China- based OEM Oppo has been finding moderate success lately in emerging markets and their own homeland, offering a smattering of affordable products and flagships. Their latest effort, The Oppo R7, was recently leaked and then almost immediately received an official launch. It toes the line between mid-range and flagship with a great number of special features. This handset is close to flagship-tier, held back by just a few key factors.
A slick unibody aluminum chassis frames a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen set to an eye-pleasing 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. That beautiful display is protected by a sheet of 2.5D glass similar to that seen on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Android 5.1.1 Lollipop is running the show, backed by the same octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor seen in other mid-rangers like the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3. A relatively insane 4GB of RAM ensure that multitasking will be a breeze, while a non-removable 3,070 mAh battery keeps things humming along at not-quite-breakneck speeds. A MicroSD card slot is on board as well, offering up to 128GB for those who aren’t satisfied with the 32GB of internal storage present on the device. The handset features VOOC charging, Oppo’s own take on fast charging technology that promises to net you two hours of talk time in a mere five minutes. with a full charge in about an hour. The camera on the R7s features flash shot technology and Phase Detection Auto Focus, allowing for quicker and easier shots with less worry about jittering, light conditions or slow shutter speed. The rear camera clocks in at a fairly good 13 megapixels, while the selfie snapper around front gives you 8 megapixels to play with. Both cameras have anti-shake optimization to help filter out motion and visual noise.
Having been unveiled at GITEX 2015 in Dubai, the R7s will hit India and Asia first in November, along with Middle East and North Africa. After the phone hits in the target areas to help build up Oppo’s brand influence, it will become available through Oppo’s website for European and U.S. customers in December. After being left out in the cold by OnePlus and overshadowed by big names like Xiaomi and Samsung in both their homeland and emerging markets, Oppo is betting on this phablet to start their upward momentum again. There is no word on pricing at this time, but it will likely be in the lower spectrum to compete evenly with heavy hitters like the Samsung Galaxy A7 and Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 2.
