OPPO Find X3 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S21 series – which ...

With the budget to buy a premium 5G smartphone, you only have two choices – OPPO Find X3 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series – the latter is a good, better, best scenario with S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra 5G.

It’s a long story, but I have been using the Samsung Galaxy S series as my daily drive since the 2015 S5. I guess I subconsciously compare all smartphones to this standard and Samsung’s ease of use.

Before that, I was a deliriously happy Windows Phone/Nokia user. I had a brief and unhappy flirtation with the Apple 6-series as well. The result – I am an Android person.

Long story short, OPPO challenged me to swap daily drives ‘for a month’ from Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G to the OPPO Find X3 Pro 5G. Its logic was to challenge the subconscious comparison (no intentional bias intended) to see any substantive differences between the two premium flagships.

I have both on the testbed. Objectively (is there any other way?), we run through the specs and characteristics to see which offers more. The answer? Well, it is not all about specs, so sorry, you may need to jump to

GadgetGuy’s take

at the end.

OPPO Find X3 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Methodology: We compare OPPO with Samsung and objectively declare a category winner. In some respects, it may seem to be unfair to compare the $1499 OPPO Find X3 Pro 256GB (website

here

) to the S21 Ultra 256GB $1949 (website

here

). We have repeated all significant tests to ensure fairness.

OPPO is the left column in any table. In many instances, we have used only an OPPO or Samsung image to illustrate a point.

Apologies – a blank cell indicates we don’t quite have all the comparative data and if we have made any errors, we don’t think it would materially change the review.

Switching from Samsung to OPPO

My most significant fear was not using the excellent

Samsung Switch software

to update from one generation Samsung to the next using Wi-Fi or cable.

But it turns out that there are several options to swap from Samsung to OPPO.

Highly recommended is to use cloud apps like Gmail or Microsoft Outlook for Mail, Contacts and Calendar. As a Windows user, Outlook was a no-brainer. Frankly, I found Samsung productivity app alternatives adequate but not all that compelling. So that covers critical data.

Next, copy all your photos to a PC or flash drive. These can chew up terabytes of data, and it is faster to switch phones without them.

Next is to backup everything to Google Drive – that means all your apps, data, records, and settings. It is easy to restore from there too. BTW

no switching software copies passwords or logins,

so no matter what you do, you will need to re-enter these unless you subscribe to a password manager like Last Pass – I do! Easy.

OPPO has its

Clone Phone app

(iOS or Andriod) that displays a QR code to install on the old phone. Once done, OPPO acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot for the old phone –fast. It transfers everything completely, including contacts, messages, call history, photos, videos, audios, files, system application data, installed apps and data.

But there was one minor issue – not OPPO’s fault. Samsung Galaxy apps (and there are plenty) don’t seem to work as well on other phones, so you need to delete these. For example, S-Health was giving weird results.

If I want to switch back, I have Samsung Switch that should handle it with ease.

Design

I like big phones. The Samsung is heavier and thicker, more so with the bumper cover to stop the large camera hump from being scratched. OPPO is ‘svelte’, lighter and has a nice glass back – it’s a shame to put abumper cover on that too.

OPPO has a definite design edge.

Resale value – second hand

Samsung, like Apple, has a trade-in system that perhaps keeps second-hand values higher than they would typically be. Well, OPPO has struck back, offering an

even more generous trade-in program

and will trade in Apple, Samsung and Google phones. A Note 20 has a whopping $620 value, Apple XS $595 and Google 5 $470. It is about to announce 2021 trade-in prices.

Winner – it is a draw, but OPPOs trade-in program is increasing second-hand resale value with its 2020 Find X2 Pro still selling for around $900 on GumTree (watch out for the phone scam

here

).

Screen

Interestingly OPPO has a Samsung S6E3HC3 LPTO OLED display that we will likely see in the iPhone 13 and perhaps the Samsung S22 Ultra.

