OPPO Find N3 Fold – the most advanced foldable smartphone in 2023 (deep-dive review)

The OPPO Find N3 Fold is the foldable smartphone class leader in almost every way. Better internal and external screens, performance, RAM, storage, battery, camera, and user interface make this the fold to covet.

We are not critical of its competition – in terms of fit for purpose, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 does the job admirably. Samsung leads with Qi charging, IPX8, and its DeX Android desktop.

 OPPO really took the opportunity to address every aspect of the Foldable format and got it 99% right. You can get a quick overview of the differences OPPO Find N3 Fold First-look – reader FAQs answered.

Update: Availability

• Exclusive pre-sale with JB Hi-Fi Online: Starting from November 8th, 2023
• Official on-sale date in Australia: November 16th, 2023
• Available for purchase through the OPPO Australia online store and as a JB Hi-Fi online exclusive starting from November 16th, 2023

Why a fold?

I was of two minds with Samsung’s Fold5. I have been looking at more screen real estate, and its fourth attempt was interesting but not compelling. Read Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 2023 – It is an open-and-shut case.

Similarly, the Flip format (Samsung, Motorola Razr, and OPPO Find N2 and now N3 – not coming here yet) was even less compelling. OPPO’s Find N2 got it ‘more right’, and the latest ColorOS 13.2 upgrade gives it a real advantage with App functionality on the external screen. But all of these have lower battery life, low speced cameras, and our consumer review panel didn’t warm to them.

The panel felt you could get far better features and value from the Samsung Galaxy S23/+/Ultra or OPPO Find X5/Pro. Their major issues with the fold format were:

• Do we trust the screen to last 400K folds?
• How noticeable is the crease, and does it affect usability?
• How functional is the external screen? Does it reduce the need to open the fold?
• Battery life and charge times were below average for the price.
• The ongoing concern is that Samsung uses an 8-bit/16.7 million colour screen where 10-bit/1.07 billion colours are necessary for accurate picture preview and Dolby Vision (which Samsung cannot do).

Enough preamble. This hands-on deep-dive review results from over 70 exhaustive and probing tests and two weeks of intensive use. Result: The OPPO Find N3 Fold is the class leader, and I want one!

Australian review: OPPO Find N3 Fold Model CPH-2499 16/512GB, Dual sim and e-SIM

Website	Product page
Price	$2699
Colours	Classic Black Vegan leather
From	OPPO Online*, Harvey Norman, Amazon AU,  and approved retailers.
Warranty	2-years ACL
Country of Origin	China
Company	OPPO is #2 in Australia for Android smartphone market share. It has achieved that through excellent product and after-sales service.
More	CyberShack OPPO news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below.  You can click on most images for an enlargement.

* Grey Market

OPPO has a huge unauthorised grey market selling non-Australian certified models. The usual culprits (Kogan/Dick Smith/Etoren, Phonebot, Bludiode, Buy2Fix, NextBuying, Handstore, Techcart and many more online stores) sell it.

Also, OnePlus (owned by OPPO) has an identical ‘Open’ model sold in specific markets. It has OxygenOS instead of ColorOS and is not approved for Australian use.

You can find if it is genuine certified Australian stock by looking on the box for the R-NZ C-Tick or by going to Settings>About Device>Regulatory>, and you will find the R-NZ C-Tick. Only approved devices carry an Australian warranty and use Australian 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E frequencies.

First Impression – Far thinner than expected – Pass+

At 153.4 x 143.1/73.3 x 5.8/11.9 mm (flat/folded) x 232g its considerably lighter than Samsung Fold5 at 154.9 x 129.9/67.1 x 6.1/13.4 mm x 253g. OPPO fits larger 7.82/6.31” screens (Samsung 7.6/6.2” into a smaller body by using a 20:9 external screen (Samsung 23.1:9) and smaller bezels. It feels terrific in your hand and your pocket.

I have the nanocrystal glass front/back gold colour for review, but Australia gets the Classic Black Vegan leather version.

Let’s start at the back with the humongous round camera bump. It’s a distinctive look and may not be to everyone’s taste. It is necessary to house the three large camera sensors, including the periscope prism telephoto and a photo colour sensor. The bump has a nano-crystal glass covering to protect the lenses, and the bottom edge provides a useful finger rest when open or closed.

Power and volume buttons are on the right side, and a new ring/vibrate/off slider is on the left.

The bottom has dual speakers, a mic, a SIM slot, and USB-C. The top has dual speakers and dual mics. There is an invisible earpiece slit on the top outside screen that has a new Sound-Sealed Call facility to enhance phone call privacy.

Overall, it is quite pocketable compared to an OPPO Find X5 Pro (163.7 x 73.9 x 8.5mm x 218g) or Samsung S23 Ultra (163.4 xx 78.1 x 8.9mm x 233g).

Screen – Exceed

OPPO uses 10-bit/1.07 billion colour, 120Hz adaptive LTPO Gen 3.0 AMOLED screens (internal and external), reaching 2800 nits (Samsung 8-bit/16.7 million colours, 1750 nits). The result is pure, bright colour, and it can play and record Dolby Vision (DV) videos with superb HDR details and stream 2160p HDR10+/DV. It is also vital for accurate colour photo/video image previews. Samsung does not play Dolby Vision, only HDR10+ content.

