GADGET REVIEW: OPPO F1 Selfie Expert
“A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or camera phone held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick.” – Wikipedia
The modern generation has come to accept the term ‘selfie’ as a part of our social culture. With this demand, dozens of different gadgets and smartphones now compete against each other with the goal of having the best camera for self portraits. Every year, the competition gets stiffer and this year, OPPO finally released their take on this ever-growing trend. Will Oppo take home the crown?
Here at FlipGeeks, we were fortunate to get our hands on Oppo’s latest offering: The OPPO F1 Selfie Expert.
Oppo F1 Selfie Expert specs:
• NETWORK: GSM / HSPA / LTE
• SIM: DUAL SIM
• DISPLAY: IPS LCD Capacitive touch screen, 16M colors
• SIZE: 5.0 inch display
• RESOLUTION: 720 x 1280 pixels
• SCREEN: Corning Gorilla Glass 4
• OS: Color OS 2.1/ ANDROID 5.1 Lollipop
• CPU: Quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 and 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53
• GPU: Adreno 405
• RAM: 3 GB
• MEMORY: 16GB internal, up to 128 GB (expandable microSD)
• CAMERA: 13 MP (Rear Camera) f/2.2 with face detection autofocus and LED flash, 8 MP (Front Camera) f/2.0 wih 1/4″ sensor size and 1080p resolution
• BATTERY: Non-removable Li-Po 2500 mAh battery
EXTERIOR
Looking at the packaging, you will get a sense that this phone was made especially for women who loves self-portraits and those who love photography as an art. The phone looks elegant and stylish. The OPPO F1 feels lightweight even if it has a metallic finish. The screen size is average for a smart phone but lacks that extra step when it comes to the brightness and it’s 720p resolution. However, this is considerably more than enough especially for its price range. The screen area is just right especially for those TV and movie marathons during out of town trips. The battery is non-removable which may be a huge turn off for some. In addition, Oppo’s fast charge technology is also nonexistent with this model but the battery life surely holds up after at least 8 to 9 hours of continuous use of YouTube and browsing.
SOFTWARE
The OPPO F1 uses the ColorOS technology and it is the first time that experienced this feature. Surprisingly, it is sleek and very responsive. I almost thought that I was using a $600 phone just by tinkering with it for the first time. Another thing that I really loved was the availability of different gestures, which are not available in all other Android phones I have owned or tested. The options range from drawing your desired letter to open the camera or flashlight to sliding your fingers to capture screenshots quickly. We were not able to try the OPPO F1’s performance when it comes to games or graphic intensive apps since it is mainly used as a camera phone. This does not mean that the OPPO F1 cannot carry such tasks, from what we have tried, the OPPO F1 runs smoothly while tinkering with its default apps and switching camera modes.
CAMERA
The pride and joy of the OPPO F1 with it being labeled as a selfie expert, is of course, the camera. The front camera perfectly captures that selfie you always wanted. With it’s beautify and screen flash features, you can do away with all your filters. Just pose, click, shot and upload, and you’d get that primary photo you have always wanted.
With the OPPO F1 being a selfie phone, we were actually surprised with the main/back camera. With its 13-megapixel capability, it can very well match up with entry level DSLRs minus the customizations for the lens and aperture. The OPPO F1 can handle low-light conditions with it’s night shot feature. We were impressed with how the flash was able to maintain the image without overexposing the photo.
I was fascinated by how this phone controls the depth of view with my pictures. I would prefer to bring the OPPO F1 with being lightweight and easy to carry instead of a bulky DSLR especially for those late night hangouts or early morning date runs.
Of course, our review would not be complete without us taking a selfie! The OPPO F1 lived up to our expectations. The image quality was great and we had the option to use different filters as well. Our favorite part when we took our selfies was the hand gesture control. This innovative feature lets you take pictures even without touching the screen. With the OPPO F1 you’d never use a selfie stick again.
Overall, it was remarkable that for the price of the OPPO F1 it brings so much to the table. The Oppo F1 definitely delivers on its promise to bring fantastic portraits without hurting your wallet. If you are considering getting a new phone this 2016, the OPPO F1 is a sure buy! You would have a great camera and smartphone bundled in one great package.
We would like to thank OPPO Philippines for giving us a chance to take the OPPO F1 Selfie Expert for a spin.