Oppo F3 review: Selfielicious

Display

The Oppo F3 really does come off as perfectly manageable compared to its bigger 6-inch sibling. Despite the ongoing trend of growing display sizes, 5.5 inches still hits the sweet spot for many people.

With a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, the screen has a pixel density of about 401ppi, which is great and most of all, pleasingly sharp to the naked eye.

The brightness, on the other hand, is pretty average, even a tad dim for an LCD, maxing out at 449 nits.

Sunlight legibility is also disappointing, even by LCD standards. Still, it might serve as some consolation that competitor Vivo's V5 pair is even worse in this department. Granted, it's hardly a meaningful victory, since number comparisons won't help you see the screen any better on a sunny day.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  4.768
• Samsung Galaxy S8+
  4.658
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
  4.439
• OnePlus 3
  4.424
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  4.376
• HTC One A9
  4.274
• Samsung Galaxy Note7
  4.247
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• OnePlus 3T
  4.232
• Google Pixel XL
  4.164
• ZTE Axon 7
  4.154
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Vivo Xplay5 Elite
  3.983
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Apple iPhone 7
  3.964
• Huawei P9 Plus
  3.956
• Meizu Pro 6 Plus
  3.935
• Lenovo Moto Z
  3.931
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• Samsung Galaxy C5
  3.911
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  3.896
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
  3.879
• Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
  3.873
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Sony Xperia XZs
  3.818
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3.804
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.802
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  3.798
• LG V20 Max auto
  3.798
• Sony Xperia XZ
  3.795
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  3.789
• Apple iPhone 6s
  3.783
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  3.772
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  3.756
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.688
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Huawei Mate 9
  3.68
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Meizu PRO 6
  3.659
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3.588
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  3.53
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.526
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
  3.523
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.523
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• nubia Z11
  3.466
• Huawei P10 Plus
  3.456
• HTC U Ultra
  3.453
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• LG V20
  3.402
• Huawei P10
  3.379
• Oppo R9s
  3.352
• Honor 8 Pro
  3.341
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Lenovo P2
  3.316
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  3.276
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  3.244
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Sony Xperia X Performance
  3.234
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  3.228
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Oppo F3 Plus
  3.218
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  3.206
• Huawei P9
  3.195
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  3.113
• Motorola Moto X Force
  3.105
• LG Nexus 5X
  3.092
• Huawei Mate S
  3.073
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3.012
• Sony Xperia X
  2.989
• Huawei Mate 8
  2.949
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  2.913
• Sony Xperia XA Ultra
  2.906
• LG G5
  2.905
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  2.893
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2.884
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.813
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  2.803
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• Meizu MX6
  2.751
• LG V10
  2.744
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  2.714
• Meizu M5
  2.71
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Huawei P9 Lite
  2.679
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  2.679
• Vivo V3Max
  2.659
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  2.658
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2.641
• Sony Xperia XA
  2.609
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus
  2.582
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
  2.582
• Meizu M5s
  2.58
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• LeEco Le Max 2
  2.567
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  2.563
• Lenovo Moto G4
  2.544
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.544
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
  2.506
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Oppo F1s
  2.481
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Huawei nova
  2.467
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  2.459
• Meizu m3 max
  2.447
• HTC 10 evo
  2.407
• Huawei Honor 7
  2.406
• Sony Xperia E5
  2.386
• ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
  2.382
• HTC 10
  2.378
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  2.378
• Oppo F3
  2.376
• vivo V5 Plus
  2.371
• Meizu m1 note
  2.362
• Huawei nova plus
  2.329
• HTC One E9+
  2.305
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.254
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2.253
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  2.249
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2.235
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  2.234
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• Huawei P8
  2.196
• Meizu M5 Note
  2.189
• Huawei Honor 6
  2.169
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  2.166
• OnePlus Two
  2.165
• HTC One X
  2.158
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
  2.145
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Xiaomi Mi 4S
  2.095
• Acer Liquid X2
  2.084
• Huawei P8lite
  2.078
• vivo V5
  2.059
• Moto G 3rd gen max manual
  2.026
• Xiaomi Mi 3
  2.001
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  1.996
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Meizu m3 note
  1.923
• BlackBerry Leap
  1.892
• Meizu m2 note
  1.892
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1.759
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Asus Zenfone Selfie
  1.68
• Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
  1.675
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  1.659
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Sony Xperia L
  1.351
• HTC Desire C
  1.3
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215

Color accuracy is not really Oppo F3's forte. In all fairness, the bigger F3 Plus suffers from similar issues as well. The display has sort of a purplish, bluish tint to it. Blues, purples and cyans are way off, with a deltaE of around 11 to 13 measured against the sRGB color space. Overall, we measured an average deltaE of 8.3 and a maximum deviation of 14.2 - even worse than on the F3 Plus. Sadly, if you don't like the default screen calibration, you can't really do anything about it, as Oppo doesn't have a screen adjustment setting.

Battery life

Equipped with a 3,200mAh non-removable battery, the Oppo F3 doesn't exactly stand out in the longevity department, but still does alright for itself. It's a clear bump down from the 4,000mAh in the bigger F3 Plus. Then again, the screen size difference between the pair is significant as well.

On a more positive note, the F3 has managed to pack more juice than the Oppo R9s and its 3,010mAh unit. It's a rather short-lived victory, since the R9s is noticeably thinner, at 6.6mm, and its 14nm Snapdragon 625 and AMOLED panel make it a lot more power-efficient.

The MediaTek MT6750T used in the F3, on the other hand, is made on a 28nm fabrication process. It also has to drive a more power-hungry LCD panel.

Surprisingly, all of these potential shortcomings didn't prevent the phone from posting a decent endurance rating of 68 hours in our standardized battery test. In comparison, the F3 Plus got 79 hours' worth of an endurance rating out of its 4,000mAh battery.

The regular F3 holds its ground well in our 3G call test, as well as in web browsing. Video playback seems to be the weak link in this package. This might have something to do with the video app itself, which we will come back to later in the software chapter.

Still, we can't really complain. The Oppo R9s only managed a few hours more on its 3,010mAh pack, despite the help of the efficient Snapdragon 625 and AMOLED panel combination. The same goes for the Vivo V5 Plus, a prime competitor to the Oppo F3, which also uses the Qualcomm chip and a 3,160mAh battery. In a more "apples to apples" comparison against the basic Vivo V5 and its MT6750, 720p, 5.5-inch LCD and 3,000mAh battery, the Oppo F3 really dwarfs the vivo's 60 hour endurance rating.

On another positive note, the F3 seems to run pretty cool even under stress. Charging is an almost heat-free process as well. Speaking of which, it might as well be that way, since the phone is only capable of drawing a mere 2A/5V current from the charger. This is exactly half of what Oppo's excellent VOOC parallel charging solution delivers on devices like the F3 Plus and R9s. It's a real shame that the feature is entirely absent from the regular F3.

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Connectivity

The Mediatek MT6750T is a bit underpowered compared to modern midrange processors, and it doesn't really strain itself too much to please in the connectivity department either. Unlike the F3 Plus and its Cat.9 LTE modem, the regular F3 has to make do with Cat.4 speeds of 150 Mbps of download and 50Mbps of upload.

Still, you do at least get LTE on both SIM slots simultaneously.

In terms of local connectivity, there is a Wi-Fi a/b/g/n module. No dual-band or ac support. You do get Bluetooth v4.1 and a GPS receiver, with support for A-GPS. NFC is one notable omission. Also, you are only stuck with the slower USB 2.0 transfer. OTG is supported, although you have to explicitly enable it in the settings.

You also get a good old 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom of the Oppo F3.