I tested the OPPO F5 smartphone. Why are they talking about him? Oppo - step by step towards creating unique smartphones

Oppo is a brand that is very well known not only in China, but also outside of this country. The company has representative offices, for example, in Mexico and the USA, where the company's products are quite popular. But with the Russian market, Oppo is not doing so well. The company already tried to gain a foothold in Russia once (2013), but it didn’t work out. And this year the company’s management made another attempt and, apparently, it is doomed to success.

But today we will not talk about the history of the brand, but about its products - three Oppo smartphones. Reviews, characteristics, cost, delivery kits and much more - all this will be discussed as part of this review. Let's begin!

Description

To review Oppo smartphones, we selected the most popular recent models released in 2017. The first two models are the flagship R11 and the selfie expert F5. I would like to immediately note that the price of the devices is far from the lowest, but, in comparison with other more well-known brands, it can be safely called acceptable. The third model that will be discussed is another representative of the Oppo F series smartphone line - F3. Little is known about this model and it is not yet officially sold in Russia.

This model was presented back in the summer of 2017, but the device has not yet entered the Russian market. You can buy it in one of the online stores in China, India and some other countries. Apart from the regular version, there is also an Oppo F3 Plus model, but it is only sold in the Indian market. Its appearance in Russia is a very big question, but the usual “troika” will most likely appear. So we will consider it exactly.

Equipment

Oppo F3 is sold in a small white cardboard box. The device itself is shown at the top of the package, and the characteristics can be read at the bottom. By the way, the box here is not cheap. Its coating is quite pleasant and resembles a kind of matte surface.

The package included with the smartphone is quite interesting. Firstly, there is a proprietary clip for opening the SIM card tray. Secondly, the company provides each buyer with a transparent silicone case. It is made well, there are no rough factory seams here. The cover, although simple, is still nice to see. Many manufacturers don’t even put such cases in the box.

Further here you can find a set of instructions in the form of booklets, a micro-USB charging cable, white in-ear headphones with a microphone and a 2-amp charger adapter, which is pretty good.

Appearance

The appearance of the smartphone is simply excellent. The body is made of metal, the build quality is very high. Users are given only 2 color options to choose from: gold and rose-gold (as indicated on the official website). On the right side of the smartphone, at the very top, there is a SIM card tray. It opens simply, using a branded paper clip. The tray here is very pleasant, since it allows you to install not only 2 nano-SIM cards, but also a memory card up to 128 GB.

Below the tray there is a power/lock button. It is a little inconvenient to control since it is located somewhat higher, but after a while you can get used to it. On the left side of the F3 there are only 2 volume buttons. They are not made with a single rocker, but with separate keys - this is convenient.

At the back there is only a 13 MP main camera and a single LED flash. At the top end there is only a microphone hole. But at the bottom there is an external speaker, a micro-USB connector, a second microphone and a 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones.

The front panel here looks like most other smartphones. On top there is a speaker, a light and proximity sensor, an LED that informs about missed events, and 2 front cameras of 16 MP and 8 MP for incredibly cool selfies. At the bottom there is only a mechanical “Home” button with a built-in fingerprint scanner, as well as two touch keys on the left and right - “Back” and “Menu”.

Screen

The display here has a diagonal of 5.5 inches, and the matrix is made using TFT IPS technology. FullHD resolution, i.e. 1920x1080. There is no air gap, which makes the sensor more responsive. There is one and it is of very high quality, the finger glides perfectly. As for the screen itself, it has correct color reproduction, high contrast and a good brightness reserve. Factory calibration is almost perfect, but there is still a slight bias towards cool shades. The viewing angles are very decent, there are no distortions when tilted.

Characteristics

The characteristics of the Oppo F3 smartphone are quite good. The processor is an 8-core Mediatek MT6750T. Video accelerator MaliT86-MP2. By the way, the version with the Plus prefix uses better hardware - Snapdragon 653 and Adreno 505. Nevertheless, F3 allows you to play heavy games without problems at maximum graphics settings and provides the necessary level of performance for fast and smooth operation of the OS.

By default, the smartphone has 64 GB of internal memory, but if this is not enough, you can insert a flash drive up to 128 GB. The amount of RAM is 4 GB, which is more than enough at the moment. The battery has a capacity of 3200 mAh, which raises some questions about autonomy. Most likely, with active use, the charge will last about a day.

The front camera has 2 modules of 16 and 8 megapixels. This combination allows you to take incredibly high-quality selfies and record videos in high resolution. The main camera has a 13 megapixel model, which, by the way, takes very good photographs. Some sources of information say that there is a module from here, but whether this is true is difficult to say. In any case, the photos turn out great, and for those who like manual shooting, a separate mode with a lot of settings is provided.

The operating system here is Android 6.0 with a future update to version 7. The proprietary ColorOS interface is used as the shell. The shell is somewhat reminiscent of MIUI or FLymeOS. It’s convenient to use and has cool branded widgets.

Reviews and price

Unfortunately, there are no reviews of the Oppo F3 smartphone, since the phone is not yet officially sold in Russia. As for the cost, it also continues to be unknown. But if we take into account prices in China or India, then, most likely, in our country it will cost around 18,500-20,000 rubles, and taking into account VAT and PCT, the price tag can even rise to 23-25 thousand.

Oppo F5 smartphone

Consider the following model. This is the frameless Oppo F5 smartphone. He is the "big brother" of the F3, which has slightly improved characteristics. We will not describe everything in detail; we will consider only the main points that are most important.

Design and appearance

There’s no point in talking about the package, because the box the smartphone comes in is roughly similar to the F3, as is everything else. The only difference is that the F3 comes with a silicone case, while the F5 comes with a plastic bumper. It is made worse, and it doesn’t look very good.

The appearance of the Oppo F5 smartphone is somewhat similar to the previous model. The body is also made of metal, and the display has rounded corners. The controls are located exactly the same as on the Oppo F3. The main difference between the “five” is that there is no mechanical key under the screen, just like the new iPhones. The rear side of the device also houses the main camera with flash.

The design of the phone cannot be called unique or memorable. Yes, it looks cool, there are 3 colors to choose from: gold, black and red. But with all this, the appearance is somewhat reminiscent of a mixture of iPhone 8 and OnePlus.

Display

The screen is one of the main advantages of the F5 model. It has a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The company calls this resolution FullHD+. It's actually very convenient, especially for gaming or watching videos. The screen matrix is made using LTPS TFT technology. The diagonal is 6 inches.

Color rendition is very good, there is a reserve of brightness. There are no questions about contrast either. In general, the F5's screen is much better calibrated than that of the Troika. The viewing angles here are decent and the image looks equally good from different angles. Multi-touch support recognizes up to 10 simultaneous touches.

Model characteristics

Now you can move on to the description of the Oppo F5 smartphone, or more precisely, its characteristics. This is much more interesting, since there are 2 versions of the device on sale. The first offers the user 32GB of internal memory and 4GB of RAM. The second already has 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory. In addition, there is support for memory cards up to 256 GB. The slot for SIM cards and flash drives is the same as the F3.

