Many people in this country are not familiar with the name Oppo. But since the end of 2019, the company has also been officially selling its latest smartphone in Europe – including Germany – and has been able to establish itself well since then.
The mobile phone manufacturer Oppo is a smartphone giant
The real name of the mobile phone 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 BBK Electronics, which also owns 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 to become the world’s second largest smartphone maker, just behind Samsung. Oppo is based in Chang’an District, Dongguan Province, China, along with its parent company.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme used to belong 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 running the company’s ColorOS operating system. ColorOS is currently also used as the user interface for Android smartphones. In addition to the telecom company, there is also Oppo Digital, which makes DVD and Blu-ray players for the high-end segment.
It all started with MP3 players
The brand name of the mobile phone manufacturer Oppo was registered in 2001, but only three years later – in 2004 the company then started. The manufacturer’s first devices included MP3 players such as the Oppo X1, and Oppo only entered the smartphone market in 2008 with the “Smile Phone”. The most striking feature of the Smile Phone: the smiley 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.
The first real smartphone is the U701 Ulike, which was introduced in 2012. The device has a Mediatek MT6575 dual-core processor clocked at 1 gigahertz (GHz), a 4-inch screen and a 5-megapixel camera. Oppo only entered the smartphone business in 2017. With devices like the Reno R11S, which offered a lot of technology at a reasonable price, the company also attracted attention outside of China. Oppo thus joined other Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi, which are now also internationally known.
In June 2016, Oppo rose to become the largest cellphone maker in China, with over 200,000 sales outlets across the country Technoxmart.com reported. In 2019, the company ranked number 5 worldwide, with almost 30 million units sold.
In addition to smartphones, Oppo still has a few high-end headphones and amplifiers in its range. In 2014, the PM-1 and PM-2 headphones and the HA-1 desktop amplifier were released. The mobile amplifier HA-2 followed in 2015, and the slightly improved version HA-2SE in 2016.
Originally, the mobile phone manufacturer also produced DVD and Bluray players. But in 2018 Oppo announced that it would stop production and sales and has only offered support for devices that have already been sold since then.
Smartphones from the modular system
Because the mobile phone manufacturer Oppo, as well as Vivo, OnePlus and Realme all belong to BKK, it often happens that the devices of the individual subsidiaries often show a similar design. The technical similarities such as retractable cameras and in-display fingerprint sensors are used in several devices for cost reasons. The design similarities, especially with some Oneplus smartphones, cannot be denied, as can be seen in the following pictures.
Oppo excels at innovation in cell phone manufacturing
While a few years ago the USA and South Korea were still in the lead in smartphone development, Chinese manufacturers have now emerged as real innovation drivers. In principle, Apple and Samsung are only doing facelifts, while competing mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are sticking out with increasingly wacky new technologies. Due to the increased focus on new functions, things like an in-screen fingerprint sensor, retractable cameras and edge-to-edge screens became socially acceptable within a very short time.
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Oppo in particular is experimenting a lot with mechanically extendable cameras in order to maximize the screen size of the smartphone. In addition to classic Oppo designs such as the individual selfie cam that slides out of the housing, the cell phone manufacturer also has production-ready smartphones with entire housing parts that can be moved. For example, there is a design that looks like a shark’s fin, in which the selfie cam and sensors move out of the top of the housing in a triangle. This can be seen in the Reno2, for example. Investments are also being made in zoom cameras, such as the Reno 10x Zoom, which supplies a periscope lens with five times optical magnification.
In 2021, the mobile phone manufacturer made waves with the Oppo Find N, a smartphone with a folding display and the counterpart to the local Samsung Galaxy Fold. It’s foldable along the vertical and is slightly smaller than the Samsung competitor.
What about data protection, updates and service at the mobile phone manufacturer Oppo?
