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Introduction
The Oppo R11s is a great example of what has been going on in the mobile industry over the past six months or so. Soon after the original R11 launched in June, widescreen became the next big thing, Face ID took over from fingerprint unlock and the telephoto camera was repurposed for broader use.
A few months back, the Oppo R11 was one of the best midrange phones to get and the R11s is making an even stronger claim on a spot on your wish list. The S model boasts a trendy 6" 18:9 AMOLED screen with slimmed-down bezels, the same trustworthy Snapdragon 660 chipset and a new dual-camera setup with a 20MP secondary imager for low-light scenes, and a larger battery.
Oppo R11 next to the Oppo R11s
The bigger, wider screen is obviously the highlight of the R11s, but Face Unlock is exactly the sort of novelty to draw positive attention to the new Color OS 3.2. It may not be as secure as Apple's, but it sure is faster and, well, affordable.
Oppo R11s key features
- Body: All-metal unibody, Gorilla Glass 5.
- Display: 6.01-inch 1080p 18:9 AMOLED, 401ppi.
- Rear cameras: Dual set-up with a 16MP Sony IMX398 sensor, 1.12 micron pixel size, f/1.7 aperture, PDAF, LED flash, portrait mode with bokeh effects, 4K @ 30fps video. 20MP secondary Sony IMX350 sensor, 1.0 micron pixel size, f/1.7 aperture.
- Front camera: 20MP, f/2.0, portrait mode with bokeh effects, 1080p video
- OS/Software: Android 7.1.1 Nougat; Color OS 3.2.
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660: octa-core Kryo 260 processor (4x 2.2GHz + 4x 1.8GHz), Adreno 512 GPU.
- Memory: 4GB of RAM; 64GB of storage; microSD slot (uses SIM2).
- Battery: 3,200mAh Li-Po (sealed); VOOC Flash charging (5V/4A).
- Connectivity: Dual SIM, 4G, dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/GLONASS, microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader; single bottom-firing speaker
Main shortcomings
- No dust or water ingress protection
- Hybrid card slot limits options
- No 1080p@60fps recording
- Oppo's switch to USB-C ports on its phones is way overdue
Water-tight bodies are no longer a rarity in the midrange and we hoped for the new Oppo to offer at least some degree of ingress protection. Well, not this year, we guess. And apparently the 60fps video recording is still a challenge for Oppo's imaging department, so it's still a no-go on yet another device.
The screen, imaging capabilities and the solid chipset should help the Oppo R11s meet expectations and we guess the cool red paintjob will have no trouble getting attention. So, there we go. The retail box pops open right after the break.
Unboxing the Oppo R11s
The Oppo R11s comes in a well-stuffed box. The proprietary 20W VOOC charger is paired with a VOOC-compatible microUSB cable, there's a nice pair of earbuds and even a transparent soft case.
Oppo R11s retail box • the contents • the soft case • the Oppo R11s with the case
The R11s also comes with a factory-applied screen protector, which we removed trusting Gorilla Glass 5 to keep the screen safe.
Oppo R11s 360-degree spin
The Oppo R11s measures 155.1 x 75.5 x 7.1mm, which is about the same as the Oppo R11 and yet it manages to fit a bigger 6" display and a larger battery. The S models weighs 153g, just 3g more than the regular R11.
Design
Oppo had just a few months to smarten up the R11 and a dramatic re-design was out of the question. The R11s keeps the metal unibody of the regular R11, including the less intrusive antenna lines. But it's the addition of an immersive widescreen that is the real game-changer.
The 18:9 display has become a must-have feature, and the makers are rushing to refresh their lineups. Once exclusive to flagships, widescreen is now at the heart of the new generation of midrange smartphones.
Just like LG and Vivo, Oppo pretty much retrofitted the new screen into the existing metal chassis. And the result looks good - there's more screen now, and less bezel. Oppo has given the red model some special treatment with some beautifully varying shades of the main color that make the chin and the top seem even slimmer than they actually are. They call that design accent Starry sky and even though it's in a way reminiscent of how phones in the past were styled, it gives the phone much-needed character.
