Say hello to the new big player in the smartphone market
By Saad Mahmud
The Find 7 pairs top-notch performance with one of the highest-resolution screens you’ll find on a mobile today — hardly a formula to sneeze at. But is it worth the Tk. 48,000 asking price? Is Oppo really a mobile force to be reckoned with? Follow me, friends, and we’ll figure it out together.
The Find 7 is Oppo’s best phone to date, and that means something for a relatively unknown company that’s already put out some solid phones. Its combination of strong performance and a Quad HD screen make it a worthy choice, so long as you don’t mind learning a new flavor of Android.
Hardware
If Oppo’s R1K (which we review last month) pushed the boundaries of sensible smartphone design, then the Find 7 is a celebration of the slabby status quo. With its squared-off corners, flat sides and plain black face, the whole thing is almost unapologetically monolithic. The only real concession to the notions of grip ability and comfort is the gently curving (and removable) backplate.
There’s a fine line between subtle and boring, and the Find 7 skews toward the latter end of that spectrum. Before you accuse me of being too harsh, know that there are some things worthy of praise. Take the overall construction of the device, for instance. Despite being crafted out of plastic, there’s no give, no creaking, not even the slightest suggestion of physical inadequacy. Oppo may not be a name you run across too often, but there’s little question that the company brought its A game when it came time to putting the Find 7 together.
Display and Sound
If there’s one spec, one technical tidbit that makes the Find 7 such a desirable piece of kit, it would be that 5.5-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) IPS display. Oppo’s design philosophy this time around seems to reflect that very fact — the Find’s face is so unassuming that there’s nothing for your eyes to lock onto except for the screen. That’s why it’s a bummer to have to proffer this reality check: For all the commotion the Find 7’s screen has caused in geekier corners of the web, it still has its share of flaws. Don’t get me wrong: It’s just as crisp as advertised, with individual pixels that are impossible to pick out with the naked eye, and viewing angles that’ll make you popular with your airline seatmates.
I don’t expect much from most phone speakers. It’s frustrating to see manufacturer after manufacturer cut corners and take shortcuts on a crucial part of the media experience, so you’ll just have to imagine my surprise when the Find 7’s rear speakers came to life in a big way. Yes, that’s speakers, in the plural — there’s a single grille drilled into the 7’s backplate, but it actually obscures a pair of speakers that renders audio with a clarity that’s downright unusual for a smartphone.
Camera
Say goodbye to the swiveling selfie camera of days past — Oppo went with a more traditional camera setup this time around, which means the device lacks the kooky charm that made the N1 such a head-turner. As it turns out, the Find 7 actually uses the same 13-megapixel Sony Exmor sensor as the (much cheaper) OnePlus One, which means most of the imaging issues we’ve run into in the past are still present. I’d hardly call any of them dealbreakers: Soft focus will occasionally (and subtly) mar some of your more frenzied shots, and color saturation isn’t quite as punchy as I’d like. In optimal conditions, you won’t have to worry about these issues as much, but it’s still disappointing to see an otherwise ambitious phone let down by a decidedly average camera.
Performance
So far, the Find 7 seems like a mixed bag, with its lackluster looks and largely impressive display. Now here’s the real question: What’s it like to actually use? Surprise, surprise: As it turns out, a snappy processor paired with 3GB of RAM makes for a device that basically screams if you give it the chance. Put another way, you may not have heard of the Find 7 (or the company that made it), but it’ll handle everything you throw at it during your daily grind and then some. There’s no need to belabor the point too much considering it rocks a spec sheet that’ll seem awfully familiar if you’ve fiddled with other recent flagships.
Summary
The Find 7 is Oppo’s best phone to date, and that means something for a relatively unknown company that’s already put out some solid phones. Its combination of strong performance and a Quad HD screen make it a worthy choice, so long as you don’t mind learning a new flavor of Android. Priced at a steep Tk. 48,000, it may face stiff competition from Samsung, LG, Sony and other brands, but it acts as a classy alternative to the big brands.
