OPPO did it again! Known as the Selfie Expert, the Chinese brand has released its newest F device that might change the way you see its products. Now set to elevate not only your selfie game, the OPPO F7 is packed with trendy features usually found in more expensive handsets to battle out other mid-range phones.
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| OPPO F7 Review; Step Up Your Selfie Game |
Whether you like it or notch (pun intended), the F7 is a legit step-up smartphone if you’re upgrading from its predecessor – the F5. Let’s dig deeper here!
PHYSICAL:
As expected, OPPO has jumped into the latest design trend as it features an iPhone X-like notch display. Its build is definitely way better than the F5. Available in Solar Red and Moonlight Silver variants, the F7 is definitely a total spotlight stealer! Sexy enough to dump other devices on its segment, its polycarbonate body disguises as glass panels, but having this premium-looking design means that users have to house it with a protective case to prevent scratches and smudges.
The device is big enough at 156mm x 75.3mm x 7.8mm, but due to its curved edges and thoughtfully placed buttons, the F7 could still comfortably sit on our hands. However, solid grip is still needed, while one-hand usage isn’t advisable as it flaunts a glossy and slippery body.
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| 6.23-inch LTPS IPS FHD+ Notched Screen |
Its front is dominated by a huge 6.23-inch display with a top notch that accommodates its 25-megapixel front shooter, earpiece, and sensor. Its panel is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with a pre-installed screen protector on top of it. It sports an on-screen navigation keys to give an almost bezel-less screen, too.
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| Loudspeaker, microphone, 3.5mm audio jack, and microUSB port |
The volume rockers are placed on the left side, while the power/lock button and its triple-slot tray are sited on the right side. On the other hand, its loudspeaker, microphone, 3.5mm audio jack, and microUSB port are located at the bottom of the device.
Flip the device on its fingerprint-magnet back to reveal its protruding 16-megapixel snapper along with its LED flash. It has fingerprint scanner in the middle where your index finger can easily tap it. We just noticed that you need to wipe it every now and then to have a speedy reaction. It is stamped with the OPPO branding, too.
See Also: OPPO F7 Officially Introduces by JoshLia; 25MP AI-Powered Selfie for Php17,990
DISPLAY:
Here’s the twist! In 2017, smartphones had embraced the 18:9 display trend – putting up the consumers' thumbs. Now, appeared as the year of the notch, mobile manufacturers have started feeding up the market with its devices that boast an iPhone X-like notch. While many consumers really dislike this craze, OPPO still came up with one!
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| Notched Screen! |
The F7 comes with a huge 6.23-inch LTPS IPS FHD+ notched screen that has 2280 x 1080 pixels, translating to 405ppi. With this, the panel offers a 19:9 screen aspect ratio with 88 percent screen-to-body ratio. The device gives a great viewing experience, as it has immersive display and good viewing angles. It has decent brightness level even under direct sunlight, too.
It comes with Night Shield feature to protect your eyes against blue light, while users can also adjust the screen color temperature.
The device has scored 10 on multi-touch test.
SOFTWARE:
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| Software |
The F7 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo O.S with ColorOS 5.0 on top of it. Featuring an iOS-like skin, the device has no app drawer, hence, it features multiple screens to accommodate your apps. Navigating it is easy through its on-screen navigation buttons. To prevent you from having a loaded screen, users can simply create app folders to organize it.
The device comes with pre-installed apps, as well, including Google native apps, Facebook, WPS office, and iReader.
OPPO is about to change its game! Other than being a selfie-centric device, the F7 is a way more capable handset compared to the F5. Under the hood, it is packed with 1.0GHz 64-bit Helio P60 octa-core chip with dual-core A.I. processor paired with Mali-G72 MP3 graphics. To accompany you with your heavy tasks, the device is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage that is expandable up to 256GB via microSD card.
Too good to be true for its price, we expect that the F7 can outperform other devices on its price segment. However, we still ran it on various benchmark apps to suggest what more we can anticipate from it.
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| Benchmark Results |
- AnTuTu – 138,970
- GeekBench – 1521 (Single Core)
- GeekBench – 5846 (Multi Core)
- 3DMark – 23,061 (Ice Storm Unlimited)
- 3DMark – Max (Ice Storm Extreme)
- 3DMark – 1,702 (Sling Shot)
- 3DMark – 1,090 (Sling Shot Extreme)
- 3DMark – 937 (Sling Shot Exteme – Vulkan)
- PCMark - 7867 (Work 2.0 Performance)
Of course, having a Helio P60 processor inside, the F7 can handle multitasking activities better compared to its competition. During our tests, the device can easily switch to different apps from another. It can also run multiple apps at once. Moreover, the phone can smoothly play videos and games with heavy graphics.
