OPPO is a company that has been coming up with well designed and well configured mobiles for some time now. They have now made an entry into the mid-range market with the R7 Lite. The phone is classy to the core and performs well too. I got a chance to spend some time with this impressive device and review it. Here is what I think about the OPPO R7 Lite
The specifications are : It has a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, running Android Lollipop with Color OS. With a 1.3Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM (expandable via microSD card). It has an 13MP rear camera with LED Flash and an 8MP front camera. The device has Dual SIM slots with 4G support on both slots. It is powered by a 2,320 mAh battery
OPPO is well known for making devices with a premium feel and this one too is in that class. They have absolutely outdone themselves in the build and finish of the phone. Holding it in your hand certainly gives you a luxurious feel. What I admire about OPPO is the fact that they do not get into price cutting. Looks good and feels good means that it is a tad bit higher priced. Unlike other competitors, OPPO has not given into the urge to get into under cutting the price. I am ok with that, will the buyers be? That is for them to decide.
Coming to the phone, The Oppo R7 Lite has a 5-inch HD display and feels nice and easy to hold, the manageable size plays a key role in the overall feel of the phone, the thin bezels on the sides add to this. The phone has a metal unibody design and features the 2.5D curved arc design for the glass and the unique violin-arc design for the metal edges. The R7 Lite is not at all slippery and grips pretty weel. The device has a hybrid dual Nano SIM card configuration.
Overall, the device is very impressive to look at and use. The Color OS interface is quite intuitive and makes it an absolute breeze to get anything done.The phone has the kind of looks that make it hard to resist. The rear camera juts out a tad bit, but one hardly notices that at all.
R7 Lite has a 13MP rear and 8MP front-camera configuration. The camera has the phase-detect AF system to ensure quick focus acquisition speed. In full light conditions, the camera produces impressive pictures without any issues. Image acquisition with the auto focus set up is ok. The low light images with the rear camera are decent. But not as good as the daylight and full illuminated photos. A common problem with all phones these days, very few make the cut there.
Color OS is a brilliant fork of Android and adds to the overall experience of the user. I had a very easy and lag free experience with it. The UI is good, stable and there are absolutely no stutters at all.
The battery is a very good and reliable one. I was able to get a day and half with Wifi and above average usage on a single charge. The 2,320 mAh battery supports Qualcomm QuickCharge and that along with OPPO VOOC charging improves charging time radically. Pretty fast and no complaints there.
The display is good, but I feel that OPPO could have easily moved it up to 1080p Full HD given the price of the device. Sunlight legibility is a bit of a hit and a miss, more miss than hit. OPPO has added an ‘eye protect’ mode which makes it easier on the eye to read from the device. The colors and saturation levels leave no room for any complaints at all.
On the performance front, I did not notice even a small stutter anywhere. The multi tasking was also smooth. I tried out Asphalt 8 on it and there was not lag. All the other games to went fine. I do not believe in synthetic benchmarks that much, the device is way above average on performance. This is another thing that I love about OPPO devices.
My feeling is that given the price of Rs 17,990, this phone is in league with the OnePlus One, The Mi 4i and the Moto X Play. Given that this is the neighborhood that OPPO R7 Lite finds itself in, I think that feature to feature, the phone will have a tough time matching up to the competition. The pricing could have been a little bit lower.
Verdict
This is a brilliant device in the mid range segment. The phone does not disappoint on any front, except the low light photos and just about every other phone has that issue. The performance is spot on. Display is vivid. Look and feel are premium. But then, all these good things and there still is no standout feature given the price and the competition. If you are someone with an eye for the exquisite and don’t mind paying for it, then this phone is for you!
