OPPO F9

Oppo is taking style quite seriously. The F9 comes in three colours and none of them are subtle. This is a phone not suitable for spies, you cannot blend in with the crowd while calling in an airstrike. Red, blue and purple are your choices. Which is a good thing in an age of dull (or shiny) black rectangular glass blocks. Huawei did start off offering vivid, pattern-filled colours but Oppo here took it up to eleven.

The phone is all about being noticed. Show it off to friends, let them flip and twist it against the light in an effort to catch some light on the diamond patterned back of the red and blue units. The purple one goes a step further with starry speckles across a pearlescent gradient. It is gorgeous to look at, although the coloured chrome frame borders on the gaudy side. Just. This is not for the introvert.

THE DISPLAY

The rather massive 6.3-inch display takes up almost the while front without wasting much space on the bezel. The very right display is one of the tallest screens around with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The 1080 x 2340 pixels and a 409 ppi density ensure a superbly sharp screen. Colours are vibrant without going overboard. Keeping things contemporary, the 6.3-inch display features what a lot of people want now, for no reason: a notch. Except this is the sleekest, tiniest notch I have come across, a water drop shape housing the front camera. Neat!

THE TRICKS

It has a very fast fingerprint scanner at the back and supports face unlock which opens up the phone the instant you look at it. Impressive! It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with AI figuring out your usage patterns to create the best combo of power saving as well as quick launches of most preferred apps. One annoyance though is the absence of an app drawer- all apps get placed on the home screen.

CAMERA

It features a 16 MP, f/1.8 and 2MP f/2.4 dual camera setup for the rear. The small 2MP unit is there just to serve as a depth sensor for your portrait pictures with the fancy blurred background for Instagram.The front has a needlessly huge 25MP f/2.0 camera unit.

Now, megapixels do not always make the best choice when you are out hunting for a good smartphone camera. First, the rear main camera takes good pictures in the sense that colours are accurate and if you hold it still, in good light, there is plenty of detail. But a lot of it is smoothed out as a result of the noise reduction algorithm. That is great for images of people, washing away fine wrinkles, but not so much when you want to snap pictures of animals where fine fur is often smudged out. Same with taking pictures of trees or grass. If you don't want those details, the picture is better than average. It does offer 2x image magnification which is useless since it is just digital fakery resulting in an enlarged image with more grain. Lack of image stabilisation hampers low light photography which results in heavy grain.

As for that massive megapixel laden selfie camera, it works in the same way, smoothing out some of the details and giving you fresher skin than you saw in the mirror after waking up. Detail IS present, just clumped together. Your hair will look good while the skin tone would be vibrant. Sadly, there is no autofocus which would have been important in a phone that draws a lot of attention to selfies.

BATTERY

Here's another winning feature. The display is a low energy consuming unit which allows the 3500mAh battery to last a really long time. And when it does go low, the proprietary VOOC fast charging means you get quick top-ups within minutes. The downside is that will not work with other chargers. You have to carry around your Oppo charger or get regular slow charging when using others.

THE CONS

The frame feels like plastic and the back while appearing like glass, seems like plastic. It scratches rather easily meaning your superbly glossy and colourful design wonder will be a smudged mess if you keep sliding your phone across tables. IT comes with a clear case so that provides some protection. And it comes with a micro USB port. What?

Verdict

The phones looks superb thanks to the brilliant display and the gorgeously patterned back. The design is a conversation starter. People want to know what it is. The Helio P60 may not be the best processor out there but it provides a stable, fluid experience on the Oppo and gets the job done even for casual gamers. The OS offers a few custom tweaks you will enjoy. But the camera features leave a bit to be desired.  

Specs

Display: 6.3", 2340x1080 Pixels, 409 PPI

OS:  ColorOS 5.2, based on Android 8.1

CPU:  Octa-Core 2.0GHz (MTK P60)

GPU: ARM Mali-G72 MP3 800MHz

RAM: 4 GB

ROM: 64 GB 

Camera:  25 MP + HDR Sensor Front, 16MP + 2MP rear

Features: VOOC Charging, Triple-slot tray, AI Battery Management etc

Battery: 3500mAh

Price: Tk. 28,990/-