Find N3 review: New foldable phone from OPPO

I’ve been using the Find N3 as my daily device for weeks and there are three things I absolutely love about it.

OPPO's Find N3. Picture: Supplied

A new phone has been released by OPPO that promises to transform a high-growth portion of the smartphone market.

The electronics company released the Find N3 in Singapore on October 19 — its latest iteration of the foldable phone with a folding form factor.

OPPO shipped out a model to review and I’ve been using it as my daily phone for the past two weeks.

Here’s the TL;DR: the Find N3 is probably the best foldable phone on the market right now.

In particular there are three things I really love about it: having two screens, multi-tasking on apps (Boundless View) and folding the phone into a camera tripod (FlexForm Capture).

What I like about the Find N3

I had a lot of fun switching between the two screens.

The Find N3 opens to a 7.8” tablet screen and closed it is a 6.3” display.

There’s a burst of colour on the screen every time you unfold the phone, and the screen has a brightness peak of 2800 nits, which makes it look brilliant.

It’s not just a gimmick either, there’s actually a practical use for having two screen types.

For some tasks the closed screen is better, for example browsing the web or sending messages. I found that open is best for gaming or watching videos on YouTube and Twitch.

Videos look great on the unfolded screen. Picture: Andrew Backhouse

Unique

Foldable phones first hit the market in 2018 and went mainstream with the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

OPPO released its Find N in 2021 and the company has made big strides with the Find N3.

In case you’ve never come across a foldable phone before (which is likely because they’re only about 1.2 per cent of market share) they have one awesome function.

The device can operate like a normal smartphone, but you can unfurl it to a much larger screen that is similar to a tablet. It’s a two-in-one deal.

The YouTube app as seen on the unfolded screen. Picture: Andrew Backhouse

The design of the Find N3 impressed me. The shape is simple and stylish, with the leather back on the Classic Black pleasant to hold.

There are three cameras housed in a unique circular module at the back and the big H symbol indicates OPPO’s ongoing and growing connection with Swedish photographic equipment company Hasselblad.

An image showing the lenses inside the Find N3 camera system. Picture: Supplied

Camera system

That’s a good segue to the Find N3 camera set-up, which is a key part of any phone.

It’s an impressive system.

On the back there is a 48MP Wide, 48MP Ultra Wide and 64MP Telephoto.

There are two selfie cameras (on the cover and inner screens).

The external screen has a 32MP and the internal screen has a 20MP.

What stands out about the Find N3 camera system is the pixel sensor, a new design from Sony that features a restructured pixel that boosts image quality.

OPPO says the result is comparable to a 1” sensor, which allows for more light to be captured (and is a larger sensor than on typical phones).

Turning the phone into a tripod was a stroke of genius.

The wide camera is great for lowlight shots and the ultra-wide for day shots. The telephoto works best at 6x but can go up to a monster 120x with digital zoom.

Hasselblad Portrait delivers professional-looking shots, plus there’s a pro mode for those who want to control ISO, shutter speed, focus and other settings.

One of the best features on the Find N3 is FlexForm Capture — the ability to partially open the phone and use it like a tripod to take photos and selfies with a preview screen, it’s a smart way to incorporate the foldable nature of the device.

OPPO’s computational photography system also helps make the Find N3 system top-tier.

OPPO's Find N3. Picture: Supplied

The hinge

Every foldable phone has to have a hinge. The engineers at OPPO have come up with an upgraded system that includes “super-rigid zirconium-based liquid metal” which resulted in a 15 per cent reduction in volume compared to the Fold N2.

The material is much stronger than steel and testing showed it can withstand one million folds, including at extreme heat and cold.

The hinge is virtually invisible on the tablet display screen and can only be seen when the screen is off.

Multi-tasking for the win. Picture: Andrew Backhouse

Sound, picture, battery and other stuff

The UI is a highlight of the phone, particularly due to the “Boundless View” feature, which allows multi-tasking.

You can have three apps open at the same time. Essentially, it’s like using a PC with three monitors.

Splitting the screen is as simple as dragging two fingers down the middle of the display.

This is possible because the phone runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 gen 2.

However, the chip isn’t the latest generation, but that isn’t a huge problem, as tech journo Basil Kronfli explained, because the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 may suffer from power inefficiency problems.

The 16GB of RAM is also more than enough for the job.

OPPO's Find N3. Picture: Supplied

Another handy feature is the new Alert Slider, a button that enables you to easily switch between silent, vibrate and ring modes.

The sound quality is top-notch. The Find N3 has three speakers that provide an enjoyable stereo experience, plus there’s Spatial Audio, which can provide a sense of dimension when watching movies and gaming.

The 4800mAh battery lasts all day and the 67W SUPERVOOC can boost the charge to 35 per cent in 10 minutes and 80 per cent in 30 minutes. A full charge takes just 42 minutes.

The phone is stylish, beefed up with cutting-edge hardware, but it’s the two screens, multi-tasking and tripod features that sealed the deal for me.

Full specs

Design

• Dimensions (Classic Black)

• Open: 153.4mm × 143.1mm × 5.8mm

• Closed: 153.4mm x 73.3mm × 11.9mm

• Colours: Classic Black

External Screen

• 120Hz 6.3” AMOLED with LTPO

• 20:9, 2484×1116

• Brightness: 600nits (typ), 2800nits (peak)

• HDR10+/Dolby Vison

Internal Screen

• 120Hz 7.8” AMOLED with LTPO

• 9.7:9, 2440×2268

• Brightness: 600nits (typ), 2800nits (peak)

• HDR10+/Dolby Vison

Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2

• Industry-leading TSMC N4 (4m-class) chip production

process

• Adreno™ 740 @680MHz

• LPDDR5x + UFS 4.0 storage

• ColorOS 13.2 based on Android 13

Rear cameras

• 48MP Wide camera

• Sony LYTIA-T808

• 1/1.43” sensor

• 24mm f/1.7 lens

• 48MP Ultra Wide

• Sony IMX581

• 1/2” sensor

• 14mm f/2.2 lens

• 64MP Telephoto

• 1/2” sensor

• 70mm f/2.6 lens

Selfie cameras (cover and inner screens)

• External screen

• 32MP

• 1/3.14” sensor

• 22mm f/2.4 lens

• AON ready

• Internal screen

• 20MP

• 1/4” sensor

• 20mm f/2.2 lens

• AON ready

Battery & Charging

• 4800mAh battery (typ)

• 67W SUPERVOOC

Audio

• Three speakers

• Dolby Atmos

Connectivity

• Dual SIM

• Supports NFC

• Bluetooth 5.3

• Wi-Fi 6