OPPO Neo 5 review: Low on specifications but not on performance

Design

The removable rear panel is glossy plastic but looks quite premium

OPPO Neo 5 is designed quite well. We were provided with the sapphire blue variant, which looked very subtle and feels durable in hands. The rear is a glossy plastic, has the 8 MP camera with LED flash and a speaker grill at bottom. It is a fingerprint magnet but unlike various other budget offerings, it does not feel cheap. The compact size makes Neo 5 a perfect smartphone for one hand usage.

OPPO said that the interior of the Neo 5 is designed with a double-layer metallic structure for a more compact, thin and a firm design. We found it quite true as the smartphone feels very durable and solid in hands.

The three touch capacitive buttons rests at the bottom of 4.5 inch display

The 4.5 inch screen has thin bezels on left and right, expect at the bottom, which houses the capacitive buttons. The plastic blue strip that runs around the phone looks good and holds the phone firmly. The left edge ahs the power button, volume rockers are located at right, 3.5 mm headphone rests at top and the micro USB charging port is positioned at the bottom.

The plastic used in the construction is of good quality and you will not feel that you are carrying a sub 10k smartphone. Overall, we liked the look and feel of OPPO Neo 5; it’s a well crafted smartphone that does not burn a hole in your pocket.

Display

The 4.5 inch display delivers a low pixel count of 220 ppi

The display on Neo 5 is not a head turner. The time when smartphone makers are providing HD and even full HD in this price bracket, OPPO has opted for a meagre 480x854 resolution resulting in 220 pixels per inch (ppi). The pixel counts effects the user experience as texts, images, icons and videos does not look crisp and you can see the individual pixels on a closer look. There is a color shift when the display is tilted, which affects the viewing angles.

We also checked the display brightness through our light meter and OPPO Neo 5 delivered a rating of 322 Lux. It’s not very good but signifies the fact that display was usable in out-door conditions.

Also Read: Moto E 3G vs Redmi 2: The ultimate comparison between the two best budget smartphones of 2015 

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Camera

OPPO Neo 5 incorporates Pure Image Engine, which utilizes new PI 2.0+ technology and according to OPPO is the brain of the camera.  The unique PI 2.0+ technology brings some interesting camera features to the OPPO Neo 5.

Camera modes in OPPO Neo 5

The camera has HDR, Panorama, Audio photo- which lets you record an audio clip with the shot you are tasking, GIF, Beautify and Double exposure-which shoot twice and automatically overlay pictures into one single image to create a blurry visual effect. The front camera has a selfie mode that integrates Beautify Mode 3.0, which has various effects to enhance the selfies you click.

The 8 MP rear camera with LED flash

The rear camera delivers an acceptable performance. There is no noticeable shutter lag, the camera takes instant shots. The pictures taken in day-light have good details however, colors seems a bit washed out. We also tested the camera in low-light conditions and the images taken showed a considerable noise. If you are in complete darkness, the flash light will be quite helpful as it is very bright and captures a detailed shot of the subject in focus.

Performance

Powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 CPU, the smartphone is able to handle all possible tasks. We did not encounter any significant problem during our usage time with the smartphone. There is 1 GB RAM for multitasking, which also feels scanty if we see the competition, however, Neo 5 handled multiple applications simultaneously with an ease. You can browse, play games, use camera simultaneously on the smartphone.

OPPO Neo 5 has a 2000 mAh non-removable battery

Battery: The 2000 mAh battery unit survived for 4 hours 50 minutes in our video playback test, which is at par with other smartphones in the price bracket. During regular usage, OPPO Neo 5 lasted for 9 hours a day that includes browsing, 10 to 15 calls, texting, music playback, camera and a bit of gaming.

Call quality was not an issue on the smartphone. In terms of memory, Neo 5 has 8 GB internal storage, which can be expanded up-to 32 GB via micro SD card. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Dual SIM (micro and nano) 3G. Sadly, the smartphone does not support 4G LTE.