Oppo launches Find X3 series as it gains market share in Australia
Oppo has launched its premium Find X3 series as its star continues to rise in Australia,
Oppo’s star is rising and rising. The company’s smartphones is number three in handset sales in Australia, usurped only by Apple and Samsung. And Oppo for the first time has achieved number one in its home country China with 21 per cent market share, according to Counterpoint Research. It’s Reno sub brand is capturing the massive Indian market.
That’s in contrast to the once dominant Huawei which struggles to source components for its phones; it was at 20 per cent in Counterpoint’s survey. Huawei’s spin-off of its cheaper Honor brand and its perceived inability to source components are other issues dampening its performance.
The two have very different backgrounds. Founder Ren Zhengfei’s ties with China’s military and the Communist Party and the company’s government backing saw Huawei regarded as too close to China’s government despite Huawei’s best efforts to demonstrate otherwise.
The US government ban on Huawei selling 5G equipment and on buying hardware and software from US sources has hurt its business.
Oppo has a different history. It’s part of the BBK Electronics Group which runs Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, RealMe, iQOO and others as separate competing brands. BBK’s founder and chairman, billionaire Duan Yongping, is a reclusive investor regarded more as China’s Warren Buffett than a communist party loyalist. (In 2006, Duan spent $US620,000 to have lunch with Warren Buffett.) He has lived in the US.
Further, an informed source told The Australian that Oppo was looking to diversify its production outside of China, to countries such as Indonesia.
Importantly, Oppo was not targeted for sanctions by former US President Donald Trump who went after Chinese companies with considerable venom. It doesn’t seek to sell telecommunications equipment to the world, particularly 5G equipment, unlike Huawei and ZTE.
Oppo’s growing prominence domestically and internationally means the launch of Oppo’s new flagship phone, the Oppo Find X3, is an important event on the Australian smartphone launch calendar. Oppo also is celebrating 10 years in the Australian market.
NEW SMARTPHONES
The 2021 Oppo Find X3 series comprises three phones: the high end Oppo Find X3 Pro 5G ($1699), the Find X3 Neo 5G ($1199) and Find X3 Lite 5G ($749).
Most attention at Thursday night’s launch was on the Find X3 Pro 5G. The $1699 price tag is identical to that of Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro in Australia and slightly higher than Galaxy S21+ 5G ($1549).
It’s a largish phone with a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen and has a very fast refresh rate (up to 120 Hertz) making it suited to games. The QHD+ screen is extremely sharp (QHD+ is between full HD and 4K) and it has 525 pixels per inch resolution.
Camera performance will be key to this phone given the capabilities of the similarly priced iPhone 12 and Samsung S21 handsets.
The back-facing camera is a four lens system with 50 megapixel wide angle and ultra wide angle lenses, a 13MP telephoto lens and 3MP microlens.
The two Sony lenses support 10-bit colour, which means they are capable of shooting more than a billion colour variations. Having 10-bit colour is one of the key features.
The microlens allows 60 x zoom to capture objects. There’s an LED ring around the lens providing its own light source for extra clarity. The phone supports RAW photography in pro mode.
The cheaper two phones also have four-lens configuration but with reduced resolution. The Lite swaps out the wide angle lens for a regular lens.
All models have a 32MP selfie lens; we’re hoping for some great shots when testing time comes around.
The Find X3 Pro 5G has the current best Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB RAM memory. It can manage two SIM cards and supports an electronic SIM, and a large 4500 milliampere hour battery.
It supports fast charging, wireless charging and reverse charging, it’s splash, water and dust resistant (IP68) and has Dolby Atmos certified speakers.
You get 256GB of storage but that’s it – there’s no microSD card expansion.
The phone runs Oppo’s ColorOS operating system, supports the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standards, uses a USB-C port for powering and for listening using the supplied earphones.
If this handset is over-specced for your needs, you might find the Find X3 Neo 5G to your liking at $1199. At $749, the even cheaper Lite model might suit you if you need a 5G phone at an affordable price.
I’ll be testing the Oppo Find X3 Pro 5G so watch out for the review.
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