Despite being announced in 2019, the Google Pixel 4 is still a great Android smartphone, especially if you can snag one on a sale or discount. It offers a 5.7-inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels, a Snapdragon 855 processor, a 12.2-megapixel camera, a 2,800mAh battery, wireless charging, a sleek design, and lots more. If you own a Google Pixel 4 or are thinking about buying one, you don’t want to scratch, bump, drop, or even break it. But the unfortunate reality is that accidents happen from time to time, and phones can easily get damaged.
The best way to protect your Google Pixel 4 is by keeping it in a case at all times. Luckily, you’ll find loads of great Pixel 4 cases on the market, and many of them are extremely rugged and offer all-round protection. But which one should you choose? To help you pick one, we’ve ranked the best rugged Pixel 4 cases.
The Zizo Bolt is a robust case that offers all-around protection for the Google Pixel 4. It sports military-grade protection, a tempered glass screen protector, a kickstand, a 360-degree rotating belt clip, and a 40cm lanyard. You can get it in black or red.
The Ringke Fusion X offers a stylish hybrid design, military-grade protection, a transparent back, precise cutouts, tactile buttons, raised edges to protect the screen and camera, and a secure grip.
This case, from Olixar, sports a lightweight and slim design that provides impact and shock resistance, a textured back for a secure grip, tactile buttons, precise port cutouts, and raised edges to keep the display safe from damage.
The Ghostek Covert 3 isn’t as bulky as some other rugged cases, but still offers maximum protection for the Google Pixel 4. It features tough bumper corners, a non-slip finish, raised edges for protecting the screen and camera, and precise cutouts.
OtterBox is famed for making some of the most robust smartphone cases, and the Defender Series is an excellent example. Available for the Google Pixel 4, it offers a multi-layer design that protects against all sorts of damage, a belt clip holster that can be used as a stand, and port covers that prevent dust and dirt from getting to your phone.
The Symmetry Series is a more lightweight and slim option from OtterBox, offering protection from scratches, drops, and other types of damage. What’s more, it provides a one-piece design, raised edges to protect the display, tactile buttons, precise cutouts, and a range of different colors.
The Google Pixel 4 is an excellent Android smartphone, and if you own or are looking to buy one, the last thing you want to do is damage it. Therefore, investing in a good rugged case for the Pixel 4 makes sense.
As you can see, there are lots of great rugged cases available for this handset. But you might be wondering which one to buy. Our favorite rugged Pixel 4 case is the OtterBox Defender Series because it offers all-around protection and many other amazing features. Of course, not everyone will want to add this amount of bulk to their shiny new phone. If you’d like a slimmer Pixel 4 case that still provides ample protection, we’d recommend the OtterBox Symmetry Series. It’s not only slim and rugged, but comes in a range of different colors. Options from Spigen are good too.
Do you own a Google Pixel 4, and have you found a great rugged case for it? If the answer is yes, we’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments section below. On another note, we’ve also rounded up the best cases for the Google Pixel 4a.
It seems Samsung is in no mood to slow down its One UI 3.1 rollout. In the last two weeks alone, the company has brought the One UI 3.1 update to a range of Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy Tab S6, Galaxy A71 5G, Galaxy M51, Galaxy A50 series, and Galaxy M31s. Two more devices are joining the ranks of One UI 3.1 as the Galaxy M31 and Galaxy A42 5G are both receiving the newest version of the One UI.
Several Galaxy M31 owners (via PiunikaWeb) in India are being treated to a fresh update that brings One UI 3.1 to their phones. The update comes with a firmware version M315FXXU2BUC1 / M315F0DM2BUC1 / M315FDDU2BUB6 and weighs around 1193MB in size. Besides bumping the One UI version, the update also includes March 2021 security patches but does not change the bootloader version. That means the user should be able to downgrade to an older Android 10-based firmware if they wish. It should be noted that the Android 11 was already rolled out to the Galaxy M31 earlier in January with the One UI 3.0 update.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy A42 5G is also receiving (via SamMobile) some One UI love. The Galaxy A42 5G was launched with One UI 2.5 based on Android 10 and was stuck on the same version forever. However, for what it’s worth, the device is skipping One UI 3.0 and being bumped straight to the One UI 3.1. The update carries firmware version A426BXXU1BUB7, and besides a jump to Android 11, it also packs March 2021 security patches. After installing the new software, the Galaxy A42 5G owners can look forward to all the latest Android 11 features, including Chat Bubbles, Conversations Notifications, one-time permissions for the microphone, and location, etc. Samsung’s own enhancements are also onboard, including revamped notification panel, Eye comfort shield, Google Feed integration, improvements to the Ambient display and lock screen, an updated camera app, and much more.
