Oppo R15

Oppo is prepared to tackle the fierce mid-range competition with its mid-range brilliance, Oppo R15. Priced at Rs. 30,990, this beautiful phone comes with enough features to bring the mid-range competition to its favour.

Oppo R15 sets the ground for a fair challenge to its flagship rivals. Scoring on all fronts, like the battery, camera, and design, the phone is a midrange marvel and can be a delight for any midrange user.

Oppo R15 tries to imitate the design of iPhone X. It comes with a glass back and has a chrome frame which looks quite premium. The display has a notch on top of it similar to the iPhone X. However, there are certain differences. The lower bezel is thicker on this model, and unlike the vertical camera setup of iPhone X, it comes with a horizontal camera setup.

Also, you get the headphone jack which is slowly becoming obsolete among premium sets. The phone sits well in hand, and it can be manageable with one hand. The oblong fingerprint scanner is placed on the rear panel and is at an ergonomic position which can be easily reached. The facial recognition software works decently as well.

The Oppo R15 has a large 6.28-inch display which covers 90 percent of the front, giving an amazing body-to-screen ratio. It stays in the competition with the premium and mid-range models which are slowly discarding bezels from their handsets. However, this phone has a sizable chin which lowers the screen space. Plus, the phone is fitted with the modern OLED display.

It provides an amazing contrast and gives you the experience of the deep blacks on the screen. The contrast is great, and it offers punchy colors. However, it is not very bright, and so, there might be visibility issues when you take it outside and view it in sunlight. On the whole, it can give you an immersive experience.

Oppo R15 is powered by the old MediaTek Helio P60 processor, which is paired with 6GB of RAM. It is a downgrade, though, and it seems planned since the higher R15 Pro provides a better Snapdragon 660 processor. However, the P60 is not a very poor processor, by any means. It can handle multiple tasks easily without facing any problems. You can switch between apps, and yet there will not be any lagging. It is not the chipset that could give you an amazing gaming performance.

While light games can run smoothly on this phone, heavy games will result in stuttering even if you put them on medium settings. Opening too many tabs in Google Chrome can also result in lagging. If you want a good gaming experience, then R15 Pro is a better phone to go for.

The Oppo R15 has a rear 16MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture and a secondary 5MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture. In daylight, when there is adequate light, the camera can impress with its sharp features and the consistent details that it captures. What is more mesmerizing is the AI-integration of the camera. The AI can recognize up to 120 scenes, and selects the best mode on that basis.

While low-light does have a bit of an expected fall, even in this case, the AI-integration helps to lower the visual noise and produce quality colors. On the whole, the camera is brilliant.

Oppo R15 has a  20MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The selfie works well and produces decent photos which capture a lot of details. Even while clicking selfies, the AI mode can be activated, and it can recognize the best scene to get the best shot.

The AI is quite accurate and can select the photo modes with great decisiveness, and due to its presence, the photos also appear very detailed and precise.

The R15 gives a splendid battery life. Due to the software, the battery, which is already a beefy 3,450 mAh, provides much better battery run time. It can easily run for more than one day with light and moderate use, and with very economic light use, you can make it run for two days as well. The only problem is that the phone continues to retain the older micro-USB slot and not the faster USB-C port for charging. However, it supports Oppo’s VOOC charging, which is one of the fastest, and so you can get adequate juice levels within a two hour charging time. Unfortunately, the R15 does not support wireless charging.

Oppo R15 is a wonderful handset which has many aspects to please the mid-range users. The design looks premium but is heavily inspired by other phones, so it does not stand out. However, the battery is a beast and can pull the phone through two days without a problem. The AI-integrated camera performs well and can also help click pictures in low-light situations. However, one of the issues with R15 is that it does not have a great processor.

If you are into gaming, then R15 is not the set for you; the Oppo R15 Pro has a better processor and should be your go-to phone. However, if you are happy with a passable performance which does not lag, then Oppo R15 can be a capable handset in your palms.