Specifications:
- Dimensions: 143.5 x 71 x 7.3 mm
- Weight: 134 g
- Display: 5 inches HD IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 720 x 1289 pixels
- Operating System: Android Lollipop 5.1
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 octa-core
- RAM: 3 GB
- Battery: 2400 mAh, non-removable
- Storage: 16 GB, microSD card expandable up to 128 GB
- Cameras: 13-megapixel main, 8-megapixel front
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM (micro and nano)/ LTE/ Bluetooth 4.0
What’s Hot:
- Solid body yet light in the hand
- Incredibly fast focusing
What’s Not:
- Camera output lacks color vibrancy
Influenced by the selfie trend and the steady upsurge of apps to be used with front cameras, companies are putting out smartphones with some of the best front-facing cameras this tech-oriented generation has ever seen. Oppo, a brand that has been slowly making its name known in the country, opened the year with a selfie-centric smartphone that’s set to challenge the scene.
Design: (4.5/5)
The OppoF1 is undeniably a nice-looking phone. It sports an unassuming look but manages to attract curious glances with its fine and sophisticated feel. The review unit we got was in gold; a color that makes this phone appear extra exquisite.
Up front are an reasonably-sized, Corning Gorilla glass 4-protected display with thin bezels, three very responsive capacitive buttons, and a front-facing snapper seated where you’d usually find them. On the right of the device is where you can find the pop up slot for the SIM cards and microSD and a power/lock button positioned not far from it. To its left is where the volume rocker is. Its main camera accompanied by an LED flash, speaker grille, and Oppo marque are neatly placed on the phone’s sleek rear.
The F1 is surprisingly light for a phone that’s housed in metal. Its body is streamlined with rounded edges as to give it a softer look, all of which simply make for a premium phone you wouldn’t mind showing off.
Hardware: (4/5)
Never underestimate the power of a rather small piece of tech. This former rings true in the F1. In such a small package you’ll get specs commonly found in higher-priced phones. For starters you have an 8 MP front-facing camera with a wide f/2.0 aperture lens and a 13 MP snapper with LED flash.
It also features a Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 64-bit processor, Adreno 405 GPU,3 GB RAM, and 16 GB ROM which allows the phone to perform exceptionally as well as it looks impeccable on paper. We ran benchmark tests on the F1 to authenticate its muscle and results exceeded what we expected. It did stutter a bit during 3D testing, but it’s nothing to worry over as long you lay low on graphic-intensive applications.
User Experience: (4/5)
The Oppo F1 offered one uncomplicated experience. Running ColorOS 2.0, which is based on Android 5.1, navigating through its many features was fast, responsive, and seamless. For a more graphic description, the styling of its user interface is similar to that of a famous fruit brand, which brings us back to how straightforward it is. Among its built-in functions, I liked End All (a broom-like icon on the tool bar) best, which as its name suggests, ends all tasks running in the background with just a quick tap.
Now on to its most highlighted feature. Dubbed “the selfie expert,” the F1’s front 8 MP snapper delivers on its promise. In well-lit areas, photos come out sharp and fine-detailed. Meanwhile, photos taken with the front snapper in poorly-lit areas came out a tad poster-ish however can be enhanced through its Beautify feature. Its main camera on the other hand impresses with its super-fast subject focus and lots of built-in fine-tuning options. The images it produced are bright but somehow looks flat, a bit more color vibrancy would have been great.
Value: (4/5)
This sefie-centric phone offers more than what just meets the eye. On the outside, it looks meek but, when put through its phases, can blow its competition out of the water. For PHP 11,990, you’ll get a durable and handy daily driver that would not disappoint.
Bottomline:
Simple yet powerful, that’s what the Oppo F1 is.