Google Chrome for desktop is receiving an important improvement that will significantly boost the video calling experience on super slow internet connections. In the latest Chrome 90 beta, Google is shipping the AV1 encoder, which brings improved video quality and significant screen sharing efficiency improvements to WebRTC-based video conferencing apps.
For starters, AV1 is a royalty-free, open-source video codec that’s largely seen as a replacement for the H.264/AVC codec used by most video streaming services. It claims to offer better compression efficiency and improved visual quality than its predecessor VP9 as well as H.264 and H.265 codecs. Content encoded in AV1 generally maintains higher quality at a smaller file size compared to content encoded in H.264. Meanwhile, WebRTC is a framework that enables real-time communication between browsers. It’s used for many web-based video conferencing platforms, including Google Meet, Facebook Messenger, Discord, and more.
To play content encoded in AV1, you also need an AV1 decoder installed. However, Google Chrome users have nothing to worry about as support for the AV1 decoder was already added in Chrome 70 two years ago. This means that WebRTC-based real-time conferencing clients like Google Meet and Google Duo can now encode video in AV1 and then transmit it to the other end. By taking advantage of the encoder, Google says Chrome can now enable video calling on a connection as slow as 30Kbps.
The AV1 encoder for WebRTC is rolling out in the Chrome 90 beta. It’s not available in the stable Chrome browser yet but should be arriving soon in a future release. If you’re on a slow internet connection and interested in checking out the improvements offered by the new encoder, you can download the latest version of Chrome beta from here.
The ASUS ROG Phone 5 is now officially out, and the reviews are raving wild, including our own. The device packs incredible oomph, such as a 6.78″ FHD+ AMOLED display with a Snapdragon 888 SoC, up to 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM with 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage (on the “Ultimate” variant), dual 3,000mAh batteries, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The history of ASUS’ friendliness towards aftermarket development tends to result in a flourishing of activity on our forums. We hope the same is true for the latest ROG Phone, but only time will tell if the modding scene will pick up on the phone. To facilitate custom development, ASUS has now released the bootloader unlock tool and kernel sources for the ROG Phone 5.
Now, of course every smartphone manufacturer that ships an Android device is obligated to release their kernel sources as the Linux kernel is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2. But as some of us know, many OEMs delay releasing their kernel sources for whatever reason. ASUS, however, aims to publish them as soon as possible. The ROG Phone 3 had its kernel sources released within the same week of launch last year. It’s good to see that the company is continuing this trend with the ROG Phone 5 as well.
As for bootloader unlocking, the bootloader on the ROG Phone 5 can be unlocked through an app offered by ASUS. Though, you do need to keep in mind that unlocking the bootloader on this phone voids the warranty of the device, and also disables OTA updates. Also, note that you need to run the unlocker app from your device itself and unlocking the bootloader forces a factory reset.
We applaud ASUS for their timely release of the bootloader unlock tool and the kernel source for the ROG Phone 5. Without them, development of custom AOSP-based ROMs such as LineageOS would be exceedingly difficult for the device, if not impossible. Kernel sources are also necessary to make proper builds of TWRP available. Now that the sources are available, the development forums should be populated with much more activity in the near future, with perhaps better alternatives for users who want to migrate away from ASUS’ ROG UI and ZenUI skins.
Although the OnePlus 8T was the first phone from the company to launch with OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11 out of the box, it’s one of the few new OnePlus devices that still don’t have an active OxygenOS 11 Open Beta program. So, while OnePlus has rolled out a couple of OxygenOS 11 updates for it over the last few months, users haven’t had the opportunity to test these builds before the final rollout. That changes today, though, as OnePlus has finally started rolling out the first OxygenOS 11 Open Beta build for the device, giving users the option to test new features before they roll out with a stable update.
