Oppo’s R7s targets big iPhone buyers with mid-range prices

As smartphones start to climb in price, the middle ground is beginning to look more and more attractive, because why should you have to pay a grand for a new phone?

If this mindset is appealing to you, good news, because you’re not the only one, and while we’ve already seen some pretty stellar mid-range options from relatively new players Huawei and Oppo, the latter of these is ready to do it again early in the new year.

In fact, this month Oppo is sending another phone to Australian store shelves with the hopes that a good assortment of features, a metal body, and a large screen and battery are enough to bring over people to Oppo’s take on what a smartphone could be.

This new phone is the Oppo R7s, a handset we saw a brief preview of last year when it was announced as a phone designed to be both large and slim, taking on Apple’s iPhone 6S Plus for people not keen on the $1000 to $1500 price tag Apple’s large-screened phone arrives with.

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Now, upon release, Oppo is still emphasising that design, with a 5.5 inch Full HD screen held behind a level of Corning’s scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 4 and encased in a body made from magnesium-aluminium alloy, making it a phone with a body made totally from metal with the exception of the glass covering the screen.

Under that screen, Oppo is providing an eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with 32GB storage and one of the highest amounts of RAM we’ve ever seen, with 4GB offered.

We’ll be curious to see how that helps the R7s perform, given 2GB is pretty much the sweet spot for Android currently and 3GB is what most flagships offer in the package.

Upping this to 4GB could round out that performance ever so slightly, offering enough speed to get as much multi-tasking as one would want with Android.

Google’s operating system is here for the ride, too, though it’s not totally the way Google makes it, with Oppo’s ColorOS running Android with an almost iOS look on things.

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You’ll also find a 13 megapixel camera on the back and an 8 megapixel camera up front, and while there’s no 4K capture here, there is your standard Full HD 1080p video capture.

Rounding this out is a 3070mAh battery which Oppo says supports VOOC Flash Charge which can charge the phone up with two hours of talk time with five minutes of charge provided Oppo’s fast charging power brick is used.

“We’re thrilled to be releasing the phone today, getting it in the hands of our Aussie customers,” said Michael Tran, Chief Marketing Officer at Oppo Mobile in Australia.

“With a stunning 5.5-inch display, enhanced battery life and performance, the R7s is one of the market’s best value for money devices.”

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Oppo’s R7s can be found online and in Dick Smith stores now for a recommended retail price of $529.

As for how long it will be at Dick Smith stores given the store being in administration, Oppo has said that it is “always looking at the best ways to bring its products to market to ensure as many Aussies as possible are able to access the Oppo experience”, and that while it will provide details on any future partnerships, Oppo has also said that “Dick Smith stores are still operating across the country nationally, and they continue to provide a great platform to launch the R7s”.