Great for Selfies and More!
You’ve undoubtedly seen it when walking around almost any mall in Metro Manila — a sea of Green and Blue sales agents pushing the latest phones from two brands battling to rule the selfie-centric smartphone roost. Vivo launched their entrant into the race earlier, but OPPO is set to officially launch their newest F series device in the country in a couple of days — the OPPO F7. We’ve had the chance to take their newest “Selfie Expert” around town for a couple of days now so it’s time to see if their newest device is worth considering.
Before we get to that, let’s take another look at its spec sheet.
OPPO F7 Specs
- MediaTek octa-core Helio P60 processor
-
ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 6.23-inch 19:9 aspect ratio Full HD+ LTPS IPS display, 2280 x 1080 resolution
- 64GB of expandable storage
- 16-megapixel rear camera f/1.8 aperture PDAF with LED flash
- 25-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture, SONY IMX576, AI beautification
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, fingerprint sensor
- 3400mAh battery
- Android Oreo with ColorOS 5.0 UI
A Real Looker
OPPO has definitely stepped up their design game with the F7 and we think that it’s an absolute head-turner. While its crimson color (officially known as Solar Red) may have something to do with that, the Silver-colored variant is equally stunning as well. As we mentioned in our unboxing of the device, they’ve employed some tactics to help keep costs down in terms of material choice. From afar, it looks like the OPPO F7 is sandwiched by glass panels but it’s actually made of coated acrylic. We’ve managed to keep our review unit relatively scratch-free but it’s recommended to slap on the included jelly case just to make sure the device stays that way and is free of smears and smudges as well.
In terms of build quality, the F7 is constructed very well with no gaps in between its seams and, while the back of the phone is flat, its rounded corners do a lot for its ergonomics.
Yes, There’s a Notch but the Display is Great
The OPPO F7 is the latest device to sport an even taller aspect ratio than last year’s 18:9 standard. The 6.23-inch Full HD+ LTPS IPS display has a resolution of 2280 x 1080 at the 19:9 aspect ratio; giving it an overall pixel density of 405 pixels per inch. It was a joy to watch content on the F7 with the panel having great color reproduction and very forgiving viewing angles. Yes, we know, there’s a notch and you’ll either love it, learn to live with it, or you’ll hate it with a burning passion but, honestly, I’ve gotten used to it and having an almost all-screen display lends a little more premium punch to the smartphone. We did run into a tiny, solvable issue though.
While playing games we noticed that the content would extend to fill the entire screen and the notch would cover up bits of the UI. Thankfully, you can tweak settings in the display options to make sure that it behaves accordingly. Not a biggie but this is something you have to be aware of if you decide to pick up this device.
Head to the next page to see how the OPPO F7 performs
The Helio P60 Is Awesome!
At the core of the OPPO F7 is one of MediaTek’s newest chipsets — the Helio P60 — and it’s probably the best bit of silicon the Taiwanese company has ever made. It launches apps really quickly and can blast through the typical slew of day-to-day tasks without batting an eyelash. The F7 can also multitask without nary a hiccup with its 4GB of RAM. We’re expecting a variant of the device with a wee bit more RAM and storage but, unless you go absolutely ham on your smartphone, the configuration of our review unit has more than enough oomph.
The Helio P60 also comes equipped with Mali-G72 MP3 GPU that smashes through some of the more popular titles on Google Play. If you’re a fan of MOBAs, you’ll be happy to hear that it runs Vainglory at an average of 58 frames per second, while it averaged 30 frames per second on Arena of Valor; all of that using the best settings possible. Playing PUBG Mobile also gave us great benchmark scores with the game running an average of 26fps with great stability as well.
ColorOS Feels Less Like iOS
OPPO has always adopted more of an iOS feel with past iterations of its UI Overlay — ColorOS. The F7 ships with version 5.0 and we’re glad to see that it behaves more like an Android device this time around; having nixed the Apple-esque Command Center for quick settings. There are a ton of features, like the new smart assistant, but none of which seem to interfere with the phone’s performance.
Impressive Bio-metric Unlocks
We rarely dedicate a section to the fingerprint scanner and facial recognition but it bears mentioning on the OPPO F7 since we were pleasantly surprised at how quick and accurate it is. The oblong fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone is well-placed and easily accessed even if you have smaller hands plus has a very good margin of error with most of the mistakes stemming from the need for a bit of a wipe down. The facial unlock feature on the F7 is equally fast and the raise-to-wake function helps out with this tremendously, although there have been a few instances where we unlocked our device when tilted at just the right angle.
Want to see camera samples? Head to the next page.
Takes Great Selfies but the Rear Cam Is No Slouch Either
OPPO’s F series of smartphones have always been known for taking great seflies and, while the same can be said about the F7, they’ve made a lot of improvements to the rear camera as well. The 16-megapixel rear shooter produces great snaps with a decent amount of dynamic range and, since you’ve got an aperture of f/1.8, shots in low-light situations come out with a good amount of detail and minimal noise. The company talked about the F7’s AI tech during our briefing and the best way to see it in action is through the camera’s scene detection. There are 16 in total to help you get the best shots possible if you happen to be taking a photo of food, the scenery, or your beloved pet; it’s something we’ve from other brands before but it’s always a nice feature to have. Despite not having a secondary camera to help with the bokeh effect, the OPPO F7 still has a portrait mode. The results aren’t perfect but you’re getting more hits than misses.
The front camera is where the F series built its name and the 25-megapixel camera on the OPPO F7 is backed with a Sony IMX576 image sensor plus the company’s AI beautification tech they first implemented on its previous iteration. While we absolutely loved the photos when we went au naturel, we had mixed feelings about the AI beautification. It’ll, of course, boil down to preference but, at times, we think it goes a little overboard with making your eyes bigger and smoothening your skin.
You also have software-assisted bokeh with the front shooter and our shots came out really nice with this feature on. Again, it’s not perfect, but you’ll learn when and when not to use it to get the best selfies possible.
It’s Got Lots of Juice
The F7 is powered by a 3400mAh battery and it definitely has enough juice to last more than a day. It clocked in a respectable time of 9 hours and 26 minutes using PC Mark’s Battery Benchmarks with real-world use giving us enough lasting power to run errands all day with mobile data running for the great part of it. Sadly, there’s no sign of OPPO’s VOOC charging on this device so topping up the phone takes a little over 2 hours. Please bring it back, OPPO.
Is the OPPO F7 worth considering? Head to the final page to see our verdict.
Verdict: One of the Best the Company Has Ever Made
It seems like we say it every single time a company releases a new iteration of a phone but the OPPO F7 really is one of the best the brand has put out so far. The improvements from its predecessor are hard to deny and that Helio P60 does put in a ton of work. While we usually say that those who love taking selfies should keep an eye out for this device, there’s definitely more to the F7 than just its front camera. OPPO has a really strong contender this year in the F7 and, if you find yourselves locked to a budget just under Php 18,000, you should definitely put this device on your shortlist. The phone is priced at Php 17,990 and you can click on the link below if you want to pre-order the device.