As per a recent post on the OnePlus Community forums, the first OxygenOS 11 Open Beta release for the OnePlus 8T has now started rolling out to users worldwide. The release includes a couple of optimizations and the Android security patches for February 2021. Here are some of the key changes included in the first open beta build:
System
Optimized the UI display of the status bar
Optimized the stability of the frame rate and improve its experience while playing games
Optimized the Community homepage with more noticeable notification
Updated Android security patch to 2021.02
Weather
Optimized the animations of sunny and cloudy days for a clearer dynamic display
Gallery
Optimized the layout of the cloud service in the Gallery for a better operation experience
If you’re interested in trying the OxygenOS 11 Open Beta release on your OnePlus 8T, you can download the flashable zip package from the links below. To install the update, copy the package to your phone and select the Local upgrade option in the System Updates settings. Select the package on the following screen and tap on the upgrade button. Once the update is complete, tap on the restart button.
Do note that while updating your device to this beta release will not wipe all your data, make sure you take a complete backup before beginning the process just to be safe. Also, ensure that your device has a minimum of 30% battery and 3GB of available storage space. It goes without saying that you will probably encounter some bugs on the beta release, so we wouldn’t recommend switching over if you don’t know what you’re getting into.
If you wish to roll back to the stable release at any point, you can download the rollback package from the links below and follow the steps mentioned above to install it on your phone. Once again, this will wipe all your data, so you should take a backup before proceeding.
Download OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 1 for the OnePlus 8T
The Nintendo Switch is long due for an upgrade, especially since Sony and Microsoft have ramped up their gaming hardware in 2020. Nintendo only launched a smaller version of the Switch in 2019 which wasn’t really an upgrade, rather the same piece of hardware in a handheld-only form factor. The good news is, that we might finally see an update for the console very soon.
According to a speculative report, NVIDIA is planning to stop the production of the Tegra X1 Mariko processor this year. Also known as the Tegra X1+ SoC (System on Chip), it is the same chip that powers the Nintendo Switch as well as the Nintendo Switch Lite. It is expected that NVIDIA will be concluding the production sometime later in 2021, which means that Nintendo will no longer have access to the chip beyond that point. However, the console maker can ensure that it orders enough chips in advance before NVIDIA completely puts an end to production.
If the rumors are indeed true, Nintendo might be working on an alternative that could replace the chips on the existing Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite consoles. It is also possible that the company is planning to introduce a completely new version of the Switch with a more powerful processor that can match today’s gaming trends, for instance, 4K resolution high refresh rate gaming.
Earlier this month there was a report that said Samsung Display is planning to mass-produce 7-inch OLED panels with 720p resolution by June. While these could be for an upcoming Nintendo Pro console, it is mostly speculation at the moment. The report also mentions that the new Nintendo Switch could offer 4K resolution when plugged into a TV. This could be a great update to the Switch lineup as it would bring it to par with the more recently released Xbox Series X and Series S, and the Sony PlayStation 5.
Piggybacking off of last year’s feats of “industry-leading color accuracy”, OPPO continues to set its sights even further. With its new full-path color management system, the OPPO Find X3 Pro furthers OPPO’s aim to improve image fidelity from camera to gallery. The Find X3 Pro also adds a new LTPO adaptive refresh rate panel, which will help save extra battery life for the high-resolution, high refresh rate panel.
In his review of the OPPO Find X3 Pro, XDA’s Ben Sin described the screen as “nearly flawless” and as “immersive and brilliant as the panels [he’s] seen in the [Samsung Galaxy] S21 Ultra or Xiaomi Mi 11.” Featuring a large 6.7-inch 3216 x 1440 resolution AMOLED panel, the OPPO Find X3 Pro packs premium display tech and commands an equally premium price. In this review, I’ll be taking a quantitative approach to analyzing the display of OPPO’s latest flagship.
The OPPO Find X3 Pro comes with what OPPO calls its O1 Ultra Vision Engine, which consists of a “Video image sharpener” and a “Video color enhancer”. The features are self-explanatory from their titles. I did not personally test their efficacy in this review, but something to note is that they both claim to increase battery usage and cannot both be enabled at the same time.
The display is also capable of automatic white balance via the Nature tone displayfeature, which works similarly to Apple’s True Tone feature. Unfortunately, this feature cannot work in tandem with the screen color temperature adjustment, so if you prefer a cooler or warmer white point than what the automatic white balance sets it to, you’re out of luck.