Item

OPPO Find X3 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Size

6.7”, 20:9

6.8” 20:9

Type

Top left O-holeLTPO OLED (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) exclusively for high-end phonesMostly flat with a 2.5D edge

Centre O-holeDynamic AMOLED 2XDitto

Refresh

Adaptive from 1-120Hz and 240Hz touch rate. Or select a fixed 60 or 120Hz rate.

Adaptive from 48/60/96/120Hz only at 1440p.Same

Resolution

3216 x 1440

3200 x 1440

PPI/Ratio

525ppi, 92.7% screen to body ratio

515, 89.8%

Colour depth

1 billion colours 10-bit

16.7m 8-bit

Brightness

1300nits peak (tested to 1380)

1500nits peak (tested to 1400)

Adaptive Max

800nits (Test 860)

Similar

Adaptive off

500 nits (Test 490)

400nits (tested to 410)

Uniformity

100% – OLED can completely turn off a pixel

Same

Contrast

Infinite (difference between pure black and pure white)

Same

Gamut Vivid

100% DCI-P3

100% DCI-P3

Gentle

100% sRGB

100% sRGB

Delta E

0.8 (excellent – below 4 is good)

2

Adaptive

Automatically recognises sRGB and DCI-P3 images, displaying them with accuracy. Similar to Apple True Tone.

No

Colour temp

Adjustable from cool to warm

Same

Ambient light

Automatic natural tone display

Same

SDR upscale

Can upscale SDR to HDR video content

Same

Certification

DisplayMate A+ and .4 JNCD pro-grade colour accuracy

No

Daylight view

Excellent

Excellent

Viewing angle

OLED has the widest viewing angle without colour loss

Same

AOD

Customisable patterns

Slightly more customisations

Dark mode

Load themes from the Theme store

Same

Blue light

Ambient light sensor and time of day adapt the intensity and reduce the amount of blue lightTuV certified

Similar

Edge lighting

Display different colours for notifications screen off

Similar

HDMI out

Yes, Android screen to 1080p monitor

Same plus Samsung DeX – a type of Android desktop

Accessibility

Full range of Android colour, font and sizeOPPOs Colour Vision Enhancement allows users with Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD) to see colour-corrective hues and deeper contrast levels for colour differentiation. It is perfect for colour blindness and eye protection.

SameSamsung accessibility features are similar

Haptic feedback

Good

Good

DRM

Widevine L1, HDCP 2.3HDR10, HDR10+ and HLGVideo out via USB-C is disabled when playing copyright content.Netflix FHD in HDR and faux upscales SDR as well.

Widevine L1 HDCP 2.2HDR10, HLGSamsung claims HDR10+, but DRM Info does not find thisNetflix FHD in HDR

Gaming

Perfect for gaming with a 2.4ms rise and fall combined and 7.5ms Grey-to-Grey. It also has zero latency game control that adjusts a 60Hz game from 51-72Hz to suit.

3.2ms G-T-G

Protection

Corning Gorilla Glass 5Pre-fitted screen protector

Corning Gorilla Glass VictusSame

FingerprintFace ID

Optical under glass – Test: 10/10Test 8/10

Ultrasonic under glass – Test: 8/10Test 8/10

Stylus

No

On S21 Ultra but not S21 series

OPPO’s 10-bit, 1.07 billion colour screen (which carries over to its Full-Path Colour Management System photographic processing) is vastly superior to the Samsung 8-bit. In day-to-day use on auto-brightness, auto-refresh and at the same resolution, the OPPO has purer whites and accurate colours.

Samsung’s 16.7m screen is very good and supports an S Pen if that is your need.

Winner: OPPO screen quality by a long way

Processor

SoC

Qualcomm SD888 5G

eight-core 5nm 1×2.84GHz, 3×2.42GHz, 4×1.80GHz

Exynos 2100

eight-core 5nm1 x 2.91, 3 x 2.81. 4 x 2.21

GPU

Adreno 660 840MHzTests: Open CL: 4574Tests: Vulcan: 4463

Mali G78Open CL: 4111Vulcan: 3296

Game use

This is the world’s fastest SoC, and with the excellent screen and adaptive refresh and OPPO’s dual speakers and Game Space, it will play all current games

It is one of the fastest SoCs and should have no issues with high frame rates. But some gamers report that the 120Hz refresh was an issue. I understand that recent firmware updates have fixed this.

