Oppo’s recently released 5G version of their F21 Pro smartphone, Oppo F21 Pro 5G is now available in Bangladesh.
Available with 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM at Tk37,990, the phone checks on quite well on some major specs while completely missing a few.
Aesthetics
This is one of those love at first sight smartphones. While Oppo left its clean leather-back exterior of the 4G version behind, they opted in for a vibrant polycarbonate back with a matte finish.
The phone is available in two colours. Rainbow Spectrum for the people who love shiny reflective designs and Cosmic Black for those who want to settle in for a single colour option. But make no mistake, both of them look phenomenal.
But it is not only about how it looks. The polycarbonate back of the phone also offers a really sturdy feel. At first touch, the phone will trick you into believing that it has a metal back and frame.
The overall finishing is very well-done and the frames are curved in all four corners, providing a fairly nice hand grip. It looks like Oppo spent a good amount of time designing this phone.
The 7.5 mm thin Oppo F21 Pro 5G is also a lightweight phone, weighing only 173 grams.
Display
The display is not bad. It is a 6.43-inch AMOLED panel with 430 nits of typical brightness. It looks and feels like a good AMOLED panel, producing bright and accurate colours.
However, Oppo made a downgrade here. The 4G edition of the F21 Pro had a 90Hz panel and I expected a 120Hz panel from this phone since it costs Tk9,000 more than the previous 4G version.
However, Oppo went for a regular 60Hz panel, which caught me by surprise.
The display is protected with Schott Xensation glass. In the world of Corning Gorilla Glass, Schott Xensation is a less popular name. But it does offer good protection against accidental drops. However, I will, as always, recommend using a strong glass protector with a phone case.
Performance
Oppo F21 Pro 5G has a Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G chipset built in a 6nm architecture. The 4G version released earlier had a Snapdragon 680 chipset.
Right out of the box, the 5G version of F21 Pro should perform at least 50% better than the 4G version, according to the comparison in their AnTuTu benchmark.
For an additional Tk9,000, this isn’t a bad deal in any way. But do keep in mind that the Snapdragon 680 chipset does seem a bit weird in a phone that costs Tk29,000, especially considering the fact that the chipset is primarily used in phones that cost around Tk20,000.
Don’t get me wrong, Snapdragon 695 5G is not a bad chipset in any way. It is one of the latest ones and performs better than 720G, 730G and even 750G.
However, considering the price of the phone, I would have settled in for a Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset if the decision was up to me.
Now, it is not impossible to put a 778G 5G chipset in a phone that costs Tk38k. Realme did it before. The company put it in their GT Master Edition smartphone which costs Tk34k now. That also with a 120Hz display.
Snapdragon 695 will be able to handle the day-to-day usage of the smartphone very fluently. If you are a gamer, it won’t disappoint you. It’s just that it won’t perform as well as Snapdragon 778G, which would have been the ideal choice for this phone.
Camera
Oppo F21 Pro 5G has a triple camera setup. With the removal of the micro camera, the existing units are a 64 MP primary shooter, 2 MP macro and 2 MP depth sensor.
No, you didn’t read it wrong. There is still no ultrawide lens on the 5G version, not even after a Tk9,000 increase in its price from the 4G version.
2 MP macro cameras are barely usable in 2022. To me, the removal of the micro camera was completely unnecessary.
If the smartphone companies do decide to provide a macro camera, they should provide at least a 5 MP one with a better sensor so that users can at least use the macro shots they take using the phone. This is applicable not only to Oppo but to all the smartphone brands out there. Even the Realme GT Master Edition, mentioned earlier in this article, is no exception to this.
The lack of an ultrawide camera was disappointing. However, the performance of the main camera isn’t bad. It captured fairly decent images. The colours looked good. As long as the lighting condition was good, the phone provided nice images.
The night scene, however, still needs some improvement and software optimization.
The 16 MP selfie camera also performed well during our test.
Battery
Even though it is a 5G phone, the battery capacity remained the same at 4,500 mAh. But I’m not complaining. 4,500 is pretty decent.
With the 33 Watts charger available with the phone, it should take around 63 minutes, according to Oppo, to fully charge up the phone. Which is also nice.
On average usage, users should be able to get up to 7-8 hours of screen on time. For gaming, it will be reduced to 5 hours and for multimedia consumption like watching a movie or tv series, it will go further to 9 hours or more.
Final verdict
Oppo F21 Pro 5G is a good-looking phone and the in-hand experience is insane. However, it lacks a higher refresh rate display, and a usable macro lens and misses out on an ultrawide lens.
The camera performance during daylight is good and the battery is also decent.
If you are into the look and feel of a phone, you should definitely go for it. However, if you are looking for the best camera performance and need an ultrawide lens, it might be wise to spend your money elsewhere.