OPPO R9s Review

[LucyS]

Unboxing

Interestingly OPPO decided to buck the space-saving trend and go large with their box. Inside you’ll also find earphones and a VOOC fast charger. I’m especially pleased with the inclusion of the VOOC Flash Charge but more on that later.

Set-up and design

The OPPO R9s feels very light despite its size. It’s slim yet sturdy and solid when you hold it and the tapered sides give it a slick, sharp finish. The fingerprint-enabled home button is accurate and fast – I predict that no one will be unlocking their phone with just a pin number by the end of 2017. One of my favourite features of the fingerprint sensor is the custom-unlocking setting which allows you to open different apps depending on which finger unlocks the phone. I set this feature up so that unlocking the device with my right thumb took me to the homescreen but unlocking with my left thumb took me to Whatsapp. So handy. As for the display – I love it because the colours really pop on the 5.5” AMOLED screen so scrolling through Instagram or watching movies is a real pleasure.

Camera

The camera is clearly the focal point of the OPPO R9s – you’ll find a huge 16MP sensor on the front and back. The rear camera uses a customised Sony IMX398 sensor and has Dual Pixel autofocus which makes the camera much more accurate and faster. The R9s performs incredibly well in low-light conditions and has a complete suite of pro features and shooting modes that shutterbugs like me will love.

Here are some of the photos I took:

 

Now, please can we all just take a minute to appreciate the R9s’ custom selfie filter ‘Beauty Mode’? It deserves a special shout out for making you look flawless in every.single.shot. I took the first two selfies below after an intense gym session (so in real life my makeup was smudged and I was just generally looking pretty gross) and the second was taken in the office (where the bright yellowy lighting is hardly ideal for the perfect pic) and they both came out fabulous:

 

Other features

ZOMG, the OPPO R9s’ fast charging is the best thing since sliced bread. Not only can you charge this beauty to 2 hours of talk time in just 5 minutes thanks to OPPO’s VOOC Fast Charge technology (and inclusion of the fast charger too), the battery life just goes on and on…and on.

Overall

Love

• Battery life
• Camera
• AMOLED screen
• IOS-style emojis! 

Not-so-sure about:

• Not my favourite launcher

Verdict:

I’m really quite impressed with the OPPO R9s. It’s light and compact with a lovely design, outstanding battery life and exceptional camera. If you’re looking for a superb mid-range smartphone, look no further.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the above review are my own and do not represent those of Optus or its staff.

[Guy]

Fantastic review and pictures Lucy! Thanks so much!

[LucyS]

No problem @Guy! I was so impressed with this phone, particularly when you look at the price you can get it for. I'm a sucker for an excellent camera but the fast charge feature seriously impressed me as well. 

[Aman_B]

Yes looks good @LucyS. I might get one as well 🙂 

[LucyS]

Yes if you can, go and have a play around with it in store @Aman_B and let us know what you think. 🙂

[PhilC]

I think we all may have to after your review, Lucy! Let us know if we can ever help out with anything 🙂 

[Techlover]

HI Lucy, 

Thanks for the review. 

You said that you dont like the launcher that much, anything in particular you didnt like. I know that it is IOSish type but that is not a bad thing.

Thanks

Techlover

[Techlover]

HI Lucy, 

Alo, will it be updated to Nougat 7.1 OS? Do you know?

Thanks

[LucyS]

Hi @Techlover, to answer your question about the launcher, I was probably being a little mean when I said it wasn’t my favourite. It’s very similar to IOS which like you say is definitely not a bad thing. However, on my current phone I've added the Google Now launcher which I absolutely love. There really isn’t anything “wrong” with the OPPO R9s' launcher, I just prefer Google Now. As for the Android OS, we haven’t received the update from OPPO to test for Nougat yet but hopefully that’ll happen in the next few months.

[Wazza0401]

I would like to know why Optus has encrypted the dual sim function of the Oppo R9s. I purchased 1 as an upgrade to my postpaid plan, but only found out when it arrived,that even though it has 2 sim card slots,only 1 can be used. Why isn't there a disclaimer on the Optus shop site to explain this,and also,why is the price the same as a fully functional R9s purchased elsewhere. 

[Gen_R]

Hey Wazza0401 - I get what you're saying, however it's not a function that we support.  However at no point on our site is it mentioned that we support Dual SIM. Also can't comment on other pricing that's available. 

[Wazza0401]

Thats exactly my point,that there is no mention ,or a disclaimer, noting that the Optus has disable or doesn't support the dual sim function. I reviewed the Oppo R9s on many sites before I made the decision to buy it from Optus.

[Andy01]

@Gen_R You're correct (sort of). Optus makes no mention that they support dual SIMs - BUT - Dual SIM support is a function of the handset, not the network so your answer is bordering on deceptive.

If Optus is, for whatever anticompetitive reasons you have, taking steps to deliberably disable a standard feature of the handset you should make this clear in the marketing material for the phone.

[Wazza0401]

I have 4 services with Optus, and as soon as the contracts finish,I will be moving to another provider, mostly because of this 1 situation.

[Aman_B]

That's definitely not good to hear @Wazza0401 and we're really sorry it didn't work out the way it should 😞 I've passed on some feedback on this. We're here if you need anything else. 

[technogeek11]

Just need to correct your review. Oppo R9s is LCD not AMOLED display. 

[technogeek11]

Apologies. Please ignore my previous comment. Yes it is apparently AMOLED. Strangely enough the Oppo R9s plus is LCD which is a larger version of the R9s