​Oppo F1s review: 2016 has another King of the Best Value phones

Update: A new version of this phone has been launched. Check out our Oppo A57 review.]

This phone has appeared in our Top Rated Android Phoneslist and Best budget smartphones list. Check out the newOppo R9s review here.

[Edit: Since publishing, Oppo has advised that Australia won't be getting the Dual SIM variant of the F1s. However, we expect it to be available on grey import. We've knocked the value score down a little, but everything else we have said still stands]

The last phone we reviewed was the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. That costs a staggering $1,000 more than this Oppo phone and yet when we switched over to it the overwhelming sense was of relief. Here’s why…

Something strange is happening in the phone world. The newer players are getting into the market by offering amazing features and extras with their phones for a fraction of what the old-guard is charging. Alcatel’s Idol 4S cost $599 and comes with free VR goggles. Huawei’s P9 came with a stunning Leica camera setup and great screen for $799,Motorola’s G4 Plus wowed us with its full functionality and $399 price tag. Those are just some examples.

[Related: Google Pixel XL full, in-depth smartphone review: The new best Android phone]

Now here’s the Oppo F1s which has an RRP of just $348 and can already be had for $335. The first two things we notice are that it’s really well built and that it comes with a decent, silicon case. The case is very similar to the Incipio case we reviewed for the Samsung Galaxy S7 so that’s another $25 value right there. Not only that but it makes the phone instantly more drop-resistant and easier to hold – very refreshing having been struggling with the delicate-looking and slippery Note 7 whose lack of bezel makes basic usage an annoying chore.

Key specs

5.5in, 720 x 1280, 267ppi IPS LCD screen, 32,3GB RAM; 1.5GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6750 CPU plus Mali-T860 MP2 GPU, 16/13MP cameras, Android 5.1 with Color OS 3, 3,075mAh battery, Fingerprint readers, microSD slot (shared), [Edit: removed Dual NanoSIM], 155 x 76 x 7mm, 160g.

Handling

We’ve been living with this phone for a week and frankly, having tested pretty much every other phone on the market, this one handles like all other Android phones for the most part. There are some exceptions.

Firstly, the fingerprint unlock is one of the fastest we’ve seen. No matter which angle we placed our thumb on the sensor it opened instantly. Oppo put the time at just 0.22s and we’ll take their word for it. To us it’s as fast as the P9 and you’ll be off and away faster than someone trying to use theNote 7’s fingerprint reader or Iris scanner.

In general usage there are no issues: swiping between screens and opening apps is generally instantaneous. People might have concerns about the low-resolution screen, but we rarely did. Low-res screens make icons and text bigger for the most part. The F1s’ is bright and vibrant and few people will find it limiting under general usage. However, some certainly will find it limiting in some circumstances – photos can look soft compared to rivals although this is down to resolution more than anything else. It’s noticeably behind the AMOLED screens we’ve seen with the P9 and Note 7 recently but you have to have spent time with those screens to know about that.The processors aren’t the most powerful. It struggles a bit with Pokemon Go in that loading times can a bit longer compared to other phones but once it’s up and running its fine. It struggled holding on to our location more than any other phone but in Pokemon Go this just means free movement.

Power users may find it wanting if they require serious processing power or gaming, but for casual users it’s, again, fine.

Using it as a phone brought up no issues with clear and crisp audio coming out at both ends. The speaker phone was sufficiaently loud and distinct.

One thing that stood out was the vibrate feature which seems to be one of the most powerful on the market – many phones that we’ve tested lately can vibrate in our pockets for ages without us noticing. We can even hear this vibrate from a distance.

for simply holding the phone, it’s comfortable in our hands and looks good with its enamel-like coating - it doesn't look cheap at all. With the case on it’s even more comfortable to hold and feels very secure.

Color OS

Having a separate operating system lying on top of Android usually splits the field. We’ve certainly seen some horror-show overlays in our time – where vendors dump all kinds of marketing rubbish and mediocre-apps on us when raw Android would have been much better. While Color OS has a few foibles there are some good features here.

The Secure folder apes the Note 7’s and allows you to store items like apps, contacts, files and other content securely without fear of anyone seeing them should you hand your phone to someone else or lose it. There’s built-in virus scanning from Avast, clean-up processes to keep things running smoothly and power saving monitors to help further boost battery life. There’s also an unusual Eye Protection mode which filters out blue light to apparently diminish eye strain and help you sleep better, which may be of interest to some.