The metal unibody has seen some minor tweaks too. The sides are a little sharper, which actually improves the grip and makes the handset look even slimmer. The top and bottom have been subtly carved out, which may not have any impact on usability but sure adds some style points.
The Oppo R11s looks stunning at the rear, the ever subtle antenna lines painted quite nicely. The brushed aluminum is very pleasant to the touch, regardless of the paintjob. The fingerprint scanner has been moved around to the back, it's always-on and impressively fast.
The one thing we are not so happy with is the protruding camera. It's quite a bulge - a double layer made up of the metal rim and the glass covering the lens. If you rest the R11s on a flat surface it will wobble every time you touch the screen. We guess that's the price to pay for the slim profile and stunning looks.
Finally, it's a poorly kept secret that Oppo and OnePlus are owned by the same parent company and their phones share a lot of similarities. Just like the OnePlus 5 and R11 before, the 5T and the R11s share bits and pieces too: similar screens, bodies, cameras, fast charging technology.
Oppo R11s next to the OnePlus 5T
And we just couldn't pass the opportunity to snap those two next to each other. They are by no means competitors, not because they probably come from the same factory but because they are intended for different markets.
Oppo R11s next to the OnePlus 5T
Handling the Oppo R11s feels as good as handling a flagship smartphone. The slim phone feels extra solid and secure to hold and the build quality is uncompromised. It's not a phone made for one-handed use as it's quite wide and tall but it does offer an immersive experience.
Handling the Oppo R11s
Device overview
The Oppo R11s has a very clean front now that the hardware keys have been retired. The earpiece and the selfie camera are the only things of interest above the screen. A couple of sensors and a notification LED are around, pretty much out of sight though.
Oppo R11s
The volume keys are on the left of the R11s; the secondary mic is at the top; the power button and the hybrid SIM slot are on the right. The bottom looks rather crowded with the micro USB port, the mouthpiece, the loudspeaker grille, the audio jack, and two screws. And while we're on the topic, Oppo, what's up with that micro USB port, can we all finally make the move to USB-C?
The left side • the right • the top • the bottom
The dual-camera setup on the back is sticking out quite a bit, there's the metal rim topped with the protective glass. The LED flash and the always-on fingerprint scanner are around.
The back • the fingerprint sensor • the huge camera hump
Display
One of the major changes in the R11s since the original R11 is the screen. Now the R11s features an immersive 6" AMOLED screen in a fashionably tall 18:9 ratio. The resolution is 1,080 x 2,160px as expected, which means the R11s keeps the same 401ppi density as the R11.
In our display test, the R11s managed some 440nits of maximum brightness, in line with the OnePlus 5T's Optic AMOLED. And just like the 5T's, the R11s AMOLED doesn't offer a brightness boost in auto mode. Contrast is, predictably, infinite and blacks are as deep as they get.
The minimum brightness equals the OnePlus 5T's - just 2.1nits, perfect for reading in the dark.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0 | 410 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 441 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 435 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 437 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 425 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 533 | ∞ | |
| 0.462 | 603 | 1305 | |
| 0.351 | 551 | 1570 | |
| 0.297 | 431 | 1451 | |
| 0.357 | 546 | 1529 | |
| 0.192 | 422 | 2198 | |
| 0.289 | 515 | 1782 | |
| 0.376 | 591 | 1572 | |
Oddly, the R11s screen has a lower sunlight contrast than the R11 and OnePlus 5T. The glass is highly reflective, which may be the reason for the lower score. Still, the 3.153 score means you will be able to see what's happening on the screen hassle-free but put up with some washed out colors.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Sony Xperia Z1
2.95 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - HTC U11+
2.556 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - Razer Phone
2.328 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
We also measured the color accuracy of the R11s display and, surprise, it's quite similar to what the OnePlus 5T offers. The average DeltaE is 6.4 with the maximum deviation of 11.4 being at point white. The colors are all over the place, punchy yes, but not as over-saturated.
