"Is Retina Display Enough?" Oppo Find 5 puts your (i)Phone(s) to Shame: About, Unboxing, Hands-on, Review, Comparison with HTC Butterfly, iPhone 5, GSIII & LG Nexus 4

About Oppo

Sorry, what? Yes, even I didn’t know about this company until a few months back. Let me bring you on the same page here, because its important to understand that there are players beyond the much hyped Apple, HTC et al, who are making attempts at stunning products that are capable of performing. They are known for their high-end, classy & pricey Blue-ray players in the US and they come with customer base in NA, EU and AP. They sell these products under the brand 'Oppo Digital'. Just search for 'oppo' and you would see something like this:

They entered the mobile market in 2008. Now lets get back to the device I want to talk about.

Oppo Find 5

They announced OPPO Find 5, a gorgeous 5" android powered quad core phone with 1080p display and 13 megapixel camera, in Dec'12. They claim it to be the first smartphone with hardware supported HDR. The specs on this device are ridiculously awesome.

They released the 16 GB international version of the device on Wed 6th Mar'12, priced at $499 & 32 GB version for $569 on March 8th'13. Their previous batch got sold out fairly quickly. If you tried, you know they would have to manage the web traffic in a better way for the launch of 32 GB version. I am sure they have realized that "Find 5 is a hot property" already.

And thanks to the DHL free shipping that’s included in the price. Believe me, I got the DHL tracking number <8 hours after placing the order from OPPO. No wonder they are committed to a flawless service experience. But shipping may vary for the next batch.

Un-boxing

The moment you rip open the outer box and lift it up, you would see a small good looking black box. Its magnetic cover makes the packaging looks stylish. Some of the other phone makers can learn a fair bit about how convenient packaging can also look good. "Very tidy, neat and cushioned dual boxing".

Box contents:

• Oppo Find 5 Phone - Sitting beautifully on the top. Let me tell you, this boarder less sheet of pure black looks great with the screen turned off. I had not touched the device yet and had just removed the screen protection.
• Booklet in a black matt wrap cover
• Pin to insert Sim - Attached at the back side of the booklet cover. "The pin itself looks high quality"
• USB Cable
• OPPO Dirac Headphones/hands-free - "Yea, its good to receive a hands-free", when a lot of Samsung phones & LG Nexus 4 doesn't come with one. And don't even talk about Apple, they rip you off anyway.
• Charger Plug
• 2 NFC Tags

Another surprise: Oppo Find 5 Easy Cover. The feel of the cover is nice. The phone fits quite neatly in it and it comes in different colors. The phone also sits nicely on it sideways.

Look, Design, Feel & Hardware

At the first look, it might seem familiar, like a perfect mix of Sony Xperia & HTC or something. But as you observe closely, you would appreciate its own design aspects a lot. It feels really solid and hardware feels well gripped as it has a steel frame ("no, I did not do the drop test"), stylish, good to hold in one hand and no, size wise, it doesn't feel like Samsung Galaxy Note at all and you won’t feel awkward holding it next to your ear. Umm, you may notice the weight if you are using a LG Nexus 4 or Samsung GSIII, but its worth it because personally, I don't like the shiny plasticy fingerprint friendly feel. And ofcourse, the 2500 mAh battery (non-removable). I would talk about that in a while.
"For a moment, enjoy the curves as it is." Oppo has indeed put in a lot on the design element on both the Hardware and the Software front.

"And I am sure Samsung is not ditching the plastic anytime soon". Yea, I am referring to the much awaited G S IV, which would 95% have the same specs as this device, with some minor differences, like something 'new', may be an eyeball controlled reading from the  rumor. Let's see.

Find 5 has:

• Power button on the left - the placement is perfect for the thumb. But in the easy cover, you may not need to press it that often as the screen lights up on opening the cover.
• Volume controls on the right - feels like glass buttons or something
• MicroUsb jack at the bottom
• Headphone jack on the top - good for pocketed use
• Rear camera w/dual led in the center (13MP)
• Front camera (1.9MP)
• Microphone at the bottom & at the back, next to the camera

And yes,

It uses Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 APQ8064 1.5 GHz quad core processor and 2 GB of RAM. It also uses Adreno 320 GPU for graphics processing.

