The Oppo Find 7a review is here! This is a full in-depth review of the Oppo Find 7a including benchmarks, photo samples and review videos!
Oppo Find 7
The Oppo Find 7 is the flagship Oppo smartphone for 2014. 3 versions of the Oppo Find 7 are known to exist, the Oppo Find 7a (X9007) the Oppo Find 7 (X9077) and a China Unicom only version without 4G LTE, the Oppo Find 7 (X9000).
I bought and am reviewing the Oppo Find 7a (X9007). This phone differs from the Find 7 (X9077) in that it only has 2GB RAM, 16GB memory, a 2800mAh battery, 1920 x 1080 FHD display and a 2.3Ghz Snapdragon 801 processor. The rest of the features are the same between the Find 7A and Find 7 including 4G LTE, 13 mega-pixel camera, fast charging, SD memory card and removable battery.
The phone is only on sale in China at this time so does not come with Google services installed, however the phone can be easily rooted and you can then install Google service.
Oppo Find 7a vs Find 7 Specifications
Below is a chart comparing the Oppo Find 7a to the flagship Oppo Find 7 specifications.
Video: Oppo Find 7a unboxing
This is a very long video. If you are in a rush then save it for another time.
Oppo Find 7a review – Design
The Find 7 is unmistakably an Oppo device. The Find 7 design isn’t all that different from the Find 5, or any modern Oppo phone. Bezels aren’t particularly narrow, and the upper and especially lower edges of the phone are larger than most other devices.
Although the shape of the Find 7 is typical of Oppo, the designers have added some unique features. The bottom edge of the front for example has a LED notification beam which hides behind a blacked out plastic panel. When you receive a message or battery warning the beam lights up blue. From what I can tell this is not an RGB light so you cannot change the color of the notification.
A 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display sits across the front of the phone. Oppo are calling this JDI made screen a 2.0 display and can be used with wet hands, gloved hands and is not affected by magnetic fields (sometimes created while charging). The display is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 3, but comes pre-fitted with a screen protection film (at least here in China it does).
There are 3 color choices for the Find 7. The 7a comes in either white or black, while the Find 7 also has a carbon option. I opted for the white version as it has a textured finish which I prefer over the smooth finish of the black model. The rear tapers to the edges which makes for a comfortable device, and the textured finish aids with grip.
Features on the rear include a dual speaker, Oppo logo, dual LED flash and 13 mega-pixel camera.
The rear of the phone can be easily removed and reveals the location of the removable 2800mAh battery (3000mAh on the Find 7), Micro SIM card and space for a 128GB mirco SD card. The SD card option is very much appreciated as 16GB or even 32GB isn’t enough for most users anymore.
Around the edges of the phone we find a 3.5mm headphone jack, power button on the left, volume rocker on the right, and micro USB plug in the base. The Micro USB on the Find 7 boasts additional connections which allow the Find 7 to charger extremely quickly using VOOC fast charging.
Oppo Find 7a review – display
Our version of the Find 7 is the 1920 x 1080 FHD model, and for my purpose and use this is more than enough resolution for me. Even at the launch of the Find 7 I found it difficult to distinguish between the 2560 x 1440 model and the 1920 x 1080 version, and in all honesty I’m happy that I saved the 500 Yuan and bought this model.
Chinese reviewers have also commented that the 1080 display on the Find 7a actually produces better colours than the 2K model, and have complained of blue tints on the 2560 x 1440 resolution display.
As for the Find 7a display it is bright, sharp and crisp. It is also fully responsive and offers wide viewing angles. There really is nothing more to say as the screen is brilliant!
Oppo Find 7a review – Performance
The Find 7a has a slower processor and less RAM than the Find 7, but as it only needs to push around enough pixels for a FHD display benchmarks are better on the lower specification model. In use this means very little, both the Find 7a and Find 7 are equally fast and in everyday use you will not notice the difference between the two phones.
Although not really necessary the following screenshots show benchmarks for Antutu, Antutu X, Nenamark, Quadrant and 3D Mark. There are phones with higher scores, but again in real life you won’t notice the difference.
Oppo Find 7a Benchmarks
- Quadrant: 21,672
- Antutu: 35,982
- Antutu X: 35,251
- Nenamark: 63.4fps
- 3D Mark Unlimited: 20,033
- 3D Mark Extreme: Maxed out
Oppo Find 7a review – ColorOS
The Find 7a from China comes with only English and Chinese languages, it also lacks Google services and due to some agreement with China Mobile, the phone wont work on 3G WCDMA in China, Oppo have confirmed it will work on WCDMA outside of China though. If you are a little tech savvy you can easily remedy all of this by rooting your Find 7 and install Gapps , additional languages and even hacking the system to accept China Unicom WCDMA.
Gizchina News of the week
The Find 7a ships with Color OS but I updated to a beta version of Color OS 2.o. A hands on of ColorOS 2.0 can be watched in the video below.
