What you should know about smartphone maker Oppo

Most people in this country will not be familiar with the name Oppo. But since the end of 2019, the company has also been officially selling its latest smartphone in Europe

Oppo is a smartphone giant

The actual name of the manufacturer is: Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd. Oppo is represented in 40 countries, maintains a total of ten research centers and has over 40,000 employees. It is a subsidiary of the BBK Electronics company, which also includes other well-known smartphone names such as Oneplus and Vivo. In the first quarter of 2017, BKK Electronics overtook Apple and Huawei with 56.7 million devices sold and has become the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, just behind Samsung. Oppo and its parent company are located in Chang’an District, Dongguan Province, China.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme previously belonged to Oppo, but was spun off from the company in 2018. Realme still belongs to BKK Electronics like Oppo. Oppo also includes a cloud service called Oppo Cloud and smart devices that run the company’s own ColorOS operating system. ColorOS is currently also used as a user interface for Android smartphones. In addition to the telecommunications company, there is also Oppo Digital, which produces DVD and Blu-ray players for the high-end segment.

It all started with MP3 players

The brand name Oppo was registered in 2001, but only three years later – in 2004 the company started. The manufacturer’s first devices included MP3 players such as the Oppo X1, and it wasn’t until 2008 that Oppo launched the “Smile Phone” on the smartphone market. The most striking feature of the smile phone: The smiley face on the back, one eye of which acted as a camera and the other as a flash. Otherwise, the cell phone is rather rustic, with a classic 9-key keyboard, but at least with a touchscreen.

A page from OPPO’s history: their first mobile phone, a.k.a. the “smiling phone” #OPPOFindX pic.twitter.com/A6lGV3Jari

— Bryan Ma (@bryanbma) June 19, 2018

The first real smartphone is the U701 Ulike, which was introduced in 2012. The device has a Mediatek MT6575 dual-core processor with 1 gigahertz (GHz) clock frequency, a 4 inch screen and a 5 megapixel camera. Oppo did not enter the smartphone business until 2017. With devices like the Reno R11S, which offered a lot of technology at an affordable price, the company also attracted attention outside of China. Oppo joined other Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi, which are now also known internationally.

In June 2016, Oppo rose to become the largest smartphone maker in China, with over 200,000 sales outlets across the country, Technoxmart.com reported. In 2019, the company ranked 5th worldwide, with nearly 30 million units sold.

In addition to smartphones, Oppo also continues to offer a few high-end headphones and amplifiers. In 2014 the PM-1 and PM-2 headphones and the HA-1 desktop amplifier were released. In 2015 the mobile amplifier HA-2 followed, in 2016 the slightly improved version HA-2SE.

Smartphones from the modular construction kit

Because Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and Realme all belong to BKK, it happens more often that the devices of the individual subsidiaries often have a similar design. The technical similarities such as retractable cameras and in-display fingerprint sensors are also used in several devices for reasons of cost. The design similarities, especially with some Oneplus smartphones, cannot be denied, as can be seen in the following pictures.

… but also with newer devices. 

Oppo is characterized by innovation

While the USA and South Korea were in the lead in smartphone development a few years ago, Chinese manufacturers have now emerged as real innovation drivers. While Apple and Samsung basically only carry out model updates, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo stand out with increasingly wacky new technologies. With the increased focus on new functions, things like a fingerprint sensor in the screen, retractable cameras and edge-to-edge screens became socially acceptable within a very short time.

Oppo in particular is experimenting a lot with mechanically retractable cameras to maximize the smartphone’s screen size. In addition to classic designs such as the individual selfie cam that slides out of the housing, Oppo also offers series-ready smartphones with entire housing parts that can be moved. The latest design is the shark fin, in which the selfie cam and sensors slide out of the top of the housing in a triangle. This can be seen in the new Reno2, which is also for sale in Germany. Investments are also being made in zoom cameras, such as the Reno 10x Zoom, which provides a periscope lens with five times optical magnification.

What about data protection, updates and service?

Since the latest smartphones are also sold in Germany, including on Amazon.de, TECHNOLOGYBUTTONwanted to know exactly how Oppo handles guarantees and services. Unfortunately, Oppo was unable to answer our request exactly how it deals with defective devices and instead referred us to the support pages. This at least shows that there are no contractors on site who could carry out repairs for the company. This means that the devices have to be sent either directly to China or to a country in which Oppo is officially represented. In Europe, for example, these are Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the UK.

TECHNOLGYBUTTON also wanted to know how Oppo deals with data protection. Only the very unclear answer came back that the company does not collect any user data. According to this, “Name, telephone number, location, IMEI number would only be collected when [customers] contact customer service” and then only for the purpose of documenting the case.

In terms of updates, the company was similarly covered. It only confirmed that “updates directly to the customer’s phone” would be delivered over-the-air (OTA). There is no schedule for updates, owners just have to keep an eye out for new updates.