The processor uses an 8-core video accelerator, and accordingly, it costs from Mali. The performance level of the smartphone is good. There are no problems with games either.

The operating system here is Android 7.1, and the proprietary ColorOS is used as the shell. There are no stutters, brakes or freezes, everything works very quickly. I would especially like to note the speed of the fingerprint scanner. It takes less than 0.5 seconds to unlock the device.

There are two cameras - the main one is 16 MP and the front one is 20 MP. The quality of the photographs does not raise any questions. There is a separate manual mode that gives complete freedom for creativity. The aperture of the optics is also pleasing. For the main camera it is 1.8, and for the front camera it is 2.0.

Well, the last thing is the battery. Its volume is the same as that of the F3 - 3200 mAh.

Cost and user reviews

Unlike the F3, there are reviews about the Oppo F5 smartphone, since this smartphone has already been presented in Russia and is sold, although not everywhere yet. So, users note that the smartphone has a couple of shortcomings, namely: the lack of an NFC module, rather weak battery life, and sometimes there are slight slowdowns in the camera interface. Otherwise, no one has any complaints.

At the moment, you can buy Oppo F5 at a price of about 25 thousand rubles for the 4/32 GB version. The 6-64 GB version is not yet sold in Russia.

Flagship Oppo R11

R11 is, one might say, a new Oppo smartphone that was introduced almost recently. The model is a flagship and will soon begin to be sold in our country. Let's see how the R11 differs from the F3 and F5.

Equipment and appearance

We can say this about the delivery package - all smartphones described today have almost the same equipment: a smartphone, a clip for the SIM tray, instructions, headphones, a charging cable, a power adapter and a case. In this case, the manufacturer put a transparent silicone case, and not a plastic bumper, like the F5.

The appearance is also very similar to what we have already seen before, in particular, the R11 can in some ways be considered an advanced version of the Oppo F3. The layout of the controls and connectors is the same as before. On the front of the smartphone there is the usual set of sensors and a 20 MP front camera. There is also a traditional mechanical Home button, which also functions as a fingerprint scanner, as well as two touch buttons on the left and right sides, but without backlight. The most important change in the R11 is on the back - it's a 20+16 MP dual camera.

By the way, what else I would like to say about the case is that it is all-metal, without plastic parts on top and bottom. This is good.

Screen

The R11 has a 5.5-inch display and a resolution of 1920x1080. The matrix here is no longer IPS, but AMOLED. The picture quality is very good and clear. Color rendition is excellent, as is contrast. The only thing missing here is a reserve of brightness. In very sunny weather you will have to literally peer at the screen. It is also worth noting that the color temperature shifts more towards the colder side, but during everyday use of the device this will not be noticeable.

Characteristics

The Chinese smartphone Oppo R11 has pretty good characteristics, although it’s a stretch to call them flagship, but still. The processor installed here is from Qualcomm - it is Snapdragon M660. Adreno 512 is used as a video accelerator, and the amount of RAM is 4 GB. Unfortunately, there is no 6 GB version. Nevertheless, such filling is enough not only for comfortable operation of the device, but also for games at maximum graphics. As for the amount of internal memory, it is 64 GB + there is support for memory cards up to 256 GB.

The battery here is set to 3000 mAh, but in combination with a less power-consuming processor, display and good optimization, the smartphone can easily work for up to two days without recharging, in moderate use, of course. And, besides, the charging process will not take much time, using VOOC technology - literally a few minutes, according to the company’s words.

The operating system here is Android 7.1. ColorOS is used as the shell - in principle, everything is standard for Oppo. There's also not much to say about the cameras. The smartphone takes gorgeous photographs, at any time of the day and under any conditions. Perhaps it doesn’t reach the level of the Galaxy S8, but it’s still very worthy.

Our readers who are not too close to the world of technology have probably repeatedly asked themselves the question: which company’s smartphones are best to buy these days? Let us say right away that even a specialist will not give you a definite answer, unless, of course, he is objective. Gone are the days when the market was dominated by a few companies from which you had to choose. Today the segment is represented by dozens of manufacturers, each of which is trying to have some feature, to show as many smartphones as possible and of the highest quality possible. Therefore, it is difficult to say which smartphone manufacturer is the best or the worst.

Well, since it is difficult to make an unambiguous verdict on this issue, we decided to put together a small top in which we will try to mention the most popular companies whose phones are in demand, which already have authority in the market and a huge army of fans. We will tell you why this or that smartphone manufacturer deserves attention, and what significant models it has shown recently.

Samsung is a leader whose position is difficult to challenge

No matter what growth Chinese smartphone companies show, no matter what success their countrymen achieve, no matter what Apple shows, the most famous Korean company remains at the very top. Samsung deserves first place in a number of ways. Regular release of high-quality flagship smartphones? Eat. Multi-million dollar sales? Where would we be without them? A bunch of lines of different price segments? On the spot. Innovative developments? Please.

In 2017 alone, Samsung introduced about a dozen smartphones of different classes, providing devices to all its fans, regardless of status. Yes, Chinese companies churn out new products with enviable regularity, but are they able to offer the same high quality and long-term support? Koreans know how to make cool smartphones, they know how to sell them.

The most prominent representative of Samsung in 2017, of course, was the flagship Galaxy S8. A new screen, the most powerful processor at that time, excellent cameras and stylish design. Already at the end of summer, the Koreans released , a savior that should correct the situation with the failure of last year's Note 7. And the phablet succeeds, as sales confirm. Other Samsung lines were not left without updates. The manufacturer has released cool and updated the Galaxy A series.

Why are users so fond of smartphones from this company? As already noted, high quality materials and workmanship play an important role. Even budget solutions look very decent. Let's not forget that the company develops some of the most advanced flagships, which receive all the best at the time of release. Finally, Samsung guarantees decent support - your smartphone will not be forgotten a month after its release, but will be updated for at least a couple of years.

Why do you want to scold one of the best smartphone manufacturers? If you can understand the price of flagship new products, then for mid-range, low-class devices the manufacturer asks a lot. Samsung has not been accused of many defects (not counting the disastrous Galaxy Note 7, which was recalled from sale last year due to explosions).

Samsung's popularity and crazy income from the sale of its () devices earn it a well-deserved place in our ranking of the best smartphone manufacturers in 2017. Keep it up!

Apple - where there is Samsung, there is Apple

Unsurprisingly, the Apple company is right next to the Korean one. In terms of sales and income, it is difficult for it to compete with Samsung - it releases only two smartphones to the market annually. The exception was 2017 - Apple was generous with three iPhones at once. We have already prepared a review. True, only the one who joined the ranks can be called truly interesting.

Apple smartphones are deservedly in demand - they are beautiful, powerful and elegant devices. The American manufacturer does not miss the opportunity to introduce any new technology; in addition, the manufacturer tries to make every detail for his device independently. Despite the much smaller number of smartphones introduced annually, Apple manages to remain among the best companies in its segment.

