OPPO-F11-Review

The OPPO F11, as what you probably know, is the more budget-friendly brother of the popular F11 Pro.

But unlike most devices who have a Pro and non-Pro variants, the differences between the two F11’s are actually very minimal. This means that everything that we liked — and disliked — in our OPPO F11 Pro review might also be present here.

However, these two are still completely different devices. With that, here in our OPPO F11 review, we shall see if the basic version is actually a more practical and value-friendly option to the F11 Pro.

OPPO F11 Specs

  • Android 9.0 Pie, ColorOS 6
  • Dual SIM, Dual Standby
  • 6.5-inch FHD+ IPS display, 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~394ppi
  • Waterdrop notch
  • 2.1GHz MediaTek Helio P70 octa-core processor
  • 4GB/6GB RAM
  • Mali-G72 GPU
  • 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
  • 16-megapixel front camera
  • 48-megapixel + 5-megapixel rear cameras, PDAF, LED Flash
  • Fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
  • HSPA+, 4G LTE
  • WiFi 802.11 /b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
  • microUSB
  • Colors: Flourite Purple, Marble Green
  • 4,020mAh non-removable battery, VOOC 3.0

Design and Build Quality

The overall look of the OPPO F11 and F11 Pro is a clear departure from their predecessors. Despite the use of plastic material on the back, OPPO got away with it by doing a great job on its design.

Its 3D back cover provides a premium look with its shiny texture that blends seamlessly with the color gradient paint job. The unit that we have here is the Flourite Purple, while a Marble Green is also available for purchase.

I also like the gold accents that surround the dual rear cameras, fingerprint scanner, font on the OPPO logo and the “Designed By OPPO” stamp on the back.

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The entire back panel is identical to the F11 Pro, although the camera arrangement is slightly different. Speaking of which, one of the biggest difference between the two is the lack of the pop-up selfie camera on the F11.

Instead, OPPO F11 uses a waterdrop notch on the screen. Thankfully, it has the same 16-megapixel front sensor, an identical 6.53-inch FHD+ display, and a high 90.7% screen-to-body ratio thanks to its ultra-thin bezels on all sides.

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The overall build of the OPPO F11 feels really sleek, but not the most compact that we’ve seen. It’s slightly thick at 8.8mm and weighs at 190g. Actually, we don’t mind adding a little chunk on a smartphone if we can get a bigger battery (4,000mAh in this case) in return.

There’s a noise-canceling microphone on top of the device, while on the bottom there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack, primary microphone, loudspeaker, and disappointingly, a microUSB port.

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On the left side, we have the lock/power switch, with tiny green accent for an extra aesthetic touch. Meanwhile, the other side has the hybrid SIM tray, which can be a bit disappointing for those who want to use two SIM cards and a microSD card all at once. Right below it is the volume controls.

All the buttons feel tactile enough but definitely isn’t the most satisfying to press. Although I like that OPPO positioned the buttons low enough to be easily reachable even by people with smaller hands.

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Moreover, instead of including a boring, plain case, the clear case that comes with the OPPO F11 has a smokey black color, so it doesn’t look cheap when you put it on. We already saw this kind on case to OPPO’s recent releases like the R17 Pro.

Display Quality

As previously mentioned, the OPPO F11 has a 6.5-inch FHD+ IPS display, with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, which totals to around 394 pixel-per-inch.

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It’s overall screen quality is nothing out of the ordinary. The mediocre colors and contrast that an IPS display provides are visible here. It’s definitely great for the price, but obviously not the best in the industry today.

The large screen space can make watching YouTube videos or TV series/movies on Netflix more immersive. It also provides enough room for on-screen controls when playing games. Lastly, I didn’t notice any problems with the screen’s backlighting, as the it is still visible even at sunny outdoors.

Hardware and Performance

OPPO utilized a MediaTek Helio P70 octa-core processor for the OPPO F11, which is one of the best chipsets that you can get for the price.

It’s partnered with a Mali-G72 MP3 graphics card and the unit that we have here have 6GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage as well. A 4GB model is also available as an online exclusive offering.

OPPO F11 benchmark scores

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OPPO F11’s overall performance in basic and most-used apps is reliable. You can browse through your social media feeds seamlessly, take pictures in a ‘snap’, and switch between running apps without any noticeable delay.

Those are just some of the perks of having a spacious 6GB RAM. The 64GB of storage is also enough to a number of apps and other media. But for the price, we kind of expected the OPPO F11 Pro to already come with 128GB of storage, just like the Samsung Galaxy A50 and other competing devices.

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The performance of the OPPO F11 in the gaming department is identical to most midrange devices today. It can run triple-A titles at smooth frame rates, but you have to bear the settings being set to low or medium.

PUBG Mobile, a popular and very resource-hungry game, immediately set the graphics settings to Medium upon first launching the game. It ran with no noticeable frame drops and the experience was seamless.

NBA 2K19 was also playable at good frame rates, although the graphics quality took the hit. Meanwhile, Mobile Legends, thanks to its pretty light graphics and animation, ran really fine without hiccups.

Security

The OPPO F11 has both face unlock and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. Both of these features have been around for years now, so it’s no surprise that they worked really well on this devices.

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Ironically, the face unlock on the standard OPPO F11 worked faster than the F11 Pro’s. The lack of a pop-up mechanism allows the front-facing camera on the OPPO F11 to immediately detect your phone and unlock it.

The placement of the fingerprint sensor on the back is also optimal as it’s where your index finger sits every time you use the device.

