Features

OPPO F1 Plus Hands-On Review

Published

April 18, 2016

Michael Josh Villanueva

If you can get past its iPhone-esque looks, there’s much to be said about the F1 Plus. OPPO’s latest smartphone isn’t the most premium in its lineup, nor does it look anything like its little brother, the OPPO F1, but it is a phone that defies expectations in a good way.

DESIGN

If you were to judge based on looks alone, the F1 Plus would be a home run. It’s the prettiest phone we’ve seen from OPPO thus far, and one of the better looking Android phones of 2016. From every angle, there’s no denying where the Chinese manufacturer takes its inspiration.

OPPO-F1-Plus-front-shot

Indulge me in a game of “spot the difference”: the front-facing camera is to the right of the earpiece (left on the iPhone); the home button is capsule-shaped (round on the iPhone); and the bezel size is thinner. As a result, the entire phone is smaller, too.

In fact, the F1 Plus is smaller than the iPhone 6S Plus even if both phones have 5.5-inch displays. Of the two, the F1 Plus feels lighter and more secure to the grip, which for phones of this size is always a plus (pun intended).

OPPO F1 Plus-back

While we’re comparing, its sides are more angular than on the iPhone, the only sore spot on an otherwise improved design. The sharp angles interrupt the fluidity of the aesthetic and make the phone a little less comfortable to grip.

But that’s nitpicking, really. Everything else is an improvement on the iPhone’s design. Its metallic back is cleaner and more refined. The two antenna bands that divide the top and bottom sections and are less in-your-face, and thankfully, there is no unsightly camera hump.

Button and port placements are also similar: the volume rocker is on the left; the power button and the SIM card tray are on the right. As with many Android smartphones these days, the hybrid SIM tray supports either two nano SIMs or one nano SIM plus one microSD card.

SELFIE EXPERT

While somewhat of a newcomer in the smartphone space, OPPO has a history of pushing mobile photography forward. Launched in 2013, before selfies became ubiquitous, the OPPO N1 was the world’s first smartphone with a swivel camera, meaning if you wanted a good selfie, you could just rotate its camera around for 13-megapixel selfie goodness.

To reaffirm its commitment to the selfie generation, OPPO announced the F series back in January, saying it wanted to address a growing demand for “premium-quality mobile photography experiences.”

The F1 Plus is OPPO’s second attempt at building the ultimate camera phone. Dubbed the “selfie expert,” it boasts a 16-megapixel front camera, with more megapixels than not only the phone’s rear camera but also every other front camera on the market today.

Beyond the megapixel spec, however, OPPO’s pulling out all the stops to ensure you get the best selfie possible. The phone has a reasonably large 1/3.1 inch image sensor and an f/2.0 lens that OPPO says takes in four times the amount of light than the average smartphone camera.

There’s also an improved Beautify mode that can airbrush away blemishes. We think our selfies turned out great, but we’ll let you be the judge.

Its main camera is no slouch either; it shoots decent 13-megapixel photos at f/2.2, particularly when there is sufficient light. Low-light shots were less impressive. But considering this is a sub-$500 smartphone, we really can’t complain.

PERFORMANCE

While its selfie-camera components are most impressive, the rest of the spec sheet isn’t bad either. The F1 Plus is one of the few phones that ships with only a 64GB storage option (the iPhone, for example, still starts at a measly 16GB), while its 4GB of RAM is as much as all the big boys offer.

Its processor, however, is a bit of a letdown. MediaTek’s Helio P10 isn’t the fastest midrange processor on the planet today. But unless you’re into gaming, that shouldn’t matter much. On the bright side, the processor is less power-hungry, so battery life should get a boost.

OPPO-F1-Plus-fingerprint-scanner

The home button doubles as a fingerprint sensor; it’s the kind that you have to press down on for any unlocking action to happen. But once you do, the phone unlocks in a snap.

BATTERY & VOOC CHARGING

The F1 Plus is only 6.6mm thin, so it isn’t that much of a surprise that OPPO’s only managed to squeeze in a 2,850 mAh battery. While that’s smaller than what you’d find on most mid- to high-end smartphones today, battery life looks respectable based on the few days we had with the phone.

