Oppo F11 Review

Earlier this year, Oppo launched two new smartphones dubbed Oppo F11 and Oppo F11 Pro expanding its portfolio of budget and mid-range devices. While Oppo F11 Pro was the centre of attraction, the regular variant managed to offer promising hardware and design at a budget price tag. Well, we decided to look back at the Oppo F11 to see if it is worth buying this device today. 

Some of the key features include teardrop display, dual rear camera module, 48MP primary sensor, Helio P70 chipset and 20W fast charging. So far, the on-paper specifications of the device look very promising. Sadly, the reality most of the time is different and to find the real answer, here is our comprehensive review of Oppo F11.

Oppo F11 Pro comes in two storage variant – 4GB+128GB and 6GB+128GB options. In terms of colours, the device is available in three different options namely Fluorite Purple, Jewelry White and Marble Green. The base variant of the device is priced at INR 16,990 while the top model will set you back INR 17,990. You can get the device from Amazon India. 

At the time of buying, users can make use of the No Cost EMI offer and an extra discount of INR 2500 in exchange option.

As expected, Oppo F11 smartphone comes packed in a white box having a device’s image on the front with logo branding on the top-front position. Opening the lid of the box, the first thing which you’ll come across is a rectangular section. It consists of a SIM ejector tool, a transparent back case and documentation. You’ll now be able to see the device itself covered in the protective film entirely. Keeping that aside for a while, there is a 20W VOOC fast charger, Micro USB cable with green accent surprisingly and lastly, a pair of earphones. 

Here is a quick overview of what you’ll be getting inside the box: 

– Oppo F11 

– 20W VOOC fast charger 

– Micro-USB cable 

– Earphones 

– SIM ejector tool 

– Transparent back case 

– Manuals and documentation

Before we jump right into our in-depth review, let’s have a look at the key specifications of the device first. 

– Display: 6.53-inch IPS LCD panel, 1080×2340 pixels, 394ppi 

– Processor: MediaTek Helio P70, 12nm 

– GPU: Mali-G72 MP3

– RAM & ROM: 4GB+128GB & 6GB+128GB 

– Rear cameras: 48MP+5MP

– Selfie camera: 16MP, f/2.0 

– Battery: 4020mAh capacity, 20W VOOC fast charging 

– Software: Android 9.0 Pie, ColorOS 6 

– Weight: 188g

– Dimensions: 162×76.1×8.3mm 

With key specs cleared out of the way, let’s jump right into the very first aspect of the review i.e. Design and Build

When it comes to the mid-range segment, most of the smartphone nowadays features a glass back to deliver much more premium experience. Well, that is not the case with the Oppo F11 for some reasons. In fact, the smartphone maker ended up using the plastic body in this device which is very disappointing. Agree, the device does not look cheap and it even feels sturdy and premium (to some extent).

Fortunately, there is a gradient design at the back which accents S-like shimmer when you tilt it at various angles. A glass back with such design at the back would look much more beautiful and mesmerising. At the back, there is a dual-camera module with a gold accent around the setup. You can see the similar design pattern around the fingerprint sensor. At the bottom back, there is an Oppo branding in a vertical position which by the way looks pretty neat. Overall, the device looks pretty impressive. You might want to use a case since the back can easily get scratches. 

Holding the device for the first time, you will notice the sturdiness that it comes packed with. Moreover, the curved edges add up to overall comfort and user experience. Thanks to the proper weight distribution, the device does not feel heavy at all. At the front, the device is dominated by a big IPS LCD panel having a water drop notch on the top. There are thin bezels and chin which delivers an immersive experience.

Coming to the buttons, there is a power button on the right while the volume rockers are located at the left side. You can also find a hybrid SIM tray on the left side which you can eject using a SIM ejector tool. At the bottom, there is a Micro-USB port for charging, 3.5-mm headphone jack and a speaker grille. Overall, Oppo F11 is one sturdy and attractive looking device even though it is entirely made up of plastic. Although a glass back would have been justified at this price range.

Oppo F11 is equipped with a 6.53-inch IPS LCD display featuring a teardrop notch on the top. There are thin bezels on the side and a somewhat thin chin resulting in an impressive screen-to-body-ratio of 85.3 percent. This is the very same display which is found on the F11 Pro variant except for the motorized pop-up selfie camera.  Overall, the display delivers a decent experience as we expected. Watching movies or consuming content on this device is going to be a delightful experience for you. 

With Full HD+ resolution having 1080×2340 pixels, the display offers decent colour levels. Since it is not an AMOLED panel, the black is not that deep but you will still not see any major difference. The device has a pixel density of 394ppi and an aspect ratio of 19:9. The brightness level on this device is very good and you will find no trouble using it under the sunlight. There are numerous apps that can help you change colour as per your need. There is no information on the type of protection the device has on top. Overall, the display experience on this device is pretty impressive and manages to live up to our expectations.