The advantages, as already noted, include elegant design, high-quality assembly, and characteristic features that make the devices stand out. Apple smartphones typically rank first in performance tests and have some of the best cameras. One of the striking features can be considered the iOS operating system - no other smartphone is equipped with it. Plus, Apple is famous for supporting its products - smartphones that are 4 years old receive updates to the latest OS versions.

The main disadvantage of Apple smartphones is their too high price. The company can sell even a relatively old device at the price of a strong mid-range device from another manufacturer. In addition, there has been some stagnation recently - for the fourth year in a row, the design of Apple smartphones has remained virtually unchanged.

Huawei is a company with grandiose plans

Huawei, in a fairly short period of time, moved from the status of “some Chinese company” to the status of “one of the largest smartphone manufacturers.” The company has a wide range of models, a lot of fans not only in its home country, China, but also abroad. Today, Huawei is among the leaders; it even managed to outsell Apple, albeit for a short time. In addition, the manufacturer announces its truly ambitious plans - over the next few years, the company plans to become the best in the smartphone market.

Huawei's lineup is, without exaggeration, huge. You can easily find a budget smartphone for just over $100, and a flagship that competes with representatives of more formidable brands. The company's devices have a recognizable style, they are beautiful and powerful, modern and with a bunch of different features. The company produces its own processor and cooperates with the largest manufacturers of various components for mobile phones.

In 2017, the most prominent representatives of the company will be, which has probably already been shown (the article was written a few days before the presentation). These are flagship devices with modern screens, dual cameras from Leica and top-end proprietary chipsets. Huawei promises us advanced artificial intelligence among its features.

The advantages of Huawei smartphones include high quality materials, eye-catching design, and powerful hardware. In many respects they are not inferior to devices from other companies. Huawei tries to make every smartphone as modern and sophisticated as possible, so the company deservedly gets into the top three.

Disadvantages include the somewhat limited cost of some solutions. In addition, a number of flagships, at least before the release, were inferior in some respects to their more famous competitors.

LG is a company you want to believe in

Last year was somewhat unsuccessful for LG. Their modular G5, despite a number of truly new ideas, did not appeal to users. The Koreans were clearly inferior not only to their neighbors, but also to lesser-known Chinese brands in the world. However, LG started 2017 with a bang, introducing the first with a FullVision display. Even Samsung with their Galaxy S8 was ahead. And although the LG G6 did not gain the same popularity (a smartphone based on last year’s chip), it became clear that the company was heading on the right track.

LG, no matter what problems it has, remains one of the world's largest companies that knows how to make quality products. Last year's decline is giving way to growth with the release of truly trendy smartphones. Yes, the manufacturer still doesn’t have an abundance of decent budget devices, not counting the recent frameless one. But in the flagship segment everything is not bad. At the beginning of autumn, the company presented one of the brightest new products of the outgoing year.

LG, in fact, like other large companies, has complete order with the quality of smartphones. The same LG G6 can even boast of a military standard of shock protection. The company is constantly experimenting, which, however, is not always beneficial. However, it happens that experiments bear fruit in the form of new “tricks”, which are subsequently used by the entire market. Smartphones from one of the best companies in South Korea are relatively inexpensive, for a large brand.

If you ask me today which brand of smartphone is best to choose in 2017, I will definitely recommend you something from LG. Although last year I probably wouldn’t have remembered about it.

Xiaomi – Chinese quality

Well, what top or ranking of the best is complete without mentioning this company? Xiaomi is omnipresent! It has captured the budget segment, things are going well in the middle class, and the flagship class is not in trouble either. Literally every day there is news that Xiaomi is releasing or is about to release something new. The strong point of this Chinese company is cheapness. Which, in fact, is not surprising. They're all like that there.

But in the case of Xiaomi, cheap doesn’t mean it’s bad. The company makes even inexpensive devices look and feel quite decent. The not-so-bright design is compensated by powerful hardware and acceptable cameras. In addition, with them the manufacturer offers a proprietary sophisticated shell and good autonomy. Smartphones from one of the best companies in the Celestial Empire are very popular in our country and are also common in other countries, which is facilitated by Xiaomi’s policy.

What company solutions are popular today? Of course, the flagship Mi6 and the recent one with an edge-to-edge screen. From the fact that it’s cheaper, I can recommend last year’s Mi5. The company's budget segment is now mainly represented by Redmi Note 4X. The tandem looks interesting, which we also reviewed.

We think the advantages are clear - acceptable characteristics at a low price. Among the shortcomings of Xiaomi smartphones, localized firmware is not always up to date and some shortcomings of individual models.

Sony is just a black streak

The Japanese have been having a hard time with really bright new products lately. It is noticeable that Sony does not keep up with all these newfangled trends, continuing to release its typical smartphones. The situation was slightly improved by a pair of new phones, which she showed at the recent IFA exhibition in Berlin. The compact flagship attracted particular public interest. The long-awaited new product is equipped with today’s top-end processor and a 4.6-inch display.

Sony smartphones have a distinctive design that not every user will be interested in. Instead of a frameless screen, which every major manufacturer now installs in their flagships, the Japanese, on the contrary, make the frames noticeable. But the solutions have a really high-quality camera with buffer memory, which allows you to record videos at 960 fps. There are also a pair of stereo speakers that produce excellent sound. On top of everything else, new and Compact work on fresh .

It’s hard to find fault with the quality of smartphones from one of the best companies. Yes, and these devices have their own “chips”, despite the fact that they do not follow general trends. But the price tag for many devices is clearly too high, considering hundreds of competitors at a similar cost. The best smartphone manufacturer in Japan certainly deserves a place in our ranking, despite the specified nuances.

Meizu - stylish and affordable

Meizu is the main antagonist of Xiaomi. While the latter have powerful smartphones, the former have beautiful ones. Like Xiaomi, this company is relatively young and ambitious. In a short period of time, it managed to turn from a little-known Chinese brand into the world's largest manufacturer of equipment, whose activities are monitored by millions of users and major media outlets.

Meizu smartphones are quite stylish, although the similarity to the famous American company is noticeable. With hardware, not everything is so rosy, but the recent one, which received a modern energy-efficient chip from Qualcomm, gives us hope that bright new products await us in the future. At the end of summer, the company also updated its flagship line, showing a pair, the feature of which was an additional screen on the back side. The devices turned out to be controversial, but undoubtedly interesting.

In addition, early next year Meizu is going to surprise us with the most frameless smartphone. The key drawback of most of the company's solutions is budget processors, which, well, are not able to add attractiveness to gadgets.

Google Pixel – the search engine also has good smartphones

The Google logo has been appearing on the backs of smartphones for quite some time. And of course, the corporation is still developing the most popular mobile OS. Last year, a couple of flagship smartphones were released under the Google brand, which were noticeably different from everything that was already on the market. The devices sold well, so the release of new solutions was expected.