The internal 7.82” screen’s daylight readability is excellent, and its Automatic Light sensor is responsive and quick. You can also adjust colour temperature, Tone, Colour Boost, and Brighten HDR even further.

Coupled with the Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2, it should be an excellent games device, but we warn you that foldable AMOLED (any brand) needs care, and you won’t want to use this as a gamepad! OPPO has a replaceable pre-applied self-healing plastic layer over the UTG carbon fibre-supported AMOLED panel.

The 6.31” external screen has the same characteristics and maintains the ‘9’ widescreen ratio for video streaming. It has an Ultra-thin Nanocrystal (likely DragonTail Star 2), allegedly stronger than Gorilla Glass Victus and has a Mohs hardness of 6.

OPPO has addressed OLED flicker caused by Pulse Width Modulation Dimming (PWM). Where Samsung is 120-240Hz, which can cause headaches and eyestrain, OPPO has ramped the frequency to 1440Hz for an imperceptible flicker.

Screen Summary: Both OPPO screens are the epitome of excellence. 10-bit/1.07 billion accurate colours, exceptional brightness, and an invisible crease rated for over 1 million folds put this well ahead of the competition. Photo preview is accurate, and Dolby Vision movies have excellent HDR definition.

Processor – Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 – Exceed

This is 2023’s fasted Android processor. Samsung uses a slightly overclocked version ‘for Galaxy’, but our testing revealed some interesting points.

Samsung appeared to have higher Geekbench single/multi-core results of 2000/5251 compared to OPPO at 1549/4876. We discovered that OPPO has a High-Performance Mode (off by default) that took the score to 1999/5309.

Similarly, Throttling was interesting.

Item	Samsung Galaxy Fold5	OPPO Find N3 Fold	High-Performance Mode
Maximum GIPS	362,558	356,574	392,101
Average GIPS	311,799	343,024	378,769
Minimum GIPS	259,591	313,071	359,164
Throttle	22%	7%	6%
Rear temperature	45-47°	37-40°	40°

Both OPPO’s standard and high-performance modes are significantly faster and throttle far less than the overclocked Samsung for Galaxy version in the Fold5. OPPO has excellent thermal management.

RAM – Exceed

It comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X (fastest) RAM and can have up to 12GB of virtual swap RAM (uses SSD), so this is never going to be laggy (Samsung 12GB and no swap). OPPO has developed a Dynamic Computing Engine to improve fluency and stability and keep over 40 apps open in the background for a smooth-running phone even after years of use. It is a multi-tasker’s dream, and we opened 40 Chrome browser tabs and ten other Apps without any performance hit.

Storage – Pass+

It has 512GB of UFS 4.0 (fastest) storage (Option on Samsung). CPDT (measures sustained sequential read and write) was 1185/977MBps – like Samsung. We used a new test that measures peak speeds, and it was 2133/1204MBps, which is very close to PCIe NVMe 3 x 1 SSD speeds.

Now for the Pass+ instead of Exceed explanation. It supports an external SSD/Flash (at least 2TB) in OTG cut-and-paste mode. Data transfer is fast over USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps (same as Samsung).

Vloggers and videographers love mountable live storage and must live without this on the Oppo Find N3 Fold and Samsung Fold5. I spoke to OPPO at the launch, and the explanation has something to do with Digital Rights Management, but they will investigate it. At least OPPO has 512GB standard.

Processor summary: OPPO offers more usable power in both standard and high-performance modes with significantly less throttling.

Comms – Pass+

The Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 is capable of Wi-Fi 7, but it ships with Wi-Fi 6E AXE enabled. A later firmware update will allow 7. It has excellent Wi-Fi speeds to about 10 meters before returning to Wi-Fi 5.

It has dual Wi-Fi acceleration unique to OPPO that can aggregate two different Wi-Fi networks (on the same or different routers) simultaneously for over 300% download speed improvement and nearly 50% faster website loading. It can also combine Wi-Fi and mobile data networks (Android feature).

USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 supports Alt DP 1.4 for audio/video/data/HID/upstream power to connect via USB-C to HDMI or Display Port for screen mirror. Android 13 has a beta Android desktop (think Samsung Dex or Motorola ReadyFor) that can access Windows remote desktop and 365 and support a mouse and keyboard (HID device). Android Desktop is a work in progress.

4G/5G – Exceed

Both OPPO and Samsung use the Qualcomm X70 5G modem with DSDA (Dual SIM, dual active). Both are not surprisingly excellent for city, suburbs, regional and rural areas with strong signals over 7pW and finding all four towers. OPPO has a few more 4G and 5G bands, making it an actual world phone.

OPPO has a dual SIM and eSIM (Samsung single SIM and eSIM).

Battery – Exceed

OPPO has a dual 4.5V batteries (3295/1510 = 9V/4805mAh/43Wh) in serial (Samsung 4400mAh).