RAM

12GB LPDDR5 – 4-channel 3200fastest memory

12GB LPDDR5 – Dual-channel

Storage

256GB (215GB free) UFS 3.1x 2 lanesOTG supports up to 2TB external drivesTests: CPDT (sequential read-write)256GB internal: 748/416Orico iMatch 1TB USB-C 3.1, 1200/426HP USB 3.1 512GB 989/418OWC Envoy 256GB 732/421

128GB ( 100Gb free) UFS 3.1SameTest: CPDT MBps128GB internal: 608/230

Orico Match 1TB USB-C 3.1 SSD

1390/224

HP USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps 512GB

557/221

OWC Envoy 256GB USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps SSD drive

608/230

micro-SD

No, but with USB-C 3.1 Gen 1, it can write 4K video direct to an external device.This is the first device we have tested that automatically works with all USB-C storage devices without having to find OTG settings and reboot after device insertion or removal.

No, Samsung has USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 and can read/write 4K files to external media.Samsung requests a reboot after a USB device is interested/removed – we ignored that warning.

GeekBench 5

Single: 929Multi: 3397There is no faster Qualcomm Snapdragon

6173004

Throttle15-minute test

Max: 240,292GIPS, Average: 223,47110% loss over 15 minutesCPU temp reached 50°CExternal temperature on the back: 39°CIt has a vapour chamber and graphite cooling system that copes with extended load with minimal throttling

Max: 227,660 GIPS, Average: 198,97416% loss over 15 minutesCPU temp reached 50°External temp 47°

The OPPO SD888 is a better all-rounder. Its two-lane HS-Gear4 storage gives twice the sequential write speeds, so it is excellent for direct video recording to an external SSD drive. OPPO Game space is impressive.

Winner: OPPO and SD888

Comms

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E AX 2×2 MIMO, VHT160Tests:Signal Strength 5Ghz – distance from Netgear RAX200 AX11000 router2m:-15dBm/2400Mbps5m: -30dBm/2400Mbps10m: -44dBm/1800Mbps20m: -56dBm/1200Mbps

Same using BMC4389C1 chipset2m:-23dBm/2400Mbps5m: -49dBm/2400113410m: -52dBm/180015m: -59dBm/1200

Bluetooth

BT 5.2 LE

Same

UltraWideband

No

Yes

GPS

Dual-bandTest: Accuracy to less than <2m excellent for high-speed turn-by-turn navigation.

Same

NFC

Dual antenna supports eSE/HCE/NFC-SIM

Same – PayWave only

USB-C

USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (5Gbps/625MBps half-duplex)Alt DP outIt has an Analog Audio Switch and DAC for headphone use

SameSame plus DeX desktop

Sensors

Combo LSM6DS0 Accelerometer and Gyro Magnetometer e-CompassGravityPedometerNoTCS3408 Ultra-high sensitivity light-to-digital converter for Ambient Light Sensing (ALS), colour (RGB) sensing, and selective flicker detection.STK33502 Ambient Light sensor

SameSameSameSameBarometerHall, Proximity, Ambient LightGame rotation and tilt vector,

The OPPO has stronger Wi-Fi signal strength but otherwise – draw.

LTE and 5G

All tests are with a Boost 4G service on the Telstra network.

SIM

Dual SIM (both cards are active, only one in use at a time)eSIM disables SIM2 and is subject to carrier support

Single SIM and eSIM

Ring tone

Single (many people prefer dual ringtones)

Dual

Support

VoLTE – carrier dependentWi-Fi calling – carrier dependent

Same

DL/ULTest

Telstra Band 3 – 3-bar area30/20Mbps and 43ms

Telstra Band 3 – 3-bar area17.5/18.8Mbps and 43ms

4G Bands

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 66

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66

5G sub-6Ghz

1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 77, 78, 79

1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78

4G LTE Test

-101dBm/158.5fWFound next tower at -103dBm/63.1fW

-100dBm/70fWDid not find other towersNot Blue-tick certified – S21/+ is

Both phones support low-band 5G and sub-6Ghz. The OPPO has a far higher signal strength and finds neighbouring towers, so it is the clear winner.

