OPPO Find N3 Flip Impressions | Setting a new foldable standard
With its versatile cover screen and Hasselblad cameras, OPPO promises to set a new foldable flagship standard with the Find N3 Flip.
Following its reveal in China, the OPPO Find N3 Flip has finally been launched globally, and from the looks of it, this new flagship has all the makings of a great foldable smartphone. This is thanks to its large cover screen, a bevy of features, and Hasselblad triple camera setup — the first for OPPO.
Ahead of the phone’s global launch, we got to get our hands on a Find N3 Flip unit to see if it delivers on OPPO’s promise. From our experience so far, the Find N3 Flip has all the makings of an excellent flagship device.
OPPO’s new foldable has two key features that stand out at first glance. The first is its large 3.26-inch cover display that has a vertical aspect ratio. Then there’s the noticeable circular camera module which houses the triple rear Hasselblad camera setup. While the Find N2 Flip from last year already had a Hasselblad branded camera setup, the Find N3 Flip kicks things up a notch with three cameras instead of two.
The vertical cover screen is similar to last year’s Find N2 Flip. According to OPPO, this was made as vertical screens are more natural given that practically all phones have a vertical display. This is also an advantage when taking selfies as you should get a full view of your image.
Cover screen aspect ratio preference may differ as some users may prefer something squarer, but for us, we liked the cover screen on the Find N3 Flip thanks to its large size and how intuitive the vertical layout is. Though we’ll need more time to test out app compatibility and other features.
The bottom half of the phone’s back may seem plain at first, but when light is shined on it, you’ll see a unique pattern that’s sort of reminiscent of mother of pearl. This makes it look sleek and eye-catching at the same time.
Practically, the glossy finish isn’t bad as it’s surprisingly not a fingerprint magnet. Plus, even if it seems a bit slipper, the edges do give it a fairly grippy feel. Though if you need more protection and extra grip, the phone does come with a matte case inside the box that looks and feels premium. This is definitely a nice touch as you won’t need to buy an extra case.
Moving to the front, the phone has a large 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen does have slightly thicker bezels than non-foldable flagships, but we had no issues with it as it wasn’t distracting in our opinion.
In fact, we like the display as it’s a bit wider than you’d expect from a flip foldable which are usually a bit longer and thinner. This makes it feel like a proper phone that’s comparable to many standard devices. What’s more, the hinge at the middle is practically invisible which is quite impressive given that many foldables still have a noticeable hinge.
Speaking of the hinge, the phone is surprisingly easy to open as its hinge doesn’t provide as much resistance as we expected. That’s not to say that it feels flimsy though. We didn’t think that it felt fragile. Plus, OPPO promises that it is rated 600,00 folds, so longevity is promised to not be an issue.
One interesting thing about the Find N3 Flip is that it has a physical mute button on the left side. This is a nice touch as this isn’t typically found in Android devices as it’s more of an iPhone feature. Still, this is definitely welcome as it makes the phone easier to put into vibrate only or silent mode.
Moving on to the cameras, the Find N3 Flip has a triple camera setup that’s Hasselblad-branded. Specifically, there’s a main camera, a telephoto with 2x optical zoom, and an ultrawide. We haven’t tested it out yet, but it should deliver flagship-quality photos.
At the front meanwhile is a 32MP selfie shooter. Again, we haven’t tested it yet, but given that the cover display can be used to preview photos, you will be able to take selfies using the main camera. This should give it a leg up over other flagships.
There’s a lot of things that we still need to test with the phone, including its performance and battery life. But from our initial time with the phone, we think that the Find N3 Flip is a well-built device with great looks and some nice features. If it delivers in other fronts, OPPO should have an impressive new flagship in its hands.
The OPPO Find N3 Flip is set to launch in the Philippines soon. For now, there’s no word yet on a pricing and availability information in the country. It won’t be long until we find those out though as OPPO’s flagship foldable is set to launch in PH shores soon.