It appears the first new “F series” phone from Oppo – the F1 – is due for release in Australia next Monday, February 8.
Oppo sent out a tease for the phone’s imminent release to newsletter subscribers over the weekend, but today’s information comes courtesy of a preorder page for the phone on the Dick Smith Electronics website, which lists the phone at a wallet-friendly price of just $299.
For your money you’ll get a 5.0-inch device with a 720p screen running a new Snapdragon 616 processor. Oppo’s done well with the Snapdragon 615 over the last year or so, so this isn’t anything to be sneezed at, especially with the generous 3GB of RAM.
The phone’s aimed at the selfie crowd, with “Beautify 3.0” and the ability to light your selfies using a bright white flash of the phone’s screen. The front camera’s f/2.0 aperture should help you take selfies in all those poorly-lit placed you like to take them, too.
The F1 also features a new metallic finish with zircon sand surface coating making the device softer to the touch. Oppo says its their most eye-catching finish to date, and from the PR pics of the phone that’s hard to argue with.
Oppo F1
Gold
- 5.0-inch 720p IPS LCD screen
- Snapdragon 616 MSM8939v2 (Octa-core 1.7 Ghz Cortex A53)
- Adreno 405 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 16GB storage, microSD to 128GB
- 13MP rear camera, f/2.2 with phase detection autofocus and LED flash
- 8MP front camera, f/2.4
- Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth 4.0
- GPS
- Cellular:
- GSM: 850/900/1900/2100MHz
- WCDMA: 850/900/2100MHz
- 4G LTE: FDD: B1/3/5/7/8/20/28 TD: B38/39/40/41
- Micro and Nano SIM
- Android 5.1.1
- 2,500 mAh battery
- 143.5 x 71 x 7.25 mm, 138 grams
It should be noted that Dick Smith pegs the rear camera aperture at f/2.4 while the official specs at GSM Arena have it at f/2.2. Similarly, Oppo’s global product page lists different camera apertures to their own Australian page.
In terms of colours, it looks like Dick Smith’s only listing the Gold version of the phone for a local release, although a Silver colour showing up on Oppo’s Australian page for the phone. There’s no sign of the Rose Gold colour for local release.
We’re looking forward to checking out the latest Oppo phone when it hits our shores! Until then, we’ve reached out to Oppo’s Australian PR for comment and will update when we know more.
Are you interested in Oppo’s F1 phone? Tell us in the comments!
Amazing value. $300 phone with 3GB of RAM, that’s nuts.
It is interesting that hardly any budget Chinese phones support NFC. I do not use NFC for anything, but if phone payments become mainstream it is a serious omission. Still this phone looks good for the money and covers all the Australian 4G bands.
Wi-Fi is listed as 802.11 b/g/n on the global Oppo product page for this phone.
Given DSE’s recent troubles, I’d be thinking twice before preordering with them!