It uses its patented SUPERVOOC charging (67W inbox) that fills the batteries simultaneously, resulting in 42 minutes (Samsung is 25W for 1 hour 26 minutes – no charger supplied) for a 100% charge using lower voltage and creating less heat. Should you not have the SUPERVOOC charger, you can use any PD 3.0 or earlier charger, but it takes longer.

It does not have Qi wireless charging (Samsung does) and provides reverse 10W cable charge (like a power bank – Samsung has 4.5W reverse Wireless Charge). Qi can be a deal breaker for some. But OPPO’s Battery Health engine intelligently charges – you can leave it on the charger overnight, and it will gradually fill to 80% and top up as you wake (based on past use).

The most significant difference is that OPPO has 1600 full battery recharge cycles (minimum 80% charge) versus Samsung at 500 (according to the Guardian).

Tests – Adaptive screen, standard performance mode (Samsung in brackets)

• 1080p Video loop: 18 hours (12 hours 31 minutes)
• Accubattery: 18 hours 12 minutes (17 hours 38 minutes)
• GFX Bench Manhattan games use: 215.1 minutes (Would not run)
• GFX Bench T-Rex 1080p game: 608.5 minutes (343.4 minutes)
• mA idle: 200-250 (250-300)
• mA 100% load: 1500-1600 standard and 2000-2200 high-performance (2650-3000)
• 100% drain screen on: 4 hours 45 minutes standard mode (4 hours 39 minutes)

Battery Summary: Typical users will easily get a 24-hour day. These tests were all with the internal fold screen on, and we expect 20% better battery life for the external screen. If you use performance mode, expect a 20-30% drop in battery life. Full marks to OPPO for including a 67W fast charger inbox (Samsung no).

Speakers – Exceed

This is the best smartphone sound I have ever heard. Why?

First, OPPO has a sound heritage, and it knows good sound. It does not rely on Qualcomm’s technology. 

Second, it has four speakers (two on each side in landscape mode) driven by four amps. It has a separate stereo amp for the earpiece/s and hands-free use.

Third, its sound signature is neutral (audiophiles standard), allowing the Dolby Atmos EQ to recess any frequency for various music genres.

Fourth, it gets very loud at 84dB and is perfect for hand-free and music.

Add to that BT 5.3 and 16-bit/44100Hz, SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX TWS, and LDAC codecs (Samsung will not pay for the aptX codec suite using its scalable codec instead).

The three mics allow for stereo recording and noise reduction. Hands-free is excellent.

The sound stage is wider than the phone, and there is some 3D height with DA content.

Sound Signature – Exceed

Gold line above – Mid-bass starts at 50Hz and quickly builds to 80Hz, where the sound signature is flat (neutral) to 20kHz.

It is the strong mid-bass that gives some ‘oomph’ to the Blues Brother’s jazz, and the strong treble gives sparkle to Manhattan Transfer synth and instrumentals.

It is perfect for everything from music to clear voice, and the Dolby Atmos EQ has an automatic setting to select the genre you need.

Build – Pass+

The build quality is exceptional. ‘Titanium alloy, carbon fibre, and more. Built to the hilt with aerospace materials – with no expense spared’.

Its use of nanocrystal glass means at least the same drop ability and hardness as Gorilla Glass Victus. OPPO quote ‘Nano Ceramic Guard screen protection is up to 20% more impact-resistant than Victus glass’.

It has IPX4 (Samsung is IP X8), which is rain resistant. The Flexion Hinge has a minimal area that could collect dust but does not impede it or the screen’s operation.

OPPO has an independent TÜV Rheinland rating for over 1,000,000 folds (Samsung claimed 400,000 folds but has stopped advertising this).

Stylus – Pass

It supports the OPPO Pen for Find N2 and N3 and has 4096 pressure levels and a 13-hour magnetic charge battery. No price or availability yet.

Android 13 – Exceed

OPPO has ‘at least’ a four-year OS upgrade (Android 17) and a five-year security patch policy from the launch date in October 2023. (Samsung is the same from July 2023).

OPPO has the ColorOS 13.2 user interface, which has many customisations for a tablet and smartphone in one. The external 20:9 screen is the same as most smartphones, and it is a seamless transfer from external to internal.

The internal screen uses the Golden Ratio 9.79:9, which maintains the ‘9’ widescreen ratio when playing video content. It is best for displaying Word and Excel. Samsung has 21.6:18.

In tablet mode, it has a dynamic Global taskbar that shrinks icons in size as you open more (File pocket). We won’t go into detail, but it has

• Boundless view: Two Apps side by side and one app under, giving an effective 15” scrolling view area.
• Canvas Shift allows three apps side by side to be accessed via a left/right swipe. You can adjust each app’s display size.
• Smart Split screen allows two or three Apps to split and hide on each side.

OPPO has resisted pre-loading bloatware and focuses on Google Apps and a selection of OPPO Apps. The Australian version does not require an OPPO Hey Tap account.

Security – Exceed

Android 13 has a privacy dashboard (applies to all Android phones), but OPPO takes several steps further to protect your data.

We have mentioned the AON selfie cameras (internal and external) can security use facial recognition. It can also be used to detect third-party snooping over your shoulder. Most other Android phones use 2D insecure facial recognition unless equipped with an IR sensor (like Windows Hello) or IR ToF sensor.

OPPO uses a dedicated security chip named GSEA0, which holds the prestigious SOGIS CC EAL 5+ and OSCCA Level2 certification. It stores your encrypted data. You can also enable an encrypted Private Safe to keep anything – files, images, passwords, etc.

It also has Sound Sealed Calls (for phone call privacy).

Samsung has Secured by Knox.

OPPO Find N3 Fold Rear Camera

This is a rather unique camera setup never seen on a smartphone (well, except for its OnePlus Open brother).

1. 53MP (cropped to 48MP) Sony LYTIA  LYT-T808 dual-layer stacked primary sensor. It effectively doubles light capture and details, rivalling a 1” DSLR sensor. Sony says it offers more diverse shooting scenes and purposes than any existing sensor. In layman’s terms, it has excellent colours, better HDR details, and low-light ability. It has OIS (optical image stabilisation in all modes), EIS (electronic image stabilisation – some modes), a bright f/1.7 aperture, autofocus and a closed loop focus motor. It can take 48MP images or bin to 12MP with 1.12um large pixels. Preliminary reviews say that the IMX808 significantly beats Samsung’s 50MP GN2 for accuracy, colour, low light and HDR details.
2. 64MP Periscope telephoto using an Omnivision OV64B sensor. It has a 3X Optical zoom, 6X Lossless zoom (in-sensor binned to 16MP, f/2.6, 1.4um) and up to 120X digital zoom. It has OIS/EIS for stability and microlens phase detection autofocus (ML‑PDAF). This sensor captures at least six times the detail and colour information than Samsung’s Fold5 (10MP Periscope for 3X Optical and 30X digital zoom – not really usable over 10X).
3. 48MP Ultra-wide/macro using an OPPO/Sony developed IMX581 (F/2.2, binned to 12MP 1.6um) with Autofocus and EIS. It takes excellent Ultra-wide colour-matched (to other sensors) and macro shots down to 3.5cm. Samsung’s Fold5 has a 12MP, F/2.2, 1.12um sensor.

OPPO Camera tech

1. OPPO has incorporated MariSilicon technology into the Qualcomm SD8 Gen 2 NPU SoC. This is more about OPPO’s camera prowess and smarts for post-processing.
2. Hasselblad Aspherical lens elements ‘Features an internal focusing design and aspherical elements to minimise chromatic aberrations and provide greater overall image sharpness’.
3. Industry-first Hasselblad Portrait Mode that can bokeh the background and foreground.
4. Hasselblad Colour Recognition in Pro Mode
5. Hasselblad’s classic XPan camera, the 65:24 aspect ratio panorama
6. FlexForm and Dual preview screens provide tripod-like stability and highly accurate ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ photo and video previews on the 10-bit/1.07 billion screen (Samsung uses 8-bit/16.7 million colour screens).
7. Video is a maximum of 4K@60fps, but the best is 1080p@60fps with both OIS and EIS. It also shoots Dolby Vision video 4K@30fps – another industry-first

DXO rating

Samsung Fold5 DXO camera rating is 128. The OPPO Find N3 Fold is yet to be rated, but given that the OPPO Find X6 Pro shares some of the new camera technology and scored #4 at 153 points, we expect it to be over that. To put this in perspective, it should be in the top three spots, and Samsung Fold5 is ranked at #49.

OPPO Find N3 Fold Selfie camera – two

It has an internal 20MP, f/2.2 (sensor unknown, but we suspect it is either a cropped OV32c or, more likely, the Sony IMX476) with AON facial recognition. Typically, face recognition is 2D and can be fooled by photos of the owner. That is why you often see Face ID is insecure and won’t activate Google Pay, etc.

OPPO uses AONService – AI-based facial recognition that uses the TCS3720 Ambient Light, dual colour and proximity in-display sensor to track your interaction with the Face ID sign-in and decide if you are real. It may also assist with air gestures where you can scroll up or down, answer or mute calls and play/pause YouTube videos.

The external selfie is a 32MP Omnivision OV32c. It is unique because it uses RGBC (Red, Green, Blue, Cold), is always on (for AON) and bins to 8MP, 1.4um, f/2.4. It has AON facial recognition and gesture control as well.

Photo conditions – smoke hazy day

• 1X Day Primary sensor – the colours are accurate/ natural and have great dynamic range. There are good details in the background, shadows, and highlights.
• 2X Day Telephoto: Perfect shot as per 1X using 2X optical zoom.
• 6X Day Telephoto hybrid optical/digital zoom: – terrific colour and detail and the barest hint of background noise.
• 10X Day Telephoto: digital zoom – good details in the foreground, but the background shows softness and some noise.
• 20X Day Telephoto: Excellent colours and foreground detail. The background is starting to show noise.
• 40X Day Telephoto: Probably about the useful limit.
• 60X: Surprising detail
• 120X: Bragging rights only
• Ultra-wide: Good dynamic range, details and colours almost match the primary lens.
• Macro: Good shots taken at approx. 4cm off the primary sensor
• Indoor office light: Perfect/ crisp details/ bright shot and accurate colours
• Bokeh Depth: The subject is colour-accurate and bright, and the background is suitably blurred.
• Dark <40 lumens: The standard (not night mode) takes great shots with good colour and details.
• Night mode improves the detail without adding much noise.
• Selfie: It has a 20MP internal and 32MP external selfie that takes bright yet natural skin tones, details, and a range of filters to enhance any image.

