OPPO F5 new smartphone full review.

OPPO F5 is the company’s entry to the growing population of smartphones with an 18:9 aspect ratio. And more importantly, this is the company’s way of gearing up for the upcoming holiday season, and not being dragged down by the competition.



Aside from its 6-inch FHD+ screen, the OPPO F5 also touts an AI-powered selfie camera, MediaTek’s latest midrange processor, and a facial recognition feature. Are these features enough to blow the competition out in the water? Let’s figure that out in our OPPO F5 review.

Right off the bat, the OPPO F5 a refreshing design — or at least, for an OPPO handset.  The seamless transition of the back panel to the sides, the shiny antenna bands, and the curved corners made it look a bit identical to the OPPO R11. But thanks to its unusual form and shape, the F5 looks a little less like the earlier OPPO devices before it.



Actually, the OPPO F5’s isn’t really one of a kind. The device looks very identical to its archenemy, the Vivo V7+. Besides having a tall, 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, the two smartphones share a lot of identical physical features.


For one, the OPPO F5 is also made of plastic. Despite how gorgeous, and metal-like it looks, this thing’s rear cover is made of plastic which is painted to look premium. And just like in our Vivo V7+ review, I barely noticed its second-rate material construction. The device has this premium metal look to it, without the heavy metal weight.



Its sleek design, lightweight, curvy corners and edges make the OPPO F5 look beautiful in my eyes. It’s also really ergonomic to use. However, since it has a tall screen, reaching for the top frame is quite impossible to do single-handedly. That’s considering I have large hands and fingers myself. I can’t access the Notifications tab without using my other hand, or running my fingers all the way up.

Like I said earlier, the F5’s highlight feature is its tall screen. Its 18:9 aspect ratio display is almost borderless, which populates the front of the device with nothing but screen. OPPO was still able to cram in the 20-megapixel sensor on top, together with the other necessary sensors and the earpiece.

However, the space at the chin of the OPPO F5 isn’t roomy enough to house the fingerprint scanner, so it’s been relocated to the back. Meanwhile, the capacitive buttons were also shifted to be on-screen.



The fingerprint sensor at the back is placed right above the reflective and metallic OPPO logo. It is easily reachable by the index finger and it falls naturally once the user gets used to it.

OPPO F5 Specs

On the left side, we have the volume controls while the right houses the lock/power button below the SIM tray. The buttons have an ultra-thin profile with great tactility and it still feels satisfying to press.

Moreover, there’s a noise-canceling microphone on top while at the bottom we have the other built-in mic, the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the loudspeaker.

Overall, I really admire the design of the OPPO F5. It would have been better if they used metal instead of plastic, though. But for me, personally, I like my smartphone light and easy to carry.

Display

Another visual highlight of the OPPO F5 is its display.  What we’re seeing here is a 6-inch FHD+ IPS display, with a high pixel density of 402. The unusual screen resolution was due to its 18:9 aspect ratio, a display feat that more and more companies are starting to adapt.


The screen delivers a standard performance for an IPS panel. The colors are good with deep blacks and average whites. Saturation is just average so it doesn’t exaggerate nor downgrade the color fidelity.

OPPO F5 gaming and apps

Watching movies, playing games, or browsing through pictures on social media is good on this screen. Using the OPPO F5 on landscape mode delivers a more immersive experience. Also, reading materials from websites and what not is a joy on this screen as you don’t have to scroll a lot because there’s more content to be seen by default.



Moreover, the screen panel also delivers enough backlighting to make it still usable during broad daylight. Viewing angles are also not the best, but acceptable and more than enough.

Multimedia

Unlike the V7+, the OPPO F5 doesn’t have a dedicated HiFi chip that ensures impressive audio output. But that doesn’t mean that the sound that’s coming out of this device is terrible. In lieu of a hardware chip, the F5 is equipped with a Real Sound Technology which basically works like a native equalizer in the settings menu. It does improve the sound output, but it’s nothing like a built-in DAC.

Multimedia-OPPO-F5

Plugging in the included earphones delivers decent performance. The treble is acceptable, the bass is present, although they aren’t thumping. The volume is decent for listening in an empty room, although it might not be that audible when traveling or in a noisy environment. I did plug in some decent pair of cans, and unsurprisingly, it sounded way better.

On the other hand, the loudspeaker of the OPPO F5 performed better than the bundled earphones. It has some really loud volume that can fill a small, quiet room. Both the treble and bass are acceptable, although the mids are a bit harsh.

