OPPO N1 32GB

We usually begin our reviews by describing the design and build of the devices in hand, but in the case of the N1, it’s important to know first what you’re dealing with. You see, the Oppo N1 boasts quite a few firsts and is loaded with some special features… notable enough for us to deviate from the norm and dwell first upon its highlights. The first on the list is the 13-megapixel camera which swivels 206 degrees to double up as both a primary shooter as well as a front camera for selfies and video calls.

We may not believe in judging a book by its cover, but Oppo insists on leaving a lasting first impression. And first impressions start from the packaging. The N1 comes inside a lovely plastic box, with contents packed neatly inside.

The big-screen experience was a phrase usually reserved for the cinema, but courtesy the busy lives we lead these days, it’d be a dream come true if we could just carry our own personal cinemas with us wherever we go. The N1 helps. Its 5.9-inch display puts it firmly into phablet territory, and to its credit, does a good enough job to make sure you don’t miss the cinema much.

Oxford Dictionaries conferred the ‘word of the year 2013’ title to ’selfie’, and while capturing and sharing selfies has taken off in a big way, one recent event brought them into the limelight like never before. You guessed it, we’re referring to Ellen DeGeneres’ record-breaking shot at the Oscars. Now that one was taken with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but we reckon the Oppo N1 would’ve been a better choice (if she had a say in the matter that is). In the past, front shooters used to be utilitarian contraptions that were there for the primary purpose of enabling video calls, but thanks to the selfie phenomenon, manufacturers have started giving them more attention. Indian brands like Micromax and Spice have been leading the way in this regard, but a couple that recently caught our attention were the Karbonn Titanium X that sported an LED flash for its front shooter, and the Gionee Elife E7 with its 8-megapixel front cam that boasts autofocus. The Oppo N1 trumps all of them because effectively, it offers a 13-megapixel snapper complete with autofocus and a dual-LED flash. Needless to say, if you’re a selfie fanatic, there’s nothing better than the N1 right now. Moreover, the smartphone also has a nifty photo editing feature that automatically detects faces and lets you apply various makeup effects – think of this as the beauty shot feature taken to a whole new level. Talking about selfies, it’s also worth noting that you can enable a setting that launches into the camera mode straight from standby as soon as you rotate the shooter from its default position to face the front.

The software department is where things get quite interesting. We’ve spoken about feature spam when we reviewed the Lenovo Vibe Z, and the Oppo N1 also has a fair share, placing heavy emphasis on gestures and special actions – all of which can be customised by the user as per his or her own whims.

The N1’s chariot is pulled along by four horses (read cores), offered by Snapdragon’s 600 SoC. They run at 1.7GHz and are helped along by 2GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 600 is an odd choice for this device considering that the more compelling Snapdragon 800 chip has been out there for quite a bit, and we’d definitely have preferred the latter. That said, the N1 works quite smoothly, and doesn’t display any signs of lag despite the heavy UI customisations and range of software tricks on offer. Multitasking is a breeze and even heavy games run without the device breaking into a sweat.