[Review] OPPO N3 – Taking Selfies to the Next Level

OPPO has introduced its latest addition to the N Series with the OPPO N3 – the world’s first smartphone with a motorised camera where you can bring mobile technology to new heights. Does it live up to expectations? We’ll see.

Design

Like the R5, N3’s design doesn’t disappoint. While it felt a tad heavy for me and I wouldn’t call it sleek, I gotta say that the phone feels pretty good in my hand when I got used to it. Its weight actually made it feel less fragile – I’m the kind who gets all paranoid about phones and impact.

The entire phone is decked in a lovely, smooth white, with a textured surface on the camera, which at the first glance, looks like leather, which gives it the distinct appearance of a premium phone.

Unlike most phones I’m used to, the phone jacks are located at the side – with the headphone jack at the top right, and battery charger jack at the bottom left. While I wasn’t particularly concerned by it, I would imagine that somebody who keeps the phone in his pocket would find it annoying – the N3 already takes up plenty of space by itself.

At the back of the phone is an easy-to-reach fingerprint scanner, which, besides unlocking your phone and opening encrypted applications, offers absolute convenience when it comes to selfie-taking.

Camera

Now, for the star of the show. The N3 features the much-loved function of the N series— the rotatable camera, only this time, it’s automated. With the 16PM swivel function, your selfies will be just as sharp as your other photos! If you’re not into “beautify” functions, fret not, just switch it to “normal”.

Rear photo quality-wise, I’d say that it’s on par with other phones on the market. Here’s a food pic for all you Instagrammers to judge for yourselves.

As a selfie camera: yes, the quality is phenomenally good, but this also means that it captures all your imperfections, hence, no selfie test shots for to publish (sorry). Actually, if you like, you can switch to the 3, 10 or 13 MP modes. But I can tell you (and it should also be obvious) that, when it comes to lowlight and backlighting? No problem at all!

The Rotating Camera

One of the N3’s (along with its predecessor N1) main selling point is the rotating camera, and I can vouch for it. I was at Orchard Road last Christmas trying to get some decent shots of the Christmas lights at night, but most of my photos turned out blur, because really – how is one supposed to take photos of the sky while on a street packed like sardines? Here’s where the rotatable camera comes in extremely useful. With this, taking shots from awkward angles become a breeze. It’s the same for panoramic shots as well. You don’t even have to move – it’s automated, so there’ll be no “oh am I moving in a straight line?” instances.

Taking Photos Remotely. 

The N3 also comes along with the O-Click 2.0, which allows you to take photos and switch modes remotely. Basically, it works like a Bluetooth shutter remote control, but of course, there’s gotta be something that sets it apart – you can control music playback as well as locate your phone (especially useful if you’re the messy type of person – the phone has to be within range, of course).

The Bottom Line

I think the N3’s a pretty great phone especially if you love taking selfies. The swivelling camera’s a genius especially for awkward angles or if you’re a selfie-enthusiast who’s really big on angles. The additional functions like the fingerprint scanner and O-Click 2.0 are cool, but if you’re the type (like me) who goes for everything minimalist, you might not want to pay the price for these additional functions that you aren’t going to use.

Specifications