And so, in the fall of 2017, the company is releasing another tandem of smartphones that will compete for the title of the very best. , just at the time of writing this article there is a Google presentation. It's worth noting that Google doesn't produce its own Pixels itself, outsourcing these tasks to other companies. This year, for example, one model is being developed by HTC, another by LG. But, despite all the successes, it is still too early for Google to place its smartphones among the leaders in the ranking of the best companies.

The best smartphone manufacturers worthy of mention

We decided not to include the following companies directly in the ranking of the best smartphone companies, but they undoubtedly deserve attention. Here we have, firstly, well-known companies that simply have a bad streak, and secondly, manufacturers that are rapidly gaining popularity. So:

Lenovo (Moto). A truly large company engaged in the production of a wide variety of electronics. It does not have typical flagships, but there are more than enough mid-range and budget-class phones. Products of good quality, with all the necessary functions, relatively low price of the devices.
OnePlus. She became famous for her . It produces 1-2 smartphones a year - pure flagships, which in terms of performance often surpass top A-brand smartphones. It will probably be among the best companies when it begins to actively release new products in different segments.
ZTE. Showing amazing growth lately. It has several lines of different segments; the company's smartphones regularly appear in various ratings. ZTE is preparing a frameless smartphone.
Micromax. Despite the fact that the company develops budget smartphones, it is extremely popular in a number of markets. Quite good and cheap devices at an affordable price, which ensures its growth.
ASUS. It may not be as popular as other well-known brands, but it has nice smartphones in its lineup. ASUS focuses on modern design, camera capabilities and autonomy.
HTC. Until recently, it was one of the best smartphone manufacturers, but now the mobile division has been sold to Google. Nevertheless, there are still flagship devices on the market that can attract interest with top-end characteristics.
Oppo and the like. Competition in the Chinese smartphone market seems to have reached its peak. Oppo and a number of other companies with a similar name literally overtook the world leaders in the number of devices sold in just a couple of years. And they are not going to stop there. True, smartphones from these companies are not yet widespread on the domestic market.

As a result

Well, now you know which smartphone brand is best to choose in 2017. The mobile market is developing very quickly. Companies that were at the top of Olympus yesterday may find themselves at the very bottom today. And, on the contrary, little-known manufacturers are becoming market leaders before our very eyes, developing innovative products in large quantities. We will update our ranking of the best smartphone brands from time to time so that you always have up-to-date information about the realities of the market.

Chinese smartphones can be very different. Some, like the endless Doogee, Oukitel or Leagoo, give the buyer more problems than they are worth.

Others, such as Xiaomi, provide excellent competition to well-known brands, attracting buyers with balanced characteristics, a high-quality operating system and low cost.

But there is a third legion of manufacturers who have become familiar to the mass Russian user quite recently. OPPO smartphones have long conquered the Chinese market, where they actively compete even with Apple.

Who are OPPO and why are their smartphones so cool?

In Russia, OPPO is known primarily for equipment for audiophiles: amplifiers, receivers, headphones for 100 thousand and other cool devices. We have already written about many of them. And you liked them. And you will like smartphones even more.

Now OPPO ranks 4th in the world in smartphone sales, behind only Apple, Samsung and Huawei. For completely logical reasons.

Today OPPO is for China as Apple is for the whole world. It’s worth making a reservation - in China they really love the iPhone. Therefore, almost all OPPO smartphones are very similar to our favorite devices.

The company's proprietary add-on for Android, ColorOS, is no exception, and is exactly like iOS.

Frameless and powerful - that's all OPPO F5

The mid-price smartphone F5 is the company's first device for the Russian market. It seems that this is the first balanced frameless phone - like OnePlus 5T. Only better and cheaper.

To make the smartphone warm and accessible, OPPO stuffed the device with a bunch of cool (although some may seem controversial) features. Housing - plastic; the screen has frames and sticks out slightly above the body; instead of the too recent USB Type C - regular microUSB; instead of the common 1 slot for 2 SIM cards - separate, for 2 SIM and for microSD.

Remembering the difference in official Russian prices with other smartphones in this class, their metal cases with constant scratches and the constant search for USB-C at a party - OPPO engineers chose the right path. It is much more critical that the F5 did not inherit the dual camera of the flagship OPPO R11 and. Someone may complain about the reduced amount of RAM - forget about 8 gigabytes, only 4 or 6 (no, is this not enough for some?)

But the relationship with OnePlus 5T and the instinct of Chinese engineers leave such little things out of perception.

What are 18:9 and why are they?

Why not 2:1? Just to be familiar and not stand out against the 16:9 background.

The main (out of 3 main) feature of the OPPO F5 is the now fashionable 6-inch screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9 with narrow side frames. The navigation keys have moved to the screen, eliminating the seemingly huge amount of free space at the top and bottom.

Such smartphones are narrower and shorter than regular ones. Therefore, OPPO engineers were able to fit the F5 into the dimensions of a regular 5.5-inch smartphone. It fits in the hand just like any Xiaomi A1 - only the Xiaomi is thicker and its screen is smaller.

Of course, the 18:9 aspect ratio is much better suited for mobile tasks. The extra screen length can be used not only for functional elements, but also when surfing - and especially when playing games or watching videos. With FullHD+ resolution (that is, 2160 x 1080 pixels), it’s a pleasure! And sites are perceived better.

Fact: Increasing the diagonal when changing the aspect ratio from 16:9 to 18:9 in this case does not change the pixel density (ppi) and leaves the same juicy image with normal resolution.

The screen has only one drawback - it would be worth using an AMOLED matrix instead of IPS. However, with the current implementation, the smartphone has normal color display, and this is worth a lot. And about the negative effects Samsung-like You don’t have to think about screens.

Can Android from Chinese developers replace iOS?

It usually doesn’t make sense to talk about all sorts of proprietary Android add-ons. A couple of external changes, a bunch of “lefty” useless software only increase the value of “pure” Android. But in the case of OPPO, everything is different.

OPPO F5 runs on a proprietary operating system ColorOS 3.2 based on Android 7.1. It would seem that this solution is already outdated - but OPPO’s competitors are following the same path, squeezing all the juice out of the proven version of the “green robot”. And for good reason.

Externally, ColorOS almost completely copies the iOS interface. Instead of the classic curtain, a bottom menu is used, called up by a familiar slide. There is also a curtain - but it is used only to display notifications. The application menu is called up in an original way - with a pinch gesture (as for enlarging) on the start screen.

ColorOS is like iOS, only on Android: everything is very simple, stylish and convenient.

Of the standard functions, OPPO engineers left few, except for the Google services required for the European region. This includes support for gestures, including waking up by double tap and symbols for quick launch.

The second is split screen for 2 applications. Unfortunately, not everything works on split screen (for example, Facebook and VKontakte clients). But browsers, clients of streaming services (YouTube and Co), most instant messengers and many professional utilities work. Watching a video in a browser and taking notes at the same time (fortunately, the screen width allows it) is priceless.

