The Oppo F1 features a 5-inch HD IPS display along with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 that makes the device quite resilient. The metal back is quite classy, and the phone is quite handy. The buttons are perfectly placed, with the volume rockers on the left, and the power button on the right side.
The speakers are positioned at the bottom that sometimes get covered by the fingers when the device is held in hand. This smartphone consists the usual sensors and the notification led at the top, and capacitive buttons at the bottom, that are not backlit. The design is impressive, but the only thing that Oppo can improve on, are the brightness levels of the device, that simply don’t feel satisfactory in bright sunlight.
Priced at AED 1090, this mid-budget device is powered with an octa-core Snapdragon 616 processor that runs at a clock speed of 1.2 GHz. It is also backed up by 3GB of RAM, and an Adreno 405 GPU. In terms of connectivity, the device supports 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB OTG and GPS.
It would have been nice if it supported NFC as well. The device is quite fast, and runs casual as well as heavy games smoothly. The app transitions and interface animations are fluid. Multi-tasking is also quite efficient on the Oppo F1. The battery life is also satisfactory. The 2500 mAh battery lasts for about a day on regular usage with 4G enabled.
The Oppo F1 comes with a 13 megapixel rear sensor that has an aperture of f/2.2. A single flash is also present for the primary camera. It also carries an 8-megapixel front shooter. Various camera modes like HDR and expert mode are available for both shooters. The rear one clicks pretty amazing landscapes outdoors. Pictures clicked indoors are also quite crisp and clear. However, the images lose their touch in low lighting.
The selfie camera is one of the best features of the phone as it has an aperture even wider than the rear shooter. The images captured are detailed in appropriate lighting, but the front camera also fails to click incredible photos in low light. The Oppo F1 features a variation of Android Lollipop called the color OS 2.1.
The basic interface is not much different from the one in traditional Lollipop devices. However, this custom interface can be customised even further with the help of themes and other visual effects. The device comes pre-loaded with a few apps such as Security Center, O-cloud, Kingsoft Office, and Theme store.
This customised version of Android Lollipop is quite nice and offers a lot of freedom to the user. One can customize the details of the interface according to his/her own preferences. The Oppo F1 is an excellent choice considering other mid-budget smartphones. The performance is up to the mark, and both the cameras deliver satisfactory images in most instances.
Ignoring minor flaws such as no lighting for capacitive buttons, positioning of the speakers, and no NFC support, the Oppo F1 is completely worth its price.
Price: AED 1090
