The Good
Screen size. The OPPO Find 7 is basically all screen – 5.5” (14 cms) of shiny phone goodness. With a 2560 x 1440 resolution and 538 PPI display, the screen is crystal clear and the colors are vibrant.
The body. Narrow and sleek, with a curved body that fits well in your palm. The removable back cover grip (available in gray or white) makes the phone much less likely to slip out of your hand.
Rapid Charge. The Find 7 hardware comes with rapid charge technology called VOOC which means the phone charges at least twice as fast as most handsets (it gets up to 75% charge in about 30 minutes but even 5 mins charge before you run out the door will give you a couple of hours battery life).
Temperature control. The phone casing has a protective thermal coating, meaning it will remain cool to the touch while in use/charging (unlike the iPhone which can sometimes get worryingly hot).
Customization. One of the cooler aspects of the Find 7 is the screen shortcuts that you can set yourself. The phone comes with two already–circle your finger on the screen for the camera, make a V for the flashlight. There are also customizable widgets and over 100 changeable skins to set on your home screen.
The Bad
The size. While we do love the big screen and clarity of the Find 7, the sheer size of the console makes the phone difficult to operate one-handed.
Visibility. The three navigation buttons at the bottom of the phone are backlit, but are quite faint and almost impossible to make out in sunlight. Also, if you’re someone who likes to read your messages post-haste, you may struggle with the Find 7 notifications. The blue light that announces a new text can be tricky to see.
Camera. The Find 7 camera does the job, but it’s nothing special. At 13-megapixels it’ll allow you to blow your photos up to 16×20 for printing or viewing online, but that’s pretty standard for a smartphone these days. The soft focus function sometimes make the images a little blurry, there’s a lot of image noise in low lighting and some photos lack the punch of color saturation (but then again, that’s why we have filters).
Battery life. While the Find 7 battery charges super quickly, the battery life itself is fairly average. With consistent use (calls, messages, browsing) the battery lasts all day, but definitely needs an overnight charge. We put it down to the high-resolution screen. That bad boy’s bound to suck some battery life.
The Verdict
The Find 7 will surely face tough competition from other Androids on the market like the Samsung S5 and the LG G3. While there are admirable features like the screen size and customization abilities, we doubt it’ll be enough to coax too many people over from iOS.
The Find 7 retails for $719 and is available at SingTel retailers, M1 distributors and authorized OPPO retailers.
