OPPO F27 Pro+ Review: Durability is King

After a brief break, the sub-30K segment is heating up again, with brands like Realme and Xiaomi launching some of their best offerings. Naturally, when OPPO announced its new F27 Pro+, I was pretty excited to see what the company had in store, especially since it had already made headlines for being the first in India to come with an IP69 rating. While durability is undoubtedly a major focus, the question remains: is the F27 Pro+ a good value at Rs. 27,999, or has the company compromised in other areas? Let’s find out in this review of the OPPO F27 Pro+.

OPPO F27 Pro+ Review: Design and Hardware

Starting with the unboxing experience, OPPO has included all the essentials. The box contains the phone, an 80W charging brick, a silicone case, and a Type-A to Type-C charging cable.

If there’s one thing OPPO knows how to perfect, it’s aesthetics. I received the Midnight Blue variant of the OPPO F27 Pro+, which boasts a stunning dual-tone back panel. It features two navy blue vegan leather stripes on the left and right, with a design pattern running through the center. While we’re not sure what material this center strip is made of, it looks premium.

Another aspect of the F27 Pro+ that impressed me was its sleekness. At only 7.9mm thick and 177g, the device is one of the thinnest and lightest phones on the market, making it a viable option for anyone seeking a comfortable phone.

Durability

Now, let’s move on to the phone’s most talked-about feature—the IP69 rating. To put things into perspective, an IP (Ingress Protection) rating measures how well a device is protected against natural elements. This rating is denoted by two numbers after the word “IP.” The first number represents the device’s protection against dust and other foreign objects, while the second denotes protection from liquids.

We have had IP68-certified phones for a while, meaning a device can withstand dust and immersion in fresh water for 30 minutes at a depth of 1.5 meters. While the depth and duration metrics remain the same for the IP69 rating, devices with this rating can also withstand high-pressure jet streams of water.

But that’s not all. OPPO also includes a “Damage-Proof 360° Armour Body” along with Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in the F27 Pro+. The company claims drop resistance up to 1.8 meters. I tested this claim by dropping the device on a few different surfaces. As much as it hurts to drop a smartphone intentionally, the F27 Pro+ held up surprisingly well. The screen didn’t shatter, and the phone remained in pristine condition except for a few kinks and marks. Moreover, we submerged the phone in a tank of water for over ten minutes, and it survived without any issues.

OPPO F27 Pro+ Review: Display

While durability is undoubtedly the main selling point of the F27 Pro+, the display, unfortunately, is not. The F27 Pro+ has a 6.7-inch AMOLED 120Hz display, which sounds great on paper. However, the real disappointment is the brightness. The F27 Pro+ has a peak brightness of only 950 nits, which is far below the competition. Additionally, in direct sunlight, we measured the maximum brightness to be around 700 nits, making it difficult to read screen content.

Another issue with the display is the lack of HDR support. Although the quality of the panel itself is great, with accurate colors, the absence of HDR means you won’t be able to enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows in the best quality.

OPPO F27 Pro+ Review: Performance

I wish there were a better way to say this, but the performance of the OPPO F27 Pro+ is not up to the mark. The device houses the mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7050, which features two Cortex-A78 cores at 2.6 GHz, six Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0 GHz, and the ARM Mali-G68 GPU. Additionally, the device comes with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. While there isn’t anything wrong with the chipset itself, at this price point, the competition houses much better chips that can run circles around the F27 Pro+.

Setting aside these concerns, the phone’s day-to-day performance was satisfactory, with the chipset handling most tasks effectively. I didn’t notice any significant lags or stutters while using single applications, though the phone did slow down a bit when multitasking.

The Dimensity 7050 chipset performed as expected in synthetic benchmarks, scoring 545,566 in the AnTuTu benchmark test. The device scored 891 in Geekbench’s single-core test and 2191 in the multi-core test. Furthermore, the fact that the device didn’t throttle during the 30-minute, 30-thread throttle test suggests that OPPO has implemented adequate cooling measures.

Finally, regarding gaming, my overall experience was acceptable with games like BGMI and CODM. I did notice some frame drops on the highest settings, but this is expected behavior with the Dimensity 7050 chip.

Battery Life

With a massive 5,000mAh battery, I had high expectations for the F27 Pro+’s battery life, and it did not disappoint. The phone easily handled everything I threw at it and lasted the whole day, including taking camera samples, playing games, and watching videos. Moreover, with the included 67W charging brick, I could fully recharge the phone in just under an hour.

OPPO F27 Pro+ Review: Cameras

Most everyday users associate OPPO with good cameras. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said with the F27 Pro+. To put things into perspective, the device comes with a 64MP primary camera and a 2MP portrait lens—that’s it. There’s no ultra-wide or telephoto lens, which is a tough pill to swallow.

Starting with daylight photos, the shots were decent, with the phone handling colors and sunlight well. While I would have liked to see more sharpness, you can expect natural photos from the main camera of the F27 Pro+. However, it’s important to note that there is a slight shutter lag when capturing fast-moving objects.

Due to the lack of a telephoto lens, the primary lens also doubles as the portrait lens. The resulting shots were nice, with pleasing natural bokeh. Additionally, users can adjust the intensity of the bokeh before taking the photo.

Nighttime photos

As expected, the F27 Pro+ struggles at night. Users must keep their hands steady for long, and the resulting shots are often not sharp. While the phone manages colors well, the lack of sharpness makes using the night mode an unpleasant experience.

Selfies and Videos

We didn’t expect much from the 8MP selfie shooter on the F27 Pro+, but the resulting shots were better than expected. The company uses several AI algorithms to retouch your face and make it social media-worthy. However, sometimes the processing is a bit overdone.

The same trend continues in the video department. While the resulting shots are pretty good, with the phone managing highlights and shadows well, the lack of OIS and a 4K@60 fps option makes it fall behind its competitors.

OPPO F27 Pro+ Review: Software

As mentioned above, the F27 Pro+’s performance is a bit disappointing, and the software experience isn’t much better. Firstly, there is a lot of bloatware—so much that there’s an entire second home page filled with pre-installed apps and games. Additionally, the fact that users cannot uninstall certain apps makes using the device an unpleasant experience.

There are ads—a lot of them. The F27 Pro+ includes the infamous “Hot Apps and Games” section, which features ads from all over the internet. Moreover, after installing any new app or game, the phone scans the APK file for malware and, in turn, displays ads for other apps to install. While ads might be understandable on budget phones, having such intrusive advertisements on a phone at this price point is hard to justify.

Nevertheless, it is important to mention that the device comes with ColorOS 14.0 out of the box, running on top of Android 14. Additionally, OPPO has promised three years of OS updates and four years of security patches.

Should you buy the OPPO F27 Pro+?

Starting at Rs. 27,999, the OPPO F27 Pro+ is an interesting phone. However, it is certainly not for someone who values performance and a clean software experience. Instead, it is for users who prioritize durability and design over everything else. Additionally, the solid battery life makes the F27 Pro+ a viable option for such users.

Read More

• DXOMARK Gold Display Label Awarded To OPPO’s Find X7 Ultra: What does it mean?