Oppo’s presence in Sri Lanka is on the rise. This isn’t a surprise they’ve been releasing some great phones lately.
Also called the F9 Pro, the phone is known for its looks. How great of a device is it? Let’s talk about this below.
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Design-wise, you’re looking at a phone that isn’t built very well. In your hands, you’ll notice how cheap its plastic body is.
Although it’s not the sturdiest, its plastic rear is very glossy. This makes it glass-like. To be honest, its glossiness has a drawback as the phone is transformed into a fingerprint magnet.
The F9 comes with a gradient effect. Manufacturers these days love slapping them onto devices. We especially like the diamond pattern on its back. You already know the phone’s very good-looking.
The phone’s not that hefty. Heft is great as it makes any device feel more premium. Unfortunately, the F9 is just 169 grams.
It’s 6.3-inches across. Its dimensions are 156.7 x 74 x 8 mm, making it slim as well as big.
The phone comes with a headphone jack. Manufacturers don’t usually remove them from mid-rangers. It also comes with a MicroSD slot. However, it doesn’t have a USB-C port.
Overall, its buttons are easy to reach, and the phone fits comfortably into hands. Its fingerprint sensor works snappily and is placed well too.
The Oppo device has a face-unlock too. Like its fingerprint sensor, it’s fast.
Don’t expect vivid colours from its display. The F9 has an LTPS IPS LCD screen. It sounds fancy, but it’s just an LCD that’s sharper.
Its display is nowhere near as vivid as Samsung’s Super AMOLEDs. This is a shame as Samsung adds the panels to phones way cheaper than the F9.
The phone rocks a 1080 x 2340-pixel screen. Its excellent screen resolution and LTPS IPS LCD display make it pin-sharp.
Not only is it sharp, but it’s durable too. Gorilla Glass 6 is on its front.
Take a look at its notch, it’s not that big. The Oppo F9 barely comes with any bezels too. This is why it has an 84% screen-to-body ratio.
When you’re shopping around, look for a device that has a 500 max nit screen. It’s your lucky day as the F9 has a 520 max nit display. This makes it incredibly bright.
Although it comes with a small 3500 mAh battery, the phone can last well over a day. This is due to its screen not being the most taxing.
For a device in its price range, the time it takes to charge is really good. Its 20 W fast charger uses VOOC technology to take it from 0-50% in half an hour.
The Meditatek Helio P60 is in it. We found the processor smooth and gaming is especially easy with it.
You can get the F9 with either 4 or 6 gigs of RAM. Its RAM variants are great, which is one of the reasons why the phone is so snappy.
To put things into perspective, the former flagship, the S9, comes with 4 gigs of RAM too.
What about its storage variants? Unfortunately, the device only offers 64 gigs of space. You’d know that the phone comes with expandable storage.
You’re probably wondering what version of Android it runs. It comes with Android 8.1 out of the box. You’re probably also wondering if the phone will be getting the Android 10 update. We’re happy to say that the update’s in the works.
If you’ve ever read our reviews before, you’d know how fond we are of Oppo’s ColorOS. It’s one of the most customizable operating systems out there. ColorOS 5.2 is on the Oppo F9.
ColorOS 11, Oppos latest foray into global markets, has not been confirmed for the F9 yet. As the phone was released more than 02 years ago, it remains doubtful if it will receive the update. However, it did receive ColorOS 7 along with the Android 10 update in June, so there is hope.
The phone hosts a dual-camera set-up. Its primary sensor is a 16 MP lens while its secondary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor.
How does it do? Well, the Oppo device takes detailed shots in adequate light. When you zoom into pics, the quality drops quite a bit. Even if you barely zoomed in, the phone’s processor will tremendously blur details.
The above is true for its auto mode. However, there is a range of other more modes to play with. We find its portrait mode the best, it produces the highest quality shots.
Mid-rangers aren’t known to perform well in low-light. The F9 is no exception.
In terms of its front camera, a 25 MP sensor is available. It takes detailed shots but struggles to focus. Like any good selfie camera, there are filters and a beauty mode to play with.
The F9 seems like a pretty solid mid-ranger. Let’s see how well it fares when compared with alternatives below.
Although it also has a plastic body, the F11 is built better than the F9. It feels more premium in your hands and comes in at 188 grams. No, it doesn’t come with as flashy of a back. It has a more subtle gradient.
The F11 is a big phone. It towers over its counterpart by a bit.
Like the F9, you’re getting an LTPS IPS LCD display. As you know, it’s not as vivid as a Super AMOLED but is much sharper than a regular LCD.
Compared to its counterpart, the F11 has a slightly better screen to body ratio. It still comes with a notch that’s about the same size.
