High-end, rollable smartphones … How Oppo continues to conquer the French market

Since entering the French high-end smartphone market in 2018, the Chinese firm Oppo has continued to gain ground. With nearly 40,000 patents filed, the brand stands out for its technological innovations. This year, Oppo continues its offensive strategy with two new products that are gaining attention. Its Find X3 Pro 5G smartphone offers remarkable design, photo experience and performance. And in response to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold foldable smartphone launched in September 2019, the company unveiled an impressive “roll-up” smartphone prototype. What are these two products worth? Franceinfo was able to test them.

The Oppo Find X3 Pro 5G, an ultra high-end

Successor of the Oppo Find X2 Pro, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is a little gem of technology. On first use, the phone is light and practical with its 193 grams, a weight below most ultra high-end smartphones. The device also stands out in terms of its design: with its monocoque rear glass surface, the object is reminiscent of a mirror. With a big downside: the fingerprints, really too present. Better to go for the mat blue model.

A remarkable photo experience

It is in the photo that the Oppo Find X3 really shines. And for good reason: its display 10-bit native allows to capture a billion colors according to the manufacturer. Equipped with two 50 mega-pixel wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle sensors, the phone can take very high quality photos and videos.

ISO, white balance, shutter speed and focus can be set manually. In automatic mode, the artificial intelligence is rather developed and does not distort too much the colors or the faces. For those, on the other hand, who love filters and smoothing effects, you can increase the “beautify rate” manually. The management of the distortion and the respect of the proportions are good. With its possibilities of capture in RAW and HEIF for the photo and in LOG for the video, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is particularly suitable for professional use and post-production.

Another amazing feature, although more of the gadget: a “microscope lens” which allows you to take pictures at a distance of a few millimeters from objects with a zoom x60.

Performance at the rendezvous

On the performance side, the new smartphone from the Chinese firm has nothing to be ashamed of. Its 5G Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor is one of the most advanced Android chips of the year. The smartphone works well and quickly even with several open applications. The 4,500mAH battery provides extremely fast charging, wired or wireless, all without overheating the device. So, 5 minutes of charging is equivalent to 4 hours of video.

Marketed since March 30, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is available at 1,149.90 euros, a price in the average of ultra high-end phones. The Chinese brand also declines this model in Neo and Lite version, less expensive. These ranges lose performance, battery and photo functionality. Thus, they do not include 10-bit photo capture, manual mode or the microscope lens.

The Oppo X 2021: a roll-up smartphone prototype

It is unheard of on the market. Oppo innovates with its “rollable” smartphone, which at first glance has nothing rollable … but seems rather stretchable. Out of its box, the Oppo X 2021 has everything a classic phone with classic dimensions, although a little massive: around 272 grams – the final weight is not yet fixed – for a 6.7-inch screen. It is when you pass your finger up and down on the right edge while pressing lightly that the magic operates. There, the screen stretches before our eyes until it reaches a size of 7.4 inches, a format similar to that of an e-reader.

We tested the Oppo X 2021, the first roll-up smartphone prototype. In one click, it goes from a classic 6.7-inch format to a 7.4-inch mini-tablet or e-reader. The Chinese manufacturer is testing its reception before embarking on marketing. Quite impressive. pic.twitter.com/86TztQ9zzk

– Anthony Jammot (@AnthonyJammot) April 12, 2021

Impressive technology

Inside the smartphone is actually a rod around which the screen wraps, while two plates slide over each other to make the phone bigger or smaller. So the screen doesn’t stretch, as it looks – it’s actually a flexible Oled screen that rolls up and unrolls like a papyrus. You have to “get the hang of it” to engage the mechanism with your finger, but once the gesture is understood, the adaptation is fluid and aesthetic, and the visual effect is stunning. And if we really do not succeed, the mechanism also engages thanks to a double click on the button located on the right edge.

Will the Oppo X 2021 find its audience?

It remains to be seen whether the market is ready for such a device. For the moment, no marketing date is planned: the Chinese firm first wishes to know the reception of the public. With this new phone, Oppo does not intend to remain at the stage of technological “gadget”, but to adapt to new uses. Thus, the Oppo X 2021 is particularly suitable for reading and watching video. It could also lend itself well to video games. Finally, by adding an on-screen keyboard, the smartphone offers enough visual comfort for word processing. From there to merging smartphone and computer into one device, there is only one step.