All this turns ColorOS into an almost real iOS. Much more convenient than regular Android.

How does OPPO handle photos?

In addition to the screen and operating system, the cameras are another feature of the OPPO F5. Company representatives even called him a “selfie expert.” Not without reason. The front camera of the OPPO F5 is really very cool. Although the manufacturer of the sensor is not specified, the numbers speak for themselves:

20 megapixels ensure picture clarity,
matrix size 1/2.8″ - low noise level,
f/2.0 aperture - excellent sensitivity.

You won’t find this as the main one in any other camera phone.

The fact is that the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom are very fond of selfies. Perhaps social networks today really play a larger role than the creation of artistic landscapes. Therefore, OPPO did not fail by creating one of the best selfie smartphones.

Let's start with the fact that OPPO F5 has something that others could not implement in software: the bokeh effect with a single camera. The smartphone perfectly blurs the boundaries of the subject, leaving it clear and sharp. Unmistakable and accurate.

But the basis for good OPPO F5 selfies was the SelfieTune software function - one of the popular “beautifiers”, auxiliary programs for automatic photo processing. It quietly corrects imperfections in appearance: whitens teeth, tints lips, removes bags under the eyes, wrinkles and other skin defects. A person turns into a fashion model without any Photoshop.

Similar functions in Xiaomi and Huawei significantly distort the picture. Therefore, to process photos of the OPPO F5 front camera, the company’s own SelfieTune artificial intelligence is used.

He builds a model of the face and compares it with the accumulated database of photographs. Based on them, the program analyzes the shape of the face and its features, taking into account lighting, after which it automatically corrects imperfections.

Unfortunately, SelfieTune is not customizable. You can only indicate the degree of leveling of defects, although the processing is almost invisible. Moreover, each subsequent frame gets better - SelfieTune learns before your eyes!

Another useful camera feature is Face Comes First. With its help, OPPO F5 independently recognizes faces and allows you to take instant photos with very accurate autofocus on faces. He also adjusts the settings for better display of faces.

And finally, we can’t help but mention OPPO’s own analogue of Face ID. Unlocking a smartphone using the owner's face works surprisingly quickly and accurately, glitching only in the dark (it doesn't react in the photo!). It works slower than a scanner, but due to its elongated body it can be much more convenient.

The main camera in such a smartphone is just a nice addition. Despite this, it works quickly and efficiently.

That's why the OPPO F5 takes beautiful, rich daytime photos and handles indoor photography well. But taking photographs in the dark is not his strong point.

Testing week: no limits and no problems

For a new product on the Russian market, OPPO F5 turned out to be a very interesting smartphone with a lot of advantages and disadvantages.

Thanks to its screen and ergonomic body, OPPO F5 boasts incredible grip with a 6-inch screen. Still, elongated screens are the future of smartphones.

Consuming any type of content on 18:9 screens turns into pure pleasure. It’s trite that more can fit on the screen - even compared to 6-inch smartphones with a standard aspect ratio.

The plastic case comes in handy. It is warm and does not slip. After a couple of dozen metal and glass devices, you feel a real buzz. A small fly in the ointment is the high-mounted fingerprint scanner. You have to get used to it, and it takes some time. However, recognition of the owner's face works perfectly. We can make do with them.

OPPO F5 unlocks almost instantly. There are also no noticeable slowdowns in operation, although it cannot be called an outright gaming solution. The use of a new single-chip platform is having an impact MediaTek Helio P23 from the middle segment: economical, low heating.

The OPPO F5 processor will handle any task that fits in 4 gigabytes of RAM - that is, absolutely any Android application in the next couple of years.

The engineers didn’t forget about the small features that make life easier. Just because they equipped the generally expensive (by the standards of Android smartphones) OPPO F5 with separate slots for 2 SIM cards and microSD, you can shake their hand. Finally, you can forget about the amount of built-in memory and take pictures for your own pleasure!

The case thickness of 7.2 millimeters affects the battery capacity. You can’t even dream about 4 or 5 thousand “maxes” - OPPO F5 is equipped with a 3,200 mAh battery. It lasts exactly one and a half days of moderate use. Not bad.

Is it worth changing your smartphone to OPPO F5?

Perhaps, among direct analogues on the Russian market, OPPO F5 has practically no competitors. Yes, there are selfie phones from Huawei and Sony. But among them there is not even one pseudo frameless smartphone, not to mention models with an elongated 18:9 screen. And this is a serious advantage.

Would I take the OPPO F5 for myself? Yes.

The smartphone leaves a pleasant impression after use. Quite cheap (for smartphones on the Russian market), economical and convenient. A good combination for a smartphone for 19,990 rubles, which is intended for consuming and creating content - in fact, at a professional level.

(4.00 out of 5, rated: 1 )

website A great smartphone to jump off your iPhone.

OPPO is a leading smartphone manufacturer in China and has seen impressive growth in interest in its products in India. Not long ago, the OPPO R11 was announced in China, which briefly fell into my hands. Here are my impressions.

OPPO hopes to continue its growth with smartphones that focus more on delivering superior camera experience. One such device was the OPPO R11.

In terms of design, OPPO R11 retains the features of its predecessor. The body has an all-metal construction, the back is curved on all sides. With a metal casing, there is always a danger that the device will become too slippery during operation. But, thanks to the curved back, the phone fits very comfortably in the hand, and the curves on the sides make it easier to grip.

New here is the Antenna 2.0 technology used by OPPO to reduce the number of antenna bands, from three to two. It still maintains functionality as expected with a 4G signal booster and 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi. The antenna lines are also painted in the same color as the body, so that they do not stand out, and the OPPO R11 has a more beautiful appearance.

In terms of specifications, the OPPO R11 comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor supported by 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The internal memory can be expanded via microSD up to 256 GB, with a 3000 mAh battery.

OPPO has also released the Plus version of the R11, which is equipped with a 6-inch display, increased RAM to 6 GB and a larger 4,000 mAh battery.

Software

In terms of software, when you buy the OPPO R11, you get the latest Color 3.1 operating system based on Android 7.1 Nougat OS.

With this system shell, OPPO focuses on small details. For example, the software includes a payment protection mode, Wi-Fi security check and features such as OPPO Share, which allows you to transfer files quickly and without loss.

However, it is clear that this version of the software is exclusively intended for the Chinese market. It comes with exclusive features and interesting UI changes, including notifications appearing in a separate control center window instead of being part of a drop-down list. We'll have to wait and see if these changes translate to the international variant once the R11 hits the international market.

A notable aspect of the OPPO R11 is its camera settings. The device has two 20MP + 16MP cameras on the back. The 16MP camera with 2x zoom means you can zoom in without losing quality.

OPPO is proud to share that it has worked closely with Qualcomm to develop a custom image processor, with the R11 being able to process images quickly despite their high resolution.

The R11 is loaded with software features that OPPO has added to further improve the camera experience, resulting in better photos. During testing of the smartphone, the settings of its rear camera showed good results.

