Chinese OEMs like Oppo are designing phones with insanely small bezels

Because not everyone can get their hands on flexible OLED displays, Chinese smartphone makers like Oppo are forced to get creative when it comes to their smartphone designs. The latest trend they seem to be focusing on are bezels. Before you get ahead of yourself, we’re not talking about bezels on the the top and bottom — we’re talking about side bezels.

Oppo is gearing up to announce a new smartphone and to prepare for its launch, it appears they’ve been seeding their own leaks to hype it up a bit. The phone — which still remains nameless — was “leaked” to Chinese tech outlets, and shows a phone running Oppo’s Color OS (which, we should add, is in desperate need of an overhaul) with stupid small bezels along the sides. According to an Oppo patent, the manufacturer is further adding to the illusion of a completely edge-to-edge display by using light refraction, similar to something we saw on the Sharp Aquos Crystal and the Moto 360’s displays.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a device with stupid small side bezels. There was also the Meizu MX4 or last year’s Sharp AQUOS Crystal which manged to also eliminate the top bezel for a phone that looked more upside down than anything. Last week, Gizmochina also uncovered the LeTV X900, another Chinese smartphone with virtually non-existent side bezels and uses a USB Type-C connector.

We’ll have to admit, side bezels have never been a pain-point for us when it comes to smartphone design. Super thick bottom bezels (with black logo bars), really slick phones that slip out of your hand, or rear facing speakers — now those are a few things that really grind our gears. While having a phone with super small side bezels wont actually make it easier to hold or add any functionality in any way (kind of like the curved display on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge), it sure does look pretty.

[Engadget Chinese | GSMArena]

Oppo could be working on a smart watch that takes just 5 minutes to charge [LEAK]

One of the biggest drawbacks of a modern smart watch is that they can’t quite live up to the battery expectations we demand. That’s why Pebble and their week-long battery is a big deal, and why people were likely disgusted at the Apple Watch’s 18-hour rating.

Oppo could change that with the smart watch they’re rumored to be working on. The company is supposedly making a smart watch that can go from 0 to 100% in just 5 minutes of charging. It might not make the battery last as long as we’d like, but to be able to top up in just 5 minutes gives us a lot more flexibility in when and how we choose to charge the thing.

The charging time will be made possible thanks to the company’s next-generation VOOC charger, a solution used for turbo charging their latest smartphones. Since smart watches naturally have much smaller batteries than smartphones then it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they can get such speedy charge times.

As much as we’re hoping this rumor is true, it is still just a rumor. For what it’s worth, we know OnePlus —  a very close ally of Oppo’s — is at least thinking about the possibility of introducing a smart watch. The company sent consumer surveys asking folks what they think about wearables. OnePlus isn’t Oppo, of course, but the two share design and engineering facilities so it’s possible they could be bouncing ideas off each other.

[via Twitter]

 

Here’s what the Oppo R7 will be like when the company unveils it next month

Oppo has a new champion arriving next month, and with as many leaks as we’ve seen going around we’d almost say there’s no reason for them to wait that long. It’s the Oppo R7, and it looks quite impressive.

From everything we’ve heard so far, the Oppo R7 will be one of the thinnest smartphones on the planet, if not outright claiming the title. It’ll do so with a form factor that’s just 4.85mm thin. To top that off the achievement won’t even require Oppo using a protruding camera lens.

One thing we’ve heard that will be a bit of a bummer is that the device’s battery capacity will have to take a hit as a result of its thinness, though Oppo’s VOOC fast charging technology should help alleviate some of the frustrations that come as a result. We’re hearing it’ll take just 5 minutes of charging to get 2 hours of talk time, and that the battery can be charged from 0% to 75% in just half an hour.

Another interesting point about the device’s design is the glass slathered over the front. Oppo will apparently use “2.5D” curved glass to make for a nice premium look, feel and effect. To be quite honest it all makes for a smartphone that looks quite “iPhone-ish,” but Samsung was able to borrow some design elements from Apple’s latest and greatest and they got by just fine.

Enough about the design — what about the specs? Prior rumors have put the Oppo R7’s specs in this rough ballpark:

• 4.7-inch 1080p display


• 20.7-megapixel rear camera


• Octa-core MediaTek processor


• 2000mAh battery

Doesn’t sound too bad on the surface, though we’ll obviously need more than just good numbers and good looks to see if it’ll be worth your attention come next month.

OPPO reveals the R7 Plus alongside the R7

OPPO has just revealed that their upcoming R7 smartphone will debut with a larger brother, the R7 Plus. The Oppo R7 Plus features the same full metal unibody design as found on the R7 and includes the same 2.5D glass with near edge-to-edge display. The Oppo R7 Plus will also sport on-screen keys, something never seen before in OPPO smartphones and the R7 Plus comes equipped with a rear fingerprint reader, which will most likely unlock the phone in the same manner as the Oppo N3.

