What I like

• The Oppo Ne0 7 has got excellent build quality and it feels premium for an entry-level mobile.

What I didn’t like

• It has just 1 GB of RAM and it is priced high for its specs.

Oppo is known for its quality mobile products. Oppo has a wide range of mobile in the market. Unlike many other mobile manufactures, Oppo is concentrating on brick and mortar sales model and Oppo mobiles are available online as well. The Oppo Neo 7 is a mobile that is placed between entry and mid-level segment of the market. It has a great build quality and a stable operating system.

Design

The 10k mobile segment is a fierce segment because of the huge demand and heavy competition to benefit out of this demand. Many mobiles in this segment don’t bother about design. They just put in the optimal hardware inside a plastic shell and start selling it. But Oppo Neo 7 is different. The Neo 7 has metal rim all around the body. The back of the mobile looks like glass, but it is polished glossy plastic. The glossy finish and the metal rims give the mobile a premium look and enhances the style factor. The glossy back is a finger print magnet though. It is removable, but the battery is not user replaceable. The Neo 7 has a dedicated microSD card slot apart from the dual SIM slots. One slot takes in micro SIM while the second slot takes in a nano SIM. The power / screen lock button is on the left, while the right has the volume keys. The bottom has the micro USB slot with a mic and the 3.5 mm audio jack is at the top. The android menu keys are not backlit but the device has a notification LED.

During my review period, I did drop the mobile accidentally and it landed on its metal RIM. The mobile took the beating with no signs or scars from the accident. I must say that the Neo 7 is not just a stylish device, it’s a sturdy one as well. Overall, the design of the Neo 7 is really impressive.

Display

The Neo 7 has a 5 inch display which can support 540 x 960 pixels resolution and that results in just 220 ppi of pixel density. In the age of full HD mobile, a qHD display is definitely out dated. But still the text on the display is sharp and crispy. The ambient light sensor is a bit slow to react and adjust the display brightness automatically. Otherwise the display is bright and colorful. The colors are natural and the brightness levels are just right. I know it’s a sub-10k mobile, but this is not something I would expect from Oppo who are one of the pioneers in display technology. A HD display would have made the Neo 7 stand tall.

Hardware and Performance

Here are the specs of the Oppo Neo 7.

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These days most of the sub-10k mobiles have more than 1 GB of RAM. But that is on the papers and the reality depends on how the software manages the available memory. In my usage, I found that the Oppo Neo 7’s Color OS is one of the best manager of memory. When you clear the RAM and close all app, the app and its allied services are closed for sure. It cannot auto start, until you manually start the app. The control is entirely on the operating system and not on the app. This strict control is something which I have not seen, even in flagship devices. The device is definitely fast and snappy and it handles the UI efficiently, thanks to the software optimization.

The Snapdragon 410 and the Adreno 306 do their job in keeping the mobile running efficiently under normal usage. The device never gets over heated. When you start to stress the mobile a little over its capacity, that when the Neo 7 stutters. Full blown graphical games and heavy apps shoes signs of struggle to run on the Neo 7. For your day-to-day usage, the Neo 7 will definitely be a work horse.

It is a 4G enabled device and I found the device to have no issues with latching on the network. Data speed over the air was good and there was no call drops. The earphones were clear and crisp and the loudspeakers were loud enough for conference calls. In total, the Oppo Neo 7 is a basic smartphone and it performs like one.

Camera

The primary camera is an 8 MP shooter capable of 1080p videos and it is assisted by a single LED flash. The front facing camera is a 5 MP camera. The images from the Neo 7 camera are good when shot under ample day light. Under low light conditions, the Neo 7 images starts pixelating and does not result in pleasing images. Focusing is also not a great strength of the Neo 7. Under ample light, the focus lock is instant. But when the light dips by a few lumens, focusing becomes tricky and you have to try a few times, before getting a lock on the desired area. But when shot right, the images from the Neo 7 camera has the perfect color saturation and a good depth of field.

The camera UI has 2 levels. The first level is the view finder display and the UI design is an exact replica of iPhone camera. It has exposure adjustment control and AE/AF lock. The second level reveals the additional features of the camera as add-on plugins. Features like HDR, ultra HD, Gif Animation, Audio photo, etc can be added as desired. The  super macro, expert mode and shoot in RAW which we loved on the Oppo R7 series is missing in the Neo 7. Check out the camera samples from the Oppo Neo 7 below.

Software

Oppo Neo 7 run on Android 5.1 with the Color OS 2.1 skinned on top. The Color OS is one of the most matured UI skins out there. It has tonnes of customization features. The themes are the theme store are endless. The wallpaper connects to an online repository and it has loads of wallpapers to suit your taste. The launcher has all the apps laid out in the desk. The extreme left screen can be configured to have the music widget. The notification tray is neatly stacked with sensible shortcuts. Also the UI has a huge list of customizable gestures for various operations. Though the Ne0 7 is a small 5 inch mobile, one hand operation can be enabled with a single swipe from the corner. It has very few bloatware installed. Overall the UI is snappy and charming to use.

Battery

The Neo 7  is powered by a 2420  mAh Lithium polymer battery. Thanks to the software optimization, qHD resolution and Snapdragon 410, the mobile can easily last for a days on a single charge with upto 5 hours of screen on time. The small battery also does not take long to charge. The supplied 1 A charger, charges the device from 0 to 100 percent in about 1:30 hours. The battery life on the Neo 7 is above average and you can trust the mobile for a full day’s work before stepping out of the house, fully charged.

Oppo Neo 7 Review Verdict

Opp0 Neo 7 is available for a best price of Rs 9500 as of now. It was launched at Rs 12500 and over the period of time, the price has been reduced. If you are a person who prefer to buy mobiles from brick and mortar stores and looking for a stylish device under Rs 10000, the Neo 7 is the best bet. But when it comes to the online stores, Neo 7 has some better alternatives like the Moto G, Lenovo K3 note or even the Coolpad Note 3.