Earlier we saw the first device in OPPO‘s F range, the F1, make its official debut in Vietnam. Since Malaysia is a key market, we anticipated a local launch would follow soon after and sure enough, OPPO have brought this mid-range device to our shores.
Despite the name, the F1 has nothing to do with the popular motorsport Formula 1. It does, however, look like the splitting image of the smartphones from OPPO’s R7 line, from white front panel right down to the square rear-mounted camera module and flash. The resemblance is uncanny.
The device has a relatively small 5″ 720p HD display (1280×720 pixels) with a Snapdragon 616 octa-core processor on the inside paired with 3GB of RAM for a pretty decent spec list. Internal storage is a tiny 16GB but that’s expandable via microSD for up to 128GB of extra storage. This smartphone also has support for dual-SIM (one Micro and one Nano) but since it’s a hybrid SIM set up, you will have to sacrifice one slot if you want to use a microSD card.
This smartphone promises a “premium” photography experience at a reasonable price, so it gets a 13MP ISOCELL f/2.2 aperture rear-facing camera with Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) and a single LED flash. On the front, it packs an 8-megapixel f/2.0 snapper with a 1/4-inch sensor and built-in beautification features.
Powering the device will be a modest 2,500 mAh battery which is a touch more than the OPPO R7 Lite and R7 models. It will come running Android 5.1 Lollipop with ColorOS 2.1 running on top.
With those specs, this places the OPPO F1 right in the Xiaomi Redmi 3’s crosshairs. The F1 should have the edge in terms of performance though as it has 3GB of RAM versus the Redmi 3’s 2GB, but that extra performance does come with a higher price tag. The only question is how much lower will the Redmi 3 retail at?
The OPPO F1 officially goes on sale online tomorrow, 22 January 2016, at midnight on the OPPOStore for RM1,198. The first 200 customers to purchase this device from the online store will receive a free OPPO Selfie Stick. If you’d prefer to check the device out before purchasing it, the OPPO F1 will be available in physical stores starting 25 January 2016.
