper and richer. This works both on YouTube and Netflix. The cover screen is 3.26 inches and has a resolution of 720x382.
The 12GB LPDDR5X memory serves the Fine N3 Flip well. It acts as a necessary tool to complement all the activities that one expects from a flagship device.
The phone comes with UFS 4.0 storage with a capacity of 256GB. UFS 4.0 offers data transfer speeds of up to 23.2Gbps which is twice the speed of UFS 3.1 and 4X the speed of UFS 2.1.
The LTPO technology ensures that the frame rate is variable, a feature that is expected from a flagship device. The frame rates of the primary display can go as high as 120Hz and as low as 1Hz.
OnePlus users will feel right at home as ColorOS offers a smooth and effortless UI experience, very similar to the OxygenOS.
This is one of the most useful features in the entire device. Original OnePlus users will remember this one. The alert slider allows for a quick transition between regular, vibration and silent modes.
The Oppo Find N3 Flip has quite a run time. With a full charge, the phone lasts all day long. The 4,800mAh battery allows for more than 7 hours of screen-on time. The 44W SuperVOOC charging will get you a full charge in about 55 minutes making it one of the quickest in the market.
The question should rather be “Are foldable smartphones worth it?” Oppo brands the Find N3 Flip as a convenience. The official website even named one of this phone’s offerings as ‘Effortless Functionality’ and ‘Pocket-sized Perfection’. The thing is that consumers aren’t complaining about the size of their smartphones. Space is not an issue.
Under the fabulous design, processor and flip action, lies the fact that the smartphone industry is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Regular non-foldable smartphones will always be better choices because they work. Foldables do offer a good set of features and are obviously unique in terms of look and feel but whether they add value that is proportionate to their price tag is the question.
As far as the Oppo Find N3 Flip is concerned, using it has been a delight. However, whether you’d want to spend almost a lakh rupees on it depends on your priorities. If looking flamboyant and getting high on the sound that the phone makes when you flip it shut is what does the job for you, go for it.
Things To Remember
