6 Reasons to Buy the OPPO R9s
OPPO’s latest flagship the R9s is a watershed phone as it is one of the few, if not the only phone in Malaysia in its price range that comes with an impressive rear camera that packs an F/1.7 aperture matched only by phones that come at nearly twice the price. Add in a luscious bespoke all-metal hewn casing and exceptional battery life and and you have a seriously desirable phone indeed. Here’s six reasons why the OPPO R9s ought to be tops on your shopping list…
#1 Powerful rear 16-MP camera
The OPPO R9s prioritises rear camera image quality and packs in a Sony IMX398 sensor that was made specifically for the R9s and which offers dual phase detection autofocus. Essentially this means that the rear camera offers 40% faster autofocus than a conventional sensor, allowing for swifter subject acquisition.
Paired with this is a bright F/1.7 aperture lens; this allows for more light to enter the sensor and allows for much better shots especially under challenging low light conditions. This potent combination of Dual PDAF and an F/1.7 aperture makes the R9s’ rear camera a very capable snapper in the right hands. It also has an array of solid camera modes including a full-on manual mode that lets those who know their stuff tweak almost every possible setting on the camera. The rear camera is also capable of capturing 4K video too. All this allows the R9s to handle the gamut of standard scenarios from the obligatory food shots, scenery snaps and almost everything else in between.
#2 VOOC Fast Charging
While fast charging tech is fast becoming de rigueur for flagship phones, the OPPO R9s packs in something that’s a step better in the form of their own VOOC Fast Charging tech. It’s not exactly off-the-shelf tech as it requires a customised cable denoted by green markings on the plug along with the corresponding 5V/4A fast charger but once everything is in place, what you get is the ability to fast charge the R9s in a significantly faster and safer fashion; to wit, you’re able to get two hours of talk time with just a five minute charge.
Rather than simply trickle charging near the end or getting uncomfortably warm, the R9s goes in full tilt with about 70% of a full charge in about an hour with the whole phone remaining comfortably cool to the touch. For added peace of mind, the VOOC fast charging process has a host of safeguards to ensure untoward mishaps like it cooking off, exploding or whatnot won’t ever happen in the first place. Better yet, the highly efficient Snapdragon 625 processor, the 1080P display, the host of firmware optimisation tweaks and the hefty 3,010mAh battery ensures that the R9s offers exceptional endurance that can easily last you through the day and beyond.
#3 Bespoke Build Quality
The OPPO R9s comes with a machined unibody aluminium casing hewn of aluminium that comes in three different colours – a striking Valentine Red, a Rose Gold and a burnished shade of Gold. Where it differs from the majority of phones out there is that even the sides and rear are one combined piece. Rather than besmirching the casing with carved antenna bands, the OPPO R9s uses an ultra slim engraved array of antenna lines that are but 0.3mm deep engraved into the casing at the top and the bottom that complements and subtly enhances the casing that is but 6.58mm thin and only 147g, making it very pocketable.
# 4 The Right Touch
The front 5.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen is sheathed in 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass and also comes with a pre-applied screen protector straight out of the box to protect it from getting nicked or scratched. The AMOLED display means that it serves up some brilliant colours and the 1080P display is crisp enough to offer pin-sharp text onscreen. What makes the display on the R9s unique is that it has an array of offscreen gestures. Even when the display is off, you can simply sketch a symbol on the display to access the camera (by drawing an O), turn on the flashlight (by drawing a V), control music playback and you can even assign several custom gestures to turn on specific apps too.
#5 Versatile Fingerprint Reader
While fingerprint readers are usually added after the fact, the R9s is of note as it’s not only exceptionally responsive but has quite a few tricks up its sleeves too. Rather than just simply unlocking your phone, the fingerprint reader is able to remember and assign up to five fingerprints to an associated app. In effect, you’re able to open an app by simply placing the corresponding digit on the R9s’s fingerprint reader. Better yet, it even works when your fingers are damp. That’s not all, the fingerprint reader also lets you encrypt and lock out files and even deposited in a secure partition on the phone dubbed the File Safe and even specific apps too so that you can keep important stuff away from prying eyes.
#6 Potent Front-facing Selfie Camera
While the rear camera on the OPPO R9s is the main draw, the front facing selfie camera is almost as potent as the rear camera. On the R9s, the front facing camera has a 16-MP sensor with an F/2.0 aperture for pleasing self portrait shots. OPPO has also put in significant effort into their camera Beautify 4.0 mode so that it naturally cleans up selfies by smoothing out wrinkles and the like. You’re even able to dial the level of effect from none to something that would not look out of place on a catwalk runway. Beautify 4.0 mode also has the ability to let you whiten your skintone and even add a rose touch to your cheeks too. If you’re taking snaps in dimly lit locations, the R9s’s selfie camera automatically kicks in High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode for best results so your snaps look radiant regardless of the time of day.
