Smartphone Oppo K3 - advantages and disadvantages

Today, people around the world willingly buy and use electronics from China every day. After all, sometimes, these are really very original devices, and besides, the price tag on them is often pleasing to the eye. However, if statements about the rise in price of the latest European or American innovations are perceived, in general, calmly, then the rise in prices for goods from the Middle Kingdom usually causes a flurry of emotions and indignation on the network (remember at least the story of Xiaomi imitation). The Oppo Reno flagship could have fallen into a similar story (of course, on a smaller scale than Xiaomi), but the company's specialists acted wisely, waiting a little time, thereby fueling interest and rolling out a simplified version to the European market. And even if this promotional move is far from new, the effect of it will definitely be - the characteristics of the novelty will undoubtedly attract the attention of users, especially considering that the cost of the device will be significantly reduced.However, it is not always worth trusting only the speeches of manufacturers, and therefore this article about the Oppo K3 smartphone, the advantages and disadvantages of which will be sorted out, will be able to shed some light on all the controversial and interesting points and help with the choice.

The intrigue failed.

If some companies are trying their best to keep the specifications and design of the upcoming new product a secret, then Oppo has failed to do anything of the sort. Accidentally or intentionally, but descriptions and photos of K3 hit the Internet and were published on the China Telecom website, which is popular in China. And if before that, various photos and snippets of rumors flashed on the network only occasionally, then with this post all speculations were finally dispelled. This is not to say that the smartphone was too hotly discussed on the forums, but given its very good features for a state employee, it is likely that the peak of activity will occur in the days before the launch of the first sales.

Stylish and modern

Today's buyers are very demanding. They want thin bezels, unique colors and, of course, fashionable features in the details of the body (it's not worth mentioning the high quality of hardware). And here we can safely praise Oppo, because their brainchild has all the necessary qualities.

So, according to the first photos (there hasn’t been an official announcement yet), “ka third” will most likely be presented in three colors: classic white and black, as well as blue-violet.As you know, the combination of blue and purple has already been used by different brands, and I must admit, it looks very worthy.

Now for the hull. The front of the smartphone will be occupied by a large screen with a diagonal of 6.5 inches. The frames, as far as can be judged from the photo, will be quite wide and noticeable. But the “chin” will become very small and even rather miniature, at the same time the “eyebrow” will disappear completely (yes, there will be no cutout for the front camera, since it will most likely be located on the sliding panel inside). A pair of separate buttons, probably volume keys, will find a place on the left edge. On the right, there is only one power button. Regarding the location of the microphone, speaker and sensors, there is no information yet, but it is known that the fingerprint scanner will be on-screen, which will appeal to many users.

The back of the smartphone is also quite interesting. Above, just below the middle, the main and secondary cameras, as well as the LED flash, are located in a column. Directly below them at the bottom is a vertical inscription "Oppo". And that is all. The absence of a “circle” for a fingerprint scanner, an interesting color scheme and an unusual arrangement of modules make the design of the K3 very attractive. And remembering the large solid screen without cutouts, which looks great, you can forgive even thick frames.

The dimensions of the device are as follows: 161.2 x 76 x 9.4 mm. You can find fault with this only to the depth, which is slightly more than the standard. Nothing is known about the case material yet, but it is obvious that it will be plastic. The only question is how high quality and non-slip.

Camera features

The camera is not just one of the devices that a smartphone combines, this is what new items are bought for. And while it sounds a little pompous, the reality is that almost all buyers are guided by the performance of the camera, even if they use it very rarely.

Oppo K3 in this context is unlikely to be able to surprise with anything, because now super-advanced 48-megapixel modules are in vogue. However, the “troika” is positioned as a budget model, and therefore its 16 megapixel main module with f / 1.8 aperture and 2 megapixel additional (f / 2.4 aperture is here) look quite interesting. Also, do not forget that the front camera will also receive a 16 MP sensor with f / 2.0 aperture, packed in a retractable body unit.

It’s too early to talk about how the device takes pictures at night or during the day, it’s worth waiting for the first releases and tests. But based on dry facts and figures, we can conclude that even with not very high-quality components, the K3 will be able to take pictures of average quality in normal lighting conditions, and below average in twilight. Here it would not be superfluous to recall the front camera - with such indicators, it may well make a smartphone a budget selfie machine. At the same time, selfie lovers may be lucky, and engineers will abandon the idea of ​​\u200b\u200binserting a flash into a retractable panel, since a screen backlight has long been invented for such cases.

Everything is clear with the technical features, now it’s worth analyzing the declared photo / video capabilities. So, the manufacturer confirms the presence of an HDR mode, and talks about shooting video in maximum quality 2160p at 30fps. For a selfie camera, the recording quality ceiling is 1080p at 30fps, which is quite good for a device of this level.The manufacturer is silent about the maximum photo resolutions.

It is too early to draw conclusions about the capabilities of this device, but we can already state a fact - Oppo will definitely have a minimum set of features that allow users to productively use their capabilities.

looking inside

Chinese manufacturers have long learned to compromise between cost and performance. True, in the end you have to save on the case, the quality of sensors and speakers, but if a person buys a phone for active games, he does not need these functions. The main thing is the presence of a large detailed screen, a more or less voluminous battery and, of course, an energy-efficient filling. Luckily, Oppo has it all and even without significant losses in other aspects.