Bat

t

ery

Battery

4500mAh rated for 800 complete charge cycles – long life

5000mAh – no cycle rating provided but expect similar

Charger

65W SuperVOOCTest:0-50% – 12 minutes0-100% – 35 minutes5V/3A – 4 hours

None supplied. Recommends25W (PD3.0)0-50% – 30 minutes0-100% – 75 minutes5V/3A – 4 hours

Wireless

OPPO AirCharge 30-45WQi from 5-18W.Test:Belkin 15W Qi charger – 4 hoursAirVOOC 45W <60 minutes

Qi Charge 15W maxTest:Belkin 15W Qi charger – 4 hoursN/A

Reverse wireless Charge

Up to 10W

Up to 4.5W

TestsAdaptive

Video Loop test: 1080p/50%/aeroplane mode – 16 hrsNetflix 1080p, 50%, Wi-Fi – 13 hrsTypical use Wi-Fi Test – 13 hrsMP3 music: 50% vol from storage –24+100% load Battery drain –7.3 hoursGFX Bench Manhattan 3.1 – 301.2minutes (5 hrs) 3742 framesGFX Benchmark T-Rex: 555.6 minutes (9.27hr) and 3369 framesPC Mark 2.0: 10 hours 25 minutes

Video Loop test: 1080p/50%/aeroplane mode – 19 hoursNetflix 1080p, 50%, Wi-Fi – 13 hrsTypical use 4G, Wi-Fi Test – 12 hrsMP3 music: 50% vol from storage – 24+100% load Battery drain – 8 hoursGFX Benchmark Manhattan 3.1: Gets out-of-memory-errorGFX Benchmark T-Rex – 306.6min (5.17hrs) 5861 framesPC Mark 2.0: 9.40hrs

Both are one-day phones, but OPPOs SuperVOOC 2.0 and AirVOOC way outperform Samsung. A full charge in 35 minutes versus 75 minutes and AIR VOOC charge in 60 minutes versus 4 hours. OPPO is the winner.

Sound

Speakers

Stereo earpiece and down-firing speaker.Balanced for volume and toneDolby Atmos-certified (and subsets) for decoding to its2.0 speaker

Stereo – earpiece and down-firing speakerAKG tunedDolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus decoding to 2.0 speaker

AMP

Qualcomm Aqstic speaker amp WSA8835 with some additional OPPO smarts

2 x CS35L41 D-Class amps 5.3W each at 1% THD allowing individual volume matching for both speakers

Codecs

SBC/AAC/aptX/aptX HD/aptX TWS+/aptX Adaptive/LHDC/LDAC/

SBC/AAC/LDAC (Sony) and proprietary Samsung scalable codecNo Qualcomm aptX codecs

Mic

Dual Noise cancelling. A third mic on the camera bump for audio zoom video use

Dual top noise-cancelling and for audio zoom – focuses on the direction of interest during recording.Third mic at the bottom USB-C Port

3.5mm

No port – OPPO supplies its standard USB-C buds

No, and no buds supplied

Tests dBAnything over 80dB is excellent

Media – 85Ring – 82Alarm – 82Notification – 65Earpiece – 55Handsfree – 75Music – 89

Media – 78Ring – 80Alarm – 80Notification – 65Earpiece – 55Handsfree – 72Music – 86

Handsfree

Excellent clear voice and adequate sound.

Loud and clear, but the mic (top or bottom) drops off quickly over 1m. Its NC is superb. We noticed that was at the expense of natural voice – callers heard more robot voice.

