OPPO Find X3 Pro Review: A Brilliant Android 11 Flagship in Every Way

OPPO has been making phones since 2008, yet the OPPO Find X3 Pro is the first OPPO phone that I’ve ever tried, much less reviewed. Seeing as the Find X series is OPPO’s flagship line, and the Find X3 Pro is their top model, I can’t think of a better phone to introduce me to this company, which as of January this year, has overtaken Huawei as the number one selling smartphone brand in China. I have been using the Find X3 Pro as my primary phone for the past few weeks, and I have found much to like.

I watched the OPPO Find X3 Pro global launch event earlier this month with much interest, as the phone’s specifications sound particularly stunning. Here’s a rundown:

The Find X3 Pro boasts a 6.7″ LPTO AMOLED (3216 x 144o, 525ppi), QHD+, Corning Gorilla Glass 5, “1 Billion Colour” display that has an adaptive 5 to 120Hz refresh rate, which is meant to optimize battery life based on what you are doing on-screen.

LPTO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide technology), which is also found in the new OnePlus 9 Pro that I will be reviewing soon, enables a higher refresh rate for a smoother experience while playing games or when scrolling through your feeds. But when you are reading text, for instance, LPTO is supposed to slow down the refresh rate to conserve power.

Inside, the OPPO Find X3 Pro has the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform and an ADRENO 660 GPU, as well as a vapor chamber cooling system to keep it running cool, even when the processor is working overtime.

The Find X3 Pro comes with 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB storage, a 4,500mAh battery that features 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 Flash Charge, which OPPO says takes you from 0-40% in 10 minutes, or you can use 30W AirVOOC wireless Flash Charge, which takes the phone to from 0-100% charge in 80 minutes. It can be unlocked either by facial recognition or with the in-display fingerprint scanner.

The cameras on the OPPO Find X3 Pro sound particularly impressive; the selfie camera has a 32-megapixel sensor (f/2.4) that can capture 1080P video at 720P at 30 fps. On the back, there are four cameras, including two primary cameras — a 50-megapixel wide-angle Sony IMX66 sensor (f/1.8) with OIS for 12.5-megapixel photos and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle Sony IMX66 lens (f/2.2) with 4cm macro-focus distance.

The third camera is a 13-megapixel telephoto lens (f/2.4) with 5X hybrid optical zoom and up to 20X digital zoom, and the fourth camera is something I don’t think has ever made an appearance on a phone before — a 3-megapixel microlens (f/3.0) that provides up to 60x magnification. In other words, this lens (if it worked as billed) would be like having a mini-microscope built into the phone.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro also features Dolby Atmos stereo sound with ambient sound detection and IP68 water and dust resistance.

So without even holding it in my hand yet, I was expecting to review a blazing-fast phone with excellent sound and an excellent display that I would feel comfortable using in any weather. I expected a battery that could last all day and speedily recharge as needed and an excellent set of cameras with the added intrigue of one being able to take incredibly detailed microscopic shots.

But before I get into all of that, let’s take a look at the phone and what came in the box.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro Hardware

I received an OPPO Media Kit that included the Find X3 Pro retail box and two additional OPPO cases. Should you buy an OPPO Find X3 Pro, it will include everything shown in the white retail box; so, you’ll get the phone (with a screen protector pre-applied), a 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 European charger, a USB Type-C to Type-C data/charging cable, a set of USB Type-C earbuds, a SIM ejector tool, a blue TPU protective case, a quick start guide, a safety guide, and an international warranty card.

Let me start by saying that it was refreshing to receive a protective case and set of wired earphones with the Find X3 Pro; I’m used to Flagship phones taking away accessories, and it was nice to see OPPO bucking the trend! The 65W European charger will come in handy once I start traveling again, but in the meantime … you might be wondering how I’m supposed to get the super-fast 65W charging the phone is capable of without it. I’ll cover how I got around that under the battery life section.

The screen protector isn’t heavy-duty and picks up fingerprint smudges like crazy, but I am still glad that it is on there. As you may recall, I somehow managed to scratch my unprotected Pixel 5‘s Gorilla Glass 6 display simply by laying it facedown on the same wooden picnic table used in many of these photos while trying to take shots of the Pixel’s back. You can click any of these photos to open a gallery with larger images.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro measures approximately 6.45″ long by 2.95″ wide by 0.35″ thick, weighing 6.8 ounces. It’s available in two colors with a back and camera array composed of a single piece of molded glass in either Blue or Gloss Black. The Gloss black version has a rich porcelain glaze in true mirror black that’s supposed to feel like ceramic in-hand. I have the Blue version, which has an anti-glare, matte finish that has been frosted to 85% opacity with a fingerprint-repelling silky texture. I can’t stop wanting to touch the Find X3 Pro; the phone feels that caressable, so it’s too bad that it is almost always in a case for its own protection.

The 6.7″ Gorilla Glass 5 display is very gently curved on the right and left sides. While it’s not a steep drop-off, and I generally prefer phones with flat screens, I haven’t experienced frustrating mistouches or distorted edge images, so I have no issues with this one. There is a 32-megapixel front-facing camera in the upper left corner, and in the center top of the display, there is a nearly imperceptible dip to accommodate the 1mm wide by 1.7cm long ear speaker.