Display & Software

Turn it On and the first thing you notice is the crystal clear display. Its gorgeous. It’s a 5" Full HD super duper retina display having a resolution of 1920x1080 and pixel density of 441ppi, that puts your phone to shame, ofcourse if you happen to have this, we are good.

Imagine, Apple coming up with this resolution and pixel density later this year in iPhone 5s or 6 and saying "This.. is something.. we have never ever……. done before", redonkles, ofcourse you haven't.

But for the sake of comparison, you can refer the Display specifications at the bottom of this post.

User Interface & Experience

And as you go on unlocking the device, the version of Android Jelly Bean (4.1) looks quite customized but its a fresh user experience. The icons look a lot like iOS & Samsung mix, however, the detailing is nicely done in its own way. And they claim that every designed icon has 39 layers and 13 of which are light effects. I am not sure what the standard is, but wow.
Since the icons are big for a 5" screen, only four rows and columns fit on the screen, in addition to the fixed icons at the bottom. Personally, I would have preferred more icons utilizing the screen size well enough. Also, the styling of out of box icons is fine, but the iOS style square icon backgrounds don't really work for all apps, because some apps go for an icon style without borders, which Oppo shows in grey border, and is noticeable.

The widgets (date/time, calendar, contacts) look very fresh, inspired by the concept cars and modern architecture as they say. For me, only if I could customize more of what's displayed on the respective widgets as there is hardly any functionality. And frankly, the power control widget's utility is not that great.

The notification drop down looks highly customized as well, with the most used settings available handy, and you can arrange the icons. And the white/grey background (of the notifications curtain, dial-pad & contacts) goes so well with the look and feel of the device. Feels like a well designed phone inside out. However, the notification bars for different apps take up too much space on the canvas, just like the icons do.

So,

• Comes pre-installed with all Google apps put in a Google folder
• Pre-installed File Manager (does the purpose quite well), Music Player, Video Player
• Tools like Quickoffice, Recorder, Flashlight, Compass are also there under Tools folder
• They also have an App for System Updates

What's different (and good as well),

• Icons, Widgets, Notification Screen, Tabbed Settings Menu
• Press and hold icon in the apps menu to uninstall the user installed applications, like Facebook etc., by clicking the small x on the icon. Works pretty much like on iOS
• Comes with a task manager and memory sweeper (press and hold home, to free up some memory)
• Data usage visible at the bottom of notification curtain
• Security Feature: There's a "Permissions" setting - when turned on, apps that require access to phone calls and SMS are listed in this, and unless they're set to "Allow", it will give a prompt every time these apps attempt to access those permissions.

Ofcourse you have an option to install a custom launcher from the Google Play Store if you do not like the look and feel of the OPPO Skin.

Sound

They use Powerful Dolby 3D surround sound technology and something called the Dirac HD technology. I looked up and found that Dirac HD is used by brands like BMW, Bentley and Rolls Royce, and they claim to be the first and the only mobile partner so far. Dirac HD is a combination of hardware and software technology usually only found in high-end audio and cinema sound systems.

The sound and head-phones are quite a treat for the music lovers. However, the rear speaker is very loud. I can't figure out a decent volume as only 2 bars up sound like really loud at times that I am afraid of damaging the speakers if I go beyond 3-4 bars of volume.

Camera

Rear camera is 13 megapixel  with dual flash and 1/3.06 type sensor (this was released only in Jun'12) - so it’s the latest, ok? And Front camera is 1.9 megapixel. It has an aperture of f/2.2. They are the first ones to use the hardware supported HDR.

It also has a burst mode that lets you click 100 pics at 5 per second. Isn't that cool? At first, the camera results seem quite similar to a regular 8 MP cameras in other phones. But the results are slightly better.

It can record 1080p HD video with 120 fps and they claim to be the first ones to do that in a mobile phone. However, if the phone is not held stable enough while recording, you can see the video losing focus and coming back.

Here are some pictures that I took using the same:

Battery

2500 mAh, is such a relief. I have been using the device for quite a few days now and I consider myself a medium-heavy user.

