Oppo, new threat for Samsung and Apple?

Recently a phone manufacturer called Oppo has been shaking the mobile phone world with some revolutionary phone launches. They have been around for a while but haven’t received a lot of attention or recognition. However, in 2019 it seems like we’ve been hearing the word Oppo more and more. Therefore, we decided to take a closer look at this phone brand who is believed to become a close rival to Apple and Samsung.

The company was founded 18 years ago in Dongguan, Guangdong, China. They released their first mobile phone, the Smile Phone, in 2008 and in 2016 became China’s leading smartphone brand. Currently you can buy Oppo phones in 40 countries.

Oppo has released a variety of smartphones over the years, but only the newest releases have brought the attention they were looking for in the UK market.

A great example is the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom which has been compared to the very successful Huawei P30 Pro. The most impressive thing about this phone is its camera. This model is using 48MP camera with an impressive 10x zoom lens, while the Huawei rival has a 5x zoom lens. If you are looking for a very capable smartphone for a cheaper price, the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom could be the option for you. You can get a brand new Oppo phone starting from £699, while the Huawei would leave you without at least £899.

With all the noise around 5G it would be a crime not to mention the Oppo Reno 5G. It is one of the first phones to support the 5G network in the UK. This phone features 16MP front camera which appears as if from nowhere. The hidden camera has helped to achieve 93.1 per cent screen-to-body ratio where iPhone X and Xs have only 82.9 per cent and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus has 87.5 per cent. This Oppo phone has 6.6-inch notch-free display and under-display fingerprint scanner similar to the one of Samsung Galaxy S10. This phone also has an outstanding battery life and its technical performance does not differ from the flagship devices in the market. While this device is not cheap (RRP is around £850) compared to other 5G capable phones, Oppo strikes out as close to a bargain as these things come.

You can look at more Oppo models here.

For many years smartphone manufacturers have been debating over the best way how to increase screen-to-body ratio and it looks like Oppo has the answer to it. Oppo has explained, how this technology actually works. According to the Verge, the display uses a custom transparent material that works with a redesigned pixel structure so that light can get through to the camera. The sensor itself is said to be larger than other selfie cameras, with a wider aperture lens in front. The area of the screen reserved for the camera still works with touch control. Oppo says display quality won’t be compromised. That sounds complicated, but if it makes the phones look better – why not?

It is planned that the devices with the under-screen camera will be launched in the near future.

Back in 2017 they won the Indian national cricket team sponsorship rights for five-year period. They are getting a great exposure of the brand through this partnership, especially knowing the success of Indian cricket team.

But this isn’t the only big partnership they have managed to close. This year they became the first-ever Asian sponsor of Wimbledon. This deal will be live for at least five years. Their products will be displayed throughout the tournament and the photographers will be given Oppo phones to capture the action and then upload the pictures to a dedicated Oppo Wimbledon photo gallery. You can see some of the photos here.

This seems like a big partners list for such a relatively unknown brand in the UK, but it continues. In 2015 Oppo announced three-year partnership with Spanish football club FC Barcelona and just recently they renewed the agreement for the next three seasons.  To celebrate this, Oppo released a special edition FC Barcelona smartphone with the same performance and features as Reno 10x Zoom. This isn’t the first FC Barcelona themed phone, Oppo have released four Barcelona smartphones. The newest version will go on sale on 26^th July and will be first available in France, the Netherlands, Russia and of course Spain for a price of €899. You can take a look at the smartphone here.