Our first ever smartphone review for the year 2017 – and we’re starting off with Lee Min-ho’s smartphone. This is the OPPO R9s, a smartphone with not only one ambassadors, but a total of 3! There are two local ambassadors – Fattah Amin and Min Chen, and then there’s the heartthrob Lee Min-ho.
But how exactly does the OPPO R9s hold up to our test?
Here’s our full review of the OPPO R9s.
Unboxing
Firstly, the box itself. On the outside, it looks rather typical, as OPPO didn’t find the initiative to fix its aesthetics since the OPPO F1s. It’s a minimalist and clean design – and I personally like this design.
Opening up the box shows up a rather different unboxing experience compared to the F1s – which is why we’ve prepared this unboxing video for you. You can check out the entire unboxing experience here.
And yes – OPPO gave us all accessories that the F1s has but packed in a much more refined and enjoyable manner.
Obviously, I like this packaging a lot more. I mean, despite the very basic pair of earphones that it comes with, the unboxing experience is fantastic!
[nextpage title=”Design”]
This is another part of the smartphone that looks just like the OPPO F1s. It has the same general aesthetics – clean glass front with a curved side and meets with the metal back. Very minimalist and functional design, I should say.
The whole design is quite symmetrical too., which adds more points to its cleanliness in terms of aesthetics.
I really like that OPPO place all the ports at both sides and the bottom, and there’s absolutely nothing at the top. I know – having an audio jack at the top or bottom is a personal preference – but I like mine at the bottom.
Around the left side is where the volume rocker is and the power button is on the opposite side. Pretty usual button layout here. The buttons have gotten much better and are very tactile and clicky – there’s no way you’ll press any of the buttons without knowing.
OPPO made some radical changes to the R9s’s design too, starting with its back. The OPPO R9s is the first ever smartphone to feature a new split antenna design – and it’s looking good. With these two sets of triple 0.33mm thick antenna lines, the antenna lines have been further “diluted“, if you may, into the phone’s body itself.
[nextpage title=”Connectivity”]
I have to say that when it comes to the connectivity options on the OPPO R9s, it can be improved even further.
Starting off with the SIM/microSD card tray. OPPO opted for dual-nano-SIM setup, but the second SIM is a microSD combo slot. I would’ve thought OPPO will at least retain the triple-card tray a la the OPPO F1s – because that’s true flexibility. The removal of triple-card slot makes it quite difficult for me to quickly import all of my images from one phone to another too. It’s not a big deal for most people – but having a 16MP sensor and 64GB of internal storage on this phone can face some storage insufficiency after a few months. Especially those who are shutter-trigger-happy.
Secondly, it comes without FM radio, NFC, or infrared. Those features are nice to have, as I know many people would like to tune into the radio ocassionally.
If you’re wondering why OPPO chose microUSB over USB-C, there’s a perfectly good reason for it. More on this later.
[nextpage title=”Display”]
Ah, the screen. OPPO opted for a 1080 full HD resolution – but that’s not all. They’re using an AMOLED panel this time around.
The clear benefits of using AMOLED over LCD is for its superior deep blacks and fantastic contrast ratio. Is it beautiful? Yes – it definitely is. The display on the OPPO R9s is also very bright – a common trait among AMOLED displays. So make sure you’re not turning on your phone in the dark with full brightness – it can be blindingly bright.
In terms of color calibration, it seems that OPPO did a good job this time around. The color reproduction is quite on point, with vivid and saturated colors throughout. A very beautiful display indeed.
As the display is protected by Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 5 and a piece of clear screen protector right from the get-go, I can foresee that the OPPO R9s will retain its display’s beauty for a long time.
[nextpage title=”Camera”]
This is the part where OPPO gave heavy emphasis on – its camera. They were clear about what the R9s’s camera is capable of, and brandished the OPPO R9s with the tagline “Now, it’s clear. Just how clear is clear that we’re talking about?
Here’s a quick spec rundown. Both its rear- and front-facing cameras have a 16MP sensor, but that’s as far as the similarity goes. The rear-facing camera has a Sony IMX398 sensor that is specially customized and developed by Sony for OPPO. Together with an aperture of f/1.7 and Dual PDAF, OPPO claims that the R9s will have 40% faster focus speeds even in low-light conditions.
Take a look at these pictures.
Color reproduction is quite good, albeit on the blueish tinted side – and its Dual PDAF is legit. The OPPO R9s does focus faster! However, the lack of OIS makes it pretty difficult to get a clear image under longer shutter speeds. Other than that, the camera is actually pretty good!
You can check out more glorious pictures taken with the OPPO R9s on our Flickr album!
What about the camera menu? Well – here’s a quick peek at it. I have to say, the camera menu is very minimalist while still being functional. All the necessary buttons are there where you’ll need it, but it can be hidden if deemed unnecessary.
And no – they haven’t forgotten those who like selfies too. OPPO took what the F1s does best, and brought it over to the R9s. 16MP sensor with f/2.0 for its front-facing camera – and has a similar image quality too. What I really love to see in the future, is autofocus for selfie camera.