The 20-megapixel front camera allows you to take high-quality selfies, and the software capabilities allow you to take great self-portraits.

Bottom line

At first glance, the OPPO R11 looks like a very promising mid-range smartphone equipped with a camera with great capabilities. While the R11 camera concept is certainly exciting, it's unfortunately unclear whether the R11 version will be the same when it hits the international market.

Advantages

Great cameras
Premium, all-metal design
Fast fingerprint reader
Good battery life
VOOC fast charging
Expandable Storage

Flaws

Mediocre performance
The display does not have an oleophobic coating
MicroUSB is obsolete
3.5mm jack has limited compatibility
No NFC

OPPO R11 smartphone - video review

If you find an error, the video does not work, please select a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

The Chinese company Oppo, part of the BBK concern together with Vivo, well known to domestic users for the affordable DVD players of this manufacturer that were common in the old days, has once again made an attempt to officially enter the Russian market. Previous attempts ended in failure, but this time the company is confident of success. Local star Yegor Creed was invited as an “ambassador” (“ambassador”) of the brand, who personally attended the presentation of new smartphones and praised their capabilities in every possible way. However, upon closer examination, everything turned out to be not so smooth. There are only two models entering the Russian market: Oppo F5 and F5 Youth. For testing, we took the regular version of F5 and, using its example, we will evaluate whether the capabilities of the new mobile devices are as wide as the manufacturer itself presents, and whether these smartphones really correspond to the declared level.

Key Features of Oppo F5

SoC MediaTek MT6763T, 4×ARM Cortex-A53 @2.3 GHz + 4×ARM Cortex-A53 @1.65 GHz
GPU Mali-G71 (MP2, 770 MHz)
Operating system Android 7.1, ColorOS 3.2
Touch display IPS 6″, 2160×1080, 403 ppi
Random access memory (RAM) 4/6 GB, internal memory 32/64 GB
Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
MicroSD support up to 256 GB
GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
LTE networks FDD (B1/2/3/5/7/8/20/28), TD (B38—41)
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 and 5 GHz)
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Micro-USB 2.0, USB OTG
Main camera 16 MP, f/1.8, autofocus, 1080p video
Front camera 20 MP, f/2.0, fixed. focus
Proximity and lighting sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
Fingerprint's scanner
Battery 3200 mAh
Dimensions 157×76×7.5 mm
Weight 152 g

Contents of delivery

Oppo F5 comes in a simply designed package: there is no velvety cardboard, no black background - just white and a stylized picture in the center. Only Apple packages its flagships this way now.

The kit consists of a USB cable, a compact power adapter (2 V 5 A), as well as a tool for removing cards, a very large paper book with documentation, a case and simple plastic headphones without rubber pads.

As for the case, it evokes a strange impression: only one epithet comes to mind - “conda”. Now almost all self-respecting Chinese manufacturers have begun to include protective covers as an accessory, and this one is the roughest and clumsiest of all. Made of hard and very thick plastic, ugly and inelegant, it noticeably increases the volume of the body. And yet, the very fact that it is included in the kit is already a plus, since it is not easy to find an exactly suitable case for all Chinese smartphones.

Appearance and ease of use

Oppo F5 received a body generally similar in design to most modern Chinese smartphones. If you remove the logo, it will be impossible to understand whether it is a product from Oppo, Asus, Meizu or anyone else. The aluminum trough, streamlined on all sides, with strongly rounded corners and side edges smoothly converges with the same rounded 2.5D glass of the front panel.

Thin lines on the upper and lower ends are not the usual figured grooves for external antennas, but just an element of decoration, recesses for beauty. It is not entirely clear where the antennas were actually hidden - or perhaps the material of the housing is not metal at all, but some kind of metallized plastic. At least, the manufacturer itself does not directly state anywhere that the Oppo F5 has an all-metal body.

In addition, the smartphone is surprisingly thin and light, and the sides are so narrowed that they are almost pointed. Due to this, the device has a very small surface area of contact with the palm, is poorly held in the hand, and constantly strives to turn in the fingers and fall out of the hands. It would be better if the sidewalls were made flat and wider...

The camera module noticeably protrudes beyond the surface, but, unlike the iPhone 6, from which much is copied here, the back of the body is strongly sloping, not flat, so it is impossible to use the device lying on the table - it sways whenever you touch the screen, as if paperweight.

There are no complaints about the operation of the fingerprint scanner; recognition is clear. The creators of the smartphone also took care of those who like to log in using portrait photography, and this function works surprisingly smoothly and clearly, even in less than ideal lighting conditions. The flash consists of only one LED and does not shine very brightly.

The front panel is completely covered with protective 2.5D glass, the manufacturer of which is unknown. There is no LED event indicator above the screen, which is very strange for a smartphone of this level of positioning.

There are no hardware buttons at the bottom below the screen; the buttons here are only on-screen; their panel can be hidden and called back. You can try to do without buttons altogether, using gesture controls, but with them everything is not so simple (we will talk about this in detail in the section on software).

They also went overboard with the side keys. Mechanical buttons were placed on opposite side faces and placed on the same level. If you hold your smartphone tightly in your hand and try to press the buttons with the fingers of the same hand, you are likely to press the keys on both sides. The collective wisdom of manufacturers has long come to the formula of placing both buttons on one side edge, but the creators of Oppo F5 were clearly guided by the iPhone, which now cannot be called the most comfortable smartphone in terms of ergonomics.

The card slot is not hybrid; a memory card can be installed here in addition to two Nano-SIM format SIM cards. Hot swapping of cards is supported.

There are no elements at the top end, except for the second microphone; the rest are collected at the bottom. Users have already criticized Oppo for its decision to install not a USB Type-C connector in its flagship, but a Micro-USB connector, which is at least strange for a modern device of this level. I’m glad that the creators’ conservatism was enough to preserve the 3.5 mm audio output. The main speaker and conversational microphone are installed here.

Oppo F5 is available in three colors: black, gold, and red, which will only be available for the 6/64 GB version. The front panel of the red version remains black.

Screen

Oppo F5 is equipped with an IPS display covered with 2.5D glass with curved edges. The physical dimensions of the screen are 68x136 mm with a diagonal of 6 inches. The display resolution is 2160×1080 (18:9), that is, the pixel density is fine here, it is about 403 ppi. The frame around the screen is quite narrow, but together with the strongly protruding sides, the distance from the edges of the screen to the overall edges of the case is at least 3.5 mm on the sides, and approximately 1 cm on the top and bottom.

It is possible to use automatic brightness adjustment based on the operation of the ambient light sensor. Multi-touch tests diagnose support for 10 simultaneous touches. It is possible to unlock the screen with a gesture. There is a night mode, which, according to the developers, “filters blue light and relieves eye strain.”

