The Oppo F9 is definitely one of those smartphones that surprises you! It’s one of the first to adopt the new waterdrop notches and packs some nice specs at affordable price point, definitely a welcomed move.
Hardware
The F9’s body looks and feels like a combination of glass and metal but is actually made of plastic and is quite sturdy. That teardrop notch, and the phone’s gradient-colored back makes it one of the best looking phones around. The Oppo F9 comes in a variety of colors, and the one we’ve got is the beautiful Starry Purple that transitions between glittery purple and sky-ish blue .
The display is a Gorilla Glass 6, 6.3 inches with a very well sized body thanks to the shrunken bezels, making the phone very close to an edge-to-edge display, with a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio. With a resolution of 2,340 x 1,080, the LCD display is satisfying, vibrant and produces bright colors.
In brief, the device we are reviewing comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, dual-SIM capabilities, micro-USB charging port and uses Oppo’s VOOC Flash Charge and fast charging) 5V/4V 20W system. This device runs on a Mediatek MT6771 Helio P60 processor and is surprisingly responsive for its category and price.
Going back to the teardrop, Oppp has reduced the size of the notch to house the front facing camera and seamlessly moved the earpiece speaker to the top bezel.
Software
Oppo uses its heavily customized ColorOS UI on top of Android 8.1 Oreo on this phone. Swipe right from the home screen to activate the Smart Assistant which has widgets, while swiping down form the middle of the display activates a search function, similar to the one on iOS. Oppo has also added a swipe option from the right side which brings out shortcuts and functions.
Other features include App Split-screen, Game Space (to boost performance), Gesture controls, Smart Driving, Clone Apps, Payment Protection, App Lock, Kids Space, and Private Safe.
Performance
The F9’s Mediatek Helio P60 processor performed fluidly for a mid ranger. From launching applications, to your typical smartphone activities, the processors handled the tasks without hitch, well until we hit the gaming world. Although the software has a gaming optimization engine, the device seemed to lag on certain titles, primarily due to the RAM being at 4GB in the version we have.
On the battery front, Oppo’s VOOC Flash Charge tech works as it should. The 3,500mAh battery charged from 0 to 58% in around 30 minutes.
Camera
Camera wise, the F9 comes with a dual setup on the back with a 16MP and 2MP and a 25MP selfie shooter on the front with multiple shooting modes like Snapchat-ish 3D stickers and AI mode to detect surroundings and adjust accordingly.
The rear 16MP shooter does a good job for a mid ranger. In daylight, the camera performs well and produces detailed photos with good dynamic range and color reproduction. The photos are well balanced, vibrant and the low light performance is surprisingly good as well.
HDR on the other hand, we’ve noticed that it tends to reduce the quality of the photos is some scenarios.
WITH HDR
WITHOUT HDR
The front-facing 25MP camera has plenty of room to be creative with selfies, and produces good images with nice details. We found that photos were better off with beauty mode switched off to avoid a very aggressive processing to the details of your face.
WITH BEAUTY MODE
WITHOUT BEAUTY MODE
Verdict
Oppo F9 offers plenty of features that makes a good 2018 mid ranger smartphone. Near bezel-less display with an attractive design. Despite few hitches during gaming, we do recommend this phone for those looking for a mid range phone with great value for money.
