2023 Winners and losers: Oppo

2023 was a strong year for Oppo - it strengthened its positions in China, released solid upgrades to its foldable phones, and innovated on cameras across the board.

So let's break it down and see which Oppo devices shined and which fell short in 2023.

Winner: Oppo Find X6 Pro

The Find X6 Pro arrived early in 2023 to challenge every phone and even some high-end cameras for the place of the best camera you can have on you at all times.

The Find X6 Pro was one of the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-equipped phones, with an excellent premium dual-finish design and a camera system to die for.

Oppo famously said the Hasselblad-tuned array will usher in the 'Three Main Camera Era'. A main 1-inch type camera and two 1/1.56-inch sensors for the ultrawide and 65mm periscope zoom. It was a system we loved and one that would have dominated many camera battles had the Find X6 Pro left China.

Loser: Hard to Find globally

Oppo's recurring legal issues outside of its home market meant that its phones were absent from key European markets. Not only was that a major disappointment for smartphone lovers but a big blow to Oppo's bottom line. And going into 2024 it seems unlikely for that to change quickly.

Winner: Oppo Find N3 Flip

At the time of our review at the end of October, we called the Oppo Find N3 Flip the best all-around Flip phone on the market right now and that hasn't changed. It has a functional cover screen, the best camera system, and fastest charging on a Flip foldable, and meaningful upgrades like splash resistance. The Find N3 Flip is also more widely available than any foldable not coming from Samsung.

Loser: Oppo Find N2

The Find N2 shouldn't be in this article given that it's from 2022 but it did arrive just 8 days before 2023 so we thought what the hell.

The Oppo Find N2

The Find N2 was a loser from the second it was announced - a China-locked foldable with an older chipset and no meaningful changes compared to its predecessor.

Losers: Oppo Reno10 and Reno10 Pro

Oppo's stylish and camera-centric Reno series usually stand above their peers and justify their higher price, but that wasn't quite the case with the 10 series. The Reno10 and Reno10 Pro priced themselves out of the race and didn't offer any sort of competitive edge against the vivo V27 Pro, Galaxy A54, Xiaomi Poco F5, and Realme 11 Pro+.

Losers: Oppo smartwatches

Oppo released two smartwatches in 2023 and they failed to make any impression on the market. As popular Parcs and Rec character Ron Swanson says, "Never Half-Ass Two Things, Whole-Ass One Thing".

Winner: Oppo Find N3

The Oppo Find N3 will sadly stay in the shadow of the global OnePlus Open but we think the Oppo variation of that phone is prettier in its Gold trim and we found it's more willing to shoot with its 3x camera in the dark than the Open.

The Find N3 is the best book-style foldable thanks to its superior display ratios, its highly-capable camera system, and its willingness to innovate a space that is surprisingly stale given its relative newness.