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There's no denying the Oppo R7 Plus is a decent upper-mid-range phablet. But at £319 it's priced in a very competitive segment of the market, and it has its work cut out for it.
We liked
It looks like an iPhone and feels like one, too. It's solidly built with lots of aluminium and Gorilla Glass, and it genuinely feels more expensive than it is.
The imaging features are particularly noteworthy, with Ultra HD and laser-assisted focus providing the basis for quality photos, from quick snaps to more considered compositions. And there are plenty of little extras – microSD card support, fingerprint reader, 32GB internal memory – that add extra value.
We disliked
The almost slavish degree to which the Oppo R7 Plus copies the iPhone 6 in both its industrial design and user interface is a shame, spoiling what's otherwise a very smooth and clean take on Android.
Compared to the OnePlus 2 – which isn't much more expensive – the less-powerful processor and 3GB of RAM hamper the overall performance, although you'll struggle to notice in everyday use.
Verdict
That the Oppo R7 Plus gives you all this for just over £300 is pretty phenomenal any way you look at it, and if you bought one you certainly wouldn't be sorry. But if I had bought one, and my mate had bought a OnePlus 2, I think I might be a little envious that I didn't have a more current processor and another gigabyte of RAM under the hood.
However, I wouldn't be too deep a shade of green. The screen on the R7 Plus is a half-inch bigger, and the camera has some nifty tricks that really are worthwhile. And, despite the processor and RAM issues, using the phone is an exercise in smooth simplicity. Everything just works, seamlessly.
Whether that's still the case in a year or two's time, when the latest apps and games demand even more of a handset's capabilities, remains to be seen. But right now, to complain would be churlish. The Oppo R7 Plus is a great phablet and tremendous value for money.