The Find X3 Pro has a nice weight to it, and it feels excellent in hand. The build is solid, but since it does have a glass back, I’d recommend keeping it in a case. You won’t want to, though! The Blue is beautiful to look at, and while you may notice some fingerprint smudges, they are easily wiped off and don’t smear as they do on a glossy surface.

The fingerprint sensor is located near the bottom of the screen in the center; I’ve found it deadly accurate and fast. The face unlock is also quite good, but with a mask on anytime I am out and about, the fingerprint sensor is boss.

On the left side of the Find X3 Pro, there are thin volume buttons. Notice the shiny blue aluminum frame that is sandwiched between the display and the matte glass back; it continues to the top and bottom of the device, and it adds a subtle visual point of interest.

On the top of the phone, there is a microphone. You can really see the shiny blue band here.

On the right side of the Find X3 Pro, there is a power button. Notice the subtle shiny green stripe; green is my favorite color, and while I have no idea if this symbolizes something for OPPO, I think it looks nice.

On the bottom of the phone, there is a Dual SIM tray (which is a great feature for those who travel internationally or who need a business and personal phone without carrying two devices), a Type-C USB port, and a speaker. When listening to audio over the speaker, you get a full stereo sound effect because the surprisingly loud ear speaker works in tandem with the speaker on the bottom of the Find X3 Pro.

OPPO touts the Dolby Atmos stereo sound, and it is fair for them to do so. The OPPO Find X3 Pro sounds great; it is clear, loud, and it sounds great — whether you are playing games, streaming a movie, or using it as a speakerphone.

You can really see the matte of the Blue glass in this photo. You’ll notice that OPPO added a shiny blue effect to the portion of the glass making up the camera array (which is not an inset, by the way); it’s another subtle thing that many people probably won’t notice, but it signals an attention to detail by the designers to me. I think that as far as smartphones go, the OPPO Find X3 looks elegant and refined.

I also want to highlight how pretty the gentle slope that makes up the camera array is; I appreciate that it’s not the typical separate layer of glass that gets slapped on the glass back but is instead all made up of the same single piece of glass from which the back is composed. I suspect that many people won’t give it a lot of thought, and I get why they wouldn’t, but it’s unusual. You can click on any photo to open the gallery with larger images.

Here’s a shot of the molded glass camera cluster on the back of the OPPO Find X3 Pro. There are six different elements here, so let’s get them covered. At the upper left, moving clockwise, there is a dual-LED dual-tone flash. The upper-right lens is the 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, which has a 1/1.56″ sensor size Sony IMX 766 sensor (f/2.2 aperture) with a native 110.3° field of view and all-pixel omni-directional PDAF.

That little hole just underneath is a microphone. The bottom-right lens is the 50-megapixel wide-angle camera, which has a 1/1.56” sensor size Sony IMX 766 sensor (f/1.8 aperture) with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), and all-pixel omni-directional PDAF.

There is a 13-megapixel telephoto camera (f/2.4 aperture) that features 5X hybrid optical zoom and 20X digital zoom on the bottom-left. The center-left lens is the 3-megapixel microlens camera (f/3.0 aperture).

The microlens, or microscope camera, features 60x magnification and has a built-in light ring for illuminating those super-magnified images — since you get so close to those subjects (sometimes actually touching them), the lighting is essential.

This video explains the benefits of all-pixel omni-directional PDAF (phase detection autofocus).

The OPPO Find X3 Pro Camera

I’ve had a lot of fun taking photos with the OPPO Find X3 Pro. The controls are easy to use, and the built-in modes include Night, Video, Photo, Portrait, and More, which includes Dual-View Video, Slo-Mo, Time-Lapse, Movie, Pro/Expert, Pano, Text Scanner, Microscope, and Sticker.

I feel like the photo quality is very good to excellent overall, but as you’ll notice in the photo of the nanny goat and her two kids in the gallery, the quality of zoomed (especially at 20X) shots can be hit or miss. Photos taken in low light look very much like what you see — they aren’t over-bright or unnatural looking, they are sharp and crisp, and they look like what you see.

If you need more of a boost, you can always use Night mode, which will brighten things up a bit without making them look like they’ve been over-highlighted. Here are some examples of the photos I’ve taken; you can click on any picture to open the gallery with larger images.

I thought that Microscope mode would turn out to be more of a novelty item, yet I keep finding reasons to want to zoom in on things to reveal what isn’t seen with the naked eye. To use the microscope mode, you have to practically place the camera on the item that you are trying to photograph, as it works from 1 to 5mm away; the camera will tell you to “place your camera against a flat object and slightly adjust the angle to focus.”

It’s surprisingly satisfying to get a good clear shot of something you’ve never noticed before; I’ve got to say.

Using the OPPO Find X3 Pro

The OPPO Find X3 Pro uses ColorOS 11.2, which is OPPO’s Android 11 overlay. It allows for plenty of customization, but it manages not to feel bloated or get too far from stock Android in a lot of ways; it’s streamlined and elegant in many ways with one exception — I’m used to swiping right to dismiss notifications, and on the Find X3 Pro, I have had to train myself to swipe left. I haven’t found a way to change this, so I adapted.

