Quiz a prospective customer at a mobile store on his preference for a good camera phone and chances are she will narrow down on an Oppo device. At a time when the Indian consumer is mesmerised by selfies, this Chinese device maker (Oppo) has carved a niche for itself and is making the most out of the market opportunity. At regular intervals, this fast-growing brand has introduced phones with advanced camera technology since the trend caught on.
Around New Year time, Oppo introduced two new devices—R17 and R17 Pro, priced at Rs 34,990 and Rs 45,990 respectively. We got the more expensive R17 Pro for trial purpose. It boasts a unique 6.4-inch bezel-less AMOLED screen that features a resolution of 2340 x 1080 and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, offering the consumer a more immersive experience. It also has, what Oppo calls, a waterdrop screen, inspired by the design of water droplets. READ ALSO | ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’: Will ruin your career, Karni Sena threatens Kangana Ranaut

Oppo R17 Pro has established a new direction for the gradient design, which is the Radiant Mist. The back of the R17 Pro is made of matte glass. The texture of the glass surface not only provides an excellent feeling but also prevents the fingerprint contamination via the special matte-etching technology. Visually, the glass adds a sense of mystery into the stunning gradient colour. When you rotate the phone, the light flows like water on the phone, looming, bringing a brand new visual experience for the user. In the streaming matte version, sandblasting technology is applied for the streaming matte to balance the texture and the touch.
Probing the innards, the R17 Pro comes with 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM memory combination, improving the speed and performance. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor and supports Android 8.1 ColorOS 5.2. It can smoothly handle every situation, such as HD video playing or large games. With 128 GB storage space, photos, videos, games, files, the users can store everything they like. READ ALSO | Amazon Great Indian sale: Top deals on Samsung, Oppo, Honor, Realme, smartphones Talking about the camera, R17 Pro has a dual camera setup on the back which comprises of 12MP + 20MP along with a 25MP AI enhanced front-facing camera with various sensors. The front camera of the R17 Pro is at the middle of the water droplet, giving the consumer a higher screen to body ratio experience. The device comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 that is said to be able to withstand a drop from a one-meter height to a rough surface for an average 15 times, double that of the Gorilla Glass 5 performance.
The R17 Pro’s rear cameras adopt a smart aperture, with two aperture options F2.4 and F1.5. Under the bright light, the aperture switches to F2.4 (small aperture), so that the picture is sharper and clearer. In a dark environment, the lens automatically uses F1.5 large aperture, to let more light through, making the picture brighter and clearer.
Additionally, the R17 Pro is equipped with Sony flagship sensor IMX362, which has a 1/2.55 chip size and a single pixel area up to 1.4 microns and 12MP pixels. The larger photosensitive area makes the phone more sensitive to light, and enables users to take a photo easily in dark scenes. At the same time, the IMX362 is a dual-pixel sensor, offers fast -focusing and capture moving moments easily and clearly. The R17 Pro uses three-axis slide-type optical image stabilisation that’s also widely used in high-end SLR lenses. It compensates for jitters in three dimensions, and provides micron-level anti-shake, which can effectively avoid the blur caused by moving objects, or long exposures in dark environment.
Overall, the R17 Pro is packed with high-end features, it looks great and works well. Although priced a bit steep, go for it if you can afford it.
Estimated street price: Rs 45,990

Source: financialexpress.com