Performance and Hardware

Just this August, MediaTek announced their new midrange SoCs, the Helio P23, and P30. And now, we’re seeing the said Helio P23 chipset on the OPPO  F5. This device is rigged with a 2.5GHz octa-core 16nm processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of expandable storage.

The chipset holds up pretty well during my test. The octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM handled almost any app really well. Browsing through the interface, social media apps, and Google Chrome were seamless. Although there were some very occasional stutters, those are to be expected for a midrange smartphone like this.

The OPPO F5’s multitasking capabilities are also impressive. You can switch between apps, from the basic to high-intensive ones, without breaking a sweat. You can also use some of them, side-by-side, with its Split Screen feature.

OPPO F5 - Color OS

Moving on, gaming on the OPPO F5 is also satisfying. Besides the immersiveness brought by its display, the processor also assures that it will project games with good frame rates. Playing games like Stacks and Mario Run, up to some graphically intensive ones like UFC and NBA Live are pretty enjoyable without noticeable hiccups.

I did notice some stutters on UFC’s menu screen and home page, but nothing too alarming. And since it runs with an  internet connection on, it might just be a latency issue on our network.

See also: OPPO A71 Review

Security

Thanks to the iPhone X, facial recognition on smartphones are starting to go mainstream. The OPPO F5 has the said security feature, but it doesn’t have the elaborate sensors that the iPhone X has. But still, the feature works surprisingly well.

The OPPO F5 utilizes the 20-megapixel front camera for scanning the face. And despite that, it still worked well. The device instantly scans my facial features, without having to literally put the device straight up on my face. During my testing, it had a 90% success rate of recognizing my face correctly.

OPPO F5 camera, facial scanner

The scanning technology also works well in a pitch black room, for as long as the screen is bright enough to act and light up your face.



I also tried showing it a picture of mine, and it intelligently refused to recognize it.

But if you’re the traditional kind, you can opt for the fingerprint scanner at the back. And just like the previous OPPO devices that I have tested, the scanner on this thing is insanely fast. It can instantly unlock the device in a mere 0.2 seconds, even when the screen is off.

But if you cant choose what to use, you can have the facial recognition and fingerprint scanner security features active at the same time.

Software

The OPPO F5 gets to have the company’s new ColorOS 3.2, with Google’s Android 7.1 at its core. The new interface brings new features that will utilize the F5’s characters, plus other subtle changes to mark its newness.

The ColorOS 3.2 still has that iOS look and feel to it, which is now more evident as the Control Center has been separated from the Notification tabs. With this version of ColorOS, you can now have access to quick controls by swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen, which is more ergonomic considering the device’s tall display.

OPPO F5 software

It would have been nice to have the volume control slider on the Control Center, but we’re not seeing it here. Although, what we have here is a new feature called OPPO Share, which basically OPPO’s take on Apple’s Airdrop. It lets you send files to any compatible OPPO device 100x faster than Bluetooth (probably via WiFi). The feature also toggles the Bluetooth antenna, so you can still receive files from other Android devices.

Moreover, the OPPO F5’s ColorOS 3.2 also introduces new native apps icons and a “secured” keyboard when typing passwords. Unfortunately, the Split Screen mode only works on most native and Google apps. There’s also a game mode that lets you block distracting notifications to help you focus playing games.

OPPO split screen

You can also take continuous screenshots, clone apps for easier multi-account management, and have easy access to Night Mode to protect your eyes from extreme blue light exposure.

Camera

And since the OPPO F5 belongs to the company’s F-series of smartphones, the device has feature-packed selfie capabilities. OPPO skipped the dual front camera setup, and focused on the new technologies working behind the scenes. The OPPO F5 has a 20-megapixel front camera, combined with an AI-powered beauty mode.



The Face Beauty mode had been present in previous OPPO smartphones and in other competing midrange devices. However, the company wants to separate the F5 by incorporating AI with it. When the said picture mode is activated, OPPO’s “complex algorithms” analyzes your face, so it can apply the right skin enhancement filters.

What’s more interesting is, it can also alter the contours of your face. And during my tests, the AI Face Beauty does work like what OPPO claims, although it’s still not perfect.

As you can see in the samples below, my face still looks a bit natural — as if no filter was added. That’s when the Face Beauty is in auto mode. But when its set to the highest level, you can already notice that it’s, indeed, just a synthetic effect.

I also noticed that my jaw is slightly more symmetrical. You wouldn’t notice it at first glance, but if you examine the image closely, you’d see the difference from the original.

The front camera of the OPPO F5 also has a Bokeh/Portrait mode. And unlike their previous attempts, it’s slightly better this time for as long as you set it correctly, and give the device a second or two to figure that out, it will result in a more believable effect. Your face will be separated from the background, but still with some minor lapses on sides, especially in the hair area.