The phone also gets VOOC flash charge, OPPO’s own quick-charging technology. Previously only seen on its high-end phones, you can get from 0 to 75 percent from a 30-minute charge. The phone should supposedly stay cool even while charging.

COLOR OS 3.0

The F1 Plus runs OPPO’s latest version of ColorOS version 3.0 on top of Android 5.1 Lollipop. Despite the update, this version still isn’t based on the latest version of Android, which is a bit of a bummer. Not that you’d mind necessarily. On a strongly positive note, the F1 Plus generally runs slick, apps respond fluidly to input, and multitasking works with very little lag.

oppo-color-os-3
Ultimately, this is a pretty darn good take on Android, albeit a heavily skinned one with icons obviously borrowed from Apple’s iOS. As can be expected from other Chinese smartphone vendors, OPPO’s ColorOS removes the app drawer altogether.

Having said that, if you have a ton of apps installed, and you don’t want to swipe through multiple home screens, you’ll need to spend a bit of time dumping those apps into folders.

PRICING, AVAILABILITY, PREORDER

The OPPO F1 Plus is available in gold and rose-gold variants (availability will depend on region).

To preorder in the Philippines, visit any OPPO Store between April 16 to 29. The phone will be available on April 30th and will retail for P21,990.

To preorder in India, visit any OPPO Store between April 11 to 20. Customers will get a special gift pack and a chance to win an F1 Plus signed by Yuvraj Singh.

To preorder in Malaysia, visit 11street.my until April 20th. Deliveries start April 18th. The phone retails for RM 1,898.

To preorder in Indonesia, visit OPPO’s preorder page between April 9 to 17. The phone retails for Rp 5,499 million and comes with a free selfie stick. Deliveries start on April 18th.

[irp posts=”7385″ name=”OPPO F1s review”]

Features

An afternoon of bowling with the HUAWEI nova 14 Pro

Motion, color, and clean shots

Published

November 21, 2025

GadgetMatch

Some moments slip away before we’re ready.
The blink. The blur. The half-smile lost to motion.

The HUAWEI nova 14 Pro wants to fix all that because it calls itself the King of AI Selfie. So we brought it along for an afternoon out to see if it could actually keep up.

Bowling isn’t the easiest place for a selfie. The lights shift. People move fast. And I never stay still. But the 50MP Front AI Portrait Dual Camera doesn’t flinch.

With Ultra Speed Snapshot on the front camera, it freezes movement better than most phones I’ve used. Mid-shot. Mid-laugh. Even mid-blink. It just catches the moment.

There’s also the 0.8 to 5x selfie zoom — still the only one of its kind. It lets me frame selfies the way I want: wider when friends jump in, tighter when it’s just me.

And if someone blinks, it’s fine. AI Best Expression lets you fix one person’s look without retaking everything. Pick their best eyes, best smile, best moment.

You also get three beauty styles: Natural, Delicate, and Stylish. I kept it light, but each one still looks closer to real skin instead of an overly filtered version of yourself.

My favorite AI tool might be AI Remove. Shoot first, fix later. The phone cleans up distractions — stray people, signs, objects — and leaves behind the photo you meant to take.

And when my hands were full at the café after, AI Gesture Control helped me browse without touching the screen. Simple gestures. Quick page flips.

On the rear, the nova 14 Pro steps up with its Ultra Chroma Camera. HUAWEI says it uses 1.5 million spectral channels to get color right. And honestly, the tones feel closer to what I saw in person.

Motion is where the rear camera surprised me. Dual Shutter technology blends long and short exposures in one shot. Action stays sharp without making the whole frame darker.

And because the aperture goes from F1.4 to F4.0, you can change depth of field depending on the moment. Creamy background for portraits. More detail when you need it.

The nova line has always been about reliability, and this one holds up. You get a 5500mAh battery and 100W SuperCharge Turbo. Fast top-ups. Easy all-day life.

