Hands-On

OPPO R11 hands-on and photo comparisons

Published

June 11, 2017

Isa Rodriguez

A few days after it appeared on the official online store, the OPPO R11 was launched in Shenzhen, China. This is the R9s’ successor and the newest dual-camera flagship addition to the OPPO roster. Here are my thoughts after two full days with it in the bustling city.

Look and feel

The R11 is definitely a smooth and sleek machine.

Although it seems to be a bit big for my tiny girly hands (I still maintain that the size of the iPhone SE is a perfect fit to my teeny hands), this size remains to be standard, as 5.5-inch phones continue to dominate the market.

The phone feels premium with a good weight and feel. It comes in gold, rose gold, and black. We got our hands on the matte black and it looked good, and well, also looked familiar.

Front camera

OPPO has always placed extra importance on picture quality and the selfie experience. The 20-megapixel front-facing camera says a lot here.

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Still built into the phone is the Beauty Mode and its software-generated Bokeh Mode, which makes it possible to achieve the shallow depth effect even with a single shooter on this side of the phone.

Rear camera

The R11 has a dual 20-megapixel and 16-megapixel rear camera setup. It’s also equipped with customized image processing software (14-bit Spectra 160 ISP) specifically designed by Qualcomm to improve its photographs.

According to OPPO, this means faster focus speeds, more vivid colors, and better low-light capabilities. I put that to the test.

Roaming around the colorful streets of Shenzhen.

Thanks to the extra lens, this camera is capable of 2X optical zoom and up to 10X zoom with software assistance, which is close to but not quite the technology unveiled at this year’s Mobile World Congress.

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The R11’s rear camera has a Portrait Mode that “intelligently adjusts” depending on the scenario at hand. Initially, this function didn’t excite (I’m a do-it-yourself kinda gal, and selfies are my thing), but it exceeded my expectations.

You can do no photo wrong on this mode — unless you accidentally crop out your face while taking the photo from the rear camera (since we’re so used to selfies with the front-facing cam and display).

The mode can also work on photo subjects other than your own face, although admittedly, it was harder to focus on the correct object to get the bokeh right.

Once you do, though, the results are impressive.

Other points

The R11 is powered by a Snapdragon 660 processor with 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage that’s expandable using a microSD card. It runs on Android 7.1 Nougat skinned with OPPO’s ColorOS 3.1, which adds security for mobile payments and file transfers. Gaming is also a thing on this nifty gadget, as OPPO is the official partner of King of Glory, China’s biggest mobile game. It has a battery capacity of 3000mAh and OPPO’s VOOC fast charging. It retails for CNY 2,999 or roughly around $440.

Initial impressions

There is a lot to love from OPPO’s new release. Admittedly, it’s tough to find the next big feature and innovation in today’s high-tech world, more so from a phone that bears a striking resemblance to an already popular smartphone. But, it’s what’s inside that counts, and the R11 does perform.

For a selfie sucker such as I, who on non-coverage days insists on shooting with a smartphone as opposed to lugging around a DSLR, this may be a great smartphone solution. One too many times I’ve used a different smartphone for my portrait needs because either the front or rear camera was just not up to par.

That isn’t the case here. Everything I like about OPPO’s previous selfie shooters remains, and the Portrait mode on this phone’s rear camera is promising.

It seems the Selfie Expert is branching out, and I’m excited to see where this goes.

[irp posts=”14546″ name=”OPPO F3 review and selfie comparisons”]

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.