But even when the AI Face Beauty is off, the selfie camera works really well. The images taken looks bright, with good colors and contrast, impressive sharpness, and decent dynamic range.

With its wide aperture of f/2.0 and an on-screen flash feature, taking pictures at low-light scenarios are also possible. .

We also have the 16-megapixel primary camera at the back. During a bright, sunny day, the sensor can take great pictures. The colors appear natural, contrast is average, and just like most smartphone cameras, the dynamic range is nothing to write home about.

The device also has poor low-light performance. Noise and grains are just everywhere. But depending on your preference, the images taken are still fairly usable.

The OPPO F5 is also guilty of trying to oversharpen the images. It’s barely noticeable if you’re just looking at it on a smartphone. But zooming in on a large monitor shows the muddy evidence of oversharpening.

But overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the camera’s performance.

The OPPO F5 is powered by a 3200mAh battery. It might not be an ideal size to complement its large 6-inch FHD+ screen, but considering the power-efficiency promises of the new MediaTek Helio P23 processor, there’s really not much to worry about.

And during my tests, the battery did deliver impressive performance. In a whole day of casual use — internet browsing through 4G LTE, sending messages and listening to music — I ended up with about 25% to 35% battery juice left before the night comes to a close.

OPPO-F5-battery-life

PCMark’s battery tests also garnered an average of 9 hours and 20 minutes of screen-on time before the battery reached 20%. That’s almost 1-hour shy than the V7+’s result. But that’s understandable since it has a slightly bigger battery and a lower resolution.

Connectivity

The OPPO F5 can run on two nano SIM cards. Both of which can support 4G LTE. I haven’t experienced any issues with while browsing the internet via LTE. For as long as there’s 4G reception in the area, the connection was fast and reliable on the device’s part.

I also have no complaints when it comes to call quality. I can hear the voice of the person I’m talking to clearly from the earpiece, even when there’s considerable noise in the surroundings. It also appears that the dual microphone setup picked up my voice well as I didn’t encounter any complaints from the other party on the line.

The Bluetooth v4.2 antenna didn’t show any problems connecting to my wireless speaker and headphones as well. There’s no noticeable latency or distortion even from afar. The WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n also connected seamlessly on our wireless network.

Verdict

The OPPO F5 is a refreshing product from the company, in many different ways. Unlike their previous releases, OPPO got pretty close on getting the right blend on this one. The OPPO F5 offers a pretty compelling and acceptable value for the price, despite falling short on some areas.



The huge 6-inch 18:9 screen with a sharp FHD+ resolution is probably the best display you can get for a midrange device. The freshly baked Helio P23 processor handles every task impressively as well. The Beauty Mode on its 20-megapixel camera turned to be a little less like a gimmick thanks to its AI accomplice. Images taken with AI turned on proved to be a little better as compared to the auto mode.

OPPO F5 Philippines - NoypiGeeks

I also liked the new facial recognition feature. It introduced me to a new way of unlocking my smartphone, effectively. And of course, the impressive battery longevity is the icing on the cake.

However, the OPPO F5 is not without its flaws. For one, the use of plastic is a major turn off. For this price tag, we should already be expecting a top-of-the-line, premium-made smartphone. Also, it would be nice to see OPPO bring importance to their device’s audio capabilities.

Overall, the OPPO F5 is an interesting device. And if you’re shopping in the midrange section, this is one of the few smartphones that you should be looking at.

Pricing and Availability of OPPO F5

The OPPO F5 has a price tag of Php15,990. Those who pre-ordered the device is subject to a free OLike Bluetooth Speaker that’s worth Php2,990.

Alternatively, you can also get the device via Home Credit. It’s available for an 6-months, 0% installment plans. You just have to pay a 20% down payment to get going and pay the rest in monthly.

http://list-phones.com/catalogue/OPPO-F5 - full specs.

Razer Phone - the best smartphone for gamers.

Now comes the new self-titled Razer Phone, coming as it does from a company that is heavily invested in delivering products to the PC gaming community, which is looking to bring a smartphone to market that is focused on the needs of gamers in 2017.

The immediate impact of the phone comes from the design, which is a brutal form factor. The smooth edges and corners that are beloved by other manufacturers are replaced with a rectangular boxlike structure.

This of course echoes the look of 2016’s Nextbit Robin. Given that Razer purchased the company in January, this should not come as too much of a surprise. Razer has moved away from the various color choices to stick with a black that matches its laptop and peripherals range. If you’re familiar with the Razer styling then this phone is instantly recognisable. It’s also recognisable as a potential Robin 2, which is delightful confluence of styles.