OPPO collaborated with a company called Pixelworks, which specializes in video and image processing, for these features. We have a separate article that covers the capabilities of Pixelworks’ other software and processors. Pixelworks is also responsible for the factory display color calibration of the Find X3 Pro.
Compared to last year’s flagship, the OPPO Find X3 pro is actually missing some features. Namely, it’s missing the video motion interpolation feature (MEMC) and the DC dimming feature. The reason for the lack of MEMC this year is due to the omission of the Pixelworks X5 chip, which the Find X2 Pro used last year to implement some of its display features.
Moving on, another display feature in the OPPO Find X3 Pro is the automatic Reduce contrast option within the Dark mode settings. This feature further dims the display brightness when the system brightness is low and when in dark mode, bringing down the white level from 2.1 nits to 0.9 nits. It’s incredibly useful when using the phone near bedtime, and it’s become my favorite display feature of the phone.
Color vision enhancementis an accessibility feature that corrects colors for those that have color hue deficiencies. It allows you to first take a color vision test to check if you do indeed have a deficiency, and besides the feature, the test itself is pretty fun to take.
Color vision test
Lastly, the full-path color management system is OPPO’s solution to accurately rendering both sRGB and Display P3 content within the Vivid profile. This system is paired with the OPPO Find X3 Pro’s capability of capturing photos in the wider Display P3 color space. It seems to overhaul Android’s own color management system, and from my findings, it’s kind of just the opposite of Android’s solution. Instead of letting Android switch between color spaces for sRGB and Display P3 content, OPPO’s solution keeps the display in the Display P3 color space and lets the Gallery app decode images to sRGB or Display P3.
Methodology for gathering data
To obtain quantitative color data from the OPPO Find X3 Pro, I stage device-specific input test patterns and measure the display’s resulting emission using an X-Rite i1Display Pro metered by an X-Rite i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer in its high-resolution 3.3nm mode. The test patterns and device settings I use are corrected for various display characteristics and potential software implementations that may alter my desired measurements. My measurements are typically done with display-related options disabled unless mentioned otherwise.
I use constant power patterns (sometimes called equal energy patterns), correlating to an average pixel level of about 42%, to measure the transfer function and grayscale precision. It’s important to measure emissive displays not only with constant average pixel level but also with constant power patterns since their output is dependent on the average display luminance. Additionally, a constant average pixel level does not inherently mean constant power; the patterns I use satisfy both. I use a higher average pixel level closer to 50% to capture a midpoint between both the lower pixel levels and the many apps and webpages with white backgrounds that are higher in pixel level.
I use the latest color difference metric ΔETP(ITU-R BT.2124), which is an overall better measure for color differences than ΔE00 that is used in my earlier reviews and is still currently being used in many other sites’ display reviews. Those that are still using ΔE00 for color error reporting are encouraged to use ΔEITP.
ΔEITP normally considers luminance (intensity) error in its computation, since luminance is a necessary component to completely describe color. However, since the human visual system interprets chromaticity and luminance separately, I hold our test patterns at a constant luminance and do not include the luminance (I/intensity) error in our ΔEITP values. Furthermore, it is helpful to separate the two errors when assessing a display’s performance because, just like with our visual system, they pertain to different issues with the display. This way, we can more thoroughly analyze and understand the performance of a display.
Our color targets are based on the ITP color space, which is more perceptually-uniform than the CIE 1976 UCS with much better hue-linearity. Our targets are spaced out roughly even throughout the ITP color space at a reference 100 cd/m2 white level, and colors at 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% saturation. Colors are measured at 73% stimulus, which corresponds to about 50% magnitude in luminance assuming a gamma power of 2.20.
Contrast, grayscale, and color accuracy are tested throughout the display’s brightness range. The brightness increments are spaced evenly between the maximum and minimum display brightness in PQ-space. Charts and graphs are also plotted in PQ-space (if applicable) for proper representation of the actual perception of brightness.