[nextpage title=”Software”]
OPPO didn’t change much regarding its software – in this case, the ColorOS – compared to the OPPO F1s. You can check out a more in-depth look into ColorOS right here.
Usability wise, it’s the same. Menus are identical since they’re using the same flavor of Android anyway. However, there are a few changes under the hood.
Firstly, the fingerprint sensor. Compared to the F1s, the brand new R9s has a much quicker fingerprint reader – which resulted in a successful unlock by a mere split-second touch on the reader itself. Doesn’t even require my finger to be placed accurately on it!
There are lots of gesture shortcuts built into the OPPO R9s too. Starting with the usual double tap to wake/sleep with accident prevention, triple finger swipe down motion to take a screenshot, and drawing gesture on the lock screen as shortcuts. You can even a total of 7 more custom gestures to be drawn on the lock screen too – that’s really nice!
Other than that, the clunkiness of a ColorOS is still there – but this time it’s regarding the notification system. Whenever I swipe down the notification bar, the Quick Settings menu appear. I can’t seem to find any options in the settings menu to change this, too.
When software is concerned, how about its performance?
[nextpage title=”Performance”]
Rocking a Snapdragon 625 chipset (manufactured with FinFET technology, which I absolutely love) with a 2.0GHz octa-core processor, Adreno 506 graphics, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, and a 3,010 mAh battery – the OPPO R9s can definitely have fun with you for a long time. Potentially until your mobile data quota dries off too.
Let’s first talk about why you’ll have fun with the OPPO R9s. Our usual test suite shows that it can run a consistent 46.8FPS on average on Epic Citadel with the highest graphic settings. I ran the test consecutively for at least 10 times before checking the temperatures over and over again. I was surprised to see that the highest temperature is at 44 degrees Celsius, while all the others are at about 37 degrees on average. The OPPO R9s itself doesn’t feel warm at all even with the included case installed – which is fantastic!
Moving on to Vellamo, it shows a different set of results. While the benchmark scores for Chrome is lower on the OPPO R9s, I don’t really feel any difference in terms of its web performance. That said, I find peculiar that while compared to the ASUS ZenFone 3 that we’ve reviewed here, the single-core score is within the margin of error but the multicore performance on the OPPO R9s is way higher than the ZenFone 3.
The overall performance is nothing to worry about – that’s for sure. It’s still speedy, still fantastic, and most of all – battery-friendly.
Oh – speaking of its battery life…
[nextpage title=”Battery”]
The OPPO R9s has a 3,010 mAh battery. Weird capacity, I know. While it might sound like a puny amount of battery, remember that it’s using Snapdragon 625 – a chipset that’s manufactured with FinFET technology. You can learn all about it by clicking here.
I changed the brightness to manual at about the same brightness for the PC Mark for Android battery test, and ran it overnight. Clicked “start” and I went to bed, then woke up and saw that the phone is still running strong.
I went about my day and came back a few hours later to see that the battery test has completed – and the results were astonishing!
Slightly over 10 hours and 30 minutes – that’s actually pretty decent considering its performance, operating temperature, and with its super-fast charging speeds.
Oh right – the charger. The OPPO R9s is compatible with OPPO’s iconic and revolutionary VOOC charging – you know, that first ever charging technology that brings your OPPO smartphone from 0% to 75% battery in just 30 minutes?
This is actually my first time getting to mess with a VOOC charger together with a VOOC-compatible smartphone. I have to say, 20 watts on a smartphone is no joke – and it’s rather difficult to pull off a tech like this while maintaining its form factor. Better yet, it doesn’t get hot!
As of now, OPPO has not migrated its VOOC technology to USB-C yet. I would presume that since USB-C can deliver more power by its default standard compared to microUSB, implementing VOOC in it would be a breeze.
[nextpage title=”Wrapping up the OPPO R9s review”]
Overall, what do I think of the OPPO R9s? It’s beautiful – that’s for sure. Holding the R9s naked feels like it’s only 2/3 the thickness of the ASUS ZenFone 3. Once the included thick TPU case is installed, the OPPO R9s is still marginally thinner than the ZenFone 3. Its new split antenna design is refreshing – and adds more value to its beauty. Together with a bright and vivid screen, the OPPO R9s is just enjoyable to use.
Onto the camera. It’s legit clearer with the Sony IMX398 sensor and Dual PDAF technology. It’s faster than the usual PDAF! Selfies are similar to the OPPO F1s – which is already great.
Now, how about the price? For RM 1,798, I personally think that the OPPO R9s is a little on the pricier side. The justification for the price is simple. You’ll be getting all of OPPO’s latest and greatest technology for a bit of premium. I think it’s worth your money, as these technologies are actually useful – unlike the iPhone 7/Plus that charges a premium for the removal of audio jack.
Where to buy the OPPO R9s?
You can head on over to a few places – Lazada, or OPPO’s very own product page.
I always recommend Lazada, because you can combine your vouchers while making your purchase. It’s always better to get some discount. 😉
Like our Facebook Page here at NasiLemakTech.com for more news and in-depth reviews! Also, join our Facebook Group for insightful information and memes!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel too!