Performance

Today, users around the world can easily evaluate the power of any phone by simply testing it in one of the popular benchmarks. And the Oppo K3 has every chance of getting a good result, because the smartphone uses a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset. This ARM chip features a good balance between performance and energy consumption, as well as in price (the seven hundredth series was created as a more affordable version of the top eight hundred) . Inside, Snapdragon 710 has eight Kryo 360 cores, but they are divided into clusters: so 2 cores have a frequency of 2.2 GHz, and the remaining 6 are only 1.7 GHz. This approach seems very reasonable, because applications rarely use all the power at the same time, which allows the operating system to intelligently allocate resources. With similar features, the Adreno 616 graphics accelerator was also selected.

But the performance of the novelty will definitely be at a high level (archiving, copying, moving operations), because the amount of RAM is as much as 8 GB, and the X15 LTE modem provides the highest download and data transfer speeds of 800 and 150 Mbps, respectively. Today, such an indicator can satisfy any game at the highest settings, so "ka third" can be considered as an inexpensive gaming device.

Summing up: With such characteristics, the novelty will definitely be able to "pull" the most modern games at high graphics settings. The processor is slightly behind the general level, but so far this difference is unlikely to be too noticeable in games.

storage

Despite the positioning of the company, the K3 can rather be classified as a middle-class device. After all, even the built-in memory is more than in many popular "middle peasants" - 128 GB. It is clear that less will be available (somewhere around 110-113 GB) due to the installed OS and standard applications. However, this is still a very cool indicator, given that other manufacturers give only 64 GB of ROM for a similar cost.

With the amount of memory, everything is in order and only one question remains: will there be support for external cards such as MicroSD. There is no such data among the leaked and published information on the China Telecom resource, but many reputable foreign online publications assure that they will support a card up to 256 GB.

There are also rumors about the possible release of devices in two variations with RAM 8 GB and 6 GB.

Operating system

The OS plays an equally important role in the functioning of modern devices, although many users tend to underestimate its importance.It is the “quality and freshness” of the operating system that determines the speed of all processes, device optimization, support for new applications, energy efficiency settings, and so on.

Oppo, as expected, will receive a new version of Android 9.0 Pie (it is quite possible that even “clean”, that is, without the manufacturer’s proprietary shells). Regarding the shells, there is no data and this can please all fans of a simple Android without any bells and whistles.

Display

You can have the most top-end hardware, but without a high-quality display, all these characteristics will be just numbers. In addition, regardless of the purpose for which the phone is purchased (for music, games, movies, calls), everyone will use the screen. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention not only to the type of matrix, but also to the maximum resolution.

In the "troika" the screen is really large, after all 6.5 inches, has an AMOLED matrix with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 at an orientation of 19.5: 9. Here it is worth mentioning again the lack of cutouts for the camera, which allowed the company's engineers to achieve an excellent indicator of usable screen area - 79.5%. So it will be really convenient and pleasant to play and watch movies in good quality (dots per inch is responsible for detailing, which in this model is 409 ppi).

And finally, I would like to emphasize again that there are no problems with the screen, and besides, it is equipped with built-in Corning Gorilla Glass protection (version information is not yet available).

autonomy

You will rarely meet a user who is 100% satisfied with the autonomous operation of his device. However, popular brands are in no hurry to complete all new items with large 5000 mAh batteries, preferring to save on this.

But Oppo is far from the worst situation.Yes, you can’t do without a power bank, but still a 3700 mAh battery, and even with a 20 W fast charge function, will definitely last more than 6 hours even if you play online or actively use it.

While it is difficult to say how long the battery will last on a single charge. Given the screen size and components, this should be about 8 hours, and only the first tests will be able to confirm or refute this assumption.

Technologies, communication standards, dimensions

This section is almost always identical for all smartphones of the same level, since they use similar technologies, but not infrequently, both pleasant and not very surprises pop up here. So, for example, for Oppo, the absence of NFC will be such a surprise, because judging by the general level, the sensor should be present.

• Wireless technologies: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v5 (LE, A2DP functions);
• Network and Internet: GSM, HSPA, HSDPA, LTE;
• Navigation: A-GPS;
• Sensors: Fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, lighting, compass;
• Dimensions: 2 x 76.5 x 9.4mm;
• Optional: microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-G, Jack 3.5.

The real surprise for users was the presence of an outdated microUSB 2.0 slot, so you should also pay attention to this moment (the transfer speed of the second version leaves much to be desired).

Verdict

Oppo can hardly be called a leader in the Russian market (however, like in the CIS countries), although this model has every chance to attract close attention. Affordable price (around $320-325), powerful hardware, nice and modern design with a fantastic beautiful screen, as well as good cameras will definitely attract buyers who want to buy an inexpensive phone with good features.Gamers can also be among potential buyers - the price tag favorably distinguishes the new product from competitors, and the manufacturer himself saved on everything except for components responsible for performance (which confirms this statement).

• Powerful iron;
• Affordable price;
• Economical, but productive processor;
• Detailed screen;
• Good selfie camera
• Nice and stylish design;
• ROM 128 GB;
• Support external flash memory;
• The presence of a mini jack 3.5 mm;
• Good autonomy;
• Fast charging 20W;
• Current version of Android.

• No NFC module;
• Sufficiently wide frames;
• USB 2.0;
• Plastic case.

As you can see from the list above, there are more pluses of the new Oppo K3 than minuses, and the main drawbacks of them are still the lack of NFC (which, frankly, not everyone needs) and not very fast USB.

To be frank, the K3 could be one of Oppo's most interesting gadgets in recent memory. It makes no sense to re-list its advantages, we can only say that it is perfect for everyday use, and its purchase will not hit the owner's pocket hard.