In February 2019, smartphone manufacturers, OPPO recently made an official grand entrance into the Nigeria. At the time, a representative of the company said OPPO planned to launch a device in Nigeria.
Suggested Read; Global smartphone manufacturer, OPPO is officially entering the Nigerian market
The OPPO F11 was the promised one and it eventually came to Nigeria following a global launch in March.
For the last two weeks, I have taken the phone on a spin and here is a breakdown of everything you need to know; unboxing and an experiential review from my time with it.
Specification
- Android 9.0 Pie
- 6.5” FHD Display
- Octa Core Processor
- 6GB RAM
- 128GB internal expandable memory
- Dual SIM capability- Nano SIM cards with an extra slot for memory card
- Dual Primary Camera(s) – 48 MP and f/1.8, 5 MP and f/2.4.
- 16 MP front-facing camera with flash
- 4,000mAh non-removable battery
- 4G LTE
- Fingerprint Scanner
- Face ID
Unboxing
The OPPO F11 Pro is in a lid and tray paper box
There is not much to accessories in the box, just the bare minimum.
Accessories
- 1 Oppo F11 Pro
- 1 Charger head
- 1 USB cord
- 1 Earpiece
- 1 Ejector pin
- 1 User manual
- 1 Plastic casing
Oppo F11 Pro
Charger head
USB cord
Earpiece
Plastic casing and User Guides
Ejector pin
Features
Speaker, USB port, microphone and earphone jack underneath the phone
Volume control buttons are on the left side and power button on the right
Dual primary cameras are behind, directly over the fingerprint scanner
Camera
With dual primary cameras; 48 MP with an f/1.8 aperture, 5 MP and f/2.4, and a 16 MP camera, the Oppo F11 Pro looks like an ideal camera in a phone.
The cameras primarily have 3 modes; video, photo and portrait. Other setting options allow for shooting high-definition, slow motion videos, night mode, time-lapse, panorama, expert mode for real-time adjustments and Google Lens
But how does the camera shoot in real life situations?
Selfie camera
In a bid to create the perfect smartphone (nearly) devoid of bezels. Oppo took away the camera from the screen. Guess where they put it? On top of the phone!
When switched to selfie mode, the camera automatically pops up seemingly from nowhere. At first, I worried about accidental drops damaging it, but a slight touch retracts the pop-up, so this maybe rules out damage.
Another downside of this feature is that when Face Recognition is engaged as a security measure, the camera automatically activates every time the screen wakes. This is equal parts inconveniencing and scary.
Pictures actually turned out well.
One downside I noticed when taking selfies was that the F11 Pro did not handle low light situations well.
Primary Camera
The phone’s main camera has the f1/8 aperture, this generally means it allows more light in and takes better images.
It notably was able to process low light images better than its selfie counterpart even without night mode feature enabled.
Portrait Mode
Portrait mode on secondary and primary cameras worked excellently,
Both selfies in the collage were taking with bright lights on, but one light overhead made so much difference, see what I mean?
In portrait mode, the camera isolates the subject, blurring out the background effectively to give a satisfactory bokeh effect.
Artificial Intelligence
These days, AI is the buzzword to make smartphone cameras look and sound hip. Cameras on the F11 Pro actually use artificial intelligence to detect scenes and objects.
However, ‘AI Scene Recognition’ has to be first turned on in settings for this feature to work. And on multiple occasions, it did not detect anything.
Design and display
The device has a matte body that is slick, slippery and screams premium. Its 3-colour scheme features subtle shades of purple, black and blue all flowing together.
Its 6.5″ — actually 6’53 inches — near-bezelless display easily makes it a phablet and a whole 200 gram weight completes the look.
But regardless of this weight, it is surprisingly easy on the grip.
The F11 Pro is a scratch magnet. Immediately I opened the box, minor scratches appeared on the back and screen, all from immediate handling and more kept coming.
I am surprised Oppo did not add a screen protector in the box, but at least there is a 22 gram rubber pouch.
Even though it added a little more weight to the already not light device, the pouch is necessary for protection.
Performance and Storage
The F11 Pro is powered by an octa-core (8 core) processors; 4 are running at 2.1 GHz and another 4 at 2.0 GHz. All these mean the phone is running at an amazing speed that is devoid of lags and freezing.
All through my test time, there was never any case of less than optimal performance.
Honestly, I am not sure anyone needs as much as 6GB RAM, but the prospect of a totally hitch-free and properly optimised experience is enough for peace of mind. The most exciting aspect of storage for me is the 128 GB internal memory with options to expand.
Battery
It doesn’t get better than 4,000 mAh, really.
The battery in the F11 Pro is a monster, performance-wise and literally; check the weight.
It went from zero by 10:08 to a full charge; 100% by 11:38, that is a 1 hour and 30 minutes. It went so fast that I am sure I missed out a few minutes in estimating the charge time.
This is quite impressive for a 4,000 mAh battery and the super fast charge is all thanks to Oppo’s Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging or VOOC; a proprietary flash charge technology exclusive to some Oppo devices.
Before second charge test, a 1% charge lasted me for 30 minutes playing music and WhatsApping on WiFi the whole time.
Price
The Oppo F11 Pro is currently officially retailing at Pointek and Slot outlets across Nigeria for ₦139,000 ($385.5).
This price automatically puts it at the high-end side of smartphones.
Verdict
I was a bit surprised the F11 Pro did not come with USB-C, I still am. Apart, from this, from what I see so far, the Oppo F11 Pro is nearly faultless, maybe after a while major downsides will pop up, but none right now.
At first I was not very convinced by the camera, but given a little time and acquaintance, I figured how to work it for optimal results.
Will I buy I buy this phone? Totally!
At its current price? Well, Oppo already said their phones were not going to be cheap and with its current specs, the F11 Pro is worth every naira.
I am still on a journey of discovery with the Oppo F11 Pro and will, hopefully, update this post with new experiences.