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Oppo F5, then they can be distinguished by size):

The Oppo F5's screen is slightly darker (photo brightness 107 versus 111 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Oppo F5 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. There appears to be a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating on the outer surface of the screen, but its effectiveness is significantly lower than that of the Nexus 7, and yet fingerprints are removed more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field on the entire screen, the maximum brightness value was about 500 cd/m², the minimum was 3 cd/m². The maximum brightness is very high, so, given the excellent anti-glare properties, screen readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider; the user can use it to try to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions. If you leave everything at default, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 5 cd/m² (dark), in an artificially lit office (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 160 cd/m² (normal), in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 530 cd/m² (even higher than the maximum with manual adjustment). We were not entirely satisfied with the result, so in complete darkness we slightly increased the brightness, resulting in the following values for the three conditions indicated above: 17, 160, 530 cd/m² (ideal combination). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works absolutely adequately and allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Oppo F5 and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K.

There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

The uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field is good.

And a test picture:

The color saturation on the Oppo F5's screen is natural, the image is slightly darkened, and the color balance is slightly different from the balance of the Nexus 7 screen.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Oppo F5 the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong bleaching of blacks.

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens has decreased significantly, but in the case of the Oppo F5 the decrease in brightness is slightly greater. When deviated diagonally, the black field becomes very bright and acquires a purple tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is very good:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1500:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 32 ms (16 ms on + 16 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (according to the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 50 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.31, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve slightly deviates from the power law:

This device has a very aggressive dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the output image - on dark images, the backlight brightness is greatly reduced. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. For this reason, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. In general, such a non-switchable brightness correction does nothing but harm, since constantly changing the screen brightness can at least cause some discomfort, reduce the visibility of gradations in shadows in the case of dark images and reduce the readability of the screen in bright light, since in average images the backlight brightness is not the lightest is underestimated. For example, when displaying a black field on one half of the screen and a white field on the other, the maximum brightness is reduced by 20%.

The color gamut only in the green area is slightly wider than sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

As a result, the colors have a natural saturation. This device has the ability to adjust the color balance using the color temperature adjustment slider in the night mode settings (of course, there was some nonsense about eye fatigue and vision protection in the description):

The balance of shades on the gray scale is average, since the color temperature on most of the gray scale is significantly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of an absolutely black body (ΔE) in the dark area is above 10. At the same time, the color temperature and ΔE change noticeably from hue to hue - this negatively affects the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance does not matter much there, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.) The correction (as indicated in the screenshot above) improved the color temperature situation slightly, but ΔE increased:

To summarize: the screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, high contrast, good uniformity of the black field, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB. Significant disadvantages include a weak oleophobic coating, low black stability due to gaze deviation from perpendicular to the screen plane, and non-disabled dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness. There are a lot of shortcomings, so even taking into account the importance of the characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality cannot be considered very high.

Camera

This device places special emphasis on the front camera in general and taking selfies in particular. This camera even has a higher resolution than the main (rear) one: it is 20 megapixels. True, the maximum aperture of the front lens is f/2.0, while the rear camera uses an f/1.8 lens. The pictures have good detail, there are no special complaints about sharpness, but color rendition and white balance are not always adequate to reality. The dynamic range of the sensor also leaves much to be desired: slightly more illuminated areas are completely undeveloped, obvious overexposures are visible everywhere in the pictures, although the lighting conditions during shooting were far from extreme.

The manufacturer even calls its new Oppo F5 and F5 Youth “camera phones” and classifies them as part of its own “selfie expert” series, since they use “technology for processing and improving selfie pictures and instant SelfieTune facial recognition.” According to the developers, “the technology is able to recognize more than 200 points on the face and create improved pictures that will look as natural as possible.”

In practice, during the presentation, none of the journalists were particularly impressed: the usual “beautifier” that is now found in any Chinese smartphone. The higher the degree of “enhancement,” the more the textures are smoothed out and the more plastic-like the face becomes. As practice shows, all these improvements “catch” for the most part only the Asian part of the audience.

The main camera uses a module with a 16 MP sensor resolution and an f/1.8 lens. This “cameraphone” did not receive a second rear module at all. Autofocus here is not lightning fast, but there are no special complaints about its performance. The camera control interface is clearly copied from the iPhone, the similarity was noted by everyone present at the presentation. There is no separate settings menu here, there is only a scrolling bar with a choice of shooting modes. Even in Expert mode, there is no option to save pictures in RAW.

The camera can only shoot video at a maximum resolution of 1080p, there is no stabilization. The camera does not impress with the quality of video recording; it is far from the generally recognized leaders in this matter. The noise reduction system copes with its responsibilities adequately, so the sound is recorded clearly.

Video No. 1 (48 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
Video No. 2 (22 MB, 1902×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)

The camera captures details well across the frame, although areas of slight blurriness can sometimes be seen at the edges. In mid-shots, detail drops a little, but this does not detract from the images visually. The camera copes well with indoor shooting. On homogeneous surfaces and in shadows, you can notice grain from the noise reduction, but thanks to the high resolution of the images, it is small and practically does not spoil the details. The camera copes well with macro and text shooting. As a result, it is quite suitable for artistic and documentary photography.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone supports several LTE FDD and TD frequency bands, including all three used in Russia (Band 3, 7, 20). Within the city limits of the Moscow region, the smartphone works stably in the networks of domestic operators, confidently maintains the 4G network, and quickly restores communication after a break.

The device behaves adequately in both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz); there are no complaints about the operation of the Wi-Fi module. You can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels - Bluetooth version 4.2 is supported.

But the absence of an NFC module in a smartphone costing 25 thousand rubles, given the worldwide development of convenient contactless payment technologies, now looks like a completely unforgivable disadvantage.

The navigation module works with both GPS (with A-GPS) and the domestic Glonass, but without the support of the Chinese Beidou. During a cold start, the first satellites are detected quickly, within the first seconds. The device has a magnetic compass, necessary for navigation programs.

The phone application supports Smart Dial. The settings for sorting and displaying contacts in the phone book are standard for Android. It is possible to record telephone conversations from the line. There are no special complaints about the conversational speaker, the volume level is sufficient, the voice of the interlocutor is intelligible. The vibration alert is barely felt, its level is noticeably below average in power.

The smartphone can support both SIM cards in 3G/4G mode simultaneously in active standby mode. That is, the SIM card will be in active standby in 3G, even if another card is assigned to transfer data in 4G. The interface allows you to select a specific SIM card for voice calls and SMS in advance. The cards operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode, there is only one radio modem.

Software and multimedia

The software platform is Google Android 7.1 with its own ColorOS shell version 3.2. All these customized shells for smartphones from Chinese manufacturers are now becoming more and more similar to each other, the distinctive features are being erased, and all developers eventually come to a certain unified style (obviously, one that suits the majority of users). It is difficult to highlight any specific features inherent in this ColorOS, but one thing is certain: like everything else on the Oppo F5, the interface is as close as possible in design and organization to what can be seen on iPhones. Here, not only the size and appearance of the icons are almost identical, but also the quick settings and notifications panel, which in the vast majority of Android smartphones is pulled out with a gesture from above, is moved down and slides out exactly like in iOS. There is also no usual option to restart the device from the menu by pressing the power button; you can only turn off the smartphone completely. Again, this inconvenience only exists on the iPhone.

