Earlier we reviewed the Oppo F17 Pro and it’s time to share our thoughts on the non-Pro version that employs a Snapdragon chipset and an AMOLED screen for a very competitive price. How well does it stack against the Realmes and Redmis? Let’s elaborate in our Oppo F17 review.
OPPO F17 Specifications
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Oppo F17 Unboxing
Oppo F17 comes in a conversational looking rectangular box. It contains the following items:
Handset Transparent silicone case 30W wall charger USB Type-A to Type-C cable Headphones with 3.5 jack SIM ejector tool and User manual
Oppo F17 Review: Design and Build Quality
Oppo deserves a pat on the back for the F17 design. That’s right, the F17 will draw you in with its sleek and beautiful aesthetics. With 7.45mm sidelines and just 163grams of weight despite a 4000mAh battery certify that Oppo has done a commendable job. For this review, we have Oppo F17 in Dynamic Orange Color variant that has a faux-leather finish which to me brings back memories of yesteryear Samsung and LG flagships. The Oppo F17’s leather-like texture lends it a pleasing and firm grip. The exterior casing of the phone is primarily made of polycarbonate. Based on my usage, the Oppo F17 doesn’t feel like a fragile phone at all. Despite of its slim polycarbonate body, it felt solid in hands and there are no flexes or creaks in the body. On the top left corner of the rear panel there’s a square-ish camera module that juts out slightly. There’s also a small metallic slate close to the bottom right corner with an OPPO monogram engraved on it. The flat side rail features a power button on the right edge. Volume keys and ejectable sim tray find a place on the left edge.
Looking from the front, the Oppo F17 presents a screen with a layer of 2.5D glass on top. With narrow bezels, Oppo manages to offer 90.7 percent of screen-to-body ratio. We are not yet sure about the display protection Oppo is using, but the phone does come with a pre-applied screen protector. ALSO READ: Realme 7 Pro Review
Oppo F17 Review: Display and Fingerprint
Another thing that stands out about the Oppo F17 is its 6.44-inch Full HD+ OLED screen. It has a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 60Hz refresh rate. Colors on the F17’s OLED screen look vibrant with virtually no color shifting. Oppo has given users an option to choose between gentle and vivid color profiles as per their own liking. The white point of both these color profiles leans slightly towards colder tones. However, users can take advantage of a toggle to adjust screen color temperature as per their liking. There’s also DC Dimming for flicker sensitive eyes and Always on Display features at your disposal. Underneath the F17 screen, Oppo placed an optical in-display fingerprint scanner for unlocking the phone and it’s fairly fast and accurate. ALSO READ: Sony WF-1000XM3 Review
Oppo F17 Review: Performance and Software
The F17 comes running on Color OS 7.2 out of the box. Oppo’s custom software is based on Android 10. It is feature-rich and allows you to pick between app drawer or all apps lined up on the home screen interface. There are tons of customization options including system-wide Dark mode, Always on Display, Edge lighting, and a lot more. Features like Lab Ringtone, 3 finger screenshot, Privacy password, Doc Vault makes things super convenient for users. Oppo F17 is driven by Qualcomm’s 11nm based Snapdragon 662 processor, which is not exactly a performance monster but has enough muscles to get the job done. For this review, I have the 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM variant which manage to perform most tasks including surfing the web, attending webcasts, and running social apps just fine. The Oppo F17 is not a gamer’s phone. Yes, it can handle casual gaming but this sleek machine isn’t meant for hardcore gaming and if that purpose ranks high on your priority list, there are other better options to choose from. To put things in perspective, we were able to play games like Call of Duty Mobile and Asphalt 8 with minor frame drops. Here are the synthetic benchmark scores of the Oppo F17:
Geekbench 5 Single-core: 322 Geekbench 5 Multi-core: 1059 PCMark Work 2.0 Performance Score: 6215 3DMark Slingshot Extreme OpenGL: 1148 3DMark Slingshot Extreme Vulkan: 1103
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Oppo F17 Camera Review
The Oppo F17 packs four camera sensors at the back and one in the front. The square-ish rear camera module includes a 16MP Main (F2.2) sensor, an 8MP Wide Angle (F2.2) sensor, and two 2MP monochrome sensors. Daylight photos from the phone’s primary and ultra-wide sensors turned out social media-worthy with decent details and decent dynamic range. We noticed that it struggles in keeping noise in check and accurately metering the colors under different lighting conditions.
For instance, look at these two images both have the same subject. One was shot under a clear sky while the other one was taken under an overcast sky. The first looks natural, the second image colors look a little faded. In low light, it manages satisfactory shots but requires incredibly stable hands. The ultra-wide sensor, on the other hand, finds it difficult to keep noise in check resulting in meh output. The 16MP selfie shooter does facial smoothing and beautifies you in typical OPPO fashion. So, overall, the camera performance is decent for the price but the Oppo F17 falls short of phones like Galaxy M31 and Realme 7 Pro in this regard. ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy M51 Review
Oppo F17 Review: Battery and Audio
In terms of battery life, Oppo F17’s 4,000 mAh battery good enough to last a moderate to heavy usage day. With a bundled 30W fast charger, it takes less than an hour to fully refill the tank. Color OS has a bunch of battery centric optimizations including some well-built power saving profiles and an overnight charging mode which prolongs batteries life. As far as Audio experience is concerned, the Oppo F17 has a mono bottom-firing speaker which is clearly not the loudest in the segment. For consuming multimedia content, you’d have to rely on headphones.
Oppo F17 First Impressions Video in Hindi | Know It All
Oppo F17 Review Verdict
Now to answer the question – Is Oppo F17 a worthy buy for Rs. 17,999? Well, it does manage to differentiate itself. Its biggest USP being slim and sleek design. If you are a basic or moderate user and aren’t much into gaming, chances are that you will find the F17 very appealing. It’s a good looking phone and probably sleakest phone in its segment. a pleasing OLED display, decent battery mileage, customizable software, and reliable performance. On the downside, the camera quality could have been better. Pros
Magnificent design Pleasing display Reliable battery life Fast charging support
Cons
Gaming performance Average cameras
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