The OPPO Reno5 F – My User Experience And Review

Soon after using and reviewing the OPPO Reno5, the OPPO Reno5 F came into my life and I’ve been using it for about two weeks now.

The Reno5 F is a very sleek device with a high gloss finish and a gradient colour effect thanks to OPPO’s Flowing Light Design. The company is bringing in this concept to soften the look of phones from dreary blacks and greys to appealing works of art that bring out different people’s personalities. I got mine in Fantastic Purple which in OPPO’s words, “uses a liquid crystal coating process, you’ll catch hidden shades of purple and aurora-like greens from certain angles”. The phone also comes in black though for those who would prefer that.

I was hoping the high gloss would not make it a fingerprint magnet but unfortunately this is not the case. The phone smudges quite easily especially for those of us who are always slathering some lotion or other on our hands. This is more pronounced for me because right before using the Reno5 F, I was using the Reno5 whose matte back cover is zero smudge. And none slip.

Not a problem though. The device has so much more for me to appreciate and fingerprint smudges, though not cute, are not the end of the world.

Perfect on the road

I have found the OPPOReno5 F to be a great companion for road trips. Easy on the hands, easy on the eye, long battery life, and most of all superb cameras. With a country as beautiful as Kenya, there is so much to capture out there. Not that it is not a great everyday phone. Just that it came into my life at a time when I was craving open roads and it fit right in.

I took some photos with it on a Nyeri-Nanyuki-Isiolo-Meru circuit.

Battery

Powering phones is not just about the battery. It is a system of power preservation mechanisms, Artificial Intelligence that adapt to user habits to maximize battery life, fast charging, and other features that all work together for phones to be as fully on as possible.

The OPPOReno5 F comes with an impressive 4130mAh battery, and a 30W VOOC flash charger. As mentioned in a previous article, VOOC stands for Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging. Quite a mouthful but what is important is that this technology is without a doubt a game changer. For the end user layman, let’s just say that it stands for never having a dead or dying battery again. To put fast charge in perspective for instance, charging for just 5 minutes will give you over 2 hours of video time. Let me also mention that the charger is Type-C. Read more about this game changer charging system here.

Other than the battery size and super-fast charging, OPPO also has other nifty features like minimizing background battery use while you sleep. If you have ever woken up to a drained phone while it had some charge when you were going to bed, that is background battery use for you.

ColourOS

This is the operating system you never knew you needed. A flexible and highly customizable OS that will allow your creativity to shine through as you create the phone you want for yourself, starting with the interface. ColourOS allows you to easily add your own personal touches to your phone so that after taking time to experiment with tweaks here and there, the phone really becomes you. The OS is Android based so I did not feel like I had jumped headlong into a phone I would have to spend hours or days learning.

The OS is lighter, faster and better and you can be assured your phone will always runs like new without irritating glitches.

Storage

There is a peace of mind that comes with knowing that phone memory will not start filling up too fast. After all, our phones have become everything to us, including movie theatres. At least for me. All those photos, videos, movies and series that I like watching on the go need good space to occupy. For gamers, you want an experience that is both fast and smooth. With 128GB storage and 8GM RAM, the OPPO Reno5 F meets all these needs.

Pricing

Reno5 F is what I like to call a little sister/brother to the Reno 5 because 5 F comes with a few things lower than the 5, and this includes the price. Whereas Reno5 is retailing for around Kshs41,000/-, the Reno5 F is Kshs31,999/-

Conclusion

I have worked on a lot of phones before, and I can feel it in my bones that this pair is different. Better. When I was doing the Reno5 review, I described the phone as near perfect and yes, this is the case. For the Reno 5 F, my only beef is the fingerprint smudging on the back cover but OPPO has more than made it up for that by making the rest of the phone near perfect too.

If you want a good mid-ranger, the OPPO Reno5 F is the phone for you. Go for it.

Some more photos…