Hands-on review: Oppo Find X3 Lite 5G - midrange done right

As a tech enthusiast, I'm always on the lookout for mid-range phones that will make you feel like you are not missing out. After looking at the Oppo Find X3 Lite, I am starting to believe that Oppo is the brand that is doing precisely that.

Design

You could never tell that the Find X3 Lite 5G is not Oppo's high-end device because this phone looks just as sleek as the Pro models. It has a slim design with slightly round edges. It also has a screen that almost covers the phone from edge to edge. Even the selfie camera is just a small round lens hiding discreetly in the top left corner.

The phone is available in both Starry Black and Astral Blue colours. I was able to get my hands on the Astral Blue one, and I have loved it so far. The Find X3 Lite also came with a transparent case in the box. While this is a very small detail, I was very appreciative of it. Including this in the box meant that the phone was protected, but I could still see the beautiful colour on the back. It also meant that I did not have to spend additional money on getting a protective case.

Cameras

For a mid-range phone, the Oppo Find X3 definitely doesn't skimp on cameras. The phone has a 32MP selfie camera and four different rear cameras. It has a 64MP primary camera supported by an 8MP Ultra Wide-Angle Camera, a 2MP Mono camera and a 2MP Macro camera. This basically means that your phone is decked out to take amazing photos and videos that will easily compete with higher-level phones.

The Selfie camera is great for photos as well as video. It even has the capability of shooting 4K at 30 frames per second video. This is perfect for anyone who takes selfies a lot or goes on many video calls as the quality will look great. I was also pleasantly surprised with the quality of the photos the camera can take in low light! Without flash, I expected them to be really dark, but surprisingly, the phone does great at recognising light. The selfie mode is also something to check out definitely.

The four rear cameras worked exactly as you would expect them to. They took good photos and had all the different modes we have gotten used to in phones. They are reliable for sure, but they are nothing extremely outstanding. One impressive feature about the rear cameras is that they can record in dual mode. This means that you can shoot a video using the front and back cameras simultaneously. While this is not a feature I would use a lot, It would be helpful on occasions like birthdays or surprises where it would be cool to record the reactions of both parties.

Performance

I always expect midrange phones to work well for a few weeks and then start to lag after. I have had the Oppo Fix X3 Lite for almost a month now, and this is yet to happen. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip. The chip supports 5G bands6 making the phone 5G ready. It also offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which makes for a really smooth performance.

While 128GB is standard for a mid-range phone, I found it a little disappointing that I could not expand that with a Micro SD card. I realise that removing the micro SD card slot is slowly becoming the new norm in phones but it is still a little disappointing.

Another really impressive feature for a mid-range phone is the fact that the phone supports Superfast charging. Many companies disable this feature in their midrange phones to push consumers to go for the higher end Pro models. Oppo did not do that, which is amazing.