Up front, there’s the 6.78-inch Flawless Quad-Curved Display. Smooth edges. Easy on the eyes. A polished look that still feels practical.

The nova 14 Pro sticks to the series’ youthful identity. Lightweight. Friendly curves. And the new Star Orbit Ring gives it that recognizable nova look — clean and symmetrical.

It also supports Wi-Fi 7, optional NearLink for device tracking, and has a five-star drop-resistance certification. Plus IP65 dust and water resistance.

The HUAWEI nova 14 Pro feels like what the nova line has always been: a feature-packed mid-ranger built for young adults who want a phone that simply keeps up. AI tools that fix your shots. Cameras that freeze moments. Battery that lasts.

If you want a selfie-focused phone that can keep up with days like this, this is the nova you’re looking for.

HUAWEI nova 14 Series — The King of AI Selfie

Enterprise

A closer look at Apex Guard and the world behind OPPO’s quality promise

I went inside Binhai Bay to see how OPPO is building its next chapter of smartphone quality.

Published

November 17, 2025

MJ Jucutan

OPPO introduced Apex Guard, a full technology suite designed to protect the user experience with stronger hardware and smarter software.

The new concept shows how OPPO is redefining smartphone quality by focusing on long-term reliability and dependability, and a user journey that stays smooth for years.

I saw this vision firsthand during an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the Binhai Bay Campus, OPPO’s global headquarters and R&D hub.

The moment I stepped inside, I understood how deeply this company values the idea of quality. Every corner of the campus felt intentional. Engineers tested materials behind glass panels and the machines ran stress simulations.

Rooms were dedicated to design exploration and long-term validation. Walking through its corridors felt like moving through the inner workings of a promise.

OPPO builds quality into a device long before it becomes a device.

OPPO’s next step toward elevated quality

Apex Guard reflects OPPO’s goal of addressing real user needs with an end-to-end system that strengthens every part of a smartphone.

It reaches across all product lines and raises quality across three dimensions. OPPO focused on durability that protects users in unpredictable moments.

Through breakthroughs in materials and design, OPPO developed Ultra High Strength Steel and AM04 aerospace-grade aluminum alloy to withstand daily wear and heavier stress.

Armour Shield structural reinforcement adds another layer of protection that stays reliable even in unexpected situations like sudden drops or water exposure.

“The goal is simple: a device should feel solid in every scenario.”

Beyond the product lifespan

Apex Guard supports long-term reliability. One of the key innovations is the OPPO Silicon Carbon Battery with its customized spherical silicon-carbon material.

It improves long-lasting safety while extending battery life by up to 400 additional cycles. With this technology, OPPO devices stay closer to their original performance for a longer period, even after years of use.

OPPO also works with international testing organizations like TÜV Rheinland, TÜV SÜD, and SGS, and follows standards that exceed typical industry requirements.

Devices pass through multiple rounds of strict testing, including more than 180 assessments that begin before R&D and continue until the end of the product lifecycle. Even after-sales services follow a higher standard to ensure users feel supported beyond the purchase.

Rethinking quality through next-level software smoothness

Since smoothness is one of the most noticeable indicators of smartphone quality, OPPO made software a major part of Apex Guard.

In ColorOS 16, the All-New Luminous Rendering Engine brings the first Unified Animation Architecture on Android, creating consistent movement across the entire system.

Chip-Level Dynamic Frame Sync Technology helps the device react faster when multitasking, while Sensor Offload shifts critical sensor tasks to the SoC to reduce power consumption, especially when recording 4K 60fps video.

ColorOS 16 also introduces Instant Refresh to help reduce data fragmentation on entry-level devices. OPPO performs 48-, 60-, and 72-month aging tests to ensure long-term responsiveness.

The company developed new systems to measure smoothness more accurately, including the OPPO Smoothness Baseline Test and the industry-first Parallel Animation Standard 6 Zero, which evaluates lag, latency, flicker, crashes, mislaunches, and freezes.

These standards apply across the entire lineup, from A Series to Find Series.

