The first thing you notice about the Oppo Find X3 Lite is that it’s a phone. The second thing is the textured back chassis which, saints be praised, doesn’t seem to collect fingerprints like an obsessive stamp enthusiast. Then, of course, you slip on the protective jelly case and will, probably, forget all about the actual body of the phone.

Farewell, tactile surprise. Hello, surprisingly robust device.

Admittedly, my feelings about Oppo have gone from cautious optimism to pleasant surprise to damn-near devotion over the couple of years I’ve been reviewing their devices. Every time I get another to look at, I think they can’t top the last one. And yet they somehow manage it.

It’s not natural, I tell ya.

Charging into the future

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a pretty serious issue with procrastinating, whether it’s charging your phone or writing a review for a phone.

… Whoops.

Point is, with the Oppo Find X3 Lite, the first half of that is a non-issue. Gotta get to work, but you’re hovering on 3%? Plugging in the Find X3 Lite for as little toime as it takes to make a coffee or brush your teeth, and you’ll be good to go for at leats another couple of hours.

Seriously, for me this is an absolute godsend. Could we learn to charge our phones regularly? Yes. But I’ve had a stressful couple of months, so Oppo looking after this life admin for me is most assuredly welcome.

True to Oppo form as well, the battery lasts for a brief eternity, a good two days of decent use on my part.

Top notch brand at low low price

“But Brian”, I hear you ask, “how can I afford such a pretty and power-saving phone?” Well, imaginary reader, you’re in luck, because Oppo seem to have yet again inexplicably priced this at least $200 too low. It’s $799 NZD. That’s a deal and a half right there.

Seriously I do not understand how Oppo make money. Does this mean that certain competitors don’t actually NEED to price their devices at almost two grand, and the ever-rising cost of personal technology is just a symptom of the runaway greed inherent to end-stage capitalism?

Yes. Yes it does. Oppo are being cool about it by making their stuff good and affordable. I respect that.

More powerful than you thought…

The trade off for affordability in Lite version devices is the expectation of it being slow, weak, and eating your leftover pizza without asking. Here in Oppo Find X3 Lite land, though, that’s really not an issue. Everything I threw at it ran dreamily. Yeah it got a bit hot when playing games for extended periods, or when charging up to max, but who wou;dn’t get a little spicy after that?

Not sure why, but the Bluetooth also seems better than other Oppos before it. Is that a thing? It definitely connected way better than past review devices, so I’m gonna assume it’s intentional because it was GREAT not to have my headphones inexplicably blast me to deafness every time I reconeccted.

The camera (c’mon you knew it was coming) is great. Not the absolute best in the world, true, but usually the best in the room when I’m needing photos taken. Four cameras on the back and one on the front feels like too many, but hey, whatever megas your pixels.

… but less features than you’d hoped

Did I expect wireless charging? No. Do I wish it had it? Of course I do. But that junk is expensive and, again, this is a budget flagship… a flagraft? Flagdinghy? Anyway these are the sacrifices you make when you go for this option. It is by no means a dealbreaker, I just want everything to charge by itself constantly.

Overall, the Oppo Find X3 Lite is a $1200 phone in a $799 package. If you don’t want to fork over four figures for a fantastic phone, this great one is the most device you’ll get for your dollars.

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