It easily lasts ~12hours with the tested usage like: ~1.5 hours of Skype video call (wifi); ~30 emails in about 45 mins; 30 mins of phone call, 30 mins VOIP call using data, ~1 hours browsing (maps, news, apps), ~15 mins video playback, ~30 mins downloading and installing apps (mix of data & wifi). On a regular day, it should give 14+ hours very but your mileage may vary depending upon how well you manage the same. And it comes with a miniscule cost of weight & I am so satisfied, I won't even consider this.

I would just hope that give more information around the battery in the OS. I mean, these days, the percentage of battery is just not enough for some.

What's more

NFC, Wifi-display & DLNA

It has a built-in NFC (near field communication) that lets similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters.

And they have also included 2 NFC tags that you can configure for your use.

WiFi Display technology is fairly new (I think 2Q-3Q 2012) but will be a very popular and useful technology going forward. 

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)technology enables sharing of digital media between multimedia devices. A lot of TVs these days come with built in DLNA and it is estimated that more than 440 million DLNA-certified devices, from digital cameras to game consoles and TVs, have been installed in users' home. So definitely, it’s a really good have for your phone.

Customer Support

Clearly, its their focus, as they claim on their website "Our customers are the core of our business, and satisfying them is the precondition to our existence. OPPO products are co-developed with our customers, with customer feedback playing a big role in both hardware and software development."

Also, for their smartphones, they have adopted rapid release cycles, releasing a weekly firmware update based on customer feedback. Which is impressive to read, because a lot of us know how frustrating it can get to sit there and wait for the updates to come through. However, how well can they actually deliver, only time would tell. I am sure they have done and are doing more than you can expect from an upcoming mobile player and that surely deserves a lot of credit.

Another interesting thing : Seems Leonardo DiCaprio has starred in an OPPO commercials

http://www.oppoforums.com/threads/oppo-commercials.716/

What's missing

• No LTE - I don't think it would really stop the customers from buying the phone at this price at least in EU & AP for another year or so
• No microSD card slot - This can be a concern as the phone boasts Full HD screen, Dolby sound & 120fps Video Recording. You may end up running short storage on the 16 GB version
• Non-removable battery - Ofcourse you can reach out to OPPO for probable options in case of issues, but this won't deviate your decision to buy as 2500 mAh is much more than what the other players are offering today.

Minor problems I experienced

• Opening the easy cover didn't turn the display on at occasions where it has been closed a second back or so. You have to click the power button 2 times to bring the display back. I think they have fixed this in the latest release
• Ringer & Media Volume is confusing. Even 2-3 bars feel really loud at times. I didn’t feel like stretching the limits here
• Intermittent issues with the Signal Strength. Not that it was an issue for me, but worth mentioning as my previous devices did not behave that way.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s an awesome android device with beautiful looks, design & display, nice camera, user-friendly interface, latest specs and features a very good battery life. Don't forget that its priced quite right as compared to the competition mainly because they are not as big as them.

Also, please consider that the software is still evolving and you may find some minor glitches here and there. I have mentioned a few above and would update as I experience more. Their latest build is much more stable as compared to the last one and with the weekly updates being promised, I see them coming over the issues in a timely manner.

Where to order?

Visit http://www.oppostyle.com and register for when they are ready.

