The Oppo Find smartphones are the most luxurious series of the Chinese brand Oppo. This series consists of three smartphones: the Oppo Find X3 Pro, Find X3 Lite and this Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G. If you want to buy the smartphone, first go through this Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G review.
Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G
MSRP € 799, –
Colors Black, silver
OS Android 11 (ColorOS)
Screen 6.6 inch amoled (2400 x 1080, 90hz)
Processor 2.8 Ghz octacore (Qualcomm Snapdragon 865)
RAM 12GB
Storage 256GB
Battery 4,500 mAh
Camera 50, 13, 16 megapixel (rear), 32 megapixel (front)
Connectivity 5G, 4G (LTE), Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi, GPS, NFC
Format 16 x 7.3 x 0.8 cm
Weight 184 grams
Other Fingerprint scanner under screen
Website www.oppo.com/en
7 Score 70 
- Pros
- Display
- Fast charger
- Negatives
- price
- No audio connection
You wouldn’t say it, but Oppo is one of the world’s largest smartphone makers. But despite the fact that the brand has been active in the Netherlands for several years now, it is lagging a bit behind in terms of brand awareness. Many people seem more inclined to opt for a more famous brand such as Samsung with an Android smartphone. However, this most luxurious smartphone series from Oppo tries to directly take it up with Samsung’s luxurious Galaxy S21 series, thanks in part to prices and other properties that are similar. The obvious challenge is to be able to compete against Samsung and finally achieve that brand awareness. A challenge that sister brand OnePlus has also been struggling with for years.
The challenge in this price range is to compete with brands such as Samsung and Apple.
Find X3 series
Oppo is taking on this challenge in 2021 with the Find X3 series, of which this Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G is an 800 euro mid-way between the Find X3 Pro and Find X3 Lite. To be honest, what exactly makes the device Neo 5G escapes me a bit. After all, you are hoping for a reference to the movie The Matrix by that name.
For those 800 euros you get a smartphone that looks a bit like a luxury Samsung smartphone. The large, almost borderless screen with curved sides with camera hole in the top left corner. The metal edges around the housing and the large camera island on the back that contains three lenses and numerous sensors. Another striking feature of the housing is that the top and bottom appear to have been cut straight, while all corners and screen edges are finished round.
The glossy housing is made of plastic. Although that may feel a little less luxurious than, for example, glass. The mother-of-pearl finish gives it the luxurious look that you expect from a smartphone in this price range. Moreover, plastic is less vulnerable than glass, and it is less sensitive to fingerprints for those who use their smartphone without a cover. Plastic also enables wireless charging, which is not possible with a metal housing. In fact, you should expect that it is possible to charge the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G wirelessly (quickly). Unfortunately, this function is reserved for the more expensive smartphone only.
You can of course just use the USB-C port in combination with the adapter, which you can find in the box of the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G. Oppo uses one of the fastest fast charging techniques that you can find on a smartphone.
Beautiful
Perhaps not everyone will like a screen with curved edges. It makes the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G a beautiful device to see. That screen itself should also be seen, because points are also scored here. The OLED screen has excellent color reproduction, sharpness (Full-HD) and a smooth image progression with a 90 hertz refresh rate. Whether you view photos or videos on the screen of the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G outside or inside, everything looks particularly high-quality and leaves, for example, the most luxurious iPhone 12 versions behind.
The fingerprint scanner is placed below the screen. Although such a fingerprint scanner is invisible, and therefore contributes to the beautiful design of a smartphone, it is usually less fast and accurate than physical fingerprint scanners, which are usually placed on the side or on the back of the device. Despite this, the Find X3 Neo 5G’s fingerprint scanner was able to recognize my fingerprint faster and with fewer errors than other under-screen fingerprint scanners like those from Samsung or OnePlus (which is crazy, by the way, given that Oppo and OnePlus often use the same smartphone parts).
Battery life
A screen can take a significant toll on a smartphone’s battery. The screen size, panel type, refresh rate and resolution. It all adds up. Although the image quality of the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G is fine, that can also be said for the battery life. I took it about one and a half to two days, although that depends on how you use the smartphone of course. For example, if you use 5G instead of 4G, the battery life will also be a bit shorter in practice.
Software: Android 11 with ColorOS
The Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G runs on Android 11, the most recent Android version. Oppo’s ColorOS shell has been rolled out about this. Although ColorOS may still look a bit overly colorful and childlike, there is still considerable progress. Everything runs smoothly, I encounter few bugs and the battery is not drained by obscure processes. Positive! However, ColorOS is still no progress from the clean Android base. Background apps are closed, which can be annoying if you’re using a fitness app or running app for a bluetooth device. Despite the fact that there are no unnecessary Oppo apps or services, you will still find bloatware, such as the Facebook app. After all, Oppo has the translations of apps and content in good order now (almost), but has overlooked the hyphenation, which is an eyesore for a grouch (like me).
When asked about the update policy, Oppo says that the smartphone can expect two Android version updates and two years of security updates. Nothing could be said about the frequency of security updates. With this Oppo does not avoid its update responsibility, but you should actually expect a lot more. Especially since the major competitor Samsung offers longer support in this area.
Cameras
On the back of the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G you see three large round camera lenses. In addition to a regular lens, the device also has a depth sensor, wide-angle and macro lens. When you place your finger on the lenses, you can determine exactly which lens is used when. It is striking that of the big three lenses, the top one is not used for photos, but to estimate depth. The macro camera is in the place where you would expect the depth sensor.
In terms of photos, you have plenty of photography options, and none of the lenses produce bad pictures. Nevertheless, you notice that you sacrifice quality when you switch to the wide-angle or macro lens. The camera app offers different zoom levels (such as 3x and 5x), however, digital zoom is used on the regular lens. For the most beautiful photos and videos, you preferably use the regular lens without zoom (zoom level 1x).
That camera delivers great photos. The night mode also knows how to capture a lot when there is little light available. The cameras must recognize their superiority in terms of quality and capabilities in that of Samsung’s Galaxy S21 or the Apple iPhone 12, which are roughly in the same price range.
The different lenses and zoom levels of the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G.
From left to right: regular camera during the day, at night and at night with night mode.
Alternatives to the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G
Due to its price tag of about 800 euros, you cannot avoid comparing the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G with the Samsung Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhone 12. To be fair, the Find X3 Neo 5G cannot handle this battle. Especially the cameras and software (support) of these smartphones is a lot better. In terms of image quality and design, the Find X3 Neo 5G can certainly keep up, and in Oppo’s advantage, the super-fast charging technology (and just an adapter in the box) can be mentioned.
That makes the Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G not a bad smartphone or a smartphone that is not recommended. On the contrary! The smartphone has few downsides and is therefore a safe choice if you are looking for a new smartphone. It seems that Oppo overestimates its smartphone in terms of price, which creates expectations and comparisons with renowned brands that offer just that little bit more for the same price. With extras such as a dust and waterproof housing, audio connection, wireless charging or better update support, extra points could easily have been scored. However, if you see the Find X3 Neo 5G passing by at a very discounted price, then you do not have to hesitate to make your move.
It seems that Oppo overestimates its smartphone in terms of price.
Conclusion: Buy Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G?
The Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G is a great smartphone, with few shortcomings. The screen, the camera, the battery life and charger: the Find X3 Neo 5G scores more than sufficiently in all areas. Only the price is just a bit too high, so Samsung and Apple offer slightly better smartphones that cost about the same.
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