OPPO F9 Review: Nine Out Of Ten

The OPPO F9's release surprised everyone with the company being in the heels of success of the OPPO F7. This current offering adds OPPO's VOOC flash charging tech and its transition to an almost notch-less display. The OPPO F9 serves more treats on the table rather than being a refined version of its successor. Join us as we dig deeper into the OPPO F9's capability in this review.

OPPO F9 Review Philippines

OPPO F9 Review

Before going further, let's first have a roll call of OPPO F9's out-of-the box items. We still have the same standard set: the main unit, the wall adapter, the microUSB cable, the headphones, manuals, SIM tray ejector, and the jelly case.

OPPO F9 Unboxing

Design

Design-wise the OPPO F9 is a stunner. The handset employs a new finish and paint technology giving each OPPO F9's variant a distinct and crowd-pleasing look. On the front, the handset is defined by a water-drop display which technically squeezed the notch into a circular slot to house the front facing camera. By doing so, it pushed the receiver on the far edge of its upper bezel.

OPPO F9 Design Review

Believe me when I say that the handset's design is a crowd-pleaser. We had the Sunrise Red review unit, and it comes with a petal flower pattern that reveals itself when struck by light. It's also not just pure red, OPPO managed to give the handset a gradient tone at the back and even on the sides.

The phone feels boxy on the hand, unlike the Vivo V11 which nestles comfortably on the hands with its 3D glass backing. However, I could tell that the OPPO F9 is more solidly built due to the additional heft and balanced weight.

OPPO F9 Review Design

When you have used an OPPO handset before, you'll find that the buttons are in their proper placements. The power button owns the right side; while the volume rocker and the microSD card slot are on the left side. The bottom side houses the 3.5-mm jack, the micro USB port, and the speaker grills.

Overall, the handset could catch several eyes when seen on the wild, especially the Sunrise Red. We also love the Starry Purple version. It's something that always gives off class and premium feel.

Display

OPPO F9's display is a 6.3-inch FHD+ WaterDrop FullScreen display with 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution. It still comes with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 90.8 percent screen-to-body ratio. The display has good color reproduction. It's also vibrant and is very legible outdoors. 

OPPO F9 Review Display

I also love the fact that OPPO went to the "waterdrop" route. I like how minimalist and subtle the new notch has become. It's very impressive that it offers a smaller cutout for camera and still manages to cram the speaker and some sensors in that area. I'm pretty sure most of its peers will also have this kind of notch-design to increase screen real estate.

OPPO employs an LCD display, so blacks are not that deep and whites are also not that pure when compared to Galaxy S9 panels. However, I love OPPO's tone flexibility in its display. It allows you to toggle the display in cooler or warmer spectrum, or even in between. Viewing angles are also generous and the fact that the OPPO F9 packs a solid display makes it a great multimedia device.

Performance: Gaming, Multimedia, Sound

The OPPO F9 is powered by the same MediaTek Helio P60 chipset that we've seen from the F7; however, it is coupled by a beefier 6GB of RAM this time. As expected, it breathes performance. Using it as my daily driver, the OPPO F9 delivers. I did not notice any lags until I pulled up heavy-graphic titles such as PUBG Mobile. In our Antutu Benchmark test,  it scored 137,925.

OPPO F9 Antutu

Playing Mobile Legends in the highest settings is also a breeze. Likewise, I also enjoy streaming some titles via Netflix or playing songs via Spotify. I'll say it again, the handset is definitely a solid multimedia device.

Speakers are crisp but we could definitely tell that it lacks bass. However, we couldn't complain more since it's serving us good quality sounds.

Camera

The OPPO F9 employs a 16MP shooter assisted by 2MP sensor for depth sensing. In daylight, the handset captures great photos with good detail and contrast. However, it tends to over-saturate some shots especially when assisted by AI. I'll give the camera software a tap in the back, though, by easily recognizing scenes like buildings, food, pets, etc.

OPPO F9 Camera Review

The camera also produces good photos indoors. However, when subjected to low-light, it struggles. Photos in low-light come out with noise and lesser details. The camera software also offers more features than the usual. You can shoot Timelapse, SloMo, and Portrait by just toggling modes in the camera software. Aside from the basic Video and Photos modes, you can also shoot Panoramas and even use AR stickers. 


There's a Pro mode if ever you feel the need to use it. I also love the flexibility of using different lighting effects on the Portrait mode. Moreover, you can use HDR, Super Vivid Mode, filters, AI Beauty mode, and Google right off the camera interface. 

Check out the sample shots of the OPPO F9 below.

