OPPO F7: The Queen of Selfies…the Muse of Business Inspiration…

By Steve Biko Wafula / July 4, 2018

Cheating on Blackberry

Customers don’t just want another cool product or service, they want to have an experience worth sharing.

For me, the user experience is what drives me to buy any product or service because life is short, why not have fun as one hustles to make ends meet?

I bought my first blackberry phone in 2007 and I have never looked back nor have I been tempted to look at another phone till now. Even the iPhone craze never shook me. Now am all restless, wondering what has happened to my faithfulness and loyalty to one brand that has shown me what a beautiful experience it is to have them.

Blackberries are the Mercedes Benz of a phone. Durable, reliable, secure…oh yes, the most secure phones on the planet and they have the QWERTY keyboard. This is just an absolute delight.

Mass advertising can help build brands, and the advent of social media, mass marketing has never been more chaotic to the audience but authenticity is what makes brands last, it’s what makes then trend and be bought every day. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.

If people believe that the brand factors in their needs in the development of the products and or service, then we will be loyal and that is why I have been loyal to blackberry until now and I am all sweaty and worried about it.

Cornel West in Breaking Bread says that we have to recognize that there cannot be relationships unless there is a commitment unless there is loyalty unless there is love, patience, persistence. In a brand aspect, this means that the consumer must have that experience with the product or service to be loyal or in the advent of many options, move to another.

OPPO F7; The hybrid of fun and work

Chinese handset manufacturer Oppo launched the F7 in March 2018. It did feel as though it was the summer in the ecosystem of phones. Many had high hopes and expectations given that every manufacturer is trying to outdo the other with a shiny gadget every quarter.

With the launch of the OPPO F7, it felt as though the consumer had finally been understood. Even though it is a mid-range smartphone with a great selfie camera and a bezel-less display, it is the enchantment of phones in its category. If I were to give it a gender, I would name it the … ‘The enchanted princess…’

For the first time in 11 years, I decided to use another phone brand, other than the blackberry and I must say, sometimes its good to go out of the comfort zone and experience what is out there. The experience has been more than beautiful. It has been enchanting.

My work becomes more fun and my creativity went a notch higher. I didn’t think it was possible for a phone to magically infuse one with such positive vibes and enthusiasm with work and social life.

Display & Design:

On the front, the Oppo F7 sports a large 6.23-inch bezel-less display. It bears a resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels. A Corning Gorilla Glass 5 is fitted on the top for protection against accidental damage and scratches. For me, this was key because of my nature of work and numerous travels all the time, meaning, if am a wee bit careless, then the phone breaks and am done but this was impressive and I got to be comfortable. It features a glass and metal build.

Given that my work is sensitive and the need to protect my data crucial, given that identity theft has been on the increase, the fingerprint and facial recognition were critical to me. I loved it. I didn’t need to put crazy passwords that I needed to remember all the time.

The fingerprint scanner is located on the back of the device, making it easy to use the device. The user experience of this particular aspect is spectacular. The device ships in two attractive colors i.e. Sunrise Red the and Silver. I loved the Sunrise red. The color of noon summer. The phone fits perfectly well in your palm, making its use more enjoyable.

Camera:

On the flip side, the Oppo F7 has a 16MP rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It features Phase detection autofocus system for clicking better pictures. For the first time, I was into taking photos and editing them and posting them on my social media platforms. The experience was like none I had, had before with any other phone, even the BB.

The front camera is the main highlight of this phone. Am tempted to think this is the phone that has made some County Governments in Kenya to introduce the #SelfieTax because I tell you, I have been taking so many selfies since I got the phone. It has a 25MP snapper for those who love clicking selfies. The rear camera is capable of recording 4K videos (2160p). This is the queen of selfies.

Performance, Storage & OS:

In terms of performance, the F7 houses a 2GHz MediaTek Helio P60 octa-core processor. Am sure you are wondering what an octa-core processor is. Octa-core processor means processor with 8 cores. This means that it has two sets of quad-core processors, which split various tasks between them according to type. Most of the time, the lower-powered set of cores will be employed. When advanced tasks are needed, however, the faster set of four cores will kick in. To me, this was what sold the phone to me because my work is heavy in data and engagement and I needed a phone that could outperform the Blackberrys that I had and I was sold on this. Others may argue differently, but it felt that way and I loved the experience.

It is coupled with 4GB RAM and Mali graphics processor on board. You can expect seamless multitasking and smooth gaming performance. The gaming experience was wow. In my me time, I opted to use the phone rather than dash home and play on the PS 4. The device offers 64GB inbuilt storage. For additional storage, it can be expanded up to 256GB via card support. The F7 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo OS with custom Color OS 5.0 skin on the top.

Battery & Connectivity:

Powering this device is a 3400 mAh non-removable battery. It offers all the basic connectivity options like 4G LTE, 3G, 2G, WiFi, Bluetooth, and VoLTE. The only thing that I didn’t like about it, is that it takes forever to charge to full capacity. This is annoying because of the nature of my work and it felt as though it kept parking me for a couple of hours to recharge. This is something that OPPO needs to look into.

Dual:

The device functions as a dual SIM smartphone. This was exciting to me because it means I don’t need to carry two phones with me anymore. One is sufficient and can perform the duties of two phones. I was sold on this by the end of the day.

Pricing:

For me, it’s not about price. It’s about necessity, quality, and usefulness. It’s about my experience with the product or service. For me, the product if good, will return the value for money spent on it in the long term and given my line of work in research, analysis, and trading, the price comes as last option in deciding how much to spend. I believe for KES39,900 the #OPPOF7 is well priced and worth every penny of it.

About Steve Biko Wafula

Steve Biko is the CEO OF Soko Directory and the founder of Hidalgo Group of Companies. Steve is currently developing his career in law, finance, entrepreneurship and digital consultancy; and has been implementing consultancy assignments for client organizations comprising of trainings besides capacity building in entrepreneurial matters.He can be reached on: +254 20 510 1124 or Email: [email protected]

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