Sound stage

Much wider than the device with good Left/Right separation.Dolby Atmos adds a slightly wider stage, but there is no 3D spatial sound.

Narrow sound stage with good Left/Right separation.Dolby Atmos content does not have spatial sound via the speakers.

Winner – OPPO has better BT CODEC support and far better left/right sound stage.

Sound Signature

OPPO has a bright vocal signature which is fine for vocals and a clear voice. It has Dolby Atmos decoding, but the pre-sets are new to me. It has environmental – indoor, on-the-go, commute and flight. And it has scenario-specific – smart, movie, gaming, and music. They don’t appear to make a significant difference unless using headphones.

Samsung – you would expect the best, and at 70% volume, it presents a rich, full sound. But we measure at 100% where three things become apparent. First, the recessed mid/upper treble means that it affects ‘location’ – where the sound comes from in the relatively narrow sound stage. Next, mid-bass is there, but it suddenly dips at 100hz, almost obliterating high-bass – you need this more than mid-bass to add some gravitas. Finally, the frequency response is relatively flat from 200Hz to 10khz then builds to upper-mid and lower treble.

It is essentially a mid-signature which is excellent for clear voice but not so great for most music. You can read more about sound signatures

here

.

Winer: OPPO by an ear.

Build

Size/Weight

163.6×74.0×8.3mm x 193g

165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm x 227gIt is 11.15mm thick at the camera bump

Colours

Gloss BlackBlue Frost

Phantom BlackPhantom Silver

Build

Front: Gorilla Glass 5Frame: AlloyLiquid Ceramic Glass back*

Front: Gorilla Glass VictusFrame: AlloyBack: Gorilla Glass Victus

IP

68

Same

Warranty

2-years ACLGlobal traveller’s warrantyPrimary support from Sydney with support facilities in most statesOPPO claims one of the lowest fault rates in Australia.

12 monthsPrimary support from Sydney with support facilities in most other statesSamsung has a good track record for reliability

In the box

Bumper cover65W chargerOPPO Super VOOC USB-A to USB-C cableUSB-C earphone and mic

USB-C to USB-C cable

* We have to quote OPPO

The back panel of the OPPO Find X3 Pro is a single piece of glass (GG5). It has more than 2000 control points to complete the shape, precisely controlling the ultimate balance between the glass’s rigidity and the curved surface’s softness. The ‘Ring Mountain’ image mirror set uses a hot forging glass process rarely seen in industrial mass production. It presents a 3D curved front and back transition and creating a rounded feel. It is a technological breakthrough in industrial design.

The first thing you notice about the OPPO is that it is far lighter and thinner despite a similar screen size to the Samsung. I love big phones, but I really appreciate that svelte size in my pocket.

The second thing is the inclusion of the charger, bumper cover and buds.

Winner – OPPO as it feels better in the hand

Android

Android

Google Android 11Security patch date: 5/06/21

Same1/06/21

UI

ColorOS 11.2

One UI 3.1

Google

All standard apps, Google Lens and Assistant

Same

Bloatware

Mostly OPPO alternatives to Google and utilities

Mostly Samsung and Microsoft productivity and utilities. The Samsung apps include the Galaxy Store (unique Galaxy Apps), Mail, Contact, Calendar, Dialler, SmartThings, Samsung Health, Pay, AR, Switch, DeX, and Pay. Why it persists with Bixby is beyond me.

Update Policy

Two years of OS updates includes two major updates and monthly security updates.

Two years of OS updates. Security patches should come monthly for three years

Security

Optical FingerprintFaceIDA private system function behind a security barrier mirrors the public system so that hackers cannot get your data. A Private Safe guards private data.System cloner allows two profiles – one for work and one for private

Ultrasonic FingerprintFaceIDSamsung Knox provides an excellent level of security (not Anti-virus)

The real issue here comes down to how user-friendly is OPPOs ColorOS to Samsung One UI. To me, UI is like a pair of comfortable slippers. It paves over the raw cracks of Android and works seamlessly.

