Oppo R5 Review

Camera

A 13 MP Sony Exmor IMX214, paired with an options-packed camera app brings us mostly good results

The main camera module houses a 13 MP Sony IMX214 sensor, with an F2.0 aperture size, while the frontal cam has a selfie-afficianado-pleasing 5 MP resolution. The camera app is among the better ones we've seen, offering a rich choice of modes (and a selection of downloadable ones), among which one can find Auto, HDR, UHD, Manual Mode (called Expert Mode), Colorful Night shot, and others. Switching over to the frontal cam automatically activates the Beauty Face function and gives the user a variety of filters to choose from.

In well-lit situations, the camera snaps quickly and gives us generally balanced pictures – colors are represented accurately and the images are neither oversharpened, nor extremely soft. Indoor, the sensor does a great job at capturing a good amount of light and detail, even in darker situations.

The phone's HDR function is a letdown – sure, it does light up all the dark corners in an image, but the whole picture ends up looking like it has its contrast set to low and brightness to high, while also being covered in grain. It is still usable in some dark situations, but is mostly hit-or-miss.

The Expert Mode offers access to manual focus, exposure compensation, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance settings. While its options are not extremely elaborate, users who enjoy tinkering to get the best photos possible will be pleased with it.



Video recording is not much different – we are treated to a balanced picture, though, not-so-impressive audio.

Multimedia

The crisp, punchy display is great for viewing, but the audio lacks in a few ways

The crisp 5.2” FHD screen contributes to a satisfying viewing of pictures and video – as long as vivid and oversaturated colors are your thing, the R5 will not disappoint. Audio, on the other hand, is a different bowl of rice.

Since Oppo decided to use the phone's earpiece as a makeshift loudspeaker, the quality is not the best – a lack of volume and depth is combined with a hump in the mid-frequencies, creating a sort of an annoying, old-school, busted radio effect. It is not unbearable, but would not be our first choice for listening to music.