Introduction
Europe isn't a terra nova for Oppo, but it has never been an important market either. Or at least it wasn't until earlier this year Oppo broke ground in Paris with the Find X. And now, hot on the OnePlus 6T heels, the maker is launching its next major phone intended for the EU - the Oppo RX17 Pro.
The RX17 Pro sure sounds familiar and that's because it's a naturalized version of the R17 Pro intended for Asia. There are no changes in the specs sheet at all - the RX17 Pro enjoys the same large AMOLED screen with a waterdrop-like notch, the Snapdragon 710 chip with 8 gigs of RAM, and the triple camera on the back.
The RX17 Pro supports Super VOOC fast charging, just like the Oppo R17 Pro, and will be available in the same hypnotizing Radiant Mist color, but Europe is also getting a special Emerald Green option.
Oppo has had a special launch event in Milan, Italy and we've spent a few hours with the RX17 Pro there. But before we dig into the details, let's peek at the specs sheet.
Oppo RX17 Pro specs
- Bod: Aluminum frame, glass back, Corning Gorilla Glass 6 front
- Display: 6.4-inch AMOLED, 1080x2340px, 402ppi
- OS: Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorOS 5.2 on top
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, Octa-core processor (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver), Adreno 616 GPU, 8GB RAM
- Storage: 128GB internal with microSD hybrid (SIM2) expansion slot
- Rear Camera: Triple - 12MP, f/1.7-2.4, 26mm, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; 20MP, f/2.6; TOF 3D stereo camera, LED flash
- Video recording: Regular - 4K@30fps, 1080p@60 fps; Slow-mo - 720@240fps, 1080p@120fps
- Front Camera: 25MP, f/2.0, 20mm, 1080p video recording
- Connectivity: Dual SIM, Dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, A-GPS/GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C (3.1)
- Battery: 3,700mAh non-removable, SuperVOOC Flash Charge 5V/10A (50W)
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under-display)
The Oppo R17 Pro and OnePlus 6T have a lot in common, including the screen, the design with the matte glass back, the new Night Mode for stills, the battery capacity, and the same BBK Electronics parent company, of course. While OnePlus impresses with maximum performance, the RX17 focuses on camera and battery experience.
Unboxing
Oppo has been always very generous with its retail bundles and the RX17 Pro's is no different. The phone comes packed with a 50W charger, the USB-C cable needed for the proprietary charging standard, and a pair of USB-C headphones.
In addition to all those goodies, Oppo is also throwing a transparent silicone case and there is a factory-applied screen protector on top of that already tough Gorilla Glass 6 front.
Design and handling
We have one word for the Oppo RX17 Pro and it's mesmerizing! We had the Radiant Mist RX17 Pro, which is the face for all press materials and it's even more awesome in real-life.
The shape and build of the Oppo RX17 Pro are nothing to phone home about, really. The design is in line with the latest trends within BBK's offspring - Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Realme. Yes, it's a glass-sandwich phone with a thin aluminum frame.
Lucky for us, the consumers, Oppo has really tried to make the RX17 Pro stand out and it has succeeded alright. Huawei may have made those gradient paintjobs cool, but Oppo took this trend to a whole new level. And it's definitely for the better.
The rear glass is curved and has a tri-color gradient beneath the surface with a subtle S-curve between the hues. Oppo says the final ingredient for the whole thing to work is a layer of condensed light, which is, well, quite impossible. But whatever this extra layer is made from, it has done the job.
But probably the nicest touch of all is the matte finish. It's the same thing we experienced on the OnePlus 6 and 6T matte versions and is the best grip booster any glass phone can have. It is also the best protection against fingerprints and smudges, so it's a double-win however we look at it.
It would have been nice if this stunning panel was undisturbed as it was on the Find X, but the triple-camera setup is mounted here. The Galaxy S9 has lent its main camera to the RX17 Pro - a 12MP snapper with large pixels, dual-pixel PDAF, variable aperture, and OIS.
The secondary shooter is a 20MP one behind f/2.4 lens. And just like on the R15 Pro, OnePlus 6 and 6T - we haven't found any benefits of it being around except perhaps for helping to map the scene depth for better portraits.
The Night Mode from the OnePlus 6T has made it to the RX17 Pro, too. It's not quite like Huawei handheld long exposure shooting mode but it attempts to achieve the same thing.
Finally, the third snapper is a TOF camera for advanced 3D mapping and some unique portrait effects and animations.
We can continue talking about the mesmerizing back, but let's snap out of it and move to the front.
The 6.41" AMOLED screen of 1080p resolution is what you will be looking at the whole time when you are using the RX17 and it's pretty great. We've already seen this panel on the OnePlus 6T and we know that everyone will enjoy it. The screen looks very bright and the contrast is simply great.
The waterdrop notch turned out to be the next big thing on the market, sorry Apple, and we are so glad things are moving in this direction. The curvy cutout isn't as much of an eyesore and it houses only the 25MP selfie camera and a bunch of sensors.
The earpiece is etched in the upper edge of the front glass and is not in the part of the notch.
Speaking of that glass, it's a Gorilla Glass 6 piece with a 2.5D finish around the edge. And if that's not enough of a protection for you, Oppo is still keen on applying screen protectors in its factory and all RX17 Pro units will come with one out of the box.
Oppo RX17 Pro has an under-display fingerprint scanner, probably the same piece of tech the OnePlus 6T uses. And we can confirm it's as fast as on the 6T, but it has one game-changing feature over the 6T's - the sensor is always-on.You don't need to pick up, wake, or tap on the phone first - just put your finger around the bottom of the screen and the RX17 Pro will scan it and unlock automatically. We are yet to see the impact on the battery life, though.