At the home of OPPO quality

OPPO continues to expand the Binhai Bay Campus to support its vision for the future.

The campus brings together more advanced equipment, centralized teams, and specialized laboratories designed to test quality from every angle.

The Materials Lab studies long-term durability while the Intelligent Terminal Testing Lab pushes devices through real-world challenges.

Meanwhile, the Power Consumption Intelligent Lab evaluates energy efficiency, and the Communication Lab ensures strong connectivity.

Standing inside these spaces and watching the process unfold made the idea of next-level quality feel more real.

It is not a statement but a system built into every decision and test. Apex Guard is simply the name OPPO has given to the work it has been doing all along.

Accessories

I was skeptical about smartphone gimbals, then I tried the DJI Osmo Mobile 8

This gear finally made sense to me and my workflow

Published

November 6, 2025

MJ Jucutan

I never liked smartphone gimbals. I tried several over the years, from different brands and different builds, and I never felt compelled to use them in real situations.

They were either too heavy or too fiddly to set up. I also found them too demanding to use when all I wanted was to take my phone out and record. My iPhone already has excellent stabilization built in, and I have relied on it for years. The extra gear rarely felt necessary.

My perspective shifted when I tried the DJI Osmo Mobile 8. I brought it with me on a work trip in China without thinking much of it. I realized that it made sense to be part of my arsenal.

A design that feels familiar in a good way

The Osmo Mobile 8 does not reinvent the idea of a mobile gimbal. It refines the experience.

It feels lighter and folds easily. The clamp snaps on with a magnetic mount, and the grip feels secure without straining the wrist.

It feels like something I can use for a few minutes or a few hours without thinking about it. Rather than slowing me down, it felt like it supports my workflow.

There is an extension rod built in, which is helpful for group shots and for pushing perspective in movement shots. The built-in tripod legs make it easy to set down for hands-free filming.

These details may seem small, although they contribute to gear that I actually reach for.

Stabilization for better footage

To be honest, I’m still not sold in getting a mobile gimbal for myself. But what shifted my perspective (for now) was not the convenience. It was the footage.

The movement became smoother. Walked shots, pans, and follow movements looked intentional instead of constantly adjusting themselves.

The three-axis stabilization makes smartphone footage feel more deliberate. I found myself able to move more slowly and follow subjects naturally.

It didn’t make my shots steadier, but the Osmo Mobile 8 changed the way I moved while filming. I suddenly found myself planning sweeps and tracking motions that I would never attempt handheld.

Tracking that feels more intelligent

The tracking on the Osmo Mobile 8 is noticeably improved. Faces, pets, objects, and even faster subjects stay in frame more reliably.

When I stepped away to record myself, the camera followed smoothly without overshooting. It felt responsive rather than reactive. This made solo shooting feel easier.

It also made dynamic movement filming more fun. I could run with a subject or move around a space and trust the framing.

A tool that fits everyday work

I always evaluate gear based on how it blends into my workflow. If it needs too much setup or thought, I will eventually avoid it.

The Osmo Mobile 8 feels fast. I can mount my phone, open the app, and start recording in a matter of seconds. And the battery life holds up well for a full day of casual shooting.

There is also support for counterweights if you use heavier external lenses or cases. The experience is smooth whether I am at an event, outdoors, or shooting casual everyday clips.

Frankly, I never expected to find a smartphone gimbal that felt necessary, yet the Osmo Mobile 8 is worth recognizing to be part of your creator kit.

Is the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 your GadgetMatch?

The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 delivers steady footage and a filming experience that feels composed. I appreciate what it adds to my work, and I recognize that it improves my content when I need it to.

Even so, it is not my personal everyday companion. I prefer filming with my phone alone and relying on built-in stabilization. I like moving lightly and freely.

But the Osmo Mobile 8 is a strong tool to have in the kit for specific situations.

Swipe right if you want steady and controlled movement in your videos, especially when you shoot travel, sports, or even events where an extra movement is part of the story. It might help you create more cinematic clips without a full camera setup.