OPPO R5 Smartphone Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. Design4. Display5. Software6. Performance7. Camera8. Battery9. Closing Thoughts10. View All Pages

The OPPO R5 was, until very recently, the slimmest smartphone in the world. Measuring just 4.85mm thick – it makes the iPhone 6 look chunky by comparison. That said, does the R5 sacrifice performance and usability for its sleek style? Today we see if the smartphone – priced at under £315 – is worth a look.

OPPO did make a breathtakingly slim smartphone with the R5, but that is not the only interesting feature. Inside is an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor and a Full HD display – something we always like to see. The R5 was released in the UK on February 20th, 2015.

Features

• 5.2-inch FHD display.
• Octa-core Snapdragon 615 at 1.5 GHZ
• 16GB internal storage, no microSD card slot
• 2GB RAM
• Android KitKat 4.4.4.
• 13MP primary camera with a 5MP secondary camera.
• 2000 mAh battery

The OPPO R5 packaging certainly feels premium. Shipping in a large square box, a photo of the R5 as well as OPPO branding is featured on the top.

The box itself is a solid white-and-silver plastic. The lid lifts off to reveal the phone underneath.

Inside is a wealth of accessories, including the VOOC fast-charging adapter for the R5, as well as several product documents and even a clear plastic case – a nice touch.
The design is where the Oppo R5 really impresses. As we have mentioned, it is super thin, being only 4.85mm thick. This is just 0.1mm thicker than the Vivo X5Max, currently the thinnest smartphone in the world.

That said, OPPO have cheated slightly as the camera protrudes by an extra millimetre or so, but it does not detract much from the overall sleekness of the design. Being so thin, OPPO have left out the standard headphone jack, instead including a microUSB to 3.5mm jack adapter.

Only available in a white/silver colour scheme, the phone features a reinforced steel edge, contributing to the weight of the R5 – which comes in at 155g. This is heavier than the 129g iPhone 6, but the weight helps give a solid and sturdy feel. If it were as light as it is thin, there would undoubtedly be issues regarding the phone bending.

The handset includes a 5.2-inch display, and is 148.9mm long – meaning the R5 has a 67.5% screen-to-body ratio. This is fairly good, as the R5 uses home buttons on the handset proper, not the display, so the whole screen is usable.

It's a beautiful phone, so if you are only interested in style and appearance, you may as well buy it now.
The 5.2-inch FHD (1920*1080) panel means the R5 has a very sharp screen, with a pixel density of 423. This is incredibly crisp, we found using the display a real pleasure. FHD video playback is truly glorious, while HD photos look wonderfully detailed.

Colours look great, too, thanks to the AMOLED panel OPPO have used. This is similar to the technology Samsung use in their phones, and allows a real depth of colour for everyday use. Some of the included, colourful wallpapers are quite breathtaking.

Viewing angles are a let-down, however. Text remains readable when tilted away, but colours take on an orange/yellow tint – so sharing the screen with a friend does not give very satisfying results.

Display brightness, too, is quite disappointing. While it works well indoors, stepping outside makes the screen is a real struggle to see, even on full brightness. It's still visible, but reflections and the low brightness mean using the phone outside is not very comfortable and can strain your eyes.
Shipping with Android KitKat 4.4.4, OPPO have included their own Android skin, which they call ColorOS. It may be colourful, but that does not mean it's good to use.

The ColorOS launcher does not look like it fits in with modern smartphone trends. For one, icons are not flat, and resemble the stock icons Apple used before updating their OS to iOS 7. The included clock widget, too, is bulky and not very stylish at all.

The drop-down quick settings closely resemble those used in the Acer Liquid Jade, and despite the OS being called ‘ColorOS', the icons are black and white. A cleaner could have been achieved by OPPO using white settings against a semi-transparent background, for instance.

The settings menu, too, keeps the black background, but does include small, colourful icons. This is more appealing and fits with the bright theme used across the R5. The OS is nothing spectacular, with the launcher a particular let down. It feels more suited to 2008 than 2015, so definitely try other launchers if you opt for the R5.
While OPPO did not include one of the latest Snapdragon 800-series processors, a Snapdragon 615 has been well utilised. Complementing this is 2GB of RAM.

