Oppo’s Find N3 will launch in Australia, but it’s got some embedded competition in the Galaxy Z Fold 5 to deal with.
In the Australian foldable phone market, there’s really only been a handful of players.
Huawei’s had its tilts with very pricey, generally technically-good phones that nearly nobody buys because they lack basic Android services, there’s Motorola with its Razr line, and then there’s Samsung, very clearly the leader brand in foldable phones.
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To date, Oppo’s only had the one model sold locally, the Oppo Find N2 Flip. It’s a phone I can’t comment much on, because for its own reasons Oppo wouldn’t send me one to review at all. It sure is a phone that exists, but I can’t properly assess a phone… without being able to assess it, you know?
Overnight, Oppo added to its foldable arsenal in Australia with the Oppo Find N3. It’s a larger format foldable phone, and a pretty direct competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5. I have reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, finding it an excellent, albeit expensive handset, but worthwhile if you can meet its asking price.
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So how do the two phones compare? Here’s their core specs side by side:
| Phone | Oppo Find N3 | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 |
|---|---|---|
| External Display | 6.3″ 120Hz AMOLED | 6.2″ 120Hz AMOLED |
| Internal Display | 7.8″ 120Hz AMOLED | 7.6″ 120Hz AMOLED |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM | 16GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 512GB | 256GB/512GB/1TB |
| Rear Cameras | 48MP/64MP/48MP, 16MP??? | 50MP/12MP/10MP |
| Front Cameras | 20MP/32MP | 10MP/4MP |
| Battery | 4805Mah | 4400mAh |
| OS | Android 13/ColorOS 13.2 | |
| Water Resistance | IPX4 | IPX8 |
| OS Upgrades | 3 years OS | 4 years OS |
| Colours | Classic Black/Champagne Gold | Icy Blue, Phantom Black, Cream, Blue, Grey |
| RRP | $2,699 | $2,599/$2,799/$3,149 |
Alex’s Take
I’m notably a big fan of the larger form factor for foldable phones; it’s always struck me that if you’re paying premium money for a phone, you may as well get one that unfolds into something bigger, rather than getting “less” in a flip foldable — though both the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip5 did change my viewpoint there somewhat. More competition in the local space is always a good thing.
It’s an interesting comparison, because at a specification level the Find N3 might have some serious edges against Samsung’s very popular Fold Z5. It’s packing in more RAM, a slightly lower price point for the same amount of storage and larger, slightly brighter screens.
On the flip… no, wait, that’s a different kind of device… on the fold side, I guess… the Fold Z5 has more colour variety, better water resistance by a wide margin (though both have no specified dust resistance, it seems only Motorola wants to dive into that to any specified detail) and offers more years of OS upgrades. While it’s been a while since I’ve been able to test out any Oppo phones, historically they’ve been a little slower bringing those upgrades to their devices, though I’m sure the ColorOS overlay does add complexity to that task.
On the camera front, I’ve put a big question mark next to the Find N3 in that table above because it’s specified in Oppo’s spec sheet for the phone but it’s also somehow a “three lens” phone. I’m working on the assumption that the 16MP 6x telephoto is a crop and/or hybrid of the 48MP main camera, not a separate lens in itself. That’s handy when it works for sure – Samsung does similar with “Space Zoom” on its phones and Apple’s got a similar gambit for the 2x zoom on its current iPhone 15 line, so Oppo’s not alone here.
As always, the proof will be in what they can do, not just in their specifications. I’ve asked Oppo Australia if it’s going to be feasible to get a Find N3 in for review, because I wouldn’t suggest folks buy a phone that can’t be reviewed. Stay tuned…
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