OPPO F3 First Impressions: Experience the dual front-facing camera in sub 20K price-point

Chinese smartphone maker OPPO today announced a newer variant of the recently launched OPPO F3 Plus. As the name suggests, the F3 is the smaller variant of OPPO F3 Plus, but still packs in the same dual front-facing camera featuring an 8MP ultra-wide lens for group selfies.

The display size has been trimmed down to 5.5-inches from 6-inches, and battery has been squeezed to a mark of 3,200 mAh from the previous 4,000 mAh unit powering the elder sibling.

OPPO has priced the new F3 at Rs. 19,990 in India.OPPO's F3 first sale begins from May 13th in 25 cities across India. The pre-order starts from today till May12th 2017. It will be available online on Flipkart exclusively and consumers can also pre-order offline through OPPO stores.

Let's find out what's good and what not about the new Selfie expert OPPO F3 with the help of this first impression.

Design

OPPO really need to change its design strategy as it's really tough for us to differentiate the company's product lineup, and almost impossible for consumers out there. OPPO F3 looks just like OPPO's previous handsets and especially its elder sibling- the OPPO F3 Plus.

The only differentiating factor is the antenna lines, which in the case of OPPO F3 comprises of a mono chrome line on top and bottom. OPPO F3 Plus has 'Six-String' ultra-fine antenna lines. Besides, everything else about the design remains same.

OPPO F3 has a metal unibody design and the screen is protected by a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5. What I really like about the design of OPPO F3 is the fact that it is amazingly light for a smartphone flaunting a 5.5-inch screen. The handset weighs 153 grams and is made out of glass and composite metal.

SEE ALSO: Oppo F3 with dual lens selfie camera launched at Rs. 19,990; first sale is on May 13

The screen has minimal bezels on either side that measures just 2mm in thickness. The smartphone has rounded corners and the careful placement of physical buttons on right and left edges allows you to operate the handset with one hand.

OPPO F3 also has a front fingerprint scanner, which as per OPPO comes equipped with a hydrophobic membrane that has an enhanced success rate even when a user's fingers are moist. While it unlocks the handset in a jiffy in normal conditions, the fingerprint scanner does not always work when your fingers are moist.

Display

OPPO F3 features a 5.5-inch full HD IPS screen that offers a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a pixel density of 401ppi. The display is quite bright and touch response is also good, however, the colours are not as vivid as they are on the 6-inch screen on OPPO F3 Plus.

You also get an eye protection mode to filter the blue light that can strain your eyes in low-light condition. The display also gets Corning's latest Gorilla Glass 5 protection to protect it from accidental damages.

Camera

If you were planning to buy the OPPO F3 Plus, but its steep pricing got into the way, then OPPO F3 is for you. The smartphone sports a dual front-facing camera featuring a 16MP primary sensor and an 8MP camera with ultra-wide angle for group selfies.

The 8MP secondary wide-angle camera has a 6P lens, just like the OPPO F3 Plus to give a larger field-of-view and to result in minimal image distortion. The 16MP primary camera has a 1/3-inch sensor and a large f/2.0 aperture.

There's no compromise in terms of camera modes and filters. You have screen flash, palm shutter, expert mode (Manual), Ultra HD mode and various filters based on the Beautify 4.0 mode to enhance your selfie experience.

I have reviewed the OPPO F3 Plus and was pleased by its good camera performance. If OPPO F3 manages to deliver the same results, then it will make for an amazing camera phone at this price-point.

Hardware

Multitasking and storage will not be an issue on OPPO F3 as the handset come equipped with 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM with extensible storage up to 128GB via microSD.

You don't need to compromise on storage and SIM cards as the smartphone comes with a triple slot tray that allows you to insert dual nano-SIM and microSD cards simultaneously. It's a simple hardware feature that other smartphone makers should also implement in their products.

OPPO F3 is backed by a 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6750 chipset. I have been using the handset from last two days and haven't noticed any performance issues.

There's no delay in app loading, screen navigation, and the 4GB RAM also makes sure multitasking does not suffer in everyday usage. I will also evaluate the handset's gaming performance in the coming week to give a final verdict on the performance part.

Software

I was expecting OPPO to offer the latest Android 7.0 Nougat, but sadly the OPPO F3 runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. OPPO has added company's Color OS V3.0 custom UI skin on top. The user interface is smooth and apps don't waste time in loading, however unlike OPPO F3 Plus, there's no Google Assistant in the package.

Battery and Connectivity

OPPO F3 is backed by a 3,200 mAh battery unit that manages to last for a day on a single charge. However, to cut the cost, OPPO F3 does not come equipped with OPPO's VOOC fast charging support. For connectivity, the smartphone has 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

Verdict

OPPO F3 tries to offer what OPPO F3 Plus delivers at a lower price-point. The dual front-facing camera with an ultra-wide field of view is a good addition in this price-point. The smartphone has a premium design and sails through everyday tasks without any performance issues.

The only problem seems to be the Android 6.0 Marshmallow that OPPO might address in the coming months. Besides, you are also not getting the fast charging support with the new OPPO F3. We will evaluate the handset's complete potential in our comprehensive review. Stay tuned on GIZBOT.