The CPU features 8 cores, with clock speeds ranging between 0.8 to 1.5GHz. This allows the R5 processor to be more power-efficient, as cores turn themselves off – or slow down – when they are not all needed.

This all adds up to make the OPPO R5 a powerful device, and more than enough for your everyday tasks. Multi-tasking was fast and efficient, and we were never kept waiting for the display to turn back on, or the keyboard to pop-up when sending a message. Games, too, played very well and look great on the display.

The excellent real-world performance carried over to the benchmarks. In Geekbench 3, the R5 scored 680 for its single-core performance, and 2632 for its multi-core score. This makes it the most powerful device we have tested to date, and in the same league as the similarly priced Nexus 5 – which scored 823 and 2491, respectively.

A score of 8396 in 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited is not as good, though, with the Nexus 5 pulling ahead with 13407.
Fitted into the sleek frame of the R5 is a 13MP primary camera, with a 5MP secondary on the front. The main shooter takes images at a native resolution of 4160*3120.

OPPO included their own camera app which is not anything special, but it gets the job done.

The photos themselves are very good. Colours are rich, and despite lacking an HDR mode, photos deal well in bright sunlight.

An ‘ultra HD' mode allows you to take images at the equivalent of 50MP – so OPPO claim. The pixel count for these photos is upped to 5824*4368, and images zoom further. Sadly they don't appear to be any sharper, and for the much slower shutter speed, it does not seem worth it.

Despite this, we enjoyed using the camera and found it very satisfying. For a reasonably priced phone, it is very capable.
The battery is undoubtedly the biggest weakness of the R5, and it quickly becomes very clear that the battery was the area OPPO sacrificed to achieve the ultra-thin design.

A capacity of 2000 mAh is included, even less than the 2300 mAh unit featured in the Nexus 5 – which was widely criticised for its battery life.

With the large, FHD display and octa-core processor, the R5 will last most users half a day at best before its needs a recharge. This is what we found from normal use, with sync and WiFi/mobile data always on. It is very, very poor.

If you do not have an opportunity to recharge a phone during the day, stay well away from the R5, as it well let you down dramatically.

If you can recharge, though, and do not mind doing so, things may be looking up. This is because the R5 supports OPPO'S fast-charging technology, called VOOC charging. OPPO advertise that the R5 can get 75% battery life from a 30-minute VOOC charge. This is actually the case, with a full charge (from being completely drained of power) taking just 1 hour and 14 minutes.Overall, the OPPO R5 seems like a great phone with some inevitable problems. We cannot overlook the beautiful design and 4.85mm thickness of the R5 – it is incredibly sleek, and still feels sturdy to hold, thanks to its steel frame.

The Snapdragon 615 processor is also nothing short of phenomenal, proving exceptional in both real-world use and in the benchmarks. In terms of how much ‘bang-for-buck' you get, the R5 is market-leading.

The included Android skin, ColorOS, does look dated, and makes using the phone a bit less exciting. This pill is sweetened by the fact that the launcher can be changed, so each user is free to make things to their liking.

Camera quality is also high, with great colour reproduction and a high megapixel count. The photos look great on the FHD display, which is very crisp but not bright enough to comfortably use outdoors.

Battery life is also nothing short of terrible, so stay well away if you are unable to recharge during the day. If you can recharge though, the VOOC fast-charger is very effective, lessening the problem presented by the small battery.

You can buy the OPPO R5 from Amazon, currently priced at £312.49 inc VAT.

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Pros

• Sharp display.
• Beautifully thin design.
• Very powerful for the price.
• Cheaper than many rivals.
• Fast-charging technology.

Cons

• Dreadful battery life.
• Viewing angles and screen brightness are not great.

KitGuru says: the OPPO R5 is certainly a beautiful phone, and a powerful one too. If you can manage with recharging during the day, it's well worth buying.

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