But ColorOS has come a very long way, and it seems to be equal. The fundamental difference here is OPPO’s AI versus Samsung’s AI, and there is not much between them.

After four weeks, there is nothing between them. Everything I need to do is there, in almost the same place. There is only one minor criticism of ColourOS – when I hit ‘clear all’, it clears all but the current app – Samsung wipes the lot. Nitpicking!

With Samsung and OPPO offering similar upgrade paths, the winner is a draw.

Missing

Charger

65W Fast charge included

No charger max 25W

Bumper case

Included

No

Micro-SD

No

No

aptX

Yes all

No

10-bit screen

Yes, 1.07 billion colours

No, 8-bit 16.7m

Camera

The cameras are where there is the most significant difference. Yet, in practice, both are equally strong. Samsung has 100X Super Zoom (that is hopeless – review

here

for all photos) versus OPPO 60X digital Zoom (ditto review here for all photos ).

OPPO goes with dual 50MP (wide and super-wide – both bin to 12.5MP), a 13MP Telephoto and a 3MP 60X Microscope. Selfie is 32MP (bins to 8.1MP)

Samsung goes with a 108MP wide (bins to 12MP), 12MP super-wide, 10MP telephoto and periscope 10MP. In addition is has a LiDAR depth sensor. Selfie is 45MP that bins to 6.5MP or 10MP wide.

DXOMark gives the OPPO 131 points that is far ahead of Samsung at 121 points. The Benchmark is the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, and it scores 130 points. According to DXOMark scores, OPPO is the highest performing Google Android camera in Australia at present.

But here is the conundrum – both produce equally excellent shots. Here are some comparison photos, and if I had to pick a winner for everyday consumer photography, the OPPO is ahead. One difference – Samsung recognises QR codes, but OPPO uses Google Lens – it is one more step, but the results are more consistent.

OPPO Find X3 Pro (L) and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (R)

OPPO is more saturated but also has better detail

OPPO was taken under LED lights, but the photo and colours are more accurate

Both are excellent macro shots

OPPO Night mode brings out the colour and sharp details.

GadgetGuy’s take

We are now at the end of the specification comparisons, and frankly, I did not know the outcome until this stage.

Humans all suffer from cogitative dissonance. We tell ourselves that what we bought is the best for us. It is like the old Holden versus Ford argument. Guilty – I felt that way about Samsung (and perhaps still do). For OPPO to so convincingly be ahead in most categories astounded me. I mean, I know it is good, but could it be my daily drive? Well, now I am like a dog with two bones!

Let me say that either is excellent. I knew OPPO Find X3 Pro would eat the S21 and S21+ lunches but the Ultra? No way! Yet the plucky OPPO Find X3 Pro meets or exceeds the heavyweight S21 Ultra.

S21 Ultra has 100x periscope zoom (useless above about 30X) that I do use, whereas the Find X3 60X Zoom (ditto) and a 60X microscope is a little limited

S21 Ultra has that 108MP camera that collects so much detail (in that mode). Dual 50MP sensors are not shabby either on the Find X3 Pro.

Samsung will do

[email protected]

video – do you need that?

Find X3 Pro photo results are visually more pleasing – not necessarily better. It shows excellent computational AI photography with warmer saturated colours. Samsung is more à la naturel.

Find X3 Pro’s 10-bit, 1billion colour screen is impressive and quite ahead of the Samsung

Find X3 Pro has more BT codecs, including the Qualcomm aptX suite.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon SD888 is a tad faster than the Samsung Exynos 2100 – but how much power do you need?

Find X3 Pro has 65W charging – bloody fast. The S21 Ultra has nothing. Well, you even have to buy the 25W charger, and it takes three times longer

S21 Ultra can support a stylus and cable or wireless DeX desktop on a monitor

Warranty – OPPO is well ahead

Support – a draw.

Because there is so little between them, prestige flagship buyers should consider both. I suspect that when you get the lighter, svelte OPPO Find X3 Pro in your hands, you will fall in love and live happily ever after. And that, to a died in the wool Samsung man, is surprising.