In India, Oppo K3 was also launched in the same price segment as Realme X was launched in. In both devices you will only notice the difference in design, RAM, storage and rear camera. Starting at Rs 16,990, is the Oppo K3 a better option than the likes of Redmi Note 7 Pro (Review) and Vivo Z1 Pro (Review) on the market? let’s know…
Oppo K3 design
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen design similarities between Oppo and Realme phones. The length-width and weight of both phones are also the same. Due to the laminated back panel, smudges come off easily, too, but we didn’t see many scratch marks during the review. The Oppo K3’s polycarbonate body feels premium and tough.
The button placement is also similar compared to the Realme X. The dual SIM tray is located on the right side of the phone, but there is no option to increase storage. The single speaker, USB Type-C port, and headphone jack sit at the bottom of the phone, while the pop-up selfie camera sits in the middle of the top of the phone. Sapphire crystal has been used for sensor protection.
Oppo K3 sports a 6.5-inch AMOLED screen with Full-HD+ resolution. There is also Gorilla Glass to protect the screen. Colors look good on the AMOLED panel and the phone’s brightness is good too. For security, an in-screen fingerprint sensor has been provided that unlocks the phone faster.
There are two color variants of Oppo K3: one Aurora Blue (we have for review) and the other Jade Black. The phone sports a purple and magenta two-tone finish that looks great and the lamination produces cool visual patterns when the light hits it. In the retail box, you will find VOOC 3.0 fast charger, USB Type-C cable, case, SIM eject tool.
Oppo K3 Specifications and Software
Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor has been included in Oppo K3, this chipset provides good CPU and GPU performance. Two variants of Oppo K3 have been launched, one with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which costs Rs 16,990. Secondly, with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, which is priced at Rs 19,990.
We have its 64GB storage variant for review, which has plenty of space. Connectivity options on the Oppo K3 include Dual 4G VoLTE, Dual Band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5, USB-OTG, GPS support. The phone doesn’t have a notification LED, but you can enable the always-on display that shows you the clock, missed call alerts, and SMS only.
Oppo K3 has FM radio but remember that Realme X does not have FM radio. This Oppo branded phone runs on ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie. Our review unit runs on the July Android security patch. The interface is easy to use and comes with a large number of shortcuts and gestures, which we have seen on the Realme X recently.
Dolby Atmos surround sound enabled by default on the Oppo K3 is enabled when the phone’s speaker is in use. ColorOS doesn’t send you unnecessary notifications, but the Oppo App Store app does, but you can turn them off by going to the app’s settings. You will already have some third-party apps pre-installed on your phone, such as NewsPoint, UC Browser, Dailyhunt, etc., but you can also uninstall them if you want.
Oppo K3 performance and battery life
If you put the phone in your pocket, it feels very heavy and it is not easy to use the phone with one hand. We recently reviewed the Realme X and now, after reviewing the Oppo K3, we find the overall experience to be very similar. Sometimes the Oppo K3 slips out of your hand, but luckily you’ve been given a case in the box that helps keep your grip on the phone.
The phone runs Android smoothly and we don’t complain about the heating up of the phone. The phone got a bit warm during the game. The Oppo K3’s Snapdragon 710 processor has decent integrated graphics capabilities. Asphalt 9: Legends and PUBG Mobile ran smoothly on high graphics settings.
The big screen might be a pain for general use, but you will have a great experience watching movies or playing games. The content on the screen is pleasant to look at due to the good color saturation and high brightness of the AMOLED panel. Apart from this, the speaker with Dolby Atmos offers a good and strong sound.
The pop-up camera’s eject and retract mechanism is fast, so facial recognition works well. Screen light helps you unlock your phone in low light. The Oppo K3 is powered by a 3765 mAh battery, the Realme X also packs a similar battery.
The results of our battery loop test are also very similar. In our HD video loop test, the Oppo K3 lasted 14 hours and 46 minutes, and the phone lasted more than a day with moderate use. The fast charger that comes with the phone charges the phone from 0 to 52 percent in half an hour and up to 91 percent in an hour.
Oppo K3 camera
The rear camera of this phone is slightly different from Realme X. Oppo K3 has a 16-megapixel main camera, which has an F/1.7 aperture. There’s also a 2-megapixel depth-sensing camera for use in portrait mode. The Oppo K3’s autofocus system is fast and doesn’t take long to lock focus on your subject.
Photos are quickly saved as soon as you click the shutter button. Details were captured well in daylight landscape shots, colors had good saturation, and HDR handled exposure well. The camera app also has a Chroma Boost feature that we’ve seen on Realme phones, on this one it’s called Dazzle Colour. Sharpness and detail were captured well in close-ups, though the camera’s AI boosted primary colors.
Indoors, photos taken in artificial light also turned out well. Details were captured well, colors looked good, and there was no noise in the images. Focus speed was also good. While he was taking pictures outdoors at night, the images came out fine, but details were lacking. This problem is solved with the Night Shooting mode, which improves the brightness in dark areas, corrects overexposed areas and compensates for the lack of detail in the scene.
The Oppo K3 has a 16MP selfie camera, which captures decent selfies even when shooting against the light. HDR is very effective, but the camera struggles to capture good detail in low light. The default beautification settings are a bit aggressive when it comes to smoothing out the skin.
Speaking of videos, the Oppo K3 is capable of recording up to 4K resolution but without any kind of stabilization. Image quality is good, but colors look a little better. Continuous autofocus is also fast and there was no problem even when switching between two subjects. Stabilization is available at 1080p, which works well. Image quality is average in low light.
The camera app is easy to use, and the viewfinder has the option to activate Google Lens in addition to the standard shooting modes such as time-lapse, panorama, expert, and slow motion.
our decision
Oppo K3 is a good all-rounder phone. We have the 64 GB storage variant which costs almost the same as the base variant of the Realme X, while the 6 GB RAM variant of the Oppo K3, on the other hand, costs the same as the 4 GB RAM variant of the Realme X. The cameras are also different on both devices, but from our experience, the Oppo K3 smartphone has come very close to the camera performance of the Realme X.
Between the base models of the two, we prefer the Realme X because of course you get a little less RAM but double the storage. Remember that there is no option to increase storage on Oppo K3. Oppo K3’s rival phones, Redmi Note 7 Pro and Vivo Z1 Pro, can also give you more storage and the option to expand storage in the same price segment.
The Oppo K3 is an online exclusive phone and is available for sale only on Amazon. Realme X, on the other hand, is also being sold via flash sales and may soon be available via Realme offline stores as well. Let us tell you that the top variant of Oppo K3 has RAM and storage equal to Realme X.<!–
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