Oppo Find X3 Pro
Dual 50-megapixel sensors, 120Hz screen, 4500mAh battery, state-of-the-art SoC, 5G... At the beginning of 2021, Oppo wants to hit hard. The Chinese manufacturer unveils its Find X3 Pro, its ultra-high-end mobile. It competes with the leading smartphones on the market, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max and the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, the flagship of the fallen Chinese rival.
But Oppo knows that a technical sheet is not enough to convince. So has the manufacturer mastered its subject? That's what we checked in this test.
Positive Points
- Superb 120 Hz Oled screen
- Performance
- Quality photos
- 5G and eSIM
- Waterproof (IP68)
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Negative points
- Autonomy still disappointing.
Ergonomics and design
As a good high-end smartphone, this Find X3 Pro ticks most of the boxes. It is compatible with 5G and Wi-Fi 6, certified waterproof (IP68), has an NFC chip, eSIM and a fingerprint sensor under the screen. On the other hand, no 3.5mm mini-jack connectivity or mini-jack to USB-C adapter is integrated on the smartphone or in its box. Its repairability index is 6.9.
On the other hand, the mobile offers a beautiful experience. Its finishes are exemplary, and its aluminum alloy shell looks great. The integration of the photo modules, achieved by a curve in the shell, offers a slight touch of originality. Originality to be put in perspective as Oppo was inspired by the iPhone 12 Pro Max and its Pacific Blue color.
In hand, this Find X3 Pro is convincing. Despite its large size (163.6 x 74 x 8.26 mm), the smartphone is quite light (193 g). Its side buttons are well placed and its fingerprint sensor, positioned under the screen is responsive. No facial recognition here, you'll have to make do with your fingerprints for a truly biometric security.
Capable of hosting two nanoSIMs, the Find X3 Pro offers, as previously mentioned, eSIM compatibility. This replaces a possible nanoSIM in a pair of SIM cards, but cannot be used as a third SIM. Small novelty of this vintage 2021, Oppo has decided to remove the microSD port. Believing that the majority of its users use less than 200 GB of internal memory, the manufacturer has decided to offer 256 GB of non-expandable storage.
Without any connectors or adapters, we were unable to test the audio output of this Find X3 Pro. On the other hand, its speakers were tested. They prove to be convincing and offer a pleasant stereo for viewing video content.
Screen
The Find X3 Pro features a 6.7-inch OLED 120Hz display with 3216 x 1440 pixels (QHD+) and a resolution of 526 dpi. Note that the refresh rate is adaptive, meaning that it is not possible to force the panel to display in 120 Hz. The mobile assesses the user's refresh needs and evolves accordingly. When we scroll on Instagram, the screen scrolls in 120 Hz, when we stop on an image, it drops the frame rate. Oppo has integrated a Samsung panel, similar to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. It is therefore able to go down to 10 Hz, if necessary. A technology that allows you to gain a little autonomy, in theory.
In addition, this screen requires a small turn in the settings to be perfectly calibrated. By default, it offers an average delta E of 3 and a color temperature of 7469 K. If the first value is excellent - below 3, the delta E shows chromatic drifts not visible to the naked eye -, the second remains less convincing because too far from the video standard (6500 K). To adjust this, simply go to the settings, in the display tab, then select the "screen color mode" without forgetting to adjust the temperature.
This is done, we get an average delta E at 3.2, a little higher with too bright reds, but a color temperature better controlled (6302 K) for a more realistic rendering overall, provided you do not watch the Flash series in a loop. Oled obliges, the contrast ratio tends to infinity for a depth of blacks very pleasant.
The Find X3 Pro's panel is capable of climbing to 517 cd/m². This is just enough to remain readable in bright sunlight. Unfortunately, its poorly measured reflectance does not help (46.2%). The screen goes down to 2.1 cd/m², which is low enough not to burn the retina in the dark. Finally, its touch delay (81 ms) is average, while its remanence remains zero, Oled obliges.
