With the launch of its F3 smartphone, Oppo is introducing an offering at another price point and spreading its net further in the Indian market. Oppo has been working hard for its position with intense advertising and blasts of social media activity, all of which has helped the company with its ‘Selfie Expert’ branding.
The recently launched F3 is obviously another selfie phone aimed at a segment of youngsters who apparently will pay money to shoot photos of themselves. In the case of the F3, that money would be in the region of ₹19,990, a good deal less than the ₹30,990 that the previously launched Oppo F3 Plus was asking for. That means it’s competing with a bevy of other selfie phones such as the Vivo V5s, Vivo V5 Plus and the Gionee A1. And if that sounds confusing, it is. The space is overcrowded with phones that are barely differentiated from one another, all cashing in on a bit of human narcissism.
The new F3 is much smaller than the F3 Plus and has a 5.5-inch 1080p display and is proud to say it has a 2.5D glass with Gorilla Glass 5 strength. To look at, the F3 is barely distinguishable from the others in its pale smooth gold all-metal back and white front. It’s nice and light and good to hold. The display is very comfortable and easy on the eye though app icons look a bit anaemic for some reason. You can fix that quick enough with some other icon pack and a launcher from the Play Store.
The F3 is still running on the outgoing version of Android — Marshmallow. That disappointment along with the fact that it runs on a ‘budget processor’ — the MediaTek 64-bit MT6750T octa-core SoC makes it a little less value for money than it could have been. However the RAM, at 4GB and storage at 64GB is generous enough. As is the 3,200mAh battery, and the fact that it takes two nano SIM cards and in addition has an SD card slot.
But in the end, it’s the dual front cameras that Oppo is touting. 16MP and 8MP cameras combine to give the user selfie taking options that include the regular and the wide-angle. You can fit in a group of people or a nice background. That works quite well except that you have to watch your pose and not end up with a selfie-arm in the image. There’s also a bit of distortion on the sides sometimes. In low light without the flash, the picture is very visibly pixellated and grainy. In good light, you can get bright selfies. The rear camera is average. For what the phone costs, the results should have been a great deal better.
Price: ₹19,990
Pros: Nice wide-angle capability, sharp selfies in good light
Cons: A little too expensive for what it offers, budget chipset, camera performance not uniformly great
(The article first appeared in The Hindu BusinessLine.)