The F9 had a Gorilla Glass 6 screen. We loved how durable it was. We, unfortunately, have no idea what type of glass is on the F11’s display.
How sharp is it? Both phones share the same screen resolutions.
We were fond of the Mediatek P60 chip. We’re glad that the new and improvedP70 chip is on the F11.
Its storage variants give it an edge. The Oppo device offers 64 and 128 gigs of space along with 4 or 6 GB of RAM. Yes, its storage can be expanded.
What version of Android does the phone run? Android 9 out of the box. If you’re worried about the Android 10 update, there’s no need to fret. The Oppo F11 received the update earlier this year.
Although it has a larger 4020 mAh battery, its battery life is about the same as the F9’s. Remember that its processor is more powerful.
You’ll be charging using the same super-fast 20 W VOOC fast charger we met in our F9 review. As you can imagine, both phones take the same time to charge.
Camera-wise, there’s a dual set up on its rear. The primary sensor is a 48 MP wide lens while its secondary sensor is a 5 MP depth sensor. Front camera wise, the F11 has a single 16 MP shooter.
The Y9S is built excellently. It’s also the heaviest phone so far, coming in at 206 grams. It’s the only phone to have an all glass body too. That being said, we have no idea what type of glass it carries.
To top things off, there is a premium aluminum frame around it.
Once again, we’re met with an LTPS IPS LCD screen. It needs no introduction.
Like the F11, you’re looking at a device that’s around 6.5 inches.
All 3 phones so far have identical screen resolutions and very similar screen to body ratios.
Out of the box, you’re met with Android 9. Onto the big question is whether the Y9S getting the Android 10 update. The answer’s yes.
It has the Kirin 710F processor inside of it. When compared with the Helio P60, the F9’s processor gives it a run for its money. But what’s the verdict? The Kirin 710F comes out on top.
The phone doesn’t offer an array of memory variants. All you get is 128 GB of space and 6 gigs of RAM. Like the Oppo F9 and 11, the Huawei device comes with expandable storage.
Its battery is larger than its Oppo counterpart. It’s larger by 500 mAhs, but does it last longer? How do 2 days of battery life sound to you?
We have to talk about how slow its charger is. You don’t get fast charging. Instead, a regular 10 W charger is by your side. The Y9s takes around 3 hours to fully charge.
We love the Y9S’ triple camera set up. Its primary sensor is a 48 MP wide lens, its secondary sensor is an 8 MP ultrawide lens and its tertiary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor.
You would’ve noticed no notch on its display. This is as its front camera is motorized. The pop-up camera is 16 MPs.
The phone’s big. However, it’s a bit smaller than the F9.
Even though it’s made from plastic, it’s well built. Samsung’s known to build their devices well. It has more heft to it too, being 188 grams.
Its back has a nice effect. It’s not a gradient but more of an iridescence.
If you haven’t guessed it yet, we love Super AMOLEDs. They pack a punch, which is why we’re glad to see one on the M30s.
The phone comes with a more vivid screen, but its screen resolution is identical to the F9’s.
Bezel-wise, it seems like all the phones we’ve run through have similar screen-to-body ratios.
Being a Samsung device, it’s no wonder an Exynos chip is present. The Exynos 9611 is in it, and it outdoes the Helio P60 considerably.
The M30s also outdoes the F9 when it comes to storage variants. You can choose from 64 and 128 gigs of space along with 4 or 6 GBs of RAM. Like all the phones we’ve run through, the M30s comes with expandable storage.
You’ll be met with Android 9 out of the box. It doesn’t have Android 10 yet, but Samsung has assured us that the update’s on the way.
Your jaw will drop when you hear how large the M30s’ battery is. It’s a whopping 6000 mAhs. You can expect it to last over 2 days.
Phones of this price usually come with fast charging, and the Samsung M30s is no exception. A 15 W fast charger is by your side. The phone takes a little over 2 hours to fully charge.
We’re happy to say that there is a triple camera set-up again. The primary sensor on the phone is a 48 MP wide lens. The secondary sensor on it is an 8 MP ultrawide lens and the tertiary sensor on it is a 5 MP depth sensor.
There’s a notch on its display, so its front camera is not motorized. You get a 16 MP front shooter to play with.
What do we think about the F9? It’s a pretty standard mid-ranger.
It comes with specs you’d expect from a phone its price. Its battery, and especially the charging capabilities are its most impressive features. However, the Samsung M30s left the F9’s battery in the dust.
When compared with most of the alternatives on our list, it holds its own. It doesn’t do this that well, though.
But if looks are important to you, the F9 is definitely worth your time.
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