Review of Oppo F9: Asserting its top position in the 7 million dong segment!

Oppo F9 is a mid-range product that combines many top features of a premium device with a 'waterdrop' screen, dual camera, and super fast VOOC charging.

1. Review of Oppo F9: Asserting its top position in the 7 million dong segment!

Oppo F9 is a mid-range product that combines many top features of a premium device with a 'waterdrop' screen, dual camera, and super fast VOOC charging.

The Oppo F9 can be considered a worthwhile upgrade from its predecessor, the F7, in terms of design, features, and price. Furthermore, the Oppo F9 features a dual-camera system that supports many interesting photo shooting features, along with a 'monster' 25MP selfie camera resolution. So, does the real-life experience with Oppo F9 satisfy users? Let's delve into the detailed review below.

DESIGN

While many other manufacturers in the market are struggling to design the notch for their smartphone models to be neat and optimized, Oppo has taken a step ahead with the extremely unique and delicate 'waterdrop' design. In fact, the 'waterdrop' notch on the F9 simply contains the front camera, and the earpiece is made very thin and close to the top edge of the device.

In terms of overall design, the Oppo F9 features a traditional design with curved edges for comfortable grip, without causing any discomfort to the hand. Additionally, the size is very moderate thanks to the thin side bezels, making it easy for users to operate the device with just one hand.

The back of the F9 continues to be a highlight, as Oppo uses a material called 'organic' glass (a blend of plastic and glass), giving the F9 a very luxurious and distinctive appearance. It possesses the shiny, premium advantages of glass while maintaining the lightweight of plastic. With the 'Gradient' back, as Oppo calls it, the color will shine and change every time you change your viewing angle or when light shines on it. Although it tends to attract fingerprints, a common drawback of most glass-backed devices nowadays.

DISPLAY

The F9's display is quite large at 6.3 inches, with an actual ratio occupying up to 91% of the front, displaying in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and an impressive FHD+ resolution (2340x1080 pixels). In reality, the display quality of the F9 is impeccable, with high resolution making icons and fonts appear smooth, sharp, vibrant colors, clear, and good viewing angles. When using the device outdoors in bright sunlight, the screen brightness at its highest ensures excellent visibility.

PERFORMANCE

The Oppo F9 is equipped with the Helio P60 octa-core processor developed on a 12nm architecture, comprising 5 A53 cores and 4 A73 cores clocked at 2.0GHz, paired with Mali G72MP3 graphics clocked at 800Mhz. Additionally, the device has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Theoretically, the F9's configuration is quite impressive and ensures smooth execution of multiple heavy tasks simultaneously.

In the game Arena of Valor, the Oppo F9 runs very smoothly and seamlessly. Even in intense combat scenes with complex graphics, the F9 shows no signs of lag. According to Gamebench's measurements, the F9 maintains a steady frame rate of 31 FPS (frames per second), a quite impressive figure for a mid-range device.

Continuing the gaming experience with more demanding graphics in games like Need for Speed, the Oppo F9 once again impresses with a solid 31 FPS (frames per second) recorded by Gamebench. Smooth scene transitions, clear effects, and a heavy-duty gaming experience capturing every emotion from the graphics in each race.

The Oppo F9 continues to perform well during prolonged gaming sessions, with minimal heating and no overheating issues. The battery life drops to a reasonable level, enough for you to continuously play games like Arena of Valor or Need for Speed for 4 to 5 hours straight.

BATTERY LIFE

With a 3,500mAh battery capacity, it meets your daily usage needs quite well. I unplug the charger at 7 AM and only need to recharge around 8 PM. My usage intensity throughout the day is quite high, including reading news, checking Gmail continuously, browsing social media, playing games for about an hour (Arena of Valor, Need for Speed, Candy Crush), receiving a few calls, and using high-frequency chat apps. If used with lower intensity, the F9 can comfortably last until the second day.

Regarding charging speed, Oppo is generous in equipping the F9 with the Super VOOC charging standard. The device only takes 5 minutes to charge to 10% battery and 15 minutes to reach 20% battery. After one hour, the device reaches an impressive 85% battery life. However, in the later stage, the charging speed slows down, taking a total of 1 hour and 42 minutes to fully charge the device's battery. These figures can be considered quite impressive for Android charging speeds. In urgent situations, Super VOOC can help you last half a day with just 15 to 30 minutes of charging.

CAMERA

The Oppo F9 is equipped with a dual-camera system supporting portrait mode and integrates AI to enhance photo quality. Theoretically, the F9 features a rear camera with a 16MP main lens and a 2MP secondary lens for depth sensing. The front camera of the device boasts a resolution of up to 25MP with an aperture of F/2.0.

First, let's talk about the main camera system. The image quality achieved by the F9 in well-lit conditions is quite excellent, with high detail and good color saturation. Particularly in backlight conditions, there is no excessive brightness contrast.

Each cloud and water droplet is clearly and realistically depicted, down to every detail. With the high resolution of 16MP, even when zoomed in 2x, the image quality remains quite good.

The shooting performance of the Oppo F9 can respond instantly; users just need to raise the device and press the button, without worrying about any other issues surrounding the device. The autofocus speed of the device is relatively good, but in situations where objects are moving continuously, such as swaying flower branches in the image above, you need to use the 'touch to focus' action to help the device easily recognize the subject you want to focus on.

In HDR mode, the shooting speed will decrease slightly as the camera software processes colors in challenging backlight or complex lighting conditions. You can see the images below for a closer look.

Other images captured by the Oppo F9 in Auto mode under sufficient lighting conditions:

In more complex low-light conditions, the F9's shooting speed decreases slightly. You have to hold the device steady to ensure the image quality remains sharp.

In darker conditions, the F9 struggles a bit with both shooting speed and image processing capabilities. However, it's not too difficult to achieve the desired images. The most important principle for photographers is always to ensure stability before and during the shutter press.

In severely low-light conditions, the F9 reduces the shooting speed and limits ISO enhancement to minimize noise. Additionally, there is considerable image processing to minimize noise, resulting in a slight loss of image detail and faded colors. These aspects are understandable for a mid-range device priced at only around 7 million dong.

The Oppo F9's portrait mode is truly impressive, with smooth skin processing while maintaining realism and avoiding an overly 'magical' feel. Moreover, the background separation from the subject is also a plus for the F9's portrait mode.

The front camera of the Oppo F9 remains the focal point with a sensor resolution of up to 25MP, benefiting from the manufacturer's expertise from China. Face enhancement options with AI camera, excess facial details will be removed, and facial angles will be adjusted to present a harmonious and natural overall look.

Color filters with various options are indispensable features for Oppo's selfie camera.

Cute emoji icons with quick face recognition capability are ready to join you in any situation.

The selfie photos taken by the Oppo F9's camera are dazzling and utterly magical, aren't they? Invite you to admire some more images captured by the F9's front camera.

Cute and lovely sticker mode icons

Portrait selfie mode with good subject and background recognition

IN CONCLUSION

Oppo has made significant efforts to provide users with a mid-range device that combines many elements of a premium mobile product, such as the trendy waterdrop design, glossy colors, dual-camera portrait mode, impressive selfie camera, reliable performance, long battery life, and super-fast charging with Super VOOC. Clearly, the F9 has many advantages worth considering in the 7-million-dong price segment.