CAMERA:
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| Camera Settings |
Unlike other camera-centric smartphones, the F7 is still equipped with a single camera setup, as it sports a 16-megapixel f/1.8 rear snapper with PDAF and LED flash.
To enhance its mobile photography, the latest F device sports various camera features, including HDR, 2x lossless digital zoom, super vivid, depth effect, face beauty, and expert mode. It now comes with new AR stickers, as well.
Sample Photos:
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| Camera Test (2x lossless digital zoom) |
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| Camera Test (Without Using Its 2x lossless digital zoom) |
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| Camera Test (Outdoor) |
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| Camera Test (W/ HDR) |
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| Camera Test (Outdoor) |
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| Camera Test (W/ HDR) |
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| Camera Test (W/ HDR) |
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| Camera Test (W/ HDR + Depth Effect and Super Vivid) |
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| Camera Test (Full Screen) |
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| Camera Test (Standard) |
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| Camera Test (Indoor) |
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| Camera Test (Outdoor) |
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| Camera Test - Outdoor (W/ HDR + Depth Effect and Super Vivid) |
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| Camera Test (Lowlight) |
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| Camera Test (Lowlight) |
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| Camera Test (Auto) |
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| Camera Test (Expert) |
Moving on to its front camera, well, OPPO won’t be dubbed as the Selfie Expert for nothing. The F7 flashes a new 25-megapixel f/2.0 Sony IMX576 sensor that is complemented with A.I. Beauty Recognition 2.0 and screen flash.
It comes with various camera modes as its primary camera, too.
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| Camera Test (No A.I. Beauty) |
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| Camera Test (W/ A.I. Beauty) |
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| Camera Test (W/ A.I. Beauty Set at 1) |
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| Camera Test (W/ A.I. Beauty) |
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| Camera Test (AR Sticker) |
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| Camera Test (AR Sticker) |
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| Camera Test (AR Sticker) |
To be honest, we’re totally impressed with OPPO’s overall camera performance. Unlike its previous devices, it now has decent camera features that can really improve user’s mobile photography. After all, it's not always about selfies, isn't it?
Both cameras performed well during daylight and in low-light settings. It can produce natural-looking photos, too. Nevertheless, we're already contented with its standard selfie camera performance even without the use of its A.I Beautification technology.
Also Read: OPPO F5 Review; Selfie Expert Gets Smarter
The F7 is a dual SIM device that supports 4G LTE connectivity on both SIM slots. It has basic connectivity features, too, including WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and GPS. All of these worked well during our test, considering that we also had a signal reception.
Its non-wireless connection such as its microUSB port and 3.5mm audio jack also worked fined.
BATTERY:
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| PCMark Work 2.0 Battery Life Test |
Boasting a 3400mAh battery capacity, the F7 can power up your daily activities for 7 hours and 36 minutes based on PCMark Work 2.0 Battery Life test. We also did our video loop test to push its battery on its limit. During the process, its Wi-Fi connection was opened, while its brightness and volume were at their highest level. On that note, it lasted for about 11 hours and 31 minutes.
Meanwhile, it lasted for almost 26 hours when we used it for basic communications, and decent social media browsing. It only lasted for 9 hours and 04 minutes when we heavily used it, though.
However, it took us 2 hours and 06 minutes to fully charge the device.
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| OPPO F7 |
And to fully step up your selfie game, the Chinese smartphone giant made sure that its users will have an upgraded overall experience. True enough, it's the best OPPO device that we were able to play around with yet.
Tagged at Php17,990, you might consider getting one if you aim to buy a new camera-centric smartphone that has speedy and smooth performance.
OPPO F7 Specs:
- Dual Nano SIM, dual standby, supports LTE connectivity
- 6.23-inch LTPS FHD+ (2280 x 1080) capacitive touchscreen display, 19:9 aspect ratio
- Dimensions: 156mm x 75.3mm x 7.8mm
- Weight: 158 grams
- Android 8.0 Oreo with ColorOS 5.0
- 64-bit octa-core (4x2.0GHz Cortex-A73 CPU + 4x2.0GHz Cortex-A53 CPU), Mali-G72MP3 GPU, Mediatek Helio P60 chipset
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage, expandable up to 256GB via MicroSD card, uses dedicated slot
- 16MP f/1.8 PDAF main camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording
- 25MP f/2.0 front camera w/ A.I. Beautification Technology
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz)
- Bluetooth v4.2
- GPS w/A-GPS
- MicroUSB2.0 with OTG support
- Sensors: fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, light, proximity
- Battery: 3400mAh Lithium-Ion, non-removable
- Colors: Solar Red, Moonlight Silver
- Price: Php17,990