Friends+Design
- Absolutely stunning design - this one is sure to get you those 'oohs' and 'aaahs' when you whip it out in public - 2 unique innovations stand out - one is the unusual "water-drop notch" that reduces the notch to about as small as you could go without shifting to a 'pop-out camera' phone like the Find X - and second is the blue-black shimmering rear with its diamond pattern, that is just breathtaking to look at from any angle - it's not possible to stress this enough, the Oppo F9 Pro looks gorgeous
- The water drop notch also ensures a commendable screen-to-body ratio of 90.8 percent (the iPhone X's ratio stands at a paltry 82 percent)
- The phone’s face unlock and fingerprint mechanism are lightning fast, and at par with the OnePlus 6
Display
- The display by itself is great too - it's a bright screen with great, punchy colours - arguably the best display in this price bracket
- Gorilla Glass 6 protection - one of the first phones in India to have it
Software
- ColorOS is decent as an Android UI, has a lot of features, and is quite 'colorful', but it will certainly come with it's share of bloat - such as duplicate Music, Gallery and Phone Manager apps, an unnecessary smart assistant, and an annoying 2-step process to dismiss notifications
Performance
- While the performance is pretty good in almost all use cases with a solid mid-range Helio P60 at the core (similar to Snapdragon 652), the performance expectations in this price bracket are now completely shifted since the launch of the powerhouse Poco F1 - if you are not much into heavy gaming, the Oppo F9 Pro will more than suffice - but if you want truly breathtaking performance, there is no match for the Poco F1 in the mid-range
Camera
- Very good dual camera setup on the rear - takes colorful and bright photos, good portraits, and does reasonably well in low light too - overall, it's on par with the excellent Poco F1 and only a shade behind the OnePlus 6
- Very good front camera too - takes good AI powered selfies - and is again comparable to the likes of Nokia 7 Plus, and Poco F1
- While the cameras are good with still photography, video recording capabilities on the phone are average at best - there is no OIS or EIS so the videos are quite shaky - also, 1080p and 720p are the only modes in which you can shoot videos
Audio
- Good call quality
- The single speaker on the phone’s bottom, though loud, sounds hollow and crackles
Battery
- Good battery life, with a 3500mAh battery - will comfortably last the day - and does not tend to heat up during processor-heavy tasks
- Excellent SuperVOOC fast charging support, that's on par with the excellent Dash charging on the OnePlus 6
More
- Overall, if you want a phone that's the ultimate looker, you won't go wrong with the Oppo F9 Pro, and you will get a pretty good camera to go along with it - having said that, if you prioritise performance over looks, there is no competing with the Poco F1 here, it's just in a different league - finally, if you want the most simple, clean software experience of all, with an equally good camera, then the Nokia 7 Plus is worth looking at
- Uses the old microUSB standard, instead of the modern USB-C