Video (we are not video experts):

• Rear: 4K@30fps, but there is no OIS
• Rear: 1080p@30/60fpswith OIS/EIS
• External Selfie: 4K@30fps or 1080p/30fps default with EIS
• Internal selfie: 1080p@30fps

Overall camera comments. At $2699, you expect the best. It has one of the most versatile smartphone point-and-shoot cameras. Exposure, dynamic range, colour, autofocus, and textures are all above par for this phone level. Subjectively rated against the Samsung Fold5 50+12+10MP rear and 4+10MP selfie, it has far better specs, exceptionally accurate image preview, and better images.

CyberShack’s view – OPPO Find N3 Fold is the class leader

The OPPO Find N3 Fold is the first (and probably not the last) to excite me. Sure, Samsung got there sooner with Galaxy Z Fold (2019), Fold 2 (2020), 3 (2021), 4 (2022) and 5 (2023), but, in my opinion, it did not meet my needs, especially for the camera.

The review proves that on paper, OPPO leads in every class, in all but Qi charging, IP rating and range of colours.

Which Fold should you consider?

It is not an easy choice for those who can afford a fold.

• Value: OPPO is $2,699 for the 16/512GB version, including a 67W charger and case. Samsung is $2799 for its 12/512GB and excludes the charger and case. On value alone, OPPO wins. But Samsung has various trade-in options and Telco plans that may sway you.
• Performance: Not a lot between them. OPPO has a distinct edge in thermal management.
• Battery: OPPO offers 1600 recharge life cycles, faster 42-minute charging and a 67W SUPERVOOC 2.0 USB-C charger inbox. Samsung has one hour 26 minutes, 25W UCB-C charging (not supplied), 15W Qi charging and 500 battery recharge cycles.
• Camera: Both OPPO and Samsung produce excellent day and night photos, and you will be happy with either. But OPPO’s camera specs are much higher than Samsung’s if you want more.
• Comms: Not a lot between them
• LTE/5G: Not a lot between them
• Android/warranty/upgrade/patch/service: Same 2+4+5
• IP rating: OPPO has IPX4, and Samsung has IPX8.

Rating

• Features: 95 – Apart from Qi and IPX8, it has more features than Samsung.
• Value: 95 – It has 16/512GB, charger and case inbox.
• Performance: 95 – OPPO has excellent thermal management and provides more raw power than Samsung. Its multi-tasking ability for 40+ apps is superb.
• Ease of Use: 95 – ColorOS is easy to use and offers substantial value over pure Android. Add the 2+4+5 warranty/OS/patches, and it’s a keeper.
• Design: 100 – The Golden ratio has solved the mismatch between internal and external screen sizes, and the imperceptible screen crease and 1-million-fold test take this to the top.

Pro

• OPPO design, build quality, warranty and OS/security policy
• Both displays are 10-bit/1.07 billion colour – the best in class by a long way
• Excellent Pro class cameras, picture and video quality
• 24-hour battery life and 42-minute charger inbox
• ColorOS makes a Fold a content consumption and a productivity tool

Con

• No Qi charging
• IPX4 is basic and should be higher at this price
• External SSDS/Flash is not mountable
• Not as well-known as Samsung

CyberShack Smartphone comparison v 1.10 (E&OE)

OPPO Find N3 Fold

Brand	OPPO
Model	OPPO Find N3 Fold
Model Number	CPH-2499
Price Base	16/512GB $2699 includes charger and case
Price base	16/512GB
Warranty months	24
Tier	Fold
Website	Product page
From	OPPO On-line and approved retailers from Mid-November 2023
Country of Origin	China
Company	OPPO is now #2 in Australia for Android smartphone market share. It has achieved that by excellent product and after-sales service.
More	OPPO publishes most specifications, and these are verified by testing.
Test date	23 October to 1 November
Ambient temp	20-35°
Release	45200
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy)	Australia gets the Classic Black Vegan leather version – not the gold version. Look for the RCM C-Tick on the box and under Settings, About Device and Regulatory. It is specifically tuned for Australian 5G and Wi-Fi 6E bands.

