OPPO F5 Youth Specs:
- 6″ FHD+ LTPS IPS LCD 18:9 display @ 2160 x 1080 resolution ~403ppi
- MediaTek MT6763T 2.50GHz Octa-Core CPU
- Mali G71 MP2 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB internal storage
- Dual Nano-SIM
- Dedicated microSD card slot up to 256GB
- 13MP f/2.2 AF rear camera w/ LED flash
- 16MP f/2.0 A.I. Beauty front camera
- 4G LTE
- Fingerprint Scanner
- OTG support
- ColorOS 3.2 (Android 7.1.1 Nougat)
- 3200mAh Li-Po Battery
Design & Build Quality
The F5 Youth has a 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and an 78.1% screen-to-body ratio. It has a unibody design with curved edges and narrow bezels which makes it nice to look at. Its polycarbonate back panel has a matte-finish that could be easily mistaken for a metal body. Moreover, you can mistake the F5 Youth for the F5 since both designs are almost identical. The only difference is that the F5 Youth does not have any silver-coated lines located near the top edges.
Starting at the front panel, we see the 16MP f/2.0 front camera with the call speaker on top portion and covering the whole screen is Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
At the back, we see the 13MP f/2.2 rear camera and LED flash. The dedicated fingerprint scanner is also located just below the camera.
The OPPO F5 Youth may be big but it is easy to hold. It doesn’t feel like you’re holding a 6-inch smartphone thanks to its generous screen-to-body ratio. It’s quite comfortable holding it, which is a good thing.
Display and Multimedia
The F5 Youth has a 6-inch LTPS IPS LCD display with an 18:9 screen aspect ratio and a 2160 x 1080 resolution, which makes for a pixel density of 402ppi. An 78.1% screen-to-body ratio has been achieved thanks to the thin bezels and screen aspect ratio. The front panel has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, and on top of that, an additional pre-installed screen protection.
Looking at the display, the default screen aspect ratio is at 18:9 but can be changed to 16:9 under the display options. It is vibrant, crisp, and color accurate. Viewing angles are also good and when put under direct sunlight.
Playing videos with 1080p resolution is smooth and we did not experience any frame drops. As for the audio quality, the highs and mids are loud and crisp, and the bass is present. At full volume, you could still hear some tinny noises. Overall, the audio is pretty good for listening to music, videos, and calls.
OS and Apps
The F5 youth runs on Android 7.1 Nougat with ColorOS 3.2 as the skin on top. The UI is simple and clean. There is no app drawer by default, and all applications are already seen in the main display. The icons are simple yet pleasant to the eyes. The style of ColorOS 3.2 has a significant visual similarity to iOS.
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 02 23 56 26 81
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 09 02 19 08 57
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 09 02 19 03 45
Pre-installed applications include the Phone Manager that optimizes the phone by clearing cache and excess files, standard Google applications, Facebook, and WPS Office, which is an open-source app for opening documents, spreadsheets, and PDF files. Out of the 32GB of internal storage, there is 22.1GB initial storage available on the device.
Camera
Now, let’s look at one of the main features of this device. For the rear camera, it is equipped with a 13MP f/2.2 Auto-focus rear camera with LED flash. It has features like time-lapse, video, photo, beauty, panorama, and expert mode. Under the photo mode, users can enable HDR, filters, and watermarks. In expert mode, there is a button that enables Ultra HD mode. The rear camera’s resolution may be lower than the F5, but it definitely delivers.
The image quality is sharp and the color reproduction is true-to-life, which is very good for people who take smartphone photography seriously. It also has good dynamic range. Under low-light conditions, the results are surprisingly good and detailed. Auto-focusing subjects is easy and accurate, which is very convenient.