Naturally, there is no separate list of installed applications, but there is broad support for gestures, a two-window mode, called here “split screen,” and an application cloning mode for working with different accounts on social networks. A set of useful utilities includes a voice recorder, compass, FM radio, there is a file manager, a store of your own themes and the usual phone manager, which carries out comprehensive system monitoring for granting permissions, detecting viruses, protecting payments, clearing caches, etc., etc. P.

As for management and identification, there are slightly more possibilities here than in most modern Chinese shells. Firstly, the ability to recognize faces has been added, and it works quite well. There are, of course, mistakes, but they are rare. Secondly, the functionality of smartphone control has been expanded: you can change the positions of the navigation buttons on the panel, or you can disable them altogether, replacing them with gesture control. But everything is not easy there: there are a lot of gestures, a certain segment of the screen is allocated for each, if you miss, a gesture performed in a slightly different place will lead to completely different results. You can simply get confused and forget the purpose of the gestures, then it will become very difficult.

To listen to music, you use your own audio player with a rather laconic interface, similar to the player interface in Huawei smartphones. Sound settings are handled by a separate Real HD Sound program with a set of preset equalizer values and a manual adjustment function. However, despite the loud names, the sound of the smartphone both in headphones and through the speaker is simple, the sound is desaturated and dim, somewhat “rough”, that is, not very clear, at maximum volume, and in general the volume reserve is small . There is a built-in FM radio and voice recorder, the latter demonstrates good sensitivity.

Performance

The hardware platform is built on a single-chip system MediaTek MT6763T, made using 16-nanometer technology. This SoC includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores in two clusters with frequencies up to 1.65/2.3 GHz. A dual-core ARM Mali-G71 GPU with a frequency of 770 MHz is responsible for graphics processing. Our sample had 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of built-in flash memory. Of this, about 22 GB of storage and approximately 2.3 GB of RAM are free. A modification with 6/64 GB of memory is also on sale.

It is possible to expand the memory by installing a microSD card (up to 256 GB), and for this you do not have to remove one of the SIM cards. However, applications are not installed on the card. It is also possible to connect external flash drives in USB OTG mode. It is curious that in the settings you must remember to enable this mode again each time, since it automatically turns off after 10 minutes of inactivity.

MediaTek MT6763T is a fairly recent chip, also called Helio P23. The Taiwanese manufacturer introduced this SoC in 2017, it is intended for mid-range models. The platform is far from the most powerful, but it has an updated, more modern ARM Mali-G71 video accelerator (dual-core, 770 MHz), which supports the Vulkan graphics API.

Accordingly, the smartphone copes quite successfully with any games, and there are also no complaints about the performance of applications. Oppo F5 produces about 65K points in AnTuTu; according to performance tests, its platform is comparable to Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 and HiSilicon Kirin 659.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

	Oppo F5 (MediaTek MT6763T)	Umidigi S2 (MediaTek MT6757)	Xiaomi Mi A1 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	HTC One X10 (MediaTek MT6755)	Huawei Nova 2 (HiSilicon Kirin 659)
AnTuTu (v6.x) (more is better)	66787	61926	63361	50597	60485
GeekBench (v4.x) (more is better)	—	896/3791	873/4014	757/2071	904/3513

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Oppo F5 (MediaTek MT6763T)	Umidigi S2 (MediaTek MT6757)	Xiaomi Mi A1 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	HTC One X10 (MediaTek MT6755)	Huawei Nova 2 (HiSilicon Kirin 659)
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot ES 3.1 (more is better)	65	587	463	421	413
(Onscreen, fps)	7	13	6	5	5
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	7	6	6	5	5
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen, fps)	22	29	21	17	20
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen, fps)	23	21	22	17	18

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

	Oppo F5 (MediaTek MT6763T)	Umidigi S2 (MediaTek MT6757)	Xiaomi Mi A1 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	HTC One X10 (MediaTek MT6755)	Huawei Nova 2 (HiSilicon Kirin 659)
Mozilla Kraken (ms, less is better)	4030	4846	7910	9992	8887
Google Octane 2 (more is better)	11122	9305	4885	3928	4828
SunSpider (ms, less is better)	1603	1198	880	1104	1310

AndroBench memory speed test results:

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

Heating is localized in the upper part of the device closer to the left edge, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 35 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is relatively little.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Great

File	Uniformity	Passes
4K/60p (H.265)	Fine	a lot of
4K/50p (H.265)	Fine	a lot of
4K/30p (H.265)	Great	Great	No
720/30p	Great	No
720/25p	Great	No
720/24p	Great	No

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and, in most cases, without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is inscribed in the screen height (in the case of landscape orientation), centered horizontally and displayed one to one pixel by pixel, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the actual range - all gradations are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The non-removable battery of the Oppo F5 has a capacity of 3200 mAh - this is an average level, closer to the entry level. However, apparently, the good optimization of the modern chip has an effect, since the smartphone demonstrates a fairly high level of battery life in all modes, comparable to the battery life of other devices with larger batteries. In real conditions, there are no miracles: the smartphone confidently survives until the evening charge, but nothing more.

Testing has traditionally been carried out at the usual level of power consumption without using power saving functions, although the device has them.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Oppo F5	3200 mAh	17:30	12:15 pm	6:00 am
Umidigi S2	5100 mAh	24:00	13:20	7:00 am
Xiaomi Mi A1	3080 mAh	12:00 pm	10:00 am	6:00 am
HTC One X10	4000 mAh	17:00	12:00 pm	5:00 a.m.
Huawei Nova 2	2950 mAh	13:00	10:30 a.m.	4:00 am

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted until the battery was completely discharged for at least 17.5 hours, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device operates for more than 12 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can work for up to 6 hours.

From the included network adapter, the smartphone is charged with a current of 1.5 A at a voltage of 5 V; it takes just under 2.5 hours to fully charge. Wireless charging is not supported.

Bottom line

Oppo's next attempt to come to Russia with its smartphones looks strange. The Chinese manufacturer (perhaps not fully understanding the market situation) offered the oversaturated mobile market a device that was, by all objective assessments, simple, setting a very high price for it for devices of this class - obviously, hoping for a miracle. However, a miracle is unlikely to happen, and the highly overrated F5 smartphone, which is not only not outstanding, but even in some ways noticeably inferior to its competitors, with a not-so-best display, an average platform, and not Qualcomm, but MediaTek, without NFC support, with a Micro-USB connector becoming a thing of the past, simple sound and, most importantly, with by no means top-end, although good cameras, it is unlikely to interest many. The device itself may be quite suitable, but the way it is positioned and at what price they are trying to offer it to sophisticated users causes some confusion. For Oppo, this is already the second, if not the third attempt to officially enter the Russian market, and of course, it will be very interesting to watch the company’s further actions in this direction.