Screen

Screen	Internal/External cover display
Size	7.82″/6.31″
Type	AMOLED LTPO/same
Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D	Flat
Resolution	2440×2268/2484×1116
PPI	426/431 ppi
Ratio	9.7:9/20:9
Screen to Body %	89.6/91.8%
Colours bits	10-bit/1.07 billion
Refresh Hz, adaptive	Internal Adaptive 1-120Hz External Adaptive 10-120Hz Or select 60 or 120Hz fixed.
Response 120Hz	Not disclosed
Nits typical, test	Nits typical Internal 600 (Test 610) External 600 (Test 612) Nots High Brightness Mode (HBM) Internal 1400 (test 1389) External 1400 (test 1399)
Nits max, test	Dolby Vision 1% APL (Average Pixel Level)  of screen. We can’t test 1%  but can give 2 and 10% windows. Internal 2800 (2200/2400) External 2800 (2215/2420)
Contrast	Infinite
sRGB	100% Natural 130% Vivid (over saturated)
DCI-P3	97% of 1.07 billion colours on Pro D5 (6500°K) setting for pure white. This is close to Rec 2020.
Rec.2020 or other	RGB Temperature adjustment. Plus, Nature Tone Adjustment in response to the Ambient Light sensor. Plus Video Colour Boost and Bright HDR mode,
Delta E (<4 is excellent)	Blue Light Control
HDR Level	HDR10+ and Dolby Vision/same
SDR Upscale	Yes
Blue Light control	Yes
PWM if known	1440Hz – too high to cause headache or eyestrain. FYI: Values below 500Hz are an issue for most. Scheduled Bedtime mode removes Blue Light from sundown to sunup.
Daylight readable	Yes – superb
Always on Display	Yes
Edge display	Yes/Yes
Accessibility	Full suite
DRM	Widevine L1 2160p HDR10/+/Dolby Vision
Gaming	Game mode, but the screen is too soft for games use. A fingernail can scratch it.
Screen protection	Internal: Self Healing over UTG External: Nanocrystal.
Comment	Both screens are the epitome of excellence. 10-bit/1.07 billion accurate colours, exceptional brightness, and an imperceptible crease put this well ahead of the competition. Photo preview is exceedingly accurate and Dolby Vision movies have excellent HDR definition.

Processor

Brand, Model	SD8 Gen 2 All tests are in standard power mode unless noted as High-Performance Mode.
nm	4
Cores	1×3.2GHz & 4 x 2.8GHz & 3×2.0GHz
Modem	X70 5G supports DSDA – both active SIMS
AI TOPS	Over 30
Geekbench 6 Single-core	1549 1999 High-Performance mode
Geekbench 6 multi-core	4876 5309 High-Performance mode
Like	Currently the most powerful SoC. Samsung Galaxy overclocks the prime core to 3.36GHz but makes little difference. Benchmarks
GPU	Adreno 740 719GHz
GPU Test
Open CL	8482 9320 High-Performance mode
Like
Vulcan	9136 9443 High-Performance mode
RAM, type	16GB LDDDR5X (current fastest) plus up to 12GB virtual swap RAM.
Storage, free, type	512GB UFS 4.0 (fastest)
micro-SD	N/A
CPDT internal seq. Read MBps	CPDT measures the average sustained speed, and Jazz Disk the maximum speed. Either way, the results are impressive and the fastest to date. 1185 (Jazz Disk Benchmark 2133.33)
CPDT internal seq. write MBps	977 (Jazz Disk Benchmark 1204.71)
CPDT microSD read, write MBps	N/A
CPDT external (mountable?) MBps	Supports an external SSD in OTG mode, meaning you can cut and paste it but not mount it as live external storage.
Comment	Storage is not mountable (neither is Samsung), but comes with 512GB standard. The Dynamic Computing Engine improves fluency and stability and keeps over 40 apps open in the background for a smooth-running phone.
Throttle test
Max GIPS	356574
Average GIPS	343024
Minimum GIPS	313071
% Throttle	0.07
CPU Temp	50°
Comment	This is the best, lowest CPU throttle for an SD8 Gen 2 and reflects OPPO’s excellent thermal management. While its Maximum GIPS is lower at 356,574 (Samsung 362,558), its average GIPS is 343,024 (Samsung 311,799), and Minimum GIPS 313071 (Samsung 259,591) it offers more usable power. OPPO has to modes – standard and high power – we use standard.

Comms

Wi-Fi Type, model	Wi-Fi 7 Tri-band (may need firmware update after release). It presently supports Wi-Fi 6E tri-band.
Test 2m -dBm, Mbps	-19/2401
Test 5m	-34/2410
Test 10m	-48/2401 (15m -60/1201 5G)
BT Type	5.3 BLE
GPS single, dual	Dual <3m
USB type	USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps supports OTG (not mountable)
ALT DP, DeX, Ready For	Supports ALT DP 1.4 external screen mirror over USB-C to USB-C or HDMI/DP. For Audio/Video/Data/HID (mouse etc) and upstream/downstream charge.
NFC	Yes
Ultra-wideband	No
Sensors
Accelerometer	Yes
Gyro	Yes
e-Compass	Yes
Barometer	Yes
Gravity	Yes
Pedometer	Yes
Ambient light	Yes
Hall sensor	Yes
Proximity	TCS3720 ALS dual colour and proximity in-display.
Other	Photo
Comment	Wi-Fi 6E AXE keeps a strong 6GHz signal to 10m and then drops to 5Ghz. This has every imaginable sensor!