Comparison Chart

	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
OS
Type	Android (4.1.2)	Android (4.1.1) Sense 4+ UI	iOS (6.1, 6)	Android (4.2.2, 4.2.1, 4.2)	Android (4.1.2, 4.1.1, 4.0.4) TouchWiz UX UI
DESIGN	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
Dimensions	5.58 x 2.71 x 0.35 inches (141.8 x 68.8 x 8.9 mm)	5.63 x 2.78 x 0.36 inches (143 x 70.5 x 9.08 mm)	4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches (123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm)	5.27 x 2.70 x 0.36 inches (133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm)	5.38 x 2.78 x 0.34 inches (136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm)
Weight	5.82 oz (165 g)	4.94 oz (140 g)	3.95 oz (112 g)	4.90 oz (139 g)	4.69 oz (133 g)
DISPLAY	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
Physical size	5.0 inches	5.0 inches	4.0 inches	4.7 inches	4.8 inches
Resolution	1080 x 1920 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels	640 x 1136 pixels	768 x 1280 pixels	720 x 1280 pixels
Pixel density	441 ppi	441 ppi	326 ppi	318 ppi	306 ppi
Technology	IPS LCD	S-LCD 3	IPS LCD	IPS LCD	Super AMOLED
Colors	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216
Touchscreen	Capacitive, Multi-touch	Capacitive, Multi-touch	Capacitive, Multi-touch	Capacitive, Multi-touch	Capacitive, Multi-touch
Features	Light sensor, Proximity sensor	Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Scratch-resistant glass	Light sensor, Proximity sensor	Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Scratch-resistant glass	Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Scratch-resistant glass
HARDWARE	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
System chip	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064	Apple A6	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064	Samsung Exynos 4 (4412)
Processor	Quad core, 1500 MHz, Krait	Quad core, 1500 MHz, Krait	Dual core, 1300 MHz, Apple Swift	Quad core, 1500 MHz, Krait	Quad core, 1400 MHz, ARM Cortex-A9
Graphics processor	Adreno 320	Adreno 320	PowerVR SGX543MP3	Adreno 320	ARM Mali-400/MP4
System memory	2048 MB RAM (Dual-channel, 533 MHz)	2048 MB RAM (Dual-channel, 533 MHz) / DDR2	1016 MB RAM (Dual-channel, 1066 MHz) / LPDDR2	2048 MB RAM (Dual-channel, 533 MHz) / LPDDR2	1024 MB RAM (Dual-channel) / LPDDR2
Built-in storage	16 GB/ 32 GB	16 GB / 32 GB	16 GB / 32 GB / 64 GB	8 GB	32 GB
Storage expansion	No	microSD, microSDHC up to 32 GB	No	No	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC up to 64 GB
CAMERA	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
	13 megapixels	8 megapixels	8 megapixels	8 megapixels	8 megapixels
Flash	Dual LED	LED	LED	LED	LED
Aperture size	F2.2	F2.0	F2.4		F2.6
Focal length	35mm	28mm
Camera Features	Auto focus, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)	Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Auto focus, Face detection, Exposure compensation, White balance presets, Burst mode, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Panorama, Scenes	Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Auto focus, Touch to focus, Digital image stabilization, Face detection, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Panorama	Auto focus, Face detection, Smile detection, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Burst mode, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, Panorama, Scenes, Effects, Voice activation	Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), CMOS image sensor, Auto focus, Face detection, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Burst mode, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Panorama, Scenes, Effects, Self-timer
Camcorder	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)
Front-facing camera	1.9 megapixels	2.1 megapixels	1.2 megapixels	1.3 megapixels	1.9 megapixels
Video capture		1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1280x720 (720p HD) (30 fps)
BATTERY	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
Capacity	2500 mAh	2020 mAh	1440 mAh	2100 mAh	2100 mAh
Type	Li - Ion	Li - Polymer	Li - Polymer	Li - Polymer	Li - Ion
User replaceable	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
TECHNOLOGY	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
CDMA		800, 1900 MHz	800, 1700/2100, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
GSM	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
UMTS	850, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
Data	HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS	HSPA (unspecified), UMTS, EDGE, GPRS	LTE Cat3 Downlink 100 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS, EV-DO Rev.A, EV-DO Rev.B	HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS	HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS
Micro SIM	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Nano Sim			Yes
Global Roaming	Yes	Yes	Yes
Positioning	GPS, A-GPS	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass	A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	A-GPS	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Navigation	Yes	Turn-by-turn navigation	Turn-by-turn navigation	Turn-by-turn navigation	Turn-by-turn navigation, Voice navigation, Points of interest (POI)
CONNECTIVITY	OPPO Find 5 X909	HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA)	Apple iPhone 5	Google Nexus 4	Samsung Galaxy S3
Bluetooth	4	4	4	4	4
Wi-Fi	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz	802.11 b, g, n	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz
Mobile hotspot	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi Direct	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
USB	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0
USB Connector	microUSB	microUSB	Special	microUSB	microUSB
USB Features	Mass storage device, USB charging	Mass storage device, USB charging	USB Charging	Mass storage device, USB Host, USB charging	USB Host, USB charging
Headphones connector	3.5mm	3.5mm	3.5mm	3.5mm	3.5mm
HDMI	No	via microUSB		via microUSB	via microUSB
Charging connector	microUSB	microUSB	Special	microUSB	microUSB
NFC	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
DLNA	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Tethering	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OTA Sync	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes