Oppo has always been aggressive in the offline market, but earlier this year with the K-series, the focus shifted to online in India. After the Oppo K1, the company has now launched the K3 for the online market in less than six months. The Oppo K3 will be exclusively available on Amazon India at a starting price of Rs 16,990. The Oppo K3 comes in two variants. The base 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant costs Rs 16,990, while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage will retail at Rs 19,990. I got a chance to use the Oppo K3 at company’s New Delhi launch event and here are my first impressions.
Oppo K3: Design and full-screen display
The first thing you’ll notice in Oppo K3 is its beautiful design. The phone comes in two color variants Aurora Blue and Jade Black. There is a slight resemblance to premium Oppo Reno, but the back plastic finish is glossy. The display up-front is notch-less, and you get a pop-up selfie camera. Oppo’s sister company also has a similar phone, its called the Realme X. But there’s a slight difference in the design of the two phones.
The display on Oppo K3 is an AMOLED 6.5-inch panel carries a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and supports 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It is super bright and eye-pleasing. I found the touch response to be smooth in my limited time with the device. In terms of hand feel, the K3 feels premium. It is ergonomically designed and fits well in the palm. The back is a glossy fingerprint magnet.
Oppo K3: Camera and Battery
Oppo has had a number of selfie-focused phones in the past, and that’s one area the company has done a decent job in the affordable segment as well. In K3, the highlight is its 16-megapixel motorized pop-up selfie camera with f/1.7 aperture. At the back, there is dual-camera setup, which is vertically stacked in the center. This dual-lens setup includes a 16-megapixel primary camera with f/1.7 sensor paired with a 2-megapixel depth-sensing camera. There are a few modes in the camera app, and I could spot the Night mode as well. The camera performance remains to be seen. It seemed alright for the value in my limited hands on time, but more in-depth details will follow in my full review soon.
In the battery department, Oppo is offering VOOC 3.0 fast charging. The phone carries a 3,765mAh battery, which gets charged using USB Type-C port. Thankfully, Oppo has upgraded to latest USB Type-C technology from microUSB seen on Oppo K1. It was one of the complaints that consumers had in that phone.
Opp K3: Processor, RAM and more
The Oppo K3 comes powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC coupled with 6GB and 8GB of RAM. The 6GB RAM variant offers 64GB of inbuilt storage, and the 8GB variant offers 128GB storage. The phone carries an in-display fingerprint sensor, which according to the company is an improved version and is much faster.
The 3.5mm audio port has been retained on K3, and it can be found at the bottom edge alongside USB Type-C port. In my limited time, the phone’s performance felt alright, although it was impossible to check gaming or anything else. So you’ll need to wait for our full review for it.
Oppo K3: Initial Impressions
At starting Rs 16,990, the Oppo K3 directly takes on Realme X, which is from their sister company Realme. Both phones offer almost identical specifications, except that the Realme X has an upper hand in the camera department. On the other hand, Oppo K3 buyers will have an advantage of extra RAM. The Oppo K3 offers 6GB RAM instead of 4GB. On top of it, Oppo is practically offering the K3 at Rs 14,990. In partnership with Amazon, Oppo is offering Rs 1,000 Amazon Pay cashback and if you own Axis Bank debit/credit card, you get further Rs 1,000 instant discount as well.
During my initial time with the device, I felt that the Oppo K3 is a beautiful looking smartphone and it feels great in hands too. In its price segment, the K3 ticks almost all boxes of a modern age smartphone. Having said that, we are yet to test the performance of the device, so until then, there will be no judgment from our end. Do stay tuned for our full review soon.
| Features | Realme X | Oppo K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 16999 | 16990 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC |
| OS | Android 9 Pie with ColorOS 6 | Android 9 Pie |
| Display | 6.53-inch -FHD+, AMOLED | 6.5-inch full HD+, AMOLED |
| Internal Memory | 4GB RAM + 128GB storage | 6GB RAM + 64GB storage |
| Rear Camera | Dual 48MP + 5MP | 16MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 16MP | 16MP |
| Battery | 3,765mAh | 3,765mAh |