ΔETP values are roughly 3× the magnitude of ΔE00 values for the same color difference. A measured color error ΔETP of 1.0 denotes the smallest value for a just-noticeable-difference for the measured color, while the metric assumes the most critically-adapted state for the observer so as not to under-predict color errors. A color error ΔETP less than 3.0 is an acceptable level of accuracy for a reference display (suggested from ITU-R BT.2124 Annex 4.2), and a ΔETP value greater than 8.0 can be noticeable at a glance, which I’ve tested empirically.
HDR test patterns are tested against ITU-R BT.2100 using the Perceptual Quantizer (ST 2084). HDR sRGB and P3 patterns are spaced out evenly with sRGB/P3 primaries, an HDR reference white level of 203 cd/m2(ITU-R BT.2408), and a PQ signal level of 58% for all its patterns. All HDR patterns are tested at an HDR-average 20% APL with constant power test patterns.
Color profiles
The OPPO Find X3 Pro comes with four distinct color profiles, each of which changes the color characteristics of the screen.
The Vivid profile is the phone’s default color profile, and it’s characterized by increased color saturation, a bluish-white point, and slightly higher contrast than standard. More specifically, the profile stretches colors out to the Display P3 color space (except for in the stock Gallery app), with a white point measuring about 7000 K and a target gamma power of about 2.30 (compared to the standard of 2.20). OPPO foregoes Android’s native color management system for its own “full-path color management system”, which I’ve found to only be functional within the stock OPPO Gallery app. As per the “full-path color management system” in this profile, photos viewed within the stock Gallery app will be rendered in the sRGB color space by default for color-accurate photo viewing, while P3-tagged photos (such as those taken by the OPPO Find X3 Pro’s camera) will be displayed in the profile’s native P3 color space.
The Gentleprofile is a factory-calibrated color profile that targets the sRGB color space, which is the default color space of the Internet and the original color space of most content. The profile targets a gamma power of 2.20 (not the original sRGB transfer function), and the white point of the profile is meant to target the industry-standard D65 illuminant, which corresponds to a color temperature of 6504 K. However, I’ve measured a value closer to about 6200 K for the Gentle profile, which is slightly warmer. At the time of publication, this profile currently does not support Android’s color management, but OPPO tells us that they plan to add color management as part of a system update at the end of March.
The Cinematic profile is another factory-calibrated color profile similar to the Gentle profile, but it instead targets the Display P3 color space. This profile is not accurate just because it is calibrated to a color space; it will still stretch out sRGB colors out to P3, and it is only accurate when viewing properly-encoded P3 content. It is the most niche out of all the profiles, and it should only be used when color accuracy is the highest priority for viewing actual P3 content — or if you just like the look of the color mode.
The Brilliantprofile is the most saturated color profile available to the OPPO Find X3 Pro. The profile shares a similarly-bluish white point as the Vivid profile, as well as targeting Display P3 for its red and green color primaries. Moreover, it has further-increased saturation in blues, and the profile can get slightly brighter by increasing the lightness of colors depending on the average pixel level (APL) of the content.
All profiles also provide the option of adjusting the color temperature of the white point, but only when the Nature tone display feature isn’t active since it automatically adjusts the white point to the ambient lighting. Ideally, the two options should work together, with the color temperature slider acting as a bias for the automatic white balance feature. However, there are no devices that I know of with this capability.
Brightness
Peak luminance vs content APL
The peak brightness of the OPPO Find X3 Pro is excellent, typically reaching about 750-800 nits in its high brightness mode. Like most other Androids, this brightness can only be reached when the phone detects a lot of light from its ambient light sensor, such as when it’s brought outside on a sunny day.
Since the OPPO Find X3 Pro uses an OLED panel, the brightness of the pixels change depending on the average pixel level (APL) of the content that is currently being displayed. For fullscreen white, which is where OLEDs consume the most power, the OPPO Find X3 Pro is able to output about 740 nits. When the phone is in its default Vivid profile, the phone moderately varies its brightness of white with APL, and at a median-50% APL, the Vivid profile can output up to 800 nits, which is a touch lighter. The Gentle and Cinematic profiles control their brightness variance, and they have almost no change in luminance with content APL.
These brightness values are about identical to last year’s Find X2 Pro, and while they’re not as bright as Samsung’s latest flagships, these are still respectable figures in 2021.