Since the smartphones are also sold in Germany, including on Amazon.de, TECHBOOK wanted to know exactly how the cell phone manufacturer Oppo handles the warranty and services. Unfortunately, the company was not able to answer our inquiry exactly how they deal with defective devices. Oppo directed us to the support pages instead. This at least shows that there are no local contractors who could carry out a repair for the company. This means that the devices have to be sent either directly to China or to a country where Oppo has an official presence. In Europe, for example, these are Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the UK.
TECHBOOK also wanted to know how Oppo deals with the issue of data protection, but the only answer that was very unclear was that the mobile phone manufacturer does not collect any user data. According to this, “name, phone number, location, IMEI number only if [Kunden] Contact customer service” and then only to document the case.
In terms of updates, the mobile phone manufacturer Oppo was similarly covered. It only confirmed that “updates direct to 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
Oppo Find X2 Pro
In Asia, the mobile phone manufacturer Oppo has long been a big player, in Europe it is (still) overshadowed by 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 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.
The Chinese rely on a main camera with three lenses from Sony. In addition to the wide-angle main camera with 48 megapixels, there is an ultra-wide-angle camera with 48 megapixels and an f/2.2 aperture as well as a periscope telephoto camera with 13 megapixels and an f/3.0 aperture with a 60x hybrid zoom. There is also a selfie camera with 32 megapixels and an f/2.4 aperture.
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 micron pixel area) and can thus capture significantly more light.
Photos appear rich in contrast, extremely sharp and rich in detail, even with zoomed shots. Also on the plus side: The excellent autofocus performance, the large dynamic range, the little distortion and a low noise level, regardless of the conditions in which the pictures are taken. Almost the only criticism: The HDR option is not always triggered for portrait shots in rooms – and ultra-wide-angle shots could be a bit 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
- Memory: 12 GB RAM + up to 512 GB ROM (internal memory), not expandable
- Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.2 pop-up selfie camera
- 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 at 60 FPS, HDR
- Connections: NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), USB-C, LTE, GPS
- Battery: 4260mAh
- 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 resistant according to IP68, stereo speakers, dual SIM#
Oppo Find X3 Pro
Photo: Oppo
With the Oppo X3 Pro, the mobile phone manufacturer offers a model that not only runs with the current Android 11, but also has very good storage and camera equipment. In terms of price, it is significantly higher than the Oppo X2 Pro at around 1.150 euros, but it is also better equipped than its predecessor.
Features of the Oppo Find X3 Pro at a glance:
- Display: 6.7 inches, 1440×3216 pixels
- Processor: Snapdragon 888 5G, Octa Core 2.84GHz
- Storage: 256GB, 8GB RAM (expandable)
- Front camera: 32MP, f/2.4
- Main camera: Quad camera 50 MP, f/1.8 wide angle + 50 MP, f/2.2 ultra wide angle + 13 MP, f/2.4 telephoto camera
- Links: Bluetooth 5.2, WLAN a/b/g/n/ac/6, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot, USB-C
- Battery pack: 4,500mAh, fast/wireless/reverse charging
- System: Android 11, ColorOS 11.2
- Miscellaneous: Dual SIM (Nano SIM, eSIM, dual stand-by)
Budget: Oppo Find N
Photo: Oppo
The mobile phone manufacturer Oppo is now established in Germany and introduced its own folding smartphone, the Oppo Find N, at the end of 2021. According to Oppo, it can easily withstand temperatures down to -20 degrees Celsius and thus not only scores with a modern design and a pretty one color selection.
Features of the Oppo Find N at a glance:
- Display: 7.1 inch, TFT, 1792 x 1920 pixels
- Processor: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5nm), Octa-Core @ 2.84GHz
- Storage: 256GB, 8GB RAM (expandable)
- Front camera: 32MP
- Main camera: Quad camera 50 MP, f/1.8 wide angle + 16 MP, f/2.2 ultra wide angle + 13 MP, f/2.4 telephoto camera
- Links: Bluetooth 5.2, WLAN a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, USB-C
- Battery pack: 4,500 mAh, fast (wireless) charging, reverse charging
- System: Android 11, ColorOS 12
- Miscellaneous: Dual SIM (Nano SIM, dual stand-by)