Oppo F11 Arrives in Malaysia for RM1,099 with 48MP Camera & 128GB Storage

Oppo has always been quite focused on its range of mid-range smartphones, and the Chinese company’s latest phone from the segment, the Oppo F11, has just been launched in Malaysia. Basically, the F11 is largely similar to the F11 Pro, though it loses a couple of features to make it a more affordable device.

But are those sacrifices worth it? Let’s find out if the F11 is worth considering over the sleeker F11 Pro.

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One of the biggest differences between the F11 and F11 Pro is the screen design. Unlike the Pro model, the F11 has a “Waterdrop” notch at the top of the display. While it doesn’t look quite as impressive as the F11 Pro’s notch-less screen, it is (at the very least) a minimal notch.

Thing is, the F11’s display had to have a notch to house the front-facing camera; it doesn’t have the F11 Pro’s motorised camera module. However, it’s still the same 16MP selfie shooter, so it’s not like you’re getting an inferior camera system.

As for the screen quality itself, it’s quite good. The 6.5-inch 1080p IPS display can get really bright, it has good viewing angles, and really, most consumers in this price segment will be happy with this screen.

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On the back, the F11 still has the same 48MP + 5MP dual camera system, and it’s a surprisingly robust camera system. Although there’s a noticeable pause in between shots, the camera interface as a whole feels very responsive. It can lock in focus pretty quickly too.

Image quality, on the other hand, is also quite decent. At least, that’s the case when shooting under ideal lighting. Detail preservation is good, the dynamic range isn’t all that bad, and for a mid-range smartphone, it has really good camera performance. It’ll be interesting to see how its camera compares to the Redmi Note 7, which is one of its biggest competitions.

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Storage and RAM capacities of the F11 are also different from the F11 Pro. Instead of the Pro’s 6GB RAM, the standard F11 only gets 4GB of RAM. However, it also has double the amount of expandable storage at 128GB; the F11 Pro comes with only 64GB of storage.

Beyond these differences, the F11 and F11 Pro are essentially the same device. For one, the F11 is still powered by a MediaTek Helio P70 chipset, which seems to be quite capable. It’s largely similar to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 in terms of performance, and as far as I can tell, the phone feels fast and responsive.

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That being said, I’m still not a fan of Oppo’s software experience. The F11 runs on ColorOS 6.0, and it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing version of Android. The navigation keys are much too big, the icons don’t look particularly modern, and the notification shade’s tile design wastes a lot of space.

At the very least, ColorOS 6.0 is functional. It feels lightweight, it’s quite intuitive to navigate around, and if you’ve used an Android smartphone before, I reckon it won’t be all that hard to adapt to the F11’s software experience.

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When it comes to design, I quite dig the looks of the F11’s rear panel with its gradient-like finish. Even though the phone is mostly made out of plastic, it doesn’t feel plasticky. The plastic frame has a nice, matte finish, and the phone feels well put together.

Sporting a large 4,000mAh battery, the F11 also has a nice heft to it. It’s a very generous battery capacity, so chances are, it should be able to deliver good, if not great battery life. Unfortunately, the phone charges via a microUSB port – no Type-C connection here.

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The Oppo F11 will be available for purchase in Malaysia this coming Friday on 19 April. Interestingly, if you purchase the phone on Shopee on that day, you can get it for only RM999. That’s a pretty good deal, especially for a phone with 128GB of storage.

Those who are looking to get a new mid-range smartphone should give the F11 a consideration or two. But the same can be said of the Redmi Note 7 too, which is even more affordable. Until I can put the F11 through its paces in a full review, it’s tough to compare it against the Redmi Note 7.