Oppo smartphones in every price segment

Premium: Oppo Find X2 Pro

In Asia, the manufacturer Oppo has long been a big number, in Europe it is (still) in the shadow of the popular brands Samsung and Apple. At the end of last year, Oppo already impressed with the Oppo Reno 2 in this country. The Chinese had still withheld the Find X from Europe. But with the recently introduced Oppo Find X2 Pro, the manufacturer now has the best ace up its sleeve. So much can be revealed in advance: The camera delivers brilliant results.

Oppo works with super pixels for the main camera. Photos are actually taken with 48 megapixels, but the Sony IMX689 sensor combines four pixels into one (1.6 micrometers pixel area) and can thus capture significantly more light.

Photos appear rich in contrast, extremely sharp and rich in detail, even with zoomed images. Also on the plus side: The excellent autofocus performance, the large dynamic range, the few distortions and a low noise level, regardless of the conditions in which the pictures are taken. Almost the only point of criticism: The HDR option is not always triggered when taking portraits indoors – and ultra-wide-angle shots could be a little more detailed.

Features of the Oppo Find X2 Pro at a glance

• Display: 6.7 inch AMOLED, 3168 x 1440 pixels (513 PPI), refresh rate 120 Hertz (Hz), HDR10
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, Octa-Core with up to 2.84 GHz
• Storage: 12 GB RAM + up to 512 GB ROM (internal memory), not expandable
• Front camera: Retractable selfie camera with 32 MP, f / 2.2
• Main camera: 48 MP wide angle camera f / 1.7 (OIS), 48 MP ultra wide angle camera f / 2.2 and 13 MP periscope telephoto camera f / 3.0 with 5x zoom (OIS)
• Video: 4K and Full-HD with 60 FPS, HDR
• Connections: NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), USB-C, LTE, GPS
• Battery: 4260 mAh
• System: Android 10 with Oppo ColorOS 7.1
• Other: In-display fingerprint sensor, SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging function with 65 watts, water and dust protection according to IP68, stereo speakers, dual SIM #

Middle class: Oppo Find X2 Lite

With the Find X2 Lite, Oppo has a model on offer that not only runs with the current Android 10, but also has very good storage and camera equipment. A total of 8 GB of RAM are among the key data, alongside the Snapdragon 765G octa-core chip and 128 GB of flash memory. There is also a quad camera with a 48-megapixel main sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle and two sensors with 2 megapixels each (monochrome and depth).

The 6.4-inch display offers plenty of space for presentations that are shown in Full HD +. Thanks to AMOLED technologies, the colors are bright and the contrasts strong. The fingerprint sensor is also integrated in the front of the display. The Oppo X2 Find Lite comes with a transparent cover that protects the back of the glass. Another plus point is the support of 5G as well as the 4025 mAh battery, which is quite powerful and can be charged quickly thanks to VOOC 4.0 fast charging technology. However, the smartphone does not support wireless charging.

Features of the Oppo Find X2 Lite at a glance:

• Display:  6.4 inch full view with notch, AMOLED with 60 Hz, 2400 x 1080 pixels
• Processor:  Snapdragon 765G, Octa-Core with 2.4 GHz
• Memory:  128 GB expandable, 8 GB RAM
• Front camera:  32 MP, f / 2.4
• Main camera:  Quad camera 48 MP main sensor + 8 MP ultra-wide angle +2 MP Macro + 2 MP; f / 1.7, f / 2.4
• Connections:  NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, WLAN a / b / g / n / ac, LTE + 5G, USB-C
• Battery:  4025 mAh, VOOC 4.0
• System:  Android 10
• Other:  fingerprint sensor under the display, dual SIM (no hybrid)

Budget: Oppo A52

The manufacturer Oppo is now also officially represented in Germany and sells its smartphones mostly at a good price-performance ratio with the usual providers. One of these models that fits into the list of the best smartphones up to 200 euros due to its good features is the Oppo A52. It not only scores with a modern design and a pretty color selection, it also has a lot to offer technically.

Equipped with Android 10, it runs on the current operating system from Google. In addition, it comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665, as well as 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The Oppo A52 has four cameras on the back. The quad camera consists of a 12-megapixel wide-angle, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle, a macro lens with 2 megapixels and a depth sensor with 2 megapixels. There is also a phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and electronic image stabilization. Thanks to the 5000 mAh battery, the Oppo A52 can easily last two days in operation.

Features of the Oppo A52 at a glance:

• Display:  6.5 inch full view with hole notch, TFT, 2,400 x 1,080 pixels
• Processor:  Snapdragon 665, Octa-Core with 2 GHz
• Storage:  64 GB GB expandable, 4 GB RAM
• Front camera:  16 MP
• Main camera:  Quad camera 12 MP + 8 MP ultra wide angle + 2 MP macro + 2 MP depth sensor
• Connections:  Bluetooth 5.0, WLAN a / b / g / n / ac, LTE, USB C
• Battery:  5,000 mAh, Quick Charge
• System:  Android 10
• Other:  Dual SIM (hybrid), jack socket, fingerprint sensor on the side