Oppo has been
teasing the F9 Pro for some time now and as promised, the company unveiled the
device today in India. And just like its predecessor, the F7, this one is a
selfie-centric smartphone with mid-range specs and focuses on design. But if
specs seem way too familiar, it's because the F9 Pro is actually a standard F9
for the Indian market.
Oppo markets the
unusual and minimalist "waterdrop" notch design, which doesn't take
away too much space on the top, as one of the main features. The screen is
6.3-inch with FHD+ (1080 x 2340) resolution and tall 19.5:9 aspect ratio and
uses a standard IPS panel. MediaTek's Helio P60 does the number crunching,
which is also found in the predecessor and uses 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal
storage that can be expanded via microSD card up to 256GB. It can hold two nano
SIM cards and a memory card simultaneously.
While the standard
F9 comes in two memory variants 4GB/64GB and 6GB/64GB, the F9 Pro in India
comes only with 6GB of RAM. The dual camera setup on the back uses a 16MP
(f/1.8) main sensor and a 2MP (f/2.4) unit for depth sensing while the notch
houses a 25MP lens with f/2.0 aperture. The fingerprint reader is placed on the
back as well.
A 3,500 mAh battery
powers it all and the big upgrade over its predecessor is the support for
Oppo's ultra-fast VOOC Flash charging technology. It promises 2-hour talk time
in exchange for a 5-minute charge. Android 8.1 Oreo comes out of the box with
Oppo's ColorOS 5.2 custom UI.
The available
colors at the moment are Sunrise Red, Twilight Blue, and Starry Purple with a
price tag of INR 23,990 (US$ 344). The handset can be found on Flipkart and
Amazon.in with various launch offers including one-time display replacement and
more.
But it doesn't end
there. Oppo is launching the standard version of F9 for India with toned-down
specs. We've got the same hardware as the international F9 but with 16MP
front-facing camera instead of 25MP and comes with 4GB of RAM instead of 6GB.
There's also no VOOC Flash charge support and gets a considerably lower price
tag - INR 19,990 (US$ 285). The only available colors are Black and Purple.