There is no sRGB mode or any kind of color calibration in the settings, so you are stuck with the default one on the R11s.
Battery life
The Oppo R11 is powered by a 3,200mAh battery (Li-Po) sealed inside its metal body. The phone supports the fast VOOC charging standard and is bundled with the proper charger for it, a 5V unit at 4A for a total output of 20W. In our tests, it reached a 60% charge (from flat) in half an hour, and full charge in an hour and a half.
ColorOS features a few power saving modes that are enabled by default, so you may notice how the phone often intervenes by killing background apps for you. If that causes issues, you can exempt specific apps from this behavior. We found it too aggressive to our taste and had to disable it for a few apps (a minor note: we wish we had a way to do this from the app switcher, instead of having to go into the settings).
We ran our battery tests and the 3,200mAh battery posted an overall score of 77 hours - almost the same as R11 result of 81 hours. The R11 did great on talk time, web browsing, and video playback test, while its standby consumption is just about average.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Oppo R11s for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
The Oppo R11s is a dual-SIM phone powered by a Qualcomm chipset, which means excellent support for a wide range of wireless connectivity. This includes ten LTE, four GSM, CDMA, and five 3G bands. VoLTE is supported as well for improved audio quality. Unfortunately, some of the most popular European LTE bands are not covered (7, 20), so you should have that in mind if you are thinking of importing the R11s to the old continent.
The R11s supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n over 2.4GHz and 802.11 a/n/ac on 5GHz (dual-band Wi-Fi). Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS, and GLONASS are also enabled. There is no NFC support though. The R11s does not have an FM radio or an IR blaster.
The microUSB 2.0 port on the phone offers On-The-Go for connecting accessories.
Android Nougat and ColorOS 3.2
The Oppo R11s runs ColorOS 3.2, based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The new v3.2 launcher introduces all the must-haves features trending today - a new AI engine, Face Unlock, new gestures, smarter gallery and sharing options, split-screen view, among other improvements. ColorOS customizations runs deep within the ROM, making it far off from the standard Google-developed mobile experience. Units sold outside of China still come with the full Google suite, which has resulted in having a few apps with similar functionality - one by Oppo, and another one by Google.
ColorOS isn't the most bloated, but we wouldn't call it a "clean installation" either. It comes pre-loaded with social networking apps, a document editor, and few minor-footprint apps.
The inclusion of the so-called AI, is actually building on-device user behavior models for faster app startups and better resource management. It's a thing many launchers do, but now it has a fancy futuristic name and we can see why the PRs love it so much.
The user interface is the familiar mash-up of Android and iOS in looks. There's no app drawer on the default launcher. Instead, every app you install gets dumped onto the homescreen.
The homescreen houses all installed apps
The Lockscreen features a constantly changing slideshow of images. You can subscribe to several different channels (e.g. photos of nature or cars or others) or provide your own imagery.
Lockscreen settings • Subscribing to different photo streams • The lockscreen • The lockscreen
The fingerprint sensor is always-on, very fast and accurate. You can also setup face unlock in addition to fingerprint security, but you will need to wake up the screen in order for it to work.
The face recognition is indeed very fast, faster than on the iPhone X or Vivo V7. It relies on 120 recognition points and supposedly can't be fooled by a picture. It's quite tricky to setup though as it requires the perfect light conditions - not too bright and not too dim - which can turn into an annoying quest. The Face Unlock can't be as safe as Apple's Face ID, but apparently this kind of authentication is now a thing and the makers are offering it, pretty well at that.
Default lockscreen • Fingerprint security • Setting up • Face Unlock
The wallpaper on the homescreen doesn't change as the lockscreen wallpaper does, but you can still spruce up the place with Themes. The Theme Store features whole themes and just wallpapers, sorted into categories (including free and paid ones). Themes change the icon pack, the lockscreen wallpaper, and even the system font.
Theme Store • A new theme • Another theme • And another theme • And another theme
The notification shade features only notifications and nothing else. The toggles, brightness bar, music controls, Oppo Quick Share, and various app shortcuts are