On the low end, the Find X3 Pro’s dimmest brightness setting yields a white level of about 2.1 nits, which isn’t quite as dim as some other OLEDs that can get down to about 1.7 or 1.8 nits. However, the OPPO Find X3 Pro has a setting called “Reduce contrast in low light conditions” in its Dark mode display settings, and this allows the white level to go down to about 0.9 nits, which is excellent for nighttime viewing. This feature is especially useful since it’ll only activate during dark mode and when the display brightness is low enough.
The 'reduce contrast in low light conditions' setting is incredibly useful when using the phone near bedtime, and it's become my favorite display feature of the phone.
Contrast and Tone Mapping
Measured at 40% APL (~27% Target ADL)
The default Vivid profile is measured to be decently accurate to the standard 2.20 gamma power, although it does render shadows and midtones just slightly darker throughout its luminance range (except for at minimum brightness). This results in the appearance of slightly higher contrast for the Vivid profile, which complements its vibrant nature. Most other phones also have increased contrast in their respective Vivid profile, but only because they allow the profile to vary its luminance with APL in that profile, resulting in increased contrast but only at higher brightness settings. What makes the OPPO Find X3 Pro somewhat different is that it seems consistent with its increased contrast, even at lower brightness settings. This makes it seem that the profile’s increased contrast is targeted instead of just being a consequence of an OLED characteristic, which is good. In general, a consistency in relative perceived contrast throughout a display’s luminance range is desirable, and it shows proficient calibration control and thoughtfulness.
Measured at 40% APL (~27% Target ADL)
For the phone’s calibrated color modes (Gentle and Cinematic), OPPO demonstrates excellent tonal control. The profiles track the standard 2.20 gamma power nice and tightly throughout its entire luminance range, resulting in both accurate and consistent display contrast, which not many displays are capable of.
At minimum brightness, both profiles have a slight lift in shadows and midtones so that dark details don’t appear completely crushed. This is good attention to detail, but I personally find that a little more lift is needed for a more comfortable viewing experience in low light. The OPPO Find X3 Pro is capable of rendering 1/255 gray, even at minimum brightness, but unless your eyes are dark-adapted, dark tones can still appear crushed.
Not many displays are capable of both accurate and consistent display contrast, but the OPPO Find X3 Pro demonstrates excellent tonal control.
When the Find X3 Pro is out in the sunlight at max brightness, targeting a lower gamma power instead of the profile’s nominal target would help improve the legibility of the display in those brighter conditions. When viewing photos in high brightness mode, there is indeed some dynamic tone mapping present that boosts shadows and midtones, but it only seems to activate within OPPO’s stock Gallery app. Last year’s Find X2 Pro did this for the entire Gentle profile, so not seeing it in the Find X3 Pro was a bit of a surprise. The legibility of the Vivid profile on the new phone is an improvement, however, since its gamma was actually too high at high brightness on last year’s model.
White Balance and Grayscale Color Precision
Grayscale plots for Vivid profile, 120 Hz
In the phone’s default color profile, a slight green tint can be observed for dark gray color tones at lower brightness levels (below ~25% system brightness). It’s not drastically noticeable, but those that are sensitive to color tints may be bothered by it, especially within dark mode interfaces. Besides that, the white point does appear to be consistent throughout different brightness settings for this profile. However, the average color temperature of the white point (~7000 K) does slightly differ from the average color temperature of the entire grayscale (~6700 K).
Grayscale plots for Gentle & Cinematic profile, 120 Hz
Conversely, the Gentle and Cinematic color profiles are calibrated with outstanding control in their grayscale. I found and measured no observable shifts in color tint for the profiles, even at low brightness. Gradients are exceptionally smooth and free of any banding or tinting. My only complaint is that the white point for the profile is calibrated too warm, measuring consistently about 6200 K. A color temperature adjustment slider is available to use, but I haven’t measured if it could potentially impact the precision of the calibration.
...the Gentle and Cinematic color profiles are calibrated with outstanding control in their grayscale. I found and measured no observable shifts in color tint for the profiles...
Color Accuracy
Although OPPO employs its “full-path color management system” in its Vivid profile, anyone prioritizing color accuracy should instead utilize the discrete Gentle and Cinematic color modes for sRGB and Display P3 content respectively. Thus, I will not be including sRGB and Display P3 for the Vivid profile, and only for the calibrated Gentle and Cinematic profiles.
sRGB color accuracy plots for Gentle profile
sRGB color accuracy for the Gentle profile is overall excellent. There’s some slight oversaturation at max brightness, which is desirable behavior to counteract some glare. Colors are somewhat undersaturated near minimum brightness, but it’s not a huge issue. At around 25% system brightness, colors seem to appear warmer than usual, resulting in the highest average color error within the display’s brightness range.
