A few days back, OPPO launched two new F-series smartphones- OPPO F17 and F17 Pro in the Indian Market. The OPPO F17 features a stunning 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch on the front. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 chipset which is further coupled with 6 GB RAM.
The device comes with a leather-feel back surface and it starts from Rs.17,990 in India. Is the OPPO F17 worth your money? Let’s find out.
OPPO F17 Specifications
- Display: 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display
- CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
- RAM: 6/8 GB
- Storage: 128 GB
- OS: ColorOS 7.2 based on Android
- Rear Camera: 16 MP primary sensor with f/2.2 aperture + 8 MP wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture + 2 MP monochrome sensor with f/2.4 aperture + 2 MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture
- Front Camera: 16 MP
- Connectivity Options: 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, and USB Type-C
- Colors: Navy Blue, Classic Silver, and Dynamic Orange
- Battery: 4000 mAh battery with 30W VOOC charging
Design, Display, & Build
In terms of design, the OPPO F17 features a 7.45mm ultra-sleek body and comes with a leather feel panel on the back. The device only weighs 163g which makes it one of the lightest smartphones available in the market right now. The design is super impressive and the smartphone feels premium when you hold it in your hands. The leather feel back panel is something unique and we’ve hardly seen any rivals offering this in their smartphone. We got the Navy Blue variant to play around with but it also comes in Classic Silver and Dynamic Orange colors.
Thanks to the leather finished back panel, the OPPO F17 doesn’t attract any fingerprints on the back and you can easily use it without a case. It comes with a rounded square camera module on the back and along with that, you see the OPPO branding in the bottom right corner. The volume buttons are placed on the left and you get the Home button on the right. The buttons are very clicky and they give a nice feel when you press them. In addition to this, the OPPO F17 also features a 3.5mm Audio Jack along with a USB Type-C port and the speaker grill in the bottom.
The sound output from the speakers is average and the music becomes inaudible if you accidentally cover the speakers with your hand. However, it’s nice to see that OPPO didn’t ditch the 3.5mm Audio Jack on this one.
Moving on to the Display, the OPPO F17 features a stunning 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch on the top. It’s a 60Hz Super AMOLED panel and the device comes with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 Pixels. There’s an In-display fingerprint scanner that works really well and helps you to unlock the device in a second. In addition to this, the OPPO F17 offers a 90.7% screen-to-body and comes with a 20:9 aspect ratio.
The display is really bright and you won’t face any problems while using the device in harsh lighting conditions. It’s great for Media Streaming and you can enjoy content from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube in the best quality without any issues. You get deep blacks and punchy colors which make the overall experience better.
Dark Mode is present on the device and apart from this, the OPPO F17 also allows its users to adjust the screen color temperature. Users can also make use of the Always-On display to check the time, battery percentage, and much more without picking up their smartphone.
User Interface and Software
OPPO F17 runs on the latest version of ColorOS from OPPO – ColorOS 7.2 which is based on Android 10. It offers a lot of customization options to its users and the device comes with Security Patch dated September 5, 2020.
We didn’t find any issues with ColorOS 7.2 and the overall experience was smooth and lag-free. There are no ads in the UI and it also features a Theme Store which allows users to buy new Themes and change the look and feel on their device. In addition to this, the device comes with a lot of preinstalled apps like DocVault, MusicParty, Amazon Shopping, and OPPO Lab but most of them can be uninstalled easily so you can save space on your device.
ColorOS 7.2 also features an App Drawer so if you are someone who doesn’t like a lot of Apps on your home screen you can make use of it to get a cleaner space. Additional features like Dark Mode, Gesture Controls, App Cloner are present on the device so users can make the best use of it. Have a look at the Screenshots below to see how the ColorOS 7.2 looks like.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
OPPO F17 is powered by an 11nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 octa-core SoC which came out at the beginning of this year. It is further coupled with an Adreno 610 GPU and paired with 6/8 GB RAM. This is the same chipset that we have seen in smartphones like Realme 7i and Moto G9 and it is good enough to get everyday tasks done and handle some normal games.
We got the 6 GB RAM Variant to play around with and the everyday performance was quite good. Multitasking can be done easily and most of the Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter stay in the background without any issues. However, there are smartphones like POCO X2, Redmi K20 Pro, and Realme 7 Pro which offer better chipsets along with higher refresh rates at a similar price. Hence if you are looking for a smartphone specifically for Gaming then there are better options available in the market.
We tried playing games like MaskGun – which is a new Indian Game, Call of Duty and Among Us on this one and the overall Gaming experience was decent. MaskGun was running at a constant 50-60 FPS whereas the Call of Duty gameplay was also smooth without any lags.
Talking about the connectivity options, the OPPO F17 comes with support for 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS/ A-GPS. The WiFi connectivity on this device is excellent and we never face any connection drops in our usage. It’s the same case with 4G LTE the signal strength is good and you won’t face any issues while surfing the web or calling your friends.
Moving on to the Benchmarks, we tried running PCMark, 3DMark, Geekbench, and Androbench on the OPPO F17 and the device managed to get the following scores.
- Geekbench: 309 Single-Core, 1371 Multi-Core
- 3DMark – The Gamer’s Benchmark: 1169 on Sling Shot Extreme- Open Gl ES 3.1, 1100 on Sling Shot Extreme- Vulkan
- PCMark: 6121 Work 2.0 Performance Score
- Androbench Storage Benchmark: 507 MB/s Maximum Read Speed, 183 MB/s Maximum Write Speed
Have a look at the Screenshots below for a detailed look at Benchmark Scores.
Cameras
OPPO F17 features a Quad Camera setup at the back which consists of a 16 MP primary sensor with f/2.2 aperture + an 8 MP wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture + a 2 MP monochrome sensor with f/2.4 aperture + a 2 MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, there’s a 16 MP Shooter that takes care of your selfies and video calls.
By looking at its camera configuration, what we have to say is that rivals offer much on-paper quad-camera setup with 48 to 64 MP Sensors in this same price range. The camera app comes with a lot of features that include an Extra HD Mode that takes higher resolution images, Night Mode, Portrait Mode, Beautify filters, and much more. It does a great job in daylight conditions but the edge detection on Portrait mode isn’t that good. You can have a look at the camera samples below.
Battery Life
OPPO F17 packs a 4000 mAH battery that comes with support for 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0. The charging speed is impressive and it takes about 1hrs 20mins for a full charge. You can easily get through the day with a single charge if you only use your smartphone for streaming videos, surfing the web, and other everyday tasks. Gamers can get up to 4-5 hours of continuous playtime depending on the types of games they play.
When compared with its rivals, there are many phones available out there with a larger battery, the Samsung Galaxy M31 with a 6,000 mAh battery, and the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max with a 5,020 mAh battery are two of the smartphones which give it a tough competition.
Verdict
The OPPO F17 is a great smartphone if you are looking for a thin and light phone which feels premium. It’s unique leather finished back panel and the overall design is what makes it stand out in the market. It’s great for everyday usage however if you are a heavy user there are a lot of better options available in the market.
The display is bright and crisp which makes the media streaming experience really good however a stereo speaker setup or better speakers would have made the smartphone much better. It offers 30W fast charging and its charging time actually impressed us. Overall, the device has its Pros and Cons but it’s great for users who mainly buy a smartphone because of its design and use it only for entertainment, browsing the web, and other everyday tasks.
Strengths
- Impressive Design
- Leather Finished Back Panel
- Bright and Crisp Super AMOLED Display
- 30W Fast Charging Support
Weakness
- The chipset could have been better
- 60Hz Refresh Rate
- Sound Output from the Speakers isn’t good
- Average Camera