LTE and 5G

SIM	Review mode has dual SIM and eSIM
Active	DSDA – Dual SIM both active.
Ring tone single, dual	Single
VoLTE	Yes
Wi-Fi calling	Yes
4G Bands	1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/30/32/38/39/40/41/46/48/66/71
Comment	World phone
5G sub-6Ghz	n1/2/3/5/7/8/12/20/25/28/30/38/40/41/66/71/75/77/78
Comment	World phone
mmWave	No
Test Boost Mobile, Telstra
UL, DL, ms	82/36/21ms (excellent)
Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW	-84/7.6pW (excellent)
Tower 2	-87/2-4pW
Tower 3	-90/2-4pW
Tower 4	-93/500fW-1pW
Comment	This has 12 antennae (excellent) and finds all four towers are very good strengths. Its strongest signal was 7.6pW (picoWatt), which should earn it a Telstra Blue Tick. Excellent for city, suburbs, regional and remote use. Note the strongest signals are with the fold open. The New Sound-Sealed Call feature can partially prevent eavesdropping. Alert Slide external switch – silent, ring, vibrate.

Battery

mAh	4805mAh typical 4680 (rated) 2 x 4.5V batteries in series = 9V Battery 1 – 12.88Wh/3295mAh Battery 2 – 5.9Wh/1510mAh Can charge at up to 80W.
Charger, type, supplied	67W SUPERVOOC inbox provides 5V/2A/10W or variable 5-11V/6.1A/30-5-67W. Initially, it charges at 10V/6A/60W over two channels each 5V/3A/30W to charge far faster. As it fills the Battery Health Engine varies the wattage.
PD, QC level	PD 3.0 9V/2A/18W
Qi, wattage	N/A
Reverse Qi or cable	5V/2A/10W reverse cable charge
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen)	Adaptive
Charge % 30mins	Not relevant
Charge 0-100%	42 minutes
Charge Qi, W Using Belkin Boost Charge 15W fast wireless charge	N/A
Charge 5V, 2A	Approx 5 hours
Video loop 50%, aeroplane	18 hours
PC Mark 3 battery	14 hours Accubattery 18 hours 12 minutes
GFX Bench Manhattan battery	215.1 minutes (3.59 hours) 3445 frames
GFX Bench T-Rex	608.5 minutes (10.14 hours) 3357 frames
Drain 100-0% full load screen on	4 hours 45 minutes
mA full load	1500-1600 battery optimised mode. 2000-2200 High-performance mode
mA Watt idle Screen on	200-250
Estimate loss at max refresh	Tested on Adaptive mode.
Estimate typical use	Typical users will easily get a 24-hour day. These tests were for the internal fold screen, and we expect 20% better battery life for the external screen. If you use performance mode expect a 20-30% drop in battery life.
Comment	OPPO Battery Engine ensures that it would still hold 80% battery capacity after 1600 charges (that if you fully discharge and charge every day for 4.38 years).

Sound

Speakers	Three Earpiece Left Right stereo x 2 on each side.
Tuning	OPPO
AMP	3 x TDFA98 Stereo amps (2 x 12W) One for the earpiece speakers Two for dual speaker stereo left/right channels
Dolby Atmos decode	Yes downmix to to speakers
Hi-Res	UHQ upscaler and can accept 24-bit/96kHz audio.
3.5mm	No, but has an FSA4480 USB Type-C port to pass USB2.0 signal, analogue audio, sideband use wires and analogue microphone signal. No DAC is required.
BT Codecs	16-bit/44100Hz, SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX TWS, and LDAC.
Multipoint	Yes
Dolby Atmos (DA)	Yes – auto, movie, music, voice and games mode
EQ	Uses DA EQ
Mics	3 – two top and one bottom
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off
Volume max	84
Media (music)	75
Ring	80
Alarm	80
Notifications	80
Earpiece	55
Hands-free	Three mics offer stereo recording and decent noise reduction for hands-free use.
BT headphones	Excellent left-right separation. DA content really shines. Has new Live Caption mode switch (uses Google services)

Sound quality

Deep Bass 20-40Hz	No
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	Starts at 50Hz (excellent) and flattens from 80Hz
High Bass 100-200Hz	Flat (good)
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Flat
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Flat
High-Mid 1-2kHz	Flat
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	Flat
High Treble 6-10kHz	slight dip to avoid harshness
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Flat
Sound Signature type	Neutral sound signature – nirvana. This is a hugely powerful setup. It natively decodes Dolby Atmos and has a DA EQ. It also has spatial audio for headphones. Volume is 84dB maximum with minimal distortion.
Soundstage	Excellent wide soundstage with some 3D height for DA content.
Comment	This is the audiophile nirvana – neutral – where an EQ can recess any frequency. It is by far the best smartphone sound we have heard.