Display P3 color accuracy plots for Cinematic profile
Display P3 color accuracy is even better. The undersaturation at minimum brightness is not as prevalent, and the rest of the brightness range is just more accurate in general. This is really good.
Overall, the Gentle and Cinematic profiles provide respectable levels of both color and tonal accuracy. Non-critical color and design work can be performed with higher levels of confidence with the OPPO Find X3 Pro than most other phones and non-professional monitors, although the slightly warmer white point needs to be kept in mind.
Non-critical color and design work can be performed with higher levels of confidence with the OPPO Find X3 Pro than most other phones and non-professional monitors...
For HDR10 content, you will want to have “Bright HDR video mode” activated under the display settings for improved highlights. Without it, the peak brightness of the OPPO Find X3 Pro will be limited to below 500 nits, which isn’t bright enough to deliver a compelling range of specular highlights.
Before we get into any other observations or measurements, I found that there was a huge difference when watching HDR content within the stock Gallery app compared to in other apps. This is because the stock Gallery app appears to be doing the HDR tone mapping instead of just switching to the phone’s HDR color mode, which is what every other app will do to play HDR content. This is not inherently a bad thing, but one issue with it is that the peak brightness of HDR content is limited to 500 nits (even with “Bright HDR video mode” enabled) unless the Find X3 Pro is in high brightness mode, which only occurs in really bright conditions where HDR content isn’t meant to be viewed in. Thus, my measurements will be based on the phone’s HDR color mode, which will reflect how most consumers will be watching HDR content on their phone.
On one more note, the stock Gallery app does go further with dynamic tone mapping by straying from the PQ curve to lighten color tones in brighter ambient conditions.
The whole point of High Dynamic Range content is in the contrast. The OPPO Find X3 Pro renders HDR10 content with a lift in darker tones so that they appear lighter. This reduces the contrast of HDR content, especially in darker scenes. On the other hand, the midtones and highlights look great, and the measured brightness for 75% PQ of about 750 nits (expecting 1,000 nits) is acceptable for content that is mastered for 1,000 nits. The Find X3 Pro can actually get up to about 900 nits at 100% intensity, but like many other Android phones, it lacks roll-off tone mapping towards the content’s maximum brightness (which is listed in the content’s metadata). This leaves the extra ~150 nits of brightness inaccessible when watching content mastered for 1,000 nits, which includes most HDR content.
In terms of grayscale, the precision of the color of white (or gray) is nice and consistent for HDR content. The color temperature remains close to the D65 standard, averaging about 6430 K with no noticeable shifts in color tint, independent of lightness.
Color accuracy for HDR10 is fine on the OPPO Find X3 Pro, although it slightly misses the full P3 gamut with reds, and there’s a slight undersaturation in greens.
Final Remarks on the OPPO Find X3 Pro
On paper, the display on the OPPO Find X3 Pro may not seem like much of an upgrade over last year’s. However, in absolute terms, it is an upgrade, and overall it’s an excellent display that fixes many of the issues of last year’s model. The new LTPO panel provides an adaptive refresh rate solution that saves more battery, and it prevents color tint differences when the panel switches between refresh rates. The peak brightness remains the same, but its change in tone map behavior allows the Vivid profile to remain more legible than the X2 Pro when viewed outside. Additionally, at low brightness, the OPPO Find X3 Pro looks cleaner with less tint and little-to-no black crush (whereas the Find X2 Pro was a bit messy in both), and the “Reduce contrast” option is also one of the best usability options of this phone for nighttime viewing. Both color and tonal accuracy has improved across the board, lending a more consistent and faithful picture, including within the Vivid profile. And thanks to the new “full-path color management system”, you can now see a more accurate depiction of photos in the stock Gallery and Camera apps within the Vivid color profile.
At £1,099 in the UK or €1149 in Europe, OPPO is asking customers to spend a lot on a smartphone, but the Find X3 Pro's display lives up to the price tag.
