Oppo F3 Plus has been launched in India with a dual selfie camera and 4000 mAh battery. The price tag has put this smartphone in direct competition with OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, Asus Zenfone 3 and Honor 8, the devices which are considered to be the best VFM smartphones currently present in India.
Update: Oppo F3 Plus has been re-launched in India with 6GB RAM while the rest of the specifications remains the same. However, despite a 2GB bump in RAM, it has recived a huge price cut to Rs 22,990 from Rs. 30,990.
Oppo has had a good run with its camera-centric ‘F series’ ever since the Oppo F1 launch in February last year and we have a number of smartphones that fills the gap in the mid-range segment. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has been advertising itself as the “Camera Phone” specialist and its mission to deliver the best front camera to selfie lovers. Oppo F3 Plus is following Apple iPhone 7 Plus and has been launched with the blur effect in Portrait mode but on the front camera.
Oppo F3 Plus, unlike other camera smartphones, has a wide-angle lens for group selfies, which seems like a more practical idea that’s likely to have a wider appeal. However, Oppo hasn’t played it big when it comes to the best smartphones under Rs 30,000 which is the biggest concern here. Going against the likes of OnePlus 3T and Honor 8 is never an easy task but let’s see what Oppo F3 Plus has to offer and is it a good overall package at this price?
Oppo F3 Plus Specifications
- 6.0 inches (1080X1920 pixels) Full HD 2.5D curved display with 480 ppi and Gorilla Glass 5 protection
- 1.95GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC backed with Adreno 510 GPU
- 4GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD card up to 256GB
- 16MP Sony IMX 398 sensor with phase detection autofocus (PDF) and dual-LED (dual tone) flash.
- Dual Camera setup at the front (16MP and 8MP) with 120-degree wide-angle
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Oppo’s Color 3.0 OS on top
- 4000 mAh non-removable battery with flash charge support offering up to 2 hours of talk time in just 5 minutes for charging
- Fingerprint scanner housed in the home button
- Dual Hybrid SIM
- Dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, USB-OTG and 3.5mm headphone jack
What’s Good in Oppo F3 Plus
- Good metal build along with a simplistic design
- Despite the size, it’s easy to hold and grip
- The display quality is above par and offers decent sunlight visibility
- Overall, the best selfie smartphone. The 8MP secondary sensor is not a gimmick and offers a much wider field of view.
- 16MP front camera offers exceptional low-light performance, all thanks to its f/2.0 aperture
- The 4,000mAh battery will easily last a day and non-heavy users can get up to 36 hours of battery life.
- 1.95GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC, Adreno 510 GPU,4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage is one of the best performance packages and provide hassle free gaming as well as multitasking experience.
What’s Not So Good in Oppo F3 Plus
- No NFC or FM radio
- Comes with Android Marshmallow instead of Android 7.0
- Display saturation can get jarring
- Front camera struggled a bit in low-lighting
- No Front Flash
Verdict
Oppo has priced the F3 Plus at Rs. 30,990, which is a substantial premium over the brand’s usual offerings. The Oppo F3 Plus will face tough competition from the likes of OnePlus 3T and Samsung Galaxy A5, Asus Zenfone 3 and Honor 8. Hell, you can even buy the LG G5 after shelling a couple of thousands above this price.
Update: With a new price tag and the introduction of a 6GB variant, Oppo F3 Plus is now one of the highly recommended device in mid-budget segment.
However, there is no denying the fact that The Oppo F3 Plus is overall a good allrounder but since Android O has already been announced, it could have come at least with Android 7.0 Nougat. Considering the price tag, we expected a proper software support for at least a couple of years.
All in all, a lower price tag, would have helped the Oppo F3 Plus to compete in the mid-budget segment and maybe and only maybe, if the company provides timely software updates, it may find a considerable number of buyers. Until then, OnePlus 3T and Honor 8 will be our favorites in this segment.