The metal frame is quite thin, but also matte as the back, so the grip isn't compromised. The gradient paint spreads across the frame, too, and it's beautiful - there are no two words about that.
Oppo R17 Pro
The long sides have the volume and power keys, while everything else is at the bottom - the speaker, the USB port, and the SIM tray.
There is no audio port on the Oppo RX17 Pro. And the phone isn't water-resistant, which might be a bummer. But the RX17 Pro is still shaping as one very interesting device despite those omissions.
The RX17 Pro has a 3,700 mAh battery that's comprised of two separate cells to allow for faster charging. It supports company's latest Super VOOC 50W charging, which we've only seen on the Find X Lamborghini Edition so far. With the provided charger you can replenish 96% of the battery in 30 minutes, and a full charge takes a mere 36 minutes. That's quite in line with the charging speed we got on the Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition, although this one had a smaller 3,400 mAh battery.
So, color us impressed. This Oppo RX17 Pro really is something. Follow us on the next pages where we explore its performance and camera chops.
Performance and benchmarks
The Oppo RX17 Pro runs on the Snapdragon 710 chipset - it's one of Qualcomm's best mid-range chipsets. It sits above the Snapdragon 660 and below the Snapdragon 835 and 845, aiming to bring flagship functionality down to the middle class. Some of those advanced features include a Spectra 250 image signal processor that can perform multi-frame noise reduction in images and has some depth-sensing AI smarts, baked right in.
There is also the new X15 LTE modem, which delivers 4X4 MIMO and nearly gigabit downlink speeds.
The Snapdragon 710 has an octa-core processor with two high-speed Kryo 360 Gold (based on Cortex-A75) cores ticking at 2.2GHz and six efficient Kryo 360 Silver cores (A55-based) clocked at 1.7GHz. There is also a new Adreno 616 GPU to handle your favorite games.
And now let's run some benchmarks!
Well, the Kryo 360 cores are indeed faster than the Kryo 260 inside the Snapdragon 660 (Oppo R15 Pro), though not by a large margin.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
The combined power of all cores is quite impressive for the class - it almost matches the Kirin 970 (Honor Play), and outperforms the Snapdragon 660 CPU inside the R15 Pro.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
Moving on to graphics, Qualcomm managed to position the graphical prowess of the Adreno 616 inside the Snapdragon 710 quite neatly in-between the Adreno 512 (Snapdragon 660, Oppo R15 Pro) and the Adreno 630 (Snapdragon 845). Once again, filling the same performance niche between mid-range and flagship chips.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
The AnTuTu score tell the same story - the Oppo RX17 Pro offers great performance - better than the current crop of mid-rangers but lesser than the latest flagships.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
Well, the Oppo RX17 Pro seems well-equipped to handle all kind of tasks. It has a great processor, while its GPU will handle 1080p content effortlessly. There are also all kind of advanced features within the relatively new chipset, and finally - the RX17 Pro doesn't seem to be heating up that much.
Triple camera, but only one is really interesting
The Oppo RX17 Pro camera department is quite intriguing - you get a 25MP f/2.0 on the notch at the front, while the back features a triple sensor set up.
The centerpiece of the back camera is a 12MP 1/2.55" sensor with a variable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture lens coming straight from the Galaxy S9+ and the Note9.
The secondary 20MP unit is of unclear benefit as it's been for a few generations, but the third camera is of bigger interest as it's a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) camera sensor. TOF cameras are what stands behind advanced 3D scanning hardare such as the iPhone Face Unlock. Yes, we've only seen such cameras on the front of phones so far, where they enable the 3D face unlock feature. In this case, Oppo says the camera holds a lot of potential due to its unique properties. It allows reading the depth of the scene quite accurately up to 4-5m of distance, it can work in complete darkness, and it's also very accurate in measuring distance between the objects in the scene. As a result, you can have a super accurate ruler app, or it can be used in VR or augmented reality applications. Unfortunately, none of this potential is utilized at the moment. Oppo doesn't have any software ready to make use of the sensor but it's on its way.
We snapped a few photos around Milan, Italy. The weather wasn't that generous, but the RX17 Pro still captured some quality photos.
Oppo RX17 Pro 12MP camera samples
And if you wonder if the RX17 Pro camera is as capable as on the Galaxy S9+ - we've prepared a shootout to help you figure this out. You can use our photo comparison tool - you can find the shortcut below each batch of images.
Oppo RX17 Pro 12MP camera samples
Samsung Galaxy S9+ 12MP samples
There's also a newly added Night mode, which attempts to do something along the lines of the pseudo long exposures we saw introduced on the Huawei P20. It's much faster though, just like on the OnePlus 6T, and the photos we took are actually quite nice.
Oppo RX17 Pro 12MP low-light photos with Night Mode
Oppo RX17 Pro 12MP low-light photos
And finally, here are some 25MP selfies.
Selfie • Portrait selfie • Portrait selfie
Wrap-up
After spending a day with the Oppo RX17 Pro we can say for certain the phone is not a OnePlus 6T. It's a pretty unique offer with a stunning design and loads of character, a great screen, dependable performance and solid battery with out-of-this-world fast charging. The camera has a lot of potential, and while very capable as it is, we remain to see Oppo unlock its true potential later on.
The RX17 Pro is priced closely to the OnePlus 6T, which has the cutting-edge Snadpragon 845 to brag with, while the RX17 Pro will be relying on eye-catching looks, a better fingerprint scanner, and hopefully, a more versatile camera. And things do look promising right now!
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