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Smartphone innovation seems to have kick-started again, after a long sleep. Before this, every phone seemed the same inside-out. Suddenly you see phones looking different, though, and they even bring new features with them.
You could think of the OPPO R17 Pro as a ‘pre-flagship’ phone with quite a few distinctive features. But your first impression may remind you of its cousin, the OnePlus 6T. They do come from sister companies. The phones’ design philosophy is very similar and they share quite a few features. One of these is an interesting colour gradient adorning the back.
The OnePlus has a Thunder Purple variant that shades from purple to black and the light shining on it creates an S-curve pattern.The R17 Pro has a Radiant Mist variant that travels from a purple-pink to a blue, looking like a vertical sunset.
It’s a bit prominent and may not be to everyone’s taste, in which case there’s an emerald green in a glossy finish. The phone is slippery, of course, but well, what of it — they all are. But the glass on this device is all Gorilla Glass 6, which isn’t present on many phones yet and promises protection from drops from even a metre’s height.
On the front, the R17 Pro has a screen that barely has any edges. 91.5 per cent of the front is all screen. It has a tiny waterdrop notch, shared by the OnePlus 6T.
The display itself is an AMOLED one, which means strong blacks and vibrant colours — just the way I like them, frankly. It has excellent sunlight visibility.
Touch the screen and things will move along at a smooth and fast clip. This phone doesn’t have the Snapdragon 845 like the OnePlus 6 and 6T, but gets the 710 intended for mid-range phones that is supposed to be engineered to optimise AI, power, and performance. OPPO has given it 8 GB of RAM with which to hum along unhindered. It’s not running on the newest Android 9 Pie but on 8.1, which is a pity, but performance is pretty nice.
The company’s ColorOS interface is not the best and is widely thought to be lacking refinement and polish, but at least it isn’t getting in the way of performance.
You can see the phone working fast when you use, say, the in-display fingerprint sensor, as yet a new feature on very few phones. It works fast enough though one can also use facial recognition.
Top up at high speed
Performance needs battery power and the R17 Pro has 3,700 mAh, which is divided into two chunks using a technology called Super VOOC. A mere 10-minute charge will take the battery up to 40 per cent. In half an hour, there’ll be anything between 60 to 70 per cent charge. For now, this phone seems to be pretty much the fastest charging, beating the OnePlus 6T as well. Our review unit’s battery lasted into the next day just fine with moderate use. A heavy user will need to take the special charger along for the day when on the go. There’s no wireless charging or water resistance.
Low light delight
The R17 Pro has quite a lot going for it but there’s also a good camera set to look forward to. OPPO’s tagline for the phone, ‘Seize the Night’ gives you a clue to what the cameras on board are good at — low light and night photography. The cameras are 12 MP + 20 MP + 3D sensors along with a 25 MP front camera. A Sony IMX576 sensor is used. The camera switches automatically between two apertures f/2.4 and f/1.5 depending on the light. The image is generally very light-filled and noise-free. Using the night mode lights up extra dark scenes though it sometimes over-sharpens to compensate for soft edges. Optical image stabilisation helps the images stay blur-free. In good light, the camera has great dynamic range and colour accuracy. There’s a Portrait mode, which does an okay job of blurring the background. There are a few studio lighting options reminiscent of those that first debuted on the iPhone 8 Plus. The now inevitable AI is used to recognise 23 photography modes and 864 ‘scenario combinations,’ OPPO says. The selfie camera is pretty good, except for softening the skin a bit too much — as always. Video is good and the rear camera offers 4K recording. Overall, it’s a fun camera to use and the indoor images it gives are somehow always a pleasant surprise.
The R17 Pro is even more expensive than the OnePlus 6T though and that’s a tough one. Although it comes with many innovations, the 6T is running on a flagship processor, the Snapdragon 845, and shares many of the features with the R17 Pro such as the in-display fingerprint sensor, water-drop notch, design, great battery performance and fast charging and a camera that’s rather good. There’s some competition here, but luckily they belong to the same parent company.
Price: ₹45,990
Pros: Interesting colour options, good low-light camera, smooth performance, fastest charging, nice edge-to edge-screen, Gorilla Glass 6
Cons: Expensive, poor battery life, not on the newest Android version, slippery, no 3.5 mm headphone jack
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