Build

Size (H X W x D)	153.4 x 143.1 x 5.8 flat 154.3 x 73.3 x 11.9 folded
Weight grams	232
Front glass	Self-healing layer over UTG
Rear material	Gorilla Glass Victus
Frame	Aluminium/Titanium, and Carbon fibre
IP rating	IPX4 – one of the few areas that OPPO does not class-lead. X means it has not been tested for dust ingress. 4 means waters splashing against the enclosure from any direction for 10 minutes shall have no harmful effect, e.g., rain. The Flexion Hinge has a minimal area that could collect dust but does not impede it or the screen’s operation.
Colours	Classic Black Vegan Leather
Pen, Stylus support	It supports an OPPO Pen for Find N2 and N3 and has 4096 pressure levels, a 13-hour magnetic charge battery. No price or availability yet. https://www.giztop.com/oppo-pen-for-oppo-find-n2.html
In the box
Charger	67W
USB cable	Yes
Buds	No but has USB-C DAC for direct connection
Bumper cover	Yes
Comment	Amazing build quality and 67W charger inbox

OS

Android	13
Security patch date	45170
UI	Colour OS 13.2
OS upgrade policy	4 years
Security patch policy	5 years
Bloatware	OPPO Alternatives to Google suite but otherwise clean.
Other
Comment	Great upgrade and security policy.
Security
Fingerprint sensor location, type	On power key
Face ID	AON AI Face ID
Other	Dedicated security chip
Comment	One of the most secure Android devices

 OPPO Rind N3 Fold rear camera

Rear Primary	Wide
MP	48MP bins to 12MP (actual sensor size is 53MP)
Sensor	Sony LYTIA
Focus	Dual Pixel PDAF
f-stop	1.7
um	.6 bins to 1.12
FOV° (stated, actual)	72.9-85.5°
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom
Rear 2	Ultra-wide and Macro
MP	48MP bins to 12MP
Sensor	Sony IMX581
Focus	FF
f-stop	2.2
um	.8 bins to 1.6
FOV (stated, actual)	102-114.2°
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom
Rear 3	Telephoto
MP	64MP
Sensor	OV64B
Focus	PDAF
f-stop	2.6
um	1.4
FOV (stated, actual)
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	3X Optical 6X Lossless 120X Digital
Video max	4K
Flash	1
Auto-HDR	Yes
	Hasselblad Camera for Mobile, Nightscape, Dolby Vision Smart Scene Recognition Portrait Mode Pro Mode Panorama Tilt-Shift mode Long Exposure Dual-View Video Retouch Movie Mode XPan Mode Focus Peaking Raw file, Raw Plus file Filters Super Stable Video Nightscape Video HDR Focus Lock Time-lapse Google Lens
QR code reader	Yes Google Lens
Night mode	Yes

OPPO Find N3 Fold selfie

MP	External 32MP/Internal 20MP
Sensor	Omnivision OV32C/Sony IMX476 (or maybe the OV32c cropped).
Focus	Fixed focus/Fixed Focus
f-stop	2.4/2.2
um	Binned to 8MP, 1.4um/Binned to 5MP, 1.4um.
FOV (stated, actual)	88.5/91
Stabilisation	EIS/EIS
Flash	Screen fill
Zoom	No
Video max	4K@30fps
Features	Face Unlock Nightscape Selfie Selfie HDR Time-lapse Dual-view Video Screen Flash
Comment	• 1X Day Primary sensor – the colours are accurate/ natural and have great dynamic range. Good details in the background, shadows, and highlights. • 2X Day Telephoto: Perfect shot as per 1X using 2X optical zoom. • 6X Day Telephoto hybrid optical/digital zoom: – terrific colour and detail and the barest hint of background noise. • 10X Day Telephoto: digital zoom – good details in the foreground, but the background shows softness and some noise. • 20X Day Telephoto: Excellent colours and foreground detail. The background is starting to show noise. • 40X Day Telephoto: Probably about the useful limit. • 60X: Surprising detail • 120X: Bragging rights only • Ultra-wide: Good dynamic range, details and colours almost match the primary lens. • Macro: No dedicated macro but good shots taken at approx. 4cm off the primary sensor • Indoor office light: Perfect/ crisp details/ bright shot and accurate colours • Bokeh Depth: The subject is colour-accurate and bright, and the background is suitably blurred. • Dark <40 lumens: The standard (not night mode) takes great shots with good colour and details. • Night mode improves the detail without adding much noise. • Selfie: It has a 20MP internal and 32MP external selfie that take bright, yet natural skin tones, details, and a range of filters to enhance any image.

Ratings – OPPO Find N3 Fold

Features	95
	Apart from Qi and IPX8, it has more features than Samsung.
Value	95
	It has 16/512GB, charger and case inbox
Performance	95
	OPPO has excellent thermal management and provides more raw power than Samsung. Its multi-tasking ability for 40+ apps is superb.
Ease of Use	90
	ColorOS is easy to use and offers substantial value over pure Android. Add the 2+4+5 warranty/OS/patches, and it’s a keeper.
Design	100
	The Golden ratio has solved the mismatch between internal and external screen sizes, and the imperceptible screen crease and 1-million-fold test take this to the top.
Rating out of 10	95
Final comment	OPPO has taken the Fold format to a higher level – and then some. This will dent Samsung Fold5 sales for those who understand specs and features.

OPPO Find N3 Fold, OPPO Find N3 Fold