Oppo Find 7 review: Dark horse

Introduction

When talking about flagships, one name that keeps on popping up alongside the likes of Samsung and Sony is Oppo. Needless to say, it has long stopped being a surprise. With solid offerings of the past two generations in the Find 5 and N1, Oppo is not just planning to stay in the major league but get a place near the top with the Find 7, one of the precious few smartphones to sport a QHD display.

The Find 7 narrowly comes in second to the LG G3 (although in some markets it'll actually be available before it), after Oppo probed the market with its consciously lesser specced 1080p sibling, the Find 7a.

There is another variant of the Find 7/7a floating around in the form of the OnePlus One. OnePlus, which initially surfaced as a breakaway company from Oppo, likely has more than a bit to do with their former compatriots than they're letting on, given how similar the One is to the Find 7. Take away the higher-res screen, software UI, and microSD card slot, and they're almost identical devices.

All of this is to say that Oppo has released this particular smartphone in various different forms, with the Find 7 potentially being the culmination. Like we said, it's only the second QHD-enabled smartphone on the market, and offers a compelling package any way you look at it. Here's the nitty-gritty:

Key features

• 5.5" 16M-color 1440 x 2560px IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 534ppi
• Android OS v4.3 Jelly Bean with Color OS
• Quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 400 CPU, 3GB of RAM, Adreno 330 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset
• 13MP autofocus camera, dual-LED flash; HDR, RAW, Panorama, long exposure (up to 32 seconds), Super Zoom mode producing 50MP high-quality samples
• 2160p video recording@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, 1080p HDR recording
• 32GB of built-in storage
• microSD card slot
• USB On-the-go support
• NFC
• 3,000mAh battery with fast charging
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• Cool notification light

Main disadvantages

• No Android 4.4 KitKat at launch
• No FM radio
• No IR port

Even without the fancy sensors and software features that some of the competition have, the Oppo Find 7 has the makings of a very robust flagship thanks to its capable Snapdragon 801. The QHD display will help enhance the user experience that much more, and is trusted compensate for the lack of other extras.

Obviously the screen is the major feature here, but with great resolution comes great responsibility. Contrast ratio, colors, and even battery life and performance were significantly affected on the LG G3 - the Oppo Find 7's only QHD rival at this time - so it's important to see how upping the resolution impacts the overall smartphone experience. To that end, the Find 7 has the more capable chipset and more battery capacity than the 7a, but will that be enough?

First thing's first though. Up next we get things under way with our traditional hardware examination of the Oppo Find 7.