NAIROBI: A walk in major streets of Nairobi, one cannot help to notice activities at various shop outlets. Along Kenyatta Avenue, opposite ICEA building for instance, a new shop has just opened with promos of latest smartphones in the market.
Inside the shop, various manufacturers including samsung, Nokia are displaying their latest brands to woo many Kenyans who have unique appetite for phones that allows them to carry out their normal duties without interruption.
Oppo which is a new entrant in the market display wide range of its phone series, of interest is the N3 series which flaunts a sleek, stainless-steel frame; a fingerprint sensor; and a rotating camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens for capturing high-quality selfies.
Oppo N3 has a camera module which is separate from the chassis, making for a thicker phone, and unlike the slim and lightweight devices you see from its competitors, Oppo’s N3 feels thick and heavy. The phone fits well in the hand and one of the reasons for that is the 5.5-inch display.
The left edge of the phone sports the power button and the sim card plus microSD card tray. Interestingly it can accommodate both nano and micro sim cards. You can also see the micro-USB port on the same side down below. The volume rocker and 3.5mm headset jack are placed at the right edge. The keys offer good tactile feedback and are pretty responsive.
At the back, you’ll see a metal ring that surrounds a squarish button. Oppo calls this Touch access. It’s not just a fingerprint scanner used for unlocking the phone and app authentication but also has convenience features related to the camera.
The chin of the phone features a transparent, double sided notification light and the speaker grill. There’s some gap between the chin and the curved frame at the bottom enhancing the effect of the notification light. Oppo calls this ‘hollow out’ design.
Overall, the Oppo N3 features some unique design elements that make it stand out from the rest of the crowd.
The Oppo N3 features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1920x1080p) display and three capacitive touch buttons. Unlike the Find 7, N3’s display is not a 2K (2560x1440p) one but we found it to be bright and vivid. The display also boasts of wide viewing angles and pictures and text looked crisp and sharp.
Oppo N3’s display offers sharp and crisp text and graphics, along with excellent viewing angles. We found the screen to be slightly reflective and affected the outdoor legibility to a small extent.
Oppo N3 runs Color OS 2.0.1i which is based on Android 4.4 (KitKat). The OS is essentially a heavily customized version of Android that offers support for themes and lock screen widgets. The phone currently retails at Sh59,999.
