The Chinese have successfully entered the smartphone market, and Oppo aims to expand its presence even further. As Sakis Karpas, I'm excited to review the Oppo N3, the first smartphone in the world with a mechanical rotating camera.

Oppo's packaging is as expected - truly wonderful. Besides the phone itself, we find a fast charge wall charger, a headset with good quality build and remarkable performance, and an O-Click remote control. The design of the N3 has some good choices, along with some mistakes. On the plus side, it features an awesome build quality that feels solid, and beautiful diamond cut edges. I also loved the gap that allows the LED notification light to shine through, making notifications visible no matter where the phone is positioned.

However, there are some downsides. The placement of the micro-USB port on the lower left side is a bad choice, which makes using the phone impossible while it's charging. Similarly, the audio-jack port on the right side is also poorly placed. Furthermore, I find the phone to be slightly bulky, which may not be comfortable for smaller hands.

Despite these issues, the rest of the buttons are far better and more clicky than those found in the Find 7. The almost hidden speaker is satisfying, and the internal speaker, which resides inside the rotating camera, is louder than I expected. I must also mention the O-Touch on the back, which offers fingerprint scanning - a great implementation of this technology.

Moving on to storage, the N3 has a slot that supports 2 SIM cards or 1 SIM and a microSD card up to 128GB. The Chinese are clever with storage allocation, as the back cover is not removable. The phone features a 5.5 inch screen protected by Gorilla Glass 3, measuring 161.2mm tall, 77mm wide, and 9.9mm thick. It's not the thinnest or lightest phone available, but it still looks sleek.

The N3 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801 processor, which means a quad-core KRAIT 400 processor @2.3GHz and Adreno 330 in charge of the graphics. We get 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The IPS LCD screen has a Full HD resolution and pixel density of @403ppi. While the screen panel is good overall, it lacks on brightness, blacks, and viewing angles.

The phone's battery life is satisfactory, lasting less than expected due to the rotating camera. However, fast charging (75% in 30 minutes) and variety of power-saving options make up for this. The N3 comes with Oppo's version of Android, known as ColorOS, which has improved significantly since last year. As a user myself, I can attest that the company is trying hard to improve the software.

ColorOS may not be the best on Android, but it's still a great effort. Users who prefer stock Android or CyanogenMod can officially download them from Oppo forums. I didn't encounter any specific problems using N3, and everything works smoothly - from games to browsing.

Now, let's talk about the camera. The mechanically rotating camera is what makes the N3 stand out. It was initially a gimmick to me, but it grew on me as I used the device. It works flawlessly, even when used manually or as a camera shortcut if the screen is turned off.

One notable feature of the camera is perfect selfies with dual LED flash. Changing the angle of the camera in real-time allows for more artistic and stable shots. You can also operate the camera at a distance via the O-Click remote control.

While the photos aren't jaw-dropping, they're not bad either. I loved the wonderful camera software on both the Find 7 and N3, with many choices and beautiful layouts.

The Oppo N3 is available for €549 in the official European store of the company. While the price may be a bit high for the specs offered, you are paying for the world's first smartphone with a mechanically rotating camera. On the other hand, Find 7 has better specs and is also available at Oppo stores for significantly cheaper.

That concludes our review of the Oppo N3.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSince the Chinese entered successfully the smartphone market,they try to get a bigger piece of the pie.Oppo tries to do exactly that and is very activeespecially after Find 5.I am Sakis Karpas, you are watching Unboxholicsand this is Oppo N3, the first smartphone on the planetwith a mechanical rotating camera.I have a lot to talk about, so let's get right into that.N3 comes in the usual, truly wonderful packaging of Oppo.Besides the phone, we find the fast charge wall charger,a headset with good quality build and remarkable performanceand the O-Click remote control which we will deal with later.On design, Oppo made some good choices, along with some mistakes.On the plus side is the awesome build quality,it feels solid, it has beautiful diamond cut edgesand I loved the gap that lets the LED notification light come through.Now you can see the notifications no matter where the phone faces.On the downsides, I find the placing of the micro-USB porton the lower left side a bad choice,which makes the use of the phone impossible while it is charging.The same goes for the audio-jack port on the right side.Furthermore, I find the phone a bit bulky.For my hands it's just perfect,but I doubt it will be as comfortable in smaller hands.I can't find anything else to nag about though,as the rest of the buttons are far better and more clicky than the Find 7 ones,the almost hidden speaker is satisfying,the internal speaker - which resides inside the rotating camera - is louderthan I expected, and I must take note of the O-Touch on the backthat offers fingerprint scanning.It might be the best implementation of this technology,so kudos to the Oppo engineers.Moving on, there is a slot that supports 2 SIM cardsor 1 SIM and a microSD card up to 128GB.Nicely played on storage allocation by the Chinese,as the back cover is not removable.N3 has a 5.5 inch screen protected by Gorilla Glass 3.It's 161.2mm tall, 77mm wide, 9.9mm thick,surely not the thinnest phone there is.It's not the lightest either, as it weighs 192gr.N3 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801,which means a quad-core KRAIT 400 processor @2.3GHzand Adreno 330 in charge of the graphics.We get 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.The IPS LCD screen has a Full HD resolutionand the pixel density is @403ppi.The screen panel is good overall,provides satisfactory colors, good whites and sharp image.However, it lacks on brightness, on blacks and on viewing angles.As with Find 7, I expected much more on brightness.Although it has the same 3.000mAh battery as the Find 7,it lasts less, maybe because of the rotating camera.It manages to squeeze out a full day of use,as most of the phones out there.On the other hand, fast charging (75% in 30mins),and the variety of the power saving optionsmakes the whole situation better.N3 comes with Oppo's version of Android, known as ColorOS.Being a ColorOS user myself for sometime,I must admit that the company is tryingreally hard to improve the software.A year ago, ColorOS was nothing special,but now it's much better with some nice innovations.It's not the best there is on Android,but just the fact that the developers work with artistryon the software, take notice of the complaints of the usersvia Oppo forums, made me a very happy user.Nevertheless, if you prefer stock Android or CyanogenMod,you can officially download them from the Oppo forums.So you are not really stuck with ColorOS.I didn't encounter any specific problems using N3.From games to browsing, everything worked smoothly.And now the thing that makes N3 different.The mechanically rotating camera.I admit that it looked a bit gimmick to me at first,but I grew fond of it as I used the device.It works flawlesly. If you don't want to use the automated mechanism,you can just move it by hand.You won't break it, believe me.Using your hand, works as a camera shortcut,if the screen is turned off.I made notice of two things.First, the one and only rotating camera meansperfect selfies with dual LED flash.Second, I really liked the fact that I was changing the angle of the cameraon real time. That means more artistic, more stableand even more impressive panorama shots.You can operate the camera at a distance, via the O-Click remote control.Overall the camera was satisfying.You can't shoot 4K video with its 16MP sensor,but it can handle 1080p @60fps easily.The photos aren't jaw-dropping, but don't have anything wrong.I loved though - since Find 7 - the wonderful camera softwarewith the many choices and the beautiful layout.In general, N3 has a good camera that willcover more than the basic needs of a user.Oppo N3 is available by the official European store of the companyat €549.Take a look at the link on the description.The price is a bit high for the specs it offers,but you are paying for the world's first smartphonewith a mechanically rotating camera.Which as I said before, it's a great implementation.On the other hand, Find 7 has better specsand is also available at the Oppo store, significantly cheaper.I will leave the conclusions to you.That's all for now. I'll catch you up at Unboxholics.com\n"