And that’s all we know for now Android fans. The OPPO R7 Plus came as a complete surprise, but has this Android fan extremely excited. I absolutely love OPPO hardware, but capacitive physical buttons have always been one of my pet peeves with the company’s offerings in the past.

The OPPO R7 and R7 Plus are set to debut on May 20th in Beijing and we’ll be there for the full reveal. What do you think of OPPO’s latest? Let us know in the comments.

Oppo R7 and Oppo R7 Plus officially unveiled with full metal unibody design

Oppo sat a bunch of us tech journos down in a nice Beijing hall earlier today and revealed what you see above — it’s the Oppo R7 and Oppo R7 Plus. These are perhaps the most compelling smartphones we’ve seen from Oppo yet as they’ve gone great lengths to ensure the devices’ premium status.

One of the ways they did that was by making them full metal unibody designs, which isn’t a feat unique to them but certainly an important distinction if they want major attention in 2015. Oppo is also using 2.5D curved glass to make for a natural curve at the edges of the device.

So, what about the specs themselves? Here’s what you can expect from the base Oppo R7:

• 5-inch AMOLED 1080p display


• 1.5GHz 8-core Qualcomm chipset (MSM8939)


• 2,320mAh battery with VOOC fast charging (non-removable)


• 3GB of RAM


• 16GB of internal storage


• 13 megapixel rear camera, 8 megapixel front camera

The Plus variant shares much of the same specs, though the display size is bumped to 6 inches and there’s a bigger 4,100mAh battery inside. You’ll also get a bump in base storage to 32GB by opting for the bigger model.

We should also note that while the cameras enjoy the same megapixel count, the R7 uses a 3M2 sensor while the R7 Plus uses Sony’s IMX278 and has the added benefit of getting laser-assisted autofocus. We’re not sure if that’ll make a huge difference in terms of picture quality but we’ll certainly be looking to find out.

One other final difference worth noting is that the R7 launches with KitKat while the R7 Plus will come with Lollipop from the go. There shouldn’t be much reason to worry, though, as Oppo promises a full upgrade to Lollipop for the base R7 model down the line.

Unfortunately Oppo didn’t have much in the way of pricing and availability at the ready, but if they’re hoping to get this thing into the public’s eye before the summer smartphone wars heat up then we’re sure it won’t be long. Stay tuned for our continued coverage of the launch of the Oppo R7 live from Beijing, including hands-on and first impressions!

Latest Oppo R7 details reveal full metal unibody design

We knew the Oppo R7 would have a fair bit of metal in its skeletal makeup, but new details reveal that this thing is metallic all around. The Oppo R7 will have a metal unibody design, according to recent information that has come to light. Oppo will tout the fact that the device has been put through a whopping 48 finishing processes to make for a nice metallic look and feel.

The device will also still have some slight curvature to it, we’re told. It’ll improve looks, naturally, but should also make it a lot more comfortable to hold in the hand. Oppo isn’t the first company to accomplish this, but we’re appreciative of it nevertheless.

Other known specs and features of the Oppo R7 are a 4.7-inch 1080p display, 20.7-megapixel rear camera, Octa-core MediaTek processor, 2000mAh battery with VOOC fast charging, “2.5D” curved glass and that it’ll be just 4.85mm thin. All is scheduled to be told at some point later this month.

OPPO officially announces Neo 5 (2015) and Neo 5s

Amidst all the Apple news and mayhem, Chinese manufacturer OPPO is announcing a pair of new handsets: the OPPO Neo 5 (2015) and the Neo 5s. Both of these devices are a follow up to last year’s Neo 5 (2014) and feature the same thin, “double-layer” metallic body with a laminated back cover.

Specs are largely the same, with the regular Neo 5 sporting a MediaTek MT6582 processor with support for a 32GB micro SD card, while the 5s has a snappier 64-bit Qualcomm S410 SoC and supports up to a 128GB micro SD. Here’s the quick spec sheet:

OPPO Neo 5 (2015) and 5s

• 4.5-inch 854×480 resolution IPS display


• 8MP camera f/2.2 (Pure Image 2.0+)


• 8GB internal storage / 1GB RAM


• Micro SD card slot


• 2,000mAh


• Dual SIM


• 131.9mm x 65.5mm x 8mm and 135g


• Android 4.4.2 KitKat with ColorOS v2.0.1

OPPO says their software features some kind of “eye protection” system which filters out blue light to create a warmer, more soothing screen for added health benefits. ColorOS also has a variety of gestures like a 3-finger swipe for taking screen shots or others to wake up or quickly launch the camera.

Somehow left out of the press release was pricing or an actual launch date, but we expect both these models to be affordably priced. The OPPO Neo 5 (2015) and Neo 5s will be available in either crystal white or sapphire blue colors when they launch later this year.