Quick Specs
- 23 inch Full Screen display (19:9) with notch, Full HD 1080p resolution
- Rear camera: 16 MP with LED flash
- Front camera: 25 MP with AI beauty mode
- Color OS 5.0 UI running on top of Android 8 Oreo
- CPU: Octa core Mediatek Helio P60
- GPU: Three core Mali G72 MP3
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage, expandable via micro SD card
- Dual SIM, 3G. LTE
- 3400mAh battery
In the box
- OPPO F7 device
- USB charging and data cable
- Earphones
- Clear Silicone case
- Documentation
Design
The first thing you realize when you take the device out of the box is the light weight. I mean, this is a device with 6.23 inch screen, your mind is usually preparing for some heft, but no, the OPPO F7 is super light, weighing only 158g. In fact, the OPPO F7 is lighter than the iPhone X (158g VS 174g) which is amazing considering that the Apple device only has a 5.8 inch screen.
The reduced weight has been achieved by using a shiny polycarbonate material to build the rear panel. The material looks like glass and reflects light beautifully on its surface; it will surely turn some heads. The other benefit is that the polycarbonate is lighter, cost effective and more durable than glass; we applaud OPPO for using it here. To reduce the smudges on the glossy back, you can put the device in the free clear silicone case you get in the box, it adds protection as well.
You can get the device in various premium looking and glossy colors called solar red and moonlight silver, this is probably the first device whose all color variants are equally attractive, am yet to decide which one I like better.
Under the phone’s chin is a single loud speaker, USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm audio jack (luckily) and a pin hole for the microphone. On the right we have the power button and the sim tray while the left side holds a volume rocker.
On the back is the fingerprint reader, the 16MP camera and the OPPO logo. The front has that breath-taking 6.23 inch full screen notched display that has been fitted in a compact and slim body.
Display
When you turn on the device, you are blown away by how much the display takes over the front panel. The bezels are barely there, especially on that top bezel. The bottom bezel has a small chin that shouldn’t count as bezel. I personally love the notch, some people over the internet don’t but, if you ask me, the notch introduces a very fresh design touch to smartphones, it’s a nice departure from the rectangular unimaginative displays we are used to. For the haters out there, the notch can be hidden using black bars to emulate a notch-less display by selecting the option in the display settings. These solves the issue whereby the notch hides parts of a game that isn’t optimized for notches.
The 6.23 inch display has natural color tone and is bright enough to use outdoors with ease. Since it is an IPS panel, the viewing angles are perfect, the Full HD resolution keeps texts and images sharp and detailed. With a 19:9 aspect ratio, the screen may not be fully utilized by 16:9 videos out there but, you can zoom them in to fill the screen, however, that hides the content on the outlines.
Software and performance
The software was built to work well with the notch and the full screen display. Black bars automatically appear when you are watching videos on YouTube. The full screen display has on screen keys but OPPO implemented handy gestures to replace them (optional). The gestures show three lines at the bottom that are used to initiate gestures for back, home and multitasking respectively. Split screen multitasking is especially great on such a huge screen, both apps get huge real estate for usage. Make sure to check out our full review where we will further explore the software.
The performance is excellent; the Octa core Helio P60 can easily handle every task you throw at it. Coupled with the 4GB RAM, you can move in between apps and multitask like a breeze. Gaming is particularly great on the huge screen. We will try and push the CPU further with different scenarios and write how it performs on the full review.
Camera
The front 25MP camera marks the highest pixel count of any device available locally. OPPO paired it with AI beautification which performed wonderfully on the F5, we have very high hopes for the F7. In fact, the F7 has made improvements over the F5 beauty mode, the AI uses 292 points to correctly beauty you, up from the 260 used in the last generation. Additionally, the camera can now apply beautification on 4 faces up from the sole face it did in the F5.
The rear camera also benefits from AI-boost, a feature that intelligently recognizes the scenes you are photographing. The rear 16MP also has 2X zoom that can be activated with a single touch of a button. Initial samples have great contrast, vivid colors and sharp detail. We will continue testing the camera for the full review; we have high expectations for both shooters.
Battery
