Oppo F1 Plus review + video: The selfie expert, but at a price

Oppo F1 Plus is the second camera-centric smartphone in Oppo’s F series. The F1 Plus houses a 16 megapixel front camera, and 13 megapixel rear camera. So the phone is clearly aimed at the youth who want a great selfie camera. But does Oppo F1 Plus live up to its hype of being a ‘selfie-expert’? Does the smartphone deliver on other aspects as well? We find out in our review.

Oppo F1 Plus houses a large 16 megapixel front camera and 13 megapixel rear camera.

Specs: 5.5-inch full HD display | 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) | 4GB RAM | 64GB internal storage | 16-megapixel front camera + 13-megapixel rear camera | 2,850 mAh battery | Android Lollipop 5.1

Price: Rs 26,990

Watch: Oppo F1 Plus Video Review

What is good?

There are quite a few things that impressed me about the Oppo F1 Plus. First up, the Oppo F1 Plus has a great design and is super light-weight. Plus a crisp display, which makes for great viewing angles. Oppo F1 Plus features a design, quite similar to iPhone 6 series. The gold colour variant that we got for review looks pinkish gold, though not really rose gold in the true sense.

Also Read: Oppo F1 Plus first impressions: This one is all about great selfies

The smartphone is super thin at just 6.6 mm, and is surprisingly light weight too. The F1 Plus has metal unibody design and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on the front for extra protection. The camera unit and flash are placed on the top right corner at the back of the phone, which looks very neat. The smartphone is sleek with round edges, and a thin silver metal frame running along it.

Oppo F1 Plus is powered by a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) coupled with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage.

For a person like me, who loves smartphones with large display, this one scores an eight out of ten. The 5.5-inch full HD display is a delight to look at, play games and even use in bright sunlight. Also, F1 Plus has got very thin bezels on the sides, which makes for a wider display.

The home button doubles as a fingerprint scanner, and is one of the fastest I have used. It’s pretty accurate too, and unlocks the phone almost instantly.

Oppo calls this the ‘selfie expert’ and we have to agree. The front camera is one of the best in any Android phone.

The front camera in Oppo F1 Plus can definitely handle the reds well.

The rear camera in Oppo F1 Plus was not a disappointment either and gave pretty good shots, especially while clicking in places with ample light.

But the USP of this phone is undoubtedly the 16MP front camera. Oppo calls this the ‘selfie expert’, and we have to agree. The front camera is one of the best on any Android phone.

This one can click detailed pictures and reproduce great colours. As we pointed out in our first impressions of Oppo F1 Plus can definitely handle reds well. The results in bright outdoors are pretty good. Pictures, however, tend to get a little grainy in low light, though better than some of the other cameras.

Also, the front camera comes with a number of tweaks, which will make you want to go on a selfie spree. I had a great time using various filters and patterns, while shooting numerous selfies with my friends.

Oppo F1 Plus houses a 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash. The rear camera was not a disappointment either, and gave pretty good shots, especially while clicking in places with ample light. Again, the reds do not bleed and you will end up capturing decent pictures using the same.

Oppo F1 Plus is powered by a 2.0 GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) coupled with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. And believe me, this smartphone can handle multi-tasking very smoothly. While playing games is a delight because of the large and vivid display, F1 Plus is equally good when it comes to performance. I watched a couple of videos back to back, played games and used it for multi-tasking without any lags or crashes.

Oppo F1 Plus is super thin at just 6.6 mm and is surprisingly light weight too.

Oppo F1 Plus manages to remain cool most of the times, except when playing graphics-heavy games on it. The smartphone tends to get a little warm within the first few minutes, at the top half, but not annoyingly hot, like most other metal phones.

Oppo F1 Plus packs a decent 2,850 mAh battery, which will easily last for a day from moderate to heavy usage. Plus, it comes with VOOC flash charge, that helps you get over 50 per cent in 35 minutes, which is great.

What is not good?

Design is one of the best things about Oppo F1 Plus, but the build quality left us a little disappointed. Just within a few days of use, the phone’s back got dirty with marks and I couldn’t wipe them off. Also, the smartphone feels really delicate and slippery. F1 Plus needs to be handled carefully, or it might just fall out of your hand, while taking it out of the pocket.

Just within a few days of use, the phone’s back got dirty with marks and I couldn’t wipe them off.

Remember, the Oppo runs the Color OS 3.0 on top of Android Lollipop 5.1 and it should be getting a Marshmallow update for the F1 Plus soon. For those who haven’t used an Oppo phone before, Color OS might seem to be a bit of a change. For me, swiping right for notification settings, while they could very well be placed on top of notifications didn’t quite work.

Verdict

The Oppo F1 Plus comes with a great design, a decent battery and an amazing selfie camera. I would strictly recommend this one to everyone who likes to post a new selfie every hour on social media, and wants a great camera and a stylish smartphone for the same.

As far as other specs go, several other smartphones at lower prices offer the same package, but compromise on the camera front a bit. Xiaomi Mi 5 at Rs 24,999 is a great option right now, which features a great design and performs pretty well.

Photos: Oppo F1 Plus has a 16 mp front camera that rocks