Under the hood, Oppo F11 is powered by a MediaTek Helio P70 chipset coupled with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard memory. The Helio P70 SoC is based on the 12nm manufacturing process featuring eight cores clocked at 21Ghz. For graphics, the device makes use of Mali-G72 MP3. 

The Helio P70 is a capable chipset that is a great option for both average and power user. The UI animations are very smooth and we faced not a single issue regarding lags or stutter. The device can handle multitasking to some extent. With up to 6GB of RAM at your disposal, the apps stay for longer period of time in the memory. The chipset and RAM combined to deliver a smooth experience. There is a 128GB of onboard memory which if is not enough, you can always make use of the hybrid slot. 

For gaming, we tried playing Pubg Mobile on the device which runs on the medium settings by default. There were very scenarios in which we noticed occasional frame drops while there were no easy with the rendering. Oppo F11 may not be the best gaming smartphone out there but it still manages to deliver average gaming performance.

Oppo F11 runs on the latest version of Android operating system i.e. Android 9.0 Pie based on the ColorOS 6 skin. Just like any other custom skin, you also get the drop-down notification shade, homescreen setups, and swipe left page. If you like app drawers, then you can enable that from the Settings menu. There are plenty of navigation styles such as buttons and gestures to choose from. 

There are few bloatware apps on the device but thankfully, you can remove most of them to free up more space. Personally, ColorOS 6 is a decent operating system but it does need various changes especially in the design and colour accent. The software feels similar to Apple’s iOS in numerous ways. The drown-down notification centre make use of the rounder squares to show toggles which I am personally not a big fan of. 

Smart Assistant, on the other hand, shows quick toggles, frequent apps and various other small information on the screen. You have to swipe left on the homescreen to access the page. It will show your steps count, calender, alarms and much more on a single screen. There are tons of other features which you might like or not depending on your personal preference. 

The software runs very smoothly on the device but it does not look refined at all which is something the smartphone maker has to work a lot on. There is a need for ColorOS to see a complete overhaul giving a more unique yet minimal design.

Coming to the imaging, there is a dual-camera module at the back featuring a primary 48MP sensor and a 5MP depth sensor. The setup is accompanied by an LED flash. For selfies, there is a single 16MP front sensor having an aperture of f/2.0. Speaking of aperture, the primary 48MP sensor has f/1.8 as its aperture. The camera app contains lots of features and modes such as HDR, Portrait, Auto Focus, Panorama, Pro and many more. 

In terms of daylight conditions, the device managed to impress us with the shots taken from the device. The images turn out to be full of details, colour accuracy, decent exposure level and good saturation levels. Even the portrait mode works pretty well in proper lighting conditions thanks to the dedicated 5MP depth sensor. The edge detection is pretty decent on this device which is a very good thing. You can enable HDR mode if you’re looking for exposure on your clicked images. In some scenarios, the camera clicks photos with increased level of exposure but the photos still look pretty decent. 

Even in low-light conditions, Oppo F11 delivers a solid performance and well-lit clicked images with a good level of details and exposure. It still could have been better but the low-light performance is still on point. There are still few traces of grains or noise in the clicked shots but that is something you’ll have to live with. In my opinion, the low-light camera performance is better than most phones out there at this price tag. 

The same goes with the selfie taken from the device which turns out to be pretty good in daylight while the same is not the case for low-light scenarios. By default, the beauty mode is turned on due to which the clicked images turn out to be very artificial-looking. You might want to disable it to get natural selfies from the front snapper. 

For video recording, the device supports up to 1080p videos at 30 frame rates. Sadly, there is no kind of stabilization which results in shaky videos. If you’re planning to use it with a selfie stick or have an extremely stable hand, then you will be able to record videos with a good level of detail.

Oppo F11 is fueled by a massive 4,020mAh battery packed inside with support of 20W VOOC fast charging. As expected, the battery life is a strongest suit of the device. On a single charge, we were able to get throughout the day easily. For power user, the device would still deliver a solid battery life. Our daily usage looks something like this – a couple of hours of gaming, WiFi and Bluetooth always-on, constant text messaging, few hours of video streaming and few photography sessions. 

Even if the battery is almost over, you can easily charge your device thanks to the 20W VOOC fast charging support. The device will take around 70 minutes to completely charge from zero to 100 per cent. 15-20 minutes of charging will give you a 37 per cent juice which will come in handy in those busy times.

For audio, there is a single speaker at the bottom which delivers decent audio output. Even at the max volumes, there was no sign of sound distortion which is a good thing. You can also make use of the 3.5-mm headphone jack which surprisingly has impressive output quality. In short, if you’re streaming YouTube videos in a crowded room, you’ll be able to hear the audio easily. 

There is a physical fingerprint sensor at the back which is very quick, reliable and accurate. The device opens up very fast using the fingerprint sensor. The device also supports Face Unlock which is also very quick but is not that reliable. It makes use of the 2D representation of your face. 

Oppo F11 has all the connectivity features which you would need in your daily usage. These features include dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 with A2DP & LE, GPS, FM Radio and Micro USB 2.0 port for charging.