Pop-up cameras and gradient designs were the novelty in 2018 smartphones, reserved only for a handful of devices. However, a year down the line and the technology is already becoming mainstream. Right on the heels of the Vivo V15 Pro, Oppo has launched the F11 Pro with a 'rising' selfie camera as well. It also comes with a three-colour gradient design and there's a 48MP camera on the back.
The Oppo F11 Pro is part of a new breed of phones that sport the flagship Sony IMX586 sensor which can capture 48-megapixel images. The half-inch sensor is also used by Xiaomi in the newly launched Redmi Note 7 Pro. In the Oppo F11 Pro, the 48MP sensor is paired with another 5MP depth sensor to offer portrait photos.
Powering the Oppo F11 Pro is the MediaTek Helio P70. The chipset also powers the Rs 8,990-priced Realme 3, but Oppo justifies it's premium with its modern design. The processor is paired with 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage. Keeping the lights on is a 4,000mAh battery which supports VOOC 3.0. Oppo claims the phone charges 20 percent faster than the Oppo F9 Pro and can do 49 percent in 30 minutes and full charge in 80 minutes.
Thanks to the pop-up selfie camera which rises from the top center, the front of the Oppo F11 Pro is all screen. The phone boasts of a screen-to-body ratio of 90.9 percent with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display. There's no in-display fingerprint sensor on this one though, unlike the Vivo V15 Pro. Instead, a rear-mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor and pop-up camera assisted face-unlock are the ways to authenticate and unlock the phone.
Oppo also made some under the hood tweaks to make the phone run faster. There's Hyper Boost that supposedly improves app launch speed times by 20 percent while making games like PUBG Mobile run smoother. The phone runs on ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie. Incidentally, the UI incorporates an app drawer for the first time. Additionally, the company will provide 5GB of free Oppo Cloud storage for users to store their data.
Coming to the camera, the rear cameras on the Oppo F11 Pro shoots 12MP photos by default but an Ultra-HD mode can be turned on to shoot at native 48-megapixels. The 12MP default resolution is achieved by binning four pixels into one that supposedly gives more details and sharpness to the photos. Oppo claimed you can print the photos in large formats without losing quality. The same technology also aids in low-light photography. With a wide f/1.7 aperture lens, the F11 Pro can reportedly take clear portraits in low-light. It's literally the phone's tag line.
The pop-up or 'rising' camera, as Oppo likes to call it, has a 16MP Sony sensor with f/2.0 aperture and can take portrait photos using the software.
The phone launched in two colour variants — Thunder Black Aurora Green. Both incorporate a range of gradient colours that changes based on the angle of light reflecting on it. It's a glass-body design and we aren't sure whether there's any protection on top of the glass panels on the front and the back.
Oppo also announced the Oppo F11 smartphone that same the same specs as the F11 Pro but gets a waterdrop notch display design instead of a rising front-camera. The non-pro variant of the phone comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage and double gradient colours instead of the triple gradient colour models on the Oppo F11 Pro.
The Oppo F11 Pro is priced at Rs 24,990. There's only one variant for now that will be going on sale on March 15 and will be available via all leading online and offline channels like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Vijay Sales, among others. As for the Oppo F11, it is priced at Rs 19,990. Pre-orders for the Oppo F11 Pro are now open.
Launch offers on the phone include a 5 percent instant discount on Debit and Credit card EMI. There's also a no-cost EMI option of up to 12 months on the phone, along with additional Rs 2,000 off on exchange and extra Rs 3,000 off when you upgrade for an Oppo smartphone.
Disclaimer: Oppo paid for the author's travel and stay in Mumbai, India.