Hands on with ColorOS 2.0 on the Find 7a
ROM’s are a personal thing and I personally am not a fan of the look of ColorOS. The icons are quite ugly and the overall look of 2.0 is a mash-up of Flyme and iOS 7 all held together with Oppo’s own ideas. While the UI and look isn’t to my taste I really do like the features which Oppo have included with the Find 7. There is plenty of opportunity to customise the gesture controls and really make the phone run how you like.
From past experience with the Find 5 and N1 we can assume the Oppo will be working with Cyanogenmod and Omni ROM once the phone is launched internationally, so we keep our fingers crossed for 3rd party ROMS so we can have a choice of what we want to run.
Oppo Find 7 review – Camera
The 13 mega-pixel main camera of the Oppo Find 7 is a Sony sensor with an F2.0 ‘Super aperture’ and is easily one of the best cameras of any smartphone I have used to date. I would even go as far as saying I prefer the camera on the Find 7 over the camera on the N1!
Samples below are resized, a link below the gallery will allow you to download full size sample photos.
Taking and saving photos is fast. As soon as one image is snapped the Find 7 is ready to take another, and another and another.
The camera app is one area which Oppo have taken a lot of time over. The app is so good that users of other phones have requested that Oppo release the apk for use on other handsets. Built in features included beauty mode, HDR, burst, Super Zoom, poster search, bar code scanner, panorama and then there are hundreds of manual settings and filters to choose from too!
For most of the time I use the phone on normal mode and find the photos are just what I hoped, clear with accurate colours. Super Zoom produces 50 mega-pixel images and has a built-in software based image stabilisation, and there is also the very popular slow shutter mode which now offers 16 and 32 second exposure photos! If there is one feature I am not too keen on it is HDR, I belive both Xiaomi and Meizu have done a better job with their HDR options.
Oppo Find 7 photo samples
Video on the Find 7 can be captured in 720, 1080 and even 4K! There are also slow motion options too. The below video was shot entirely on the Find 7 in 1080 capture mode. As you will see video is clear and audio is superb!
Oppo Find 7 video sample
Oppo Find 7 review – Battery
With a removable battery, and super fast VOOC charging the Oppo Find 7 is in a league of its own when compared to other flagship smartphones.
My typical use has been to stream a few hours of music over WIFI and 3G, with my VPN connected most of the day, 3G, WIFI and GPS constantly on, WeChat messaging on, Email on push, lots of web browsing, photos etc. The Find 7 will last from 7am in the morning to around 11pm at night with enough juice to sit on stanby till the next morning, more than acceptable for me (and that is using a Beta ROM).
Even with heavier use the battery would not be an issue thanks to the ultra fast charging capabilities of the Find 7. I have seen the battery charge from 0 – 70% in as little as 25 minutes! This fast charging really is a life saver, how many times have you been about to leave your home only to see you have very little power in your phone? With the Find 7 only a few minutes charging can boost screen time by a few hours!
Oppo Find 7 review – Other features
I have only used the Find 7 on 3G, GSM and WIFI and can tell you all it is a faultless experience. Bluetooth and GPS are equally as reliable, with a fast accurate lock when navigating around town.
Audio on the Find 7a is amazing both through the rear speakers and the included earbuds. The Maxx Audio feature is especially worthwhile for anyone who enjoys music on the go. When I first gave it a go it really was a ‘Wow’ moment!
Video: Oppo Find 7a review
Below is the video review of the Oppo Find 7. It’s quite long so please grab a drink and a snack before starting.
Oppo Find 7 review – Conclusion
All in the Find 7 is one of the most perfect smartphones I have every owned. The screen is beautiful, performance is top-notch, the camera is amazing, and the fast charging and Maxx Audio are features that I don’t think I could live without on future smartphones.
There are a few items I wish the Find 7 had. It would be great to choose the notification LED colour depending on the message, or alert. OIS (optical image stabilisation) is a big feature to miss off a flagship phone in 2014, and this alone could have some customers pass the Find 7 all together. Lastly ColorOS needs a make over, it currently feels a little thrown together. The features are great but the UI lets the overall experience down.
Would I recommend the Find 7?
Would I recommend buying the Oppo Find 7? If I could go back in time 1 week to buy the phone again would I? Most certainly yes! The Find 7 might not be a show stopping, drop dead gorgeous phone, but it is the most sensible Android device I have ever owned! I can see a bright and happy future for me and the Oppo Find 7, and it will take a lot to tear me away from it.
If you have any questions please ask in the comments section below!
Nice review, Andi. I’m glad to see how the phone performs similarly between AnTuTu and AnTuTu X, and it’s amazing how some of the best (and most powerful) phones out there are Chinese-brand phones. I hope Indian gadgets too will soon catch up 🙂