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There’s also the usual software-level security features like Find My Device, Payment Protection, Emergency SOS, Anti-harassment-fraud, Pseudo base station blocking, App encryption, Kid Space, Private Safe, and a security keyboard that prevents any app or cybercriminals from copying your password every time you type it.

Sound Quality

Just like a lot of midrange smartphones out there, the OPPO F11 doesn’t offer the best sound quality. The bottom-firing speaker outputs decent audio with good clarity at highs and low (bass/treble) signatures, although the volume is really lacking.

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If you want the best possible listening experience, you might want to plug in a pair of headphones. The one that it comes with is fine, but not the best out of the pack.

OPPO F11 is also equipped with Real Sound Technology, which you can access in the Sound menu. You can choose from different presets to match your listening style, or if you want to amp up the bass or treble in your headphones.

Software and User Interface

The OPPO F11 comes with Android 9.0 Pie dressed with the company’s ColorOS 6 interface. Its overall design is pretty straightforward, with intuitive features that will benefit the user-experience.

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Out of the box, the app drawer is disabled. But if you choose to have a cleaner home screen, you can enable it in the settings menu. The notifications and control center on the top is also clean, with large icons so you can press them easily.

Swiping from the far left of the home screen shows the Smart Assistant. It has items like the weather, date, steps counter, and a search tab that can do both local and internet search.

OPPO-F11-interface

It also has features like smart driving (optimized interface for less destruction when you’re driving), Game Space which lets you easily access related features when playing games. There are also a slew of usable preinstalled apps, which you can easily uninstall if you don’t want them taking up space.

The OPPO F11 uses Gboard keyboard, which is comfortable to type on and easy to get used to. The camera app is also intuitive to use. It also has Android Pie’s Notification Dots feature, which lets you preview if an app has an upcoming notification via the counter placed on top of its icon.

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Disappointingly, it doesn’t have the Digital Wellbeing feature that Android 9 Pie has. This lets the user monitor their smartphone usage, and act upon them by setting timers and limitations.

Overall, the entire interface of the OPPO F11 compliments the hardware itself. And as for the missing features, let’s just hope that OPPO brings them through future software updates.

Camera

As stated earlier, the OPPO F11 has the same set of cameras with its bigger brother. It boasts a 48-megapixel primary sensor on the back, which is coupled with a 5-megapixel depth-sensor, a wide f/1.8 aperture, and phase-detection autofocus.

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The primary camera can take impressive photos. Probably not as impressive as flagship smartphones, but for the price, this handset can really produce good pictures.

Thanks to its pixel-packed sensor and the power of AI scene detection, the OPPO F11 can take images with good colors, acceptable contrast, and great dynamic range.

You can check out the sample shots taken directly from the OPPO F11 below. But if you want to further appreciate the really great low-light capabilities of its 48-megapixel camera, you can check out our OPPO F11 Pro low-light camera samples as well.

Moreover, the 5-megapixel depth sensor also did a good job of creating that DSLR-like bokeh effect. Although the edge-detection would struggle at times, especially if the background is too complex for the camera to separate it from the foreground.

It may lack the fancy pop-up mechanism, but the OPPO F11 actually uses the same 16-megapixel front-facing camera as the F11 Pro. So, it goes without saying that it can take great selfies.

OPPO is known for their expertise in selfie technology, which is why we’re not surprised by its quality. The images look bright, even when taken indoors or at low-light. Sharpness is also out of the question, although its photos would look a little softer when you enable the beauty modes.

Speaking of which, the AI face beauty on OPPO F11 is an improvement from its predecessors. The effect does a great job of adjusting your face’s smoothest, shape, chin size, and more without making the overall image look too artificial.

The portrait mode also worked well in this camera. This is great if you want a more professional look, or if you just want to blur out a distraction from the background.

Battery

Smartphones with at least 4,000mAh battery have become the norm in the market. And that’s the same capacity that we’re seeing here in the OPPO F11.

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It was able to garner 10 hours and 8 minutes of screen-on time on PCMark’s battery test — hours of continuously running simulated tasks.

That translates to a conventional performance in real-world scenarios. OPPO F11 can last you for an entire day if you’re a light to moderate user. But if you’re spending too much time on your phone, you might want to bring a power bank with you.

Alternatively, you can just take a break for a while and plug it to the wall with its VOOC 3.0 fast charger. As per my testing, it was able to fill up the battery back to 100% (from 20%) in under an hour.

Verdict

OPPO has improved their game in their new releases, and it’s evident on the OPPO F11.

Just like their previous smartphones, the OPPO F11 has a lot of flares and novelties to lure in consumers — people who are just looking for a smartphone that looks nice, can take good selfies, and handles day-to-day tasks without any fuss.

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But the great thing about the OPPO F11 is, it does more than that. This thing has a capable processor that can handle more than just basic apps. A great primary camera if you want to venture in mobile photography. And of course, reliable battery life so you can enjoy those features all day.

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The OPPO F11 is clearly a great balance between good looks and overall performance. But if the best possible horsepower is what you’re after, then you might want to check other alternatives that focus on that department. Otherwise, this phone is worth a look.

Pricing and availability of the OPPO F11 in the Philippines

The OPPO F11 6GB model is available in tons of OPPO stores, kiosks, multi-brand stores, and other online retailers for Php15,990.

Meanwhile, the online-only 4GB model is available exclusively in Shopee for only Php12,990.

Pros

  • Refreshing, classy design
  • Capable performance
  • Good cameras

Cons

  • ColorOS still needs some work
  • Loudspeaker could be better

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