There are plenty of theme options to choose from, and you can opt to have various always-on displays; I like that you can even customize the fingerprint sensor icon. It’s the little things, right? You can change the appearance of the icon style, and there are so many other system customizations that you can make that it probably took me longer to get the phone set up to my satisfaction than I would care to admit. But overall, I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.

The launcher is fast and responsive, and with a few tweaks, I was able to get it set up exactly how I wanted. I know it’s a little thing to some, but I was glad to see that swiping right brought up Google News instead of some device maker’s forced upon me custom news page.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro’s display feels like the star of the show here, and it is truly bright, sharp, and brilliant. OPPO is touting the billion-color display, but I’d be lying if I said I could tell much of a difference that I’ve seen on other flagship Android phones. My eyes may be good, but they simply aren’t that good. I can say that the display looks exceptional, though.

Playing games, looking at photos, and watching videos is a pleasure. The phone comes set to FHD+ (2376 x 1080) out of the box, but simple settings change to QHD (3168 x 1440) gives you absolute brilliance, though it dings the battery life a bit. I can live with that.

If you have issues seeing certain colors, OPPO has a solution for that. Since we don’t all see colors the same way, the Find X3 Pro includes a built-in enhanced version of the Munsell 100 Hue Test, a respected way of assessing color vision. Using visual data, the phone will help you find your best balance between color expression and color resolution to supply you with one of 765 potential screen calibrations, color corrected for your eyes. Luckily, my color vision is great, at least according to OPPO.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro uses the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform, and I have zero complaints about the device’s speed; apps have never stuttered or stopped. Coupled with the display’s 120Hz refresh rate and 12GB RAM, everything feels blazing fast.

OPPO Find X3 Pro Battery Life

The OPPO Find X3 Pro has a 4,500mAh battery. While it could get me through almost a full day with heavy use (texting, reading, playing several games, watching some videos, sending and replying to email, browsing sites, reading my feeds, etc.) on 120Hz, QHD+, and with about 75% brightness, after about 9 hours of use (8 am to around 5 pm, typically), my range anxiety would get the best of me.

I generally end up topping the battery off around 5:30 pm every day when it’s at 40% or so. I realize that if I were to lower some of those settings, the battery life would be even better, but why would I do that when I am mostly staying at home these days anyway?

And when it became time to charge the phone? As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, the OPPO Find X3 Pro shipped with a European 65W charger. Well, surprise, surprise, OPPO uses VOOC (Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging), and guess who also uses that same technology? OnePlus!

That means that if you already have a OnePlus Warp Charge 65 wall charger, you can use it with the Find X3 Pro and get the same high-speed charging results. I was happy to take advantage of that to get the fastest charging speeds possible.

As a matter of fact, if you are upgrading from a OnePlus 8 Pro and you had bought a OnePlus Warp Charge 30 Wireless Charger to go with it, or if you get the new OnePlus Warp Charge 50 wireless charging cradle that OnePlus just released for the 9 Pro, you can use either of those wireless chargers to get the full 30W AirVOOC wireless charge that the Find X3 Pro is capable of. This isn’t possible with a regular Qi charging pad.

So, Do I Recommend the OPPO Find X3 Pro?

It’s unfortunate that I haven’t ever used or reviewed an OPPO device before I was given this phone for review because I regret that I have no past experience with this manufacturer to build upon. But I can tell you that what I have experienced while using the OPPO Find X3 Pro has made me a huge fan of the brand. The OPPO Find X3 Pro is a stunning phone in many ways, and it is obvious that it’s a flagship — both in design and performance.

The display is stunning, and its performance and battery life are top-notch. OPPO may not be a brand that is familiar to many in the United States, but I have a feeling that this is about to change.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro is a worthy contender to the best that Samsung, OnePlus, Google, or any other flagship other manufacturers are offering. The only issue is that it’s not a phone you’ll be able to buy from any US carriers; you’ll have to go gray market or use Amazon, and it is not inexpensive. I found it going for as much as $1999.99 on Amazon, around $1350 on eBay, and as low as $949.99 on BluDiode, a site I haven’t used before.

I was eventually able to find it on Amazon for as low as $1,115.72. Since I generally prefer to shop on Amazon when I can’t get an item directly from the manufacturer, that’s the link I am going to place below.

You can learn more about the OPPO Find X3 Pro on the manufacturer’s site.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro sells for $1115.72; it is available in the US from Amazon.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

What I Like: Dual SIM; Dual Speakers sound balanced and are better than expected; Gorgeous display with up to 120Hz refresh rate; Excellent performance with flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon processor; Excellent cameras; Microscope mode camera is surprisingly useful and fun to play with; Works with OnePlus Warp Charge accessories; Speedy wired and wireless VOOC charging; IP68 dust and water resistance; Battery life is excellent; Lots of customizations offered; Truly a joy to use

What Needs Improvement: Inconsistent pricing due to lack of official channels in the US; It’s expensive