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 1

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 2

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 3

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 4

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 5

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 6

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 7

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 8

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 9

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 10

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 12

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 12

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 16

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 17

OPPO F9 Sample Shot 18

The Best Selfie Camera

Just like the OPPO F7, the handset boasts a 25MP front camera. Selfies are great with good color reproduction and contrast. You can also activate the depth effect and do customized edits on top of the AI functionality. Likewise, you can use the Super Vivid Mode together with the Depth Effect. I could say that this is the best selfie camera that I've used in a mid-range device. See the samples below.

OPPO F9 Selfie Samples
Left to Right: Sample Selfie with AI, Depth Effect, Depth Effect in Super Vivid Mode

Video Recording

You can record up to 1080p videos in both front and back cameras. You can also use the AI Beauty mode in videos but you will only be limited to 720p captures. When recording a 1080p video, I experienced hunting issues with the camera. It could hardly focus on one subject especially when we introduced it to a landscape frame. 

In our sample video, we have tested its video capability in Canyon Cove beach in Nasugbu, Batangas.



Software

OPPO F9 boots with the latest version of Color OS 5.2 on top Android 8.1 Oreo. It's still the same iOS-like interface that we loved. For starters, there's much to love about new version of Color OS. One thing that stands out is the Smart Sidebar for quick tools and apps. The overall feel of the interface is quite bubbly. App icons are now well laid-out and the user interface is quite smooth.


Being an Android device, the Notification Shade should be kept on point and clean due to the fact that it's one of the busiest places in the phone's graphic user interface. OPPO has maintained the notification shade simple and minimalist as ever. What I don't like about this section is that you have to dismiss notifications in two steps - slide and press trash icon. Other phones only do that in one swipe.


The Color OS 5.2 supports Google Assistant. You can activate it by pressing and holding the power button for 0.5 seconds. Other essential features include Assistive Ball, Gestures and Motion, Smart Driving, and Smart Assistant.


You can clone specific apps like Facebook, Instagram or Messenger. This feature has proven itself to be useful for those who have multiple accounts to manage. Game Space is all about managing your gaming experience like invoking Gaming Assistant and Graphics Acceleration. The App Split Screen will also be a welcome feature for "multitaskers" like me.

Battery

OPPO F9's battery will be sufficient for most users, even for power users like me. I'm very dependent to the device being my daily driver. I could get almost 5 hours of on screen time usage. But in my lazy days where I only use it moderately, the OPPO F9 could impressively last almost a day.

In our PC Mark benchmark test, the OPPO F9 scores 8 hours and 47 minutes. Our video loop test with a 1080p movie gave us almost 9 hours and 10 minutes.


The battery is now juicier at 3500 mAh - that's 100 mAh higher than the OPPO F7. The VOOC Flash Charge can handle charging the phone from 0 to 100 for about 1 hour and 50 minutes.

The Wrap

The OPPO F series has matured enough with OPPO F9 joining the company's portfolio. The handset has proven to be the one to beat in this segment. The reason? It has ticked most of the boxes in which a purported user wants in its device - stunning design, great display, capable rear cameras, fast charging, solid processor, beefy RAM, and slick software. But most of all, this smartphone has solidified OPPO's leadership in the selfie game.

The OPPO F9 is the best F series phone when it comes to selfies. And backing that feature with highly capable ones like battery, design, and display makes it hard for users to look somewhere else.

Now, if you have an OPPO F7 and you're toying for an upgrade, would you bite the bullet? If fast charging is your thing and you wanted to be in the loop with  new OPPO hardware... Why not? Otherwise, just hold on for that money for a while, we never know what OPPO has in store for us next.

Highlights:

Better notched-screen implementation
Great display
VOOC Flash Charge
Stunning Gradient Design
Fast Processor and RAM
Practical pricing

Lowlights:

Heft and Boxy Feel in the hands
Hunting Effect in Video Recording


OPPO F9 Specs

156.7 x 74 x 7.99 mm at 169 grams
6.3-inch Waterdrop Full Screen LTPS IPS LCD display
FHD+: 1080 x 2340 pixels
19.5:9 Aspect ratio | ~90.8% screen-to-body ratio
Mediatek Helio P60 (MT6771) SoC
Octa-core (4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A53)
Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
6GB RAM
64GB Storage
microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot)
16MP + 2MP, (f/1.8, f/2.4) Rear Camera, PDAF, LED flash
25MP Sony IMX576 sensor, f/2.0 Front Camera
Camera Features: Real-time HDR, AI Beauty 2.0, AI scene recognition features
1080p@30fps video
Dual SIM (Nano)
4G LTE, VoLTE, 3G, 2G, GPRS, EDGE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, LE
GPS, A-GPS
MicroUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go
Loudspeaker
3.5mm audio jack
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
Fingerprint (rear-mounted)
Facial Recognition
Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass,
Gravity, Light Sensors
ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo
3500mAh Li-Ion Battery, Non-removable
Sunlight Red, Twilight Blue, Starry Purple
Php 17,990
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