What is missing from the Razer tick box is the Chroma lighting system. Almost every Razer peripheral has the ability for a custom LED glow, while the laptop keys are individually lit in customisable patterns. The engineering to make the Razer snake logo on the back of the Razer Phone have the Chroma effect would compromise other parts of the smartphone package, so you get an etched logo in grey (or one of 1337 limited edition handsets with the Razer logo in the corporate green color).

When you also consider the cold nature of the metal case and the resulting increase in weight, this is a handset that ignores a number of the modern tenets of smartphone design. It definitely feels more like a small laptop than a big smartphone.

Also echoing the Razer ethos are the specifications. They have been turned up as far as is possible for a commercial smartphone. The SnapDragon 835 is pretty standard nowadays for a high-end Android device, but it’s paired up with a class-leading 8 GB of RAM. That allows more applications to stay ‘in memory’ when you switch between apps which will help with loading times on your favorite games, and gives the interface more room to operate in comfortably.

There’s been a lot of work done on the screen, and I’d argue this is the key selling point of the Razer Phone. Its 5.7 inch LCD screen with 2560x1440 resolution - numbers you might see on other devices - but the party trick is the refresh rate. This can go as high as 120 Hz, which results in incredibly smooth graphics, and transitions with a lack of artefacts. The screen refresh rate is also synced to the graphics co-processor, which means that each frame is drawn and sent to the screen in time to be fully redrawn on the screen.

That’s not especially useful for the likes of Facebook, but on a fast-moving driving game such as Gear Club, the difference is noticeable. And when do switch to Facebook, you can use Razer’s Game Booster software (one of the few first-party Android apps on the Razer Phone) to throttle back the screen refresh rate, the CPU speed, and the screen resolution to save on battery power. This can be set on an app by app basis, and allows the user the ability to balance out the use of the high specs against their battery power.

The refresh rate is high, but the screen is still a big drain on the battery. It’s not as bright as competing handsets, so you’re going to be running the backlight at a much higher level than you might expect. While LCD is always going to be less vibrant than the OLED displays of the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Razer Phone’s screen feels a little bit more washed out than I would hope for. Neither of these are deal-killers, but the Razer Phone’s high-end specs are coming in at $699 so something has to give and i suspect it’s the screen.

The twin stereo speakers are also on show during landscape gaming. Mounted either side of the screen the speakers (each of which have their own amp) are THX certified, and use the Dolby Atmos system. These speakers are loud, subjectively some of the loudest speakers I’ve heard on a mobile device. The sound is throw directly forward from the screen, your fingers and thumbs don’t block the speaker, and while you will have to tweak the graphical equalizer you can get enough bass out of these to feel some raw energy when playing.

Top of the line processors, fast and lush graphics, brilliant audio… make no bones about it, if your only consideration is core specifications, then purchasing the Razer Phone is an easy choice.

But it’s not perfect.

The biggest omission for me is the 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack. While a USB-C adaptor is packaged in the box, if you’re going to pitch your handset as “the ultimate in mobile entertainment” I think that omitting one of the most widely used ports for audio output (and arguably audio input as well) is a mistake. There is looking to the future and pushing new standards but the Razer Phone is more about ‘what works best right now’ and for me having the obvious connector hang outside the chassis on a needless dongle is the wrong approach.

I’ll discount using bluetooth here. While it may be fine for music and media, the latency and bandwidth during gaming, especially P2P gaming with voice comms, is not what you need for a device focused on delivering gaming performance.

And while it’s nothing to do with gaming or media, the lack of waterproofing on the phone is disappointing.

Then there’s the battery. At 4000 mAh it’s one of the larger smartphone batteries currently available. Which is why I’m surprised that it feels much smaller in my week of using the handset. Yes it gets through Android’s standard ‘working day’ from morning through to the end but I expected more. The screen refresh is dynamic to help preserve battery life, the screen’s peak brightness is lower than competing handsets and the SnapDragon 835 should be a known quantity. Hopefully firmware updates can increase the efficient use of the monster battery inside the handset.

Finally, the Razer Phone is an Android device that needs to prove itself in one other important regard. The Razer Phone ships with Android 7.1. Although the update to Oreo is expected early in 2018, and I’ve no reason to question Razer’s intentions, there has to be a question mark over its ability to consistently deliver software updates and security patches. Until these physically start to appear over the air it’s impossible to say whether the handset will remain as up to date as the competition.

I think the secret to understanding the Razer Phone comes down to understanding the phone is expected to deliver for the company. At the fictional base of Mazlow’s Hierarchy Of Smartphones, you want power. The Razer Phone delivers that in one of the most masculine Android smartphone packages I’ve seen in a long time.

Above that comes those looking for as much performance out of their apps as possible. For some that could be battery life, but the Razer Phone is for people who want the extra power to be able to play smartphone games.

But this is not a handheld gaming device like the PS Vita or the Nokia N-Gage. This is an Android device that pushes the specifications and hardware inside a relatively unadventurous shell. There are no physical controls, d-pads or sticks on the handset, there’s no ergonomic fit for your hands for long gaming sessions, and you are restricted to Android’s suite of games - which with the best will in the world will rarely match up to home consoles or PC rights.

The hardware inside the Razer Phone, especially the 120 Hz screen, can lift up the performance of many mobile games, so the handset does deliver a solid boost without demanding anything from the game developer. Developers can of course code apps to use the 120 Hz screen, but I suspect those will be developers that have a relationship with Razer or enticed to push the envelope. I don’t expect this option to be standard.

Pure gaming machines need killer games. And the killer games for Android don’t always need the killer specs that the Razer Phone offers.

So who is the Razer Phone for? It’s not a gaming phone, but it is a phone for gamers. There is a difference. Gamers need a smartphone in their pocket just like everyone else, and it will be in their nature to carry a phone that offers the best experience of Android games.

For me the answer lies not in the gaming part, or the phone part. It likes in the Razer part. This is a smartphone that represents the ethos of the company behind it. This is a phone that sits alongside Razer’s peripherals that are designed to create the best environment for playing games. It’s a Razer peripheral in exactly the same was as the Man O’War headset, the Mamba wireless mouse, and the Ornata keyboard. If you’re part of the Razer community (and there are rather a lot of them) and you’re in the market for a new smartphone, purchasing the Razer Phone is an easy decision to make.

Razer has an existing relationship with this community. The community trusts the Razer name and sees it as a fashionable choice as well as a trusted manufacturer. That makes selling a niche smartphone (and the Razer Phone is clearly a niche smartphone) an attractive proposition. Razer has a built-in audience, it gains experience in the smartphone market while lowering its risk and exposure, and if it gains any new fans because of the specifications and the visibility of the phone, so much the better.

This is a handset for the faithful and the soon to be converted.
See full specs here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/Razer-Phone

LG Q8 is a smaller like waterproof LG V20

The LG Q8 just popped up on the company's Italian site, detailing a new phone that will seem startlingly like the LG V20. That's actually what's likable about it.

The LG V20 was a good phone, but it wasn’t perfect. It had great audio, a dual-lens cameras ready for wide-angle photos, and a removable battery to its credit.

But it was a phablet-sized phone, which makes it a nonstarter for some people, and it fell behind in performance as soon as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 chipset came out.

What the LG Q8 does isn’t much different than the V20. It’s got most of the same blood and guts as the V20, running Android Nougat 7.0 on the same Snapdragon 820. 

Both feature a dual-camera system on the rear, a 1440p display the front, and a special marquee screen at the top for shortcuts and extra on-screen buttons.

The LG Q8 does have some differences, though. Among the more notable are its IP67 rating against water and dust, letting it sit at the bottom of a meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

It’s also more pocket friendly, with a shorter and narrower frame and a 5.2-inch display. It’s likely to be priced more favorably than the V20 as well.



About that LG Q8 price

The V20 was by all means a flagship phablet when it launched. And with flagship status comes flagship prices. It launched in late 2016 with a price tag of $799 for an unlocked model, topping even the base iPhone 7 Plus price.

Since the the LG Q8 is carrying around a chipset that’s older than all the other big phones hitting the market, like the OnePlus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S8 with their Snapdragon 835 chipsets, it would be a misstep to try pricing the Q8 in the same ballpark. 

That means mobile users will likely be able to get their hands on this scaled-down version of the LG V20 at a nice budget price.

While the LG Q8 doesn’t gain much favor from its chipset or internal storage limited to 32GB, it still offers a lot that budget tend to miss.

Dual-camera systems aren’t showing up on many cheap phones yet, and 2,560x1440 pixel displays are especially rare at low prices. For music lovers, it even has a special DAC for high quality audio playback, and can record 24-bit/192KHz audio in the FLAC format. 

You won’t find many phones that do what the Q8 will do in the sub-$600 category.

Though it’s not certain the Q8 will hit those low prices, it seems likely that LG will use the Q8 to introduce the premium features of the V20 to a wider audience. See full specification here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/LG-Q8