Oppo F9 Pro: Capable midrange smartphone with gradient design, fast charge

Business Standard reviewed the Oppo F9 Pro to test its overall performance and the VOOC charging technology. Here are our observations.

Business Standard : Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo was one of the first Android original equipment makers (OEMs) to introduce a smartphone with an iPhone X-like notch-based screen. With the launch of the Oppo F9 Pro, it also became the first brand to introduce a screen with a tiny notch. A phone with a waterdrop design, the F9 Pro has a notch of the size of a water drop, and it accommodates only the front camera. 

The earpiece and sensors have been moved to the thin bezel area above it. Though the phone has a fresh design with a new sceen format on the front and glass with a gradient design on the back, it is the phone’s fast-charging capability that gives it an edge in the midrange smartphone segment. The phone features Oppo’s proprietary VOOC fast-charging technology, which according to the company provides two hours of talk time in five minutes’ charge.

Business Standard reviewed the Oppo F9 Pro to test its overall performance and the VOOC charging technology. Here are our observations:

Design and display

The Oppo F9 Pro looks identical to its predecessor, the Oppo F7. However, with a new screen format on the front and a gradient glass design on the back, the phone looks refreshing and has a premium appeal. The back of the smartphone looks dazzling, especially with its gradient design giving it a 3D look. However, with the fingerprint sensor placed in the middle-centre and horizontally aligned dual-camera module on the top-left-centre, the back lacks a uniform look and is, therefore, cluttered.

The front is dominated by a new 6.3-inch screen format of the fullHD+ resolution, stretching in a 19:9 aspect ratio. The screen has a tiny notch screen area accommodating just the front camera. Interestingly, the earpiece now sits under a thin bezel above the display, along with sensors on its right. The new screen format gives the phone a tall look, making it somewhat difficult to operate it using one hand.

Being an LCD unit, the display is bright and has good sunlight legibility. It has a good saturation and contrast ratio. However, the colour rendition is not satisfactory and a fullHD+ resolution on such a big panel looks a bit pixelated, especially while reading text, playing games and watching videos.

Camera

The smartphone has a dual-camera module on the back featuring a 16-megapixel primary sensor, mated with a 2MP depth-sensing lens. The main camera has a large f/1.8 aperture size and the depth-sensing lens sits behind f/2.4 aperture. The camera fixes autofocus quickly and takes detailed shots in all light conditions. However, in low light, the camera softens the output and shows noise across the frame.... Read More

Oppo F9 Pro to feature tiny notch, VOOC fast charge, gradient colour design

The Oppo F9 Pro would come in three colour options -- sunrise red, twilight blue and starry purple. Interestingly, the phone's side frame would also feature the gradient design.

Oppo, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, is gearing up for the launch of the Oppo F9 Pro by the end of this month. However, before the launch, the company has been teasing the smartphone features on its social media platforms. The Oppo F9 Pro would feature a redesigned notch screen, called waterdrop screen by the company, and a gradient colour design somewhat similar to the Oppo Realme 1. The phone would also get the VOOC flash charge, which is Oppo’s proprietary fast charge technology similar to the OnePlus dash charge.

Speaking of the VOOC charge, the fast charging technology applies a low voltage fast charging mechanism to lightning quick charging. With its standardised configuration of 5V/4A, it can achieve a charging speed 4 times faster than conventional 5V/1A charging technology. In terms of other specifications and features, the Oppo F9 Pro is expected to feature a 6.3-inch fullHD+ screen with a minor notch on the top and a thin bezel on the bottom. The phone would feature a glass design with reflective colour properties. It would come in three colour options -- sunrise red, twilight blue and starry purple. Interestingly, the phone’s side frame would also feature the gradient design.

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The phone is expected to use MediaTek Helio P60 octa-core processor, paired with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, respectively. In terms of imaging, the phone is expected to sport dual camera set-up on the back and a higher megapixel selfie unit on the front. The rear cameras as expected to feature a 16-megapixel primary sensor, mated with a 2MP depth-sensing lens. The front camera is expected to sport a 25MP lens of f/2.0 aperture size. Like other recent Oppo smartphones, the F9 Pro camera modules would get artificial intelligence support for beautification, scene detection and portrait mode.

The phone is expected to be a midrange device with a price tag somewhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000.

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