Performance
On the performance side, the Find X3 Pro is equipped with the best of the best for a manufacturer that does not manufacture its chips, namely the Snapdragon 888. Oppo has chosen to back it up with 12GB of RAM. It will therefore have no problem managing multitasking and is positioned as one of the references in the exercise. Not too many difficulties either in game sessions with a frame rate of 62 fps in front of a very greedy software. There are other devices that do better, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra or the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, but what the Find X3 Pro offers is more than enough.
Photo
This Find X3 Pro has four photo modules on the back. Oppo can actually boast of having made bold choices in this area. We have a first wide-angle module rather classic, except that it is composed of a Sony IMX766 sensor of 50 MP. Next to it, we find an ultra wide-angle module that has the originality of embedding the same Sony IMX766 sensor, which makes it the most defined ultra wide-angle of the market. Then we have a much more modest 2x telephoto module, with its 13MP sensor. Finally, this Find X3 Pro does not offer a macro module but a micro module. The latter offers a fun and playful experience that we detail in a dedicated article.
This module embeds a 50MP sensor, taking advantage of the pixel bining. This technique merges four pixels into one to capture more light when it is missing. By default, the smartphone captures 12.5 megapixels. So we will start by comparing the two definitions.
To do this, we isolated an area of 0.45 megapixels on each shot, the one at 12.5 megapixels and the second at 50 megapixels. Enough to give an idea of the difference in scale. It is interesting to note that the Find X3 Pro offers a shot processed in the same way, whether in 12.5 MP or full definition. The interest of using the 50 MP mode is therefore limited and is limited to facilitate the cropping of a photo.
At night, the problem is identical. The 50 megapixels just allows a better framing. But on this same 0.45 Mpx area, we can see that the sharpness is not there, despite an excellent definition.
Against the Galaxy S21 Ultra, one of its direct competitors, this Find X3 Pro stands out thanks to a very good result, more flattering. Overexposed, but less than its opponent, it offers a more colorful rendering with slightly forced contrasts.
At night, the Find X3 Pro also manages to do well. Less smoothed, better exposed and more colorful, it offers a more pleasing rendering to the eye. Equipped with the same sensor as the main module, this ultra-wide angle offers excellent performance. Perhaps even more than the Mate 40 Pro, which had already impressed us in October 2020.
If the Find X3 Pro offers an optical zoom, it does not play the megapixel overkill. So we have a "simple" 13 megapixels. In addition, we continue the comparison with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which does not have a 2x optical zoom, but 3x. Anyway, this module is less relevant than its neighbors. Thus, it offers little sharpness, as well as a too forced rendering.
At night, the image processing drowns the shot under the noise. The optical zoom is therefore not very usable.
Autonomy
If there was one thing the Find X2 Pro lacked in 2020, it was battery life. And this year, things have not changed much on Oppo's side. The Find X3 Pro, despite being armed with a 4500 mAh battery, only lasted 14 h 53 min during our SmartViser protocol. That's 8 minutes longer than its predecessor and hours shorter than its direct competitors. Fortunately, SuperVOOC 2.0 is here to the rescue. Oppo's patented charging technology allows the phone to go from 0 to 100% in 26 minutes. A speed allowed in particular by the 65 W block provided in the box of the mobile.
Interface & OS
The Find X3 Pro comes with Android 11 and the ColorOS 11.2 interface developed by Oppo. It offers a marked aesthetic, and especially a very open customization. The user has a lot of control over many elements and can even create his own animations when unlocking. Otherwise, a floating window option is also present, useful for multitasking.
The manufacturer has added few applications, and we can only find Play Space and Oppo Relax; the first works as an aggregator of mobile games available on mobile gaming while the second seeks to make you achieve "inner peace". Oppo also takes the liberty of inflating the settings in order to leave more control to the user.
Finally, at the time of writing, the latest security updates for the Find X3 Pro date back to February 5, 2021, so it's an up-to-date mobile
CONCLUSION
If it is still far from offering a hardware as perfect as its controversial compatriot, the subsidiary of BBK offers a complete and mastered mobile. We find excellent performance, a beautiful screen, flattering photos as well as 5G, NFC, Wi-Fi 6 and everything else that will delight the most technophiles. Unfortunately, the mobile stumbles on the autonomy, it remains a notch below a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
