OPPO F3 Plus
OPPO F3 PlusIBTimes India/Sami Khan

OPPO is making its point clear that it wants to lead the camera smartphone category with its "selfie expert" phones. In the latest development, the company launched the all-new F3 Plus in India on Thursday, expanding its existing portfolio of F1, F1 Plus, F1s and A57 among others.

Taking the selfie revolution forward, OPPO has realized that the trends are changing and it wants to fill that gap before anyone else. The latest F3 Plus smartphone is going to play a crucial role in stepping up OPPO's branding strategy.

Recommended: OPPO F3 Plus Review

OPPO F3 Plus features a dual selfie camera, which is the biggest highlight of the phone. While one lens is dedicated to click selfies, the purpose of the second lens is to capture wide angles to capture a large group in a single frame.

Time and again, OPPO has emphasized on being a consumer-friendly brand, where its aim is to meet consumers' demands. The launch of F3 Plus comes with the demand from consumers to click group selfies without having to cut people or the background from the frame. The F3 Plus fulfills that requirement in the best way possible.

OPPO conducted a survey to understand the selfie usage patterns among Indians and with the help of market research firm Nielsen, it was able to draw several conclusions. In a nutshell, out of 10 selfies, 6 of them are group selfies involving two or more people. The survey also revealed that 96 percent of consumers take more than one selfie every time to get a perfect shot and 66 percent people find it difficult to fit all people in one frame.

Check out the infographic sent to us by OPPO, which shows extracts of Nielsen's survey on selfie usage patterns in India.

OPPO F3 Plus
OPPO F3 PlusOPPO

If we look at the F3 Plus, it checks all the requirements. It has a dual selfie camera with 120-degree wide-angle lens to capture large groups in one frame (literally). So if you are one of those who have faced issues while clicking selfies or even group selfies, the F3 Plus is made just for you.

Besides camera, OPPO has also ensured that customers get full value for the money spent. The F3 Plus packs a 6-inch Full HD display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5, metal unibody, which makes it water-resistant, 16MP rear camera with Dual PDAF, Sony IMX398 sensor – first of its kind – f/1.7 aperture and dual LED flash. On the front, there's a 16MP+8MP dual camera with 120-degree wide angle coverage assigned for the secondary lens.

The F3 Plus is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 octa-core chipset, which is paired with 4GB RAM, 4000mAh battery with VOOC Flash Charge technology, Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based ColorOS 3.0 and has 64GB storage expandable up to 256GB. The ColorOS UI has some interesting features like a neat interface, speed optimisation, power saving mode, privacy protection, integrated virus scanner, eye protection and more.

To top it all off, there's a snappy and accurate fingerprint scanner integrated within the home button of the device. It takes a fraction of a second to unlock the device and land you on the home screen of the phone. Dual SIM support allows you to use two SIM cards at the same time, and most importantly it does not replace the microSD card slot, which is a standalone one.

The bigger question

How much does it cost and where can I buy the F3 Plus? To answer that, OPPO F3 Plus is priced at Rs. 30,990 and it will be available in the first sale on April 1, 2017. The handset, which comes in two colours – black and gold – and it will be available for pre-orders from March 23 till March 31.

Surprise element

OPPO also announced its new brand ambassador, and none other than Deepika Padukone.

Deepika Padukone
Deepika PadukoneREUTERS

Another surprising announcement made at the event was that the company would launch the smaller variant of the F3 Plus, the F3, with dual selfie camera in May.