Chinese device maker Oppo launched its new smartphone, N1 Mini, in the Indian market, shortly after its Asian presentation. N1 Mini is the dense variant of Oppo N1, the first phone that the company had launched in India.
Just like N1, the mini variation of the phone also comes with a revolving camera lens. However, along with the screen size, the company has also cut corners when it comes to hardware stipulation. We got a chance to experience N1 mini at the launch event and here are our first impressions of the phone…
Oppo N1 Mini may have a smaller form factor compared to Oppo N1, but it is by no means a compact device. Other than the smaller foot print, the phone looks just like Oppo N1.
In fact, Oppo N1 Mini looks as good as its bigger sibling and exude a premium feel. The phone looks sleek. But at 151gram, it is not the lightest or slimmest phone around.
Oppo N1 Mini sports a brushed steel casing that wraps the entire edge of the body, while the front and back panels, in plastic, feature a matte finish.
The front of the phone is conquered by its 5-inch 720p screen. Compared to N1’s full-HD display, N1 Mini’s HD display is not as crisp and sharp. Having said that, it offers good viewing angles and looks bright and vivid.
The black bezel surrounding the display is thin on the sides, making the screen look bigger than it actually is. The swivel camera earpiece is placed above the display, while the three capacitive touch navigation buttons sit below it. The right edge features the volume rocker key and the sim tray while the left one sports the power key.
The 3.5mm headset jack, micro-USB port and the speaker grill sit at the bottom edge of the phone. The sound output through the speaker was loud and clear.
The key highlight of Oppo N1 Mini is its swivel camera (13MP) features a singe-LED flash and can be easily rotated by 206 degrees. The camera features a Sony sensor with a 6-piece lens arrangement and an f/2.0 aperture. The camera’s Ultra HD mode is capable of capturing 24MP photographs.
The swivel camera eliminates the need for a separate front-facing camera and allows you to take high-quality selfies. We tried clicking a few pictures and found the image quality to be very good, even indoors. The level of detail, contrast and brightness were optimum and colour reproduction accurate. We’ll have more details covered in our full review later.
Oppo also offers the O-Click accessory with the phone that can be used to remotely control certain functions such as taking pictures or locating the phone, after pairing it over Bluetooth.
Oppo N1 Mini is powered by a 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 2GB RAM. We did not encounter any lags or stutter while navigating the phone’s menu, launching apps, or tinkering with the settings.
The phone runs a highly customized build of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean which it calls Color OS, and we found the UI to be pleasant looking. The company is currently testing the Android 4.4-based build and plans to release it in the near future.
The phone lacks external storage options, which is disappointing given its price and the rest of the features. It comes with a 2140mAh battery.
At a price of Rs 26,990, we feel Oppo N1 Mini is over-priced, but we will still need to take it through the paces before giving a final verdict.
