Oppo Find X3 Pro review

Android 11 and ColorOS 11

The Find X3 Pro is the first Oppo smartphone we meet that boots Android 11 with the new ColorOS 11.2 out of the box. The ColorOS version numbers jumped from 7 to 11, probably to match the Android version, and that's why there was no ColorOS 8, 9 or 10. The launcher has been reworked, and it is now faster, more responsive, with better RAM management and overall stability. It comes with improved system apps, new wallpapers, icons, and other UI changes.

The Oppo Find X3 Pro supports an Always-on display, and you can schedule it or leave it on/off all the time. ColorOS brings a ton of new AOD themes you can choose from and make it yours. You can customize many of those.

Always-on display

Edge lightning is also supported - the edges of the display will flash with colors upon new notifications.

Edge lighting

You unlock the screen via the under-display fingerprint scanner. The reader is easy to set up, unbelievably fast, and with outstanding accuracy. You can choose between different scanner animations, too.

There is 2D Face Unlock as well, but it is far less secure than the fingerprint option.

Security options

The homescreens are business as usual - they are populated with shortcuts, folders, and widgets. The leftmost pane is Google's Discover.

Homescreens, app drawer, settings

ColorOS 11 offers an app drawer, but you can opt-out of it if you want. There is a simple UI mode, too.

The Notification Shade is business as usual - there are quick and expandable toggles, brightness scrubber with Auto switch, and all (expandable) notifications follow after that.

The task switcher has not changed much. It shows all of your recent apps in a single scrollable line, and only three are visible at a time. If you tap on the Settings icon on each card, you will be able to launch that app into split-screen, mini-app window (non-interactable), or in a floating window (interactable). Not all apps support all three modes, and these options won't show if that's the case.

Notification area • Task Switcher • Options • Floating Window • Floating app • Split screen

Personalization is a huge part of ColorOS, and you can change a lot. There are many pre-installed static and live wallpapers, AOD faces, you can opt for different icon styles in both UI and Notification area, change the system colors, system font (Roboto or Oppo Sans), Edge Lighting, and more.

Personalization

ColorOS also offers a Phone Manager app. It can scan your phone for possible optimization options, manages your privacy and app permission, and protects your payment. It also includes a diagnostic tool for a possible hardware malfunction.

ColorOS packs proprietary Photos, Music, and Video apps. Game Space center is also included, and it can be configured to block notifications and auto-brightness adjustments during gaming, as well as more appropriate resource management by prioritizing your game over other services.

Phone Manager • Photos • Music • Video • Game Center • Files

Oppo is also offering an app called O Relax - it is exactly what the name suggests. You choose between different relaxing themes, games or city noises, pick your mix of sounds, set a timer, and enjoy the ride.

O-Relax

ColorOS supports Dark Mode, too. It is enhanced in version 11 - you can now choose between Enhanced (black), Medium (dark gray) and Gentle (light gray) backgrounds and system hues.

Dark Mode

ColorOS offers these Convenience tools, which can make your experience even smoother. These include screen-on gesture, fingerprint scanner shortcuts (called Quick Launch), three-finger screenshot and screen video capture, smart sidebar, split-screen, quick Google Assistant launch, and more.

Convenience Tools

Oppo has tasked Hans Zimmer with composing unique notification sounds and ringtones, which will fit the organic theme of the Find X3 Pro. These will be added later on with a firmware update.

ColorOS is fully optimized to work on HRR displays, and it looks gorgeous on the Find X3 Pro. Everything is smooth and fast; animations are unobtrusive yet impressive, the attention to detail is simply excellent. We did enjoy working with ColorOS on the Find X3 120Hz OLED for sure.

Performance and benchmarks

The Oppo Find X3 is among the first smartphones to come with the new Snapdragon 888 chipset by Qualcomm. The SoC is manufactured using a 5nm fabrication process.

The Snapdragon 888 offers an improved eight-core tri-cluster processor that delivers up to 25% better performance over the SD865 CPU and better power efficiency. Headlining these eight cores is a Kryo 680 Prime @ 2.84GHz based on the ARM's top Cortex-X1 design. Next up is a trio of Kryo 680 Gold @ 2.42GHz based on regular Cortex-A78. Finally, we have four Kryo 680 Silver @ 1.8GHz based on Cortex-A55 for more mundane tasks, and they take the total core count to eight.

The SD888 comes with a new Adreno 660 GPU, which should offer a 35% performance increase over the Adreno 650 inside the SD865 and Find X2 Pro. It supports OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulcan 1.1, and a new Variable rate shading technology.

The SD888 also comes with a new Hexagon 780 DSP with a sixth-gen AI engine. There is also a new ISP and a new integrated X60 5G/LTE modem. Wi-Fi 6 is supported, there is native support for UFS 3.1, and also a new QuickCharge 5 option.

Oppo Find X3 Pro has 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, non-expandable.

And now it's benchmark time!

Strangely, the Geekbench CPU benchmark returned scores similar to the Oppo Find X2 Pro and its previous generation Snapdragon 865 CPU. Obviously, the hardware is among the best right now, but the SD888-powered Mi 11 did a little better for some reason.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  3704
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  3518
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  3489
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  3476
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  3374
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  3316
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  3274
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  3269
• Oppo Find X
  2278

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  1107
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  1091
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  1085
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  1020
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  926
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  902
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  902
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  900
• Oppo Find X
  493

The raw GFX Bench tests say the Adreno 660 GPU is the most powerful one to date.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  117
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  113
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  111
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  111
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  107
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  87
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  86
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  86
• Oppo Find X
  60

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  70
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  67
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  66
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  64
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  64
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  51
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  51
• Oppo Find X
  35

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  6679
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  5757
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  5691
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  5673
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  5653

The onscreen tests give an edge to those phones packing lower-res 1080p screens like the Galaxy S21+.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  100
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  78
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  58
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  57
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  55
• Oppo Find X
  50
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  43
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  43
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  43

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  54
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  43
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  33
• Oppo Find X
  28
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  25
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  25
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  24

The Find X3 Pro scores an excellent score on AnTuTu - on par with the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Mi 11, but a little behind the Mate 40 Pro.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 40 Pro (perf. mode)
  686835
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  668722
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  657150
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  656467
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
  622276
• Oppo Find X2 (120Hz, 1440p)
  594169
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  593717
• OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  573276
• Oppo Find X
  336630

The Snapdragon 888 chip is the best one a phone can employ today, so there isn't anything more to ask, really. Most of the flagships are already transitioning to QHD resolutions. This chipset has the power to handle gaming with so many pixels and at high framerates at that.

The Find X3 Pro is equipped with a vapor-chamber cooling solution for the SoC and the battery. It works well when playing games and fast-charging and won't allow the phone to heat enough to trigger throttling. It may get warm, yes, but not to a worrisome extent.

We ran the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test and showed 57% stability for the Find X3 Pro when running on QHD resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It did drop the refresh rate and lower the brightness after the 10th loop. We saw no such thing when playing games, though, so this happens only when the phone is indeed put through a stress test. It's good to know how much the phone can handle, though.