Oppo Find 5 Review: A Phone Of Firsts From A Brand To Watch

Exterior: Buttons And Display

Look And Feel

If we were to describe the Find 5's external hardware with one word, we'd choose sturdy. Forget those preconceptions about Chinese quality; this is one the most well-built devices we've come across, offering an unequivocally premium look and feel that is often missing in high-end Android phones.

With the obvious exception of the front, which is mostly monopolized by the five-inch display, the phone's exterior is constructed from a matte finish thermoplastic polymer that is supported by a stainless steel frame. The Find 5's chassis offers an understated aesthetic that includes chamfered edges, a subtly curved rear and front chin, discrete company branding, and a very slim 3.5 mm front bezel that gives the impression of a borderless display when the screen is off.

Whilst the presence of a large display may raise concerns about this phone being unwieldy, the Find 5’s curved back, tactile materials, and relatively compact dimensions (specifically the 8.9 mm thickness) allows it to maintain a comfortable form factor that feels at home in the hand and in the pocket. In fact, the Find 5’s only significant portability concern is its considerable 165 g weight, which is 22 g more than the aluminum HTC One and 35 g heavier than the polycarbonate Samsung Galaxy S4. While this could be an issue for users who prioritize the weight of their smartphones, the Find 5’s substantial heft contributes to its premium feel. The tradeoff is worthwhile for the device’s overall sturdiness and superb build quality.

Buttons And Ports

With regards to the physical button layout, Oppo describes the Find 5 as having "Finger-Friendly Design". This is always going to be a highly subjective topic, and ultimately the issue is fairly minor, but we're not convinced that putting the power and volume buttons on opposite sides of the device was the best choice. Alternatively, having all three buttons on one side or the other allows them to be manipulated by one finger instead of two.

The Find 5’s power button is located towards the upper left-hand side, right below the phone’s microSIM card port.

The volume buttons occupy the upper right-hand side of the handset.

Up top, you find a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack towards the left and a pinhole microphone in the right-center. Meanwhile, the bottom of the Find 5 houses a microUSB port for charging and connecting to a PC, along with a pinhole microphone.

Around back, you find the unit’s 13 MP rear-facing camera with its dual-LED flash toward the top, and a stereo speaker at the bottom.

Although it's dominated by that massive display, the front of the Find 5 has three capacitive navigation buttons (menu, home, and back) below the screen, along with a 1.9 MP front-facing camera, ambient light sensor, and speaker above the screen. As for the display itself, Oppo evidently selected a Sharp IPS panel, which offers excellent viewing angles, crisp image quality, and good outdoor visibility. The display features a native resolution of 1920x1080, which translates to a pixel density of 441 ppi, and is capable of displaying 16 million colors. We'll circle back to the display in a few pages when we compare its performance to other previous- and current-gen smartphones.