-
- IMG20170101224146 scaled
-
- IMG20170101220615 scaled
-
- IMG20170101220459 scaled
-
- IMG20170101215448 scaled
-
- IMG20170101214820 scaled
-
- IMG20170101212323 scaled
-
- IMG20170101211650 scaled
-
- IMG20170101203947 scaled
-
- IMG20170101203021 scaled
-
- IMG20170101202556 scaled
-
- IMG20170101200122 scaled
-
- IMG20170101195914 scaled
The front camera sports a 16MP f/2.0 sensors with AI Beautification technology. This technology does not use the standard facial recognition for beautifying the subject. It can detect up to more than 200 facial points in the subject such as the eyes, nose, ears, lips, etc.
As for the front cam’s features, it has modes like time-lapse, video, photo, beauty, and panorama. The beauty mode has 6 levels of effect, in which users can choose if they want to have a slightly smooth face, or if they want to have an almost silky smooth one when taking a selfie. It also has a depth effect where it creates an artificial bokeh effect on your selfie shots.
The images that we took have very good quality, especially in low light. They are vibrant and color accurate. We also didn’t have focus problems when shooting against the light as it adjusts to the right focus, even without tapping the screen.
-
- IMG20170101215718 scaled
-
- IMG20170101215734 scaled
-
- IMG20171203190531 scaled
-
- IMG20171203190817 scaled
As for the video, the F5 Youth can shoot up to 1080p resolution at 30fps. The video quality is definitely good and very similar to the quality of the stills. There is however a white balance issue that is quite common to budget phones that slightly appears in this phone from time to time. The color shifts a bit when there is a change of subject or scene but this is a very minor flaw that is worth mentioning.
Performance
The device has 3GB RAM and is powered by a MediaTek MT6763T octa-core processor, or more commonly known as the Helio P23, paired with an ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU. Navigation on the smartphone is both smooth and responsive. The fingerprint scanner and facial ID features are snappy and responsive. Unlike the former, we still have to press the power button first before the smartphone can use the face ID feature to unlock the device.
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 02 23 56 12 92
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 03 00 37 38 23
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 03 01 47 21 21
Here are the benchmark scores we got.
- Antutu – 68,772
- PC Mark – 3,201 (Work 2.0)
- 3D Mark – 67 (Slingshot Extreme 1.0)
Playing light to heavy graphics games did not cause any problems on the device. From simple games like Candy Crush Saga to slightly heavier ones like Arena of Valor, the performance was smooth even at high settings. As for games like Asphalt 8, the device can run them even at the highest settings, but it cannot attain a full 60 fps. Longer playing time in one session could lead to heating but it is still tolerable in the hands.
Call Quality and Connectivity
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 09 03 25 05 06
-
- Screenshot 2017 12 02 23 58 09 52
Call quality is loud and clear due to its noise-canceling microphone. We did not have any troubles with using mobile data as it provided fast and uninterrupted connection. Also, navigation in GPS is quite accurate, having tested it on Waze, Uber, and Google Maps.
Battery Life
The F5 Youth has a 3,200mAh battery which is a decent capacity for most hi-res smartphones.
In the PCMark battery test, the device lasted for 9 hours and 42 minutes with 18% battery left to spare, which could last for roughly 2 hours more. In real-world usage, the device can easily last for a day in one single charge. From 0-100 percent, the charging time of the device is under 3 hours.
Conclusion
The OPPO F5 Youth is basically a more affordable version of the F5. It has almost the same specifications except for the display screen type, RAM capacity, rear camera resolution, front camera resolution, and a little difference in physical appearance.
OPPO has done a great job in implementing their AI beautification technology and integrating a face unlock feature in the device. Aside from that, both rear and front cameras are very good, especially in low light. The overall performance is good, and the battery life is excellent. The OPPO F5 Youth is definitely a new contender for other mid-rangers out there in the market.
The OPPO F5 Youth is priced at Php13,990. It’s Php2k cheaper than the F5. It is now available in OPPO stores nationwide.
The Pros:
- 18:9 screen aspect ratio
- Great gaming performance
- Great camera low-light performance
- Dual-SIM card slot with dedicated SD card slot
- Face Unlock feature
- Excellent battery life
The Cons:
- Only 32GB of internal storage
- Warms up easily when playing games
