OPPO Find 7a Review & ColorOS 2.0.0.i Beta (KitKat) Overview

4:00 AM find 7a , oppo , review , smartphone review 1 Comments

     If you haven't already read my review of the OPPO Find 7, I suggest that you head there as this review won't be as throughout as that one since they are almost a carbon copy of each other in most parts. This review will focus on the differences that the Find 7a has over the Find 7 as well as the ColorOS 2.0 beta which is currently running on Android 4.4 KitKat available for Find 7/7a owners to flash. Without further ado, let's get started.



WHAT'S IN THE BOX?



REVIEW

     If you look at specifications list above, you will notice that the Find 7a has only a few alterations compared to its QHD counterpart. So let's go through the list and tell you what these differences will make to the entire experience. Looking at the basic parameters on the list, the distinctions between the Find 7 and Find 7a is only the weight by 3grams, a slightly underclocked Snapdragon 801 (AB), 1GB less RAM, 16GB less internal storage, 200mAh less battery capacity, and a FHD display instead of a QHD display. That's pretty much the only differences between the two phones.

     So the weight difference is negligible, so let's focus on the performance difference instead. The only scientific method that I know of is to use Antutu to benchmark both phones, and here are the results.


      So judging from Antutu, the slightly lesser RAM and processing power only dropped the phone by about 3.2k in terms of benchmark scores. Not that drastic of a difference if we are speaking strictly in numbers. Usage experience wise, the only major difference that I perceive during usage occurs only when I bring up the Recent Apps menu. The Find 7 would have about 1GB of RAM free while the Find 7a would constantly be stuck between only 200MB to 300MB free. This makes the firmware on the Find 7a to very aggressively close apps after switching away from apps compared to using the Find 7. With that in mind, there are no signs of any slow downs or lagginess during normal usage situations.

     Battery life wise, while still using ColorOS v1.2, I noticed that even though with a lower resolution (FHD) display, the 200mAh difference in terms of battery capacity seems have taken a huge hit on the battery life. While the Find 7 is able to perform at about 4 hours screen-on, the Find 7a is only able to perform at about 5 hours despite the resolution downgrade. However, all is well, as I will get into detail in the latter part of this post when I talk about ColorOS 2.0.

     That is pretty much it in terms of differences that I can think of. Again, do read the full review of the OPPO Find 7 for the full overview of the phone. We are done talking about the comparison, so let's move on to the second part of this review/overview, ColorOS 2.0 running on KitKat!


     My inner Android enthusiast wants to start a long rant post about how OPPO is out of their mind to be even thinking of launching products in Android 4.4 KitKat when the era of Lollipop is dawning upon us, especially if it's a BETA. However, I realize that nobody wants to read a long rant about software and is much interested in whether said software had right any of their previous wrongs. So without further ado, let's get started.

     If you don't already know, the most important change in between ColorOS v1.2 and v2.0 is obviously the fact that it has advanced in Android versions from 4.3 to 4.4.2. However, because ColorOS is a manufacturer skin at the end of the day, some distinctions between Jellybean to KitKat are not seen since OPPO has their own set of animations and what not. Let's take a look at the homescreen, which OPPO has done quite some changes. Changes include less spacing in between rows of apps, display of app names in the dock and general UI changes like the centered clock and statusbar font decrease.

     One of the most drastic change in this update is the removal of the app drawer, which in my opinion, is just a terrible decision all around. From above, you can still see that  my homescreen is still pretty tidy despite all the apps being scattered on it, that is only because I took the time to arrange it into folders and the general lack of apps installed on my end. As if the removal of the app drawer isn't enough, OPPO has also failed to include functions like multi-select, individual folder config, and even the basic sort by name function, which could had make the entire experience a tad better for users. Of course, with all that said, this can be easily solved by just installing any launcher available in the Google Play Store.


     Moving on, OPPO has also taken the initiative to redesign their task manager which looks (better?) now. Again, beauty in the eye of the beholder so judge for yourself. In the process of redesign, OPPO seems to have taken out another feature which enabled users to lock their important apps in the Recents menu. Weird decision, but I have never used it personally so just a little heads up for those who actually used it. OPPO has also redesigned their gesture board in the meanwhile. Finally, a change that actually makes sense! The new gesture board is called up by swiping up from the bottom of the screen; much more intuitive than swiping the top left corner of the screen, which more often than not, is an accidental swipe which was intended to bring down the quick settings/notifications screen instead. The gesture board will also remember your most used built-in or custom gestures on the top row for easy access.


     Next up, OPPO has included a built-in screenshot editor in ColorOS 2.0. Instead of the usual toast you get in the notification bar that indicates that a screenshot is taken, when expanded upon, there will be an option for users to perform basic edits on the screenshot like cropping and simple scribbles. Of course, if users do not have such a need, they can just swipe away the notification as usual. There's also the new "swipe up to unlock" lockscreen which features new animations and added quick access shortcuts to the dialer and messaging apps. The bottom of the lockscreen will also glow blue (like the Skyline notification light) when users are charging the phone using the VOOC charger. Some default apps got a slight overhaul, for example the Photos app where we see a colour scheme change from dark to white, or the music app which added a new feature which functions like Shazam to let users identify songs via sound recognition.


     We finally come to the part where I am most impressed by in this update. Overall battery performance on the Find 7a has improve drastically in terms of stand-by and screen-on performance. Allowing the phone to be on stand-by for 8 hours only consumes about 2% of battery. Very big improvement from the previous 5% pre-update. Screen-on performance wise, the Find 7a screen-on performance improves from 5 hours to about 7 hours after the update. Very impressive screen-on time for a phone in my honest opinion. I suppose this should be the highlight of the entire update but there is still a new feature I have yet to elaborate on. Apparently, there's a new "Super Power Saving" mode which quite literally turns your smartphone into a "dumbphone" by leaving only core functions like calling and messaging available. Quite frankly I wasn't interested in trying it because the reason I got a smartphone is to use it as it is, not dumb down all the features and turn it into a Nokia 3310. Still, kudos to OPPO for including a feature which I think some users have taken quite an interest in.

CONCLUSION

     The OPPO Find 7a, being a lesser variant of the QHD Find 7, has it own set of appeals. If you aren't swayed by the appeal of having a QHD display (as demonstrated in my review of the OPPO Find 7), the Find 7a is a pretty solid choice given it's basically a carbon copy of the phone experience wise. Also, with a price tag of MYR 1598.00, MYR 300 less than the Find 7, the Find 7a presents itself as a solid choice in terms of value. In addition, with the release of the 4.4 ColorOS 2.0 update, the Find 7a has such amazing battery life that I'm keen on giving it an Editor's Choice award; the only hurdle stopping me is the fact that the update is currently not available via OTA and users will have to flash it using the old school way (which you can find the firmware here and a usable guide here.) With all that said, the OPPO Find 7a is a solid choice with its value proposition as it stands.