Oppo R17 has a lot of points going in its favour like excellent set of cameras, great display and design, but is the price right?
Oppo, which is among the top five smartphone vendors in India, has a good line-up of phones to offer in the country. The Chinese company has now launched its first R-series device in the country, Oppo R17 Pro along with the R17. Priced at Rs 45,990, the phone will compete against OnePlus 6T and Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018).
Oppo R17 Pro has specifications similar to OnePlus 6T, complete with in-display fingerprint sensor and a notched display. Then there is triple rear cameras and Oppo’s proprietary Super VOOC fast charging technology, said to charge the phone up to 40 per cent in 10 minutes.
The phone ditches a 3.5mm headset jack and comes in a gradient finish design similar to Huawei’s Twilight colour option. So, how does Oppo R17 Pro perform in real-life? We used the phone for over a week and here is our full review:
Oppo R17 Pro specifications: 6.4-inch Full HD+ display | Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor | 8GM RAM | 128GB storage | 12MP+20MP+TOF camera | ColourOS 5.2 with Android Oreo | 3,700mAh battery
Oppo R17 Pro price in India: Rs 45,990
Oppo R17 Pro review: What’s good?
Oppo R17 Pro has a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with 91.5 per cent screen-to-body ratio, which means more viewing space. The screen looks vivid and has good viewing angles. I enjoyed watching movies and playing games on the bigger screen as the icons look sharp and colour reproduction is great.
The dewdrop notch at top of the screen is one of the smallest on any smartphone that I have reviewed and less intrusive, which I liked. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6 so the display is more protected against scratches and smudges.
Oppo R17 Pro has a sturdy build quality that inspires confidence and it is easy to hold. The back cover has what the company calls a ‘3G fog glass’ design or a misted glass casing. The mist colour model that came for review was a little too flashy for me, though some might find it unique.
Our review unit had a blue and purple finish with gradient light effect. The three rear camera sensors and horizontally stacked at the centre of the back cover and the overall design looks quite stylish.
Oppo R17 Pro’s triple rear cameras are the USP and the phone delivers on this front. The cameras are capable of clicking some excellent shots in bright outdoors. I liked that the photos looked sharp with details intact and colour reproduction is quite good. The primary 12MP camera has dual aperture system, which means it can automatically adjust the lighting depending on the situation.
I quite liked the night photos, thanks to Night photography mode. Again, the details are preserved in these photos, though there is some noise that noticeable. Then there are several new filters to choose from like film light, mono-tone light etc and I got some great results with these modes.
The Portrait works really well, whatever the lighting condition. The colour reproduction is excellent and it does a pretty good job of blurring the background.
The front camera should keep most users more than happy with detailed shots. I liked that the photos look more close to natural on this Oppo phone without the imposed beauty filters as was the case with the company’s phones I have reviewed in the past. The Portrait mode works well for the front camera as well.
The performance is top-notch on Oppo R17 Pro be it heavy duty gaming or daily tasks such as making calls, browsing social media, messaging, and more. During my review period, the phone did not stutter or lag even with multi-tasking or switching between tabs or any other task. There’s 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, which helps with a faster overall performance.
Another highlight is in-display fingerprint sensor, which is quite fast and accurate. The face unlock also detected my face almost instantly on most occasions and is one of the fastest on any smartphone I have reviewed.
The Super VOOC fast charging technology is incredibly fast as I was able to get about 50 per cent charge in some 12 minutes, which is great.
Oppo R17 Pro review: What’s not good?
The battery is the weak point here as it only lasts for a day with moderate usage. I expected a bigger battery on this device. Another downside is you will need to carry the charger along everywhere to take advantage of this fast charging technology at all times.
The device is slippery and prone to fingerprint smudges so I would recommend a back cover for protection. Do note there is no microSD card slot for expandable storage, though in my opinion 128Gb storage should be enough for most users.
I am still not used to smartphones without a 3.5m headset jack so that was an issue for me as an average user. The phone is on older Android Oreo OS, which is another negative.
Oppo R17 Pro review: Verdict
Oppo R17 Pro has a lot of points going in its favour like excellent set of cameras, great display and design as well as top-notch performance. I think Oppo R17 Pro can give solid competition to OnePlus 6T going by the overall performance. However, there is no lower-priced storage model that you can go consider, which does leave out potential users. Samsung Galaxy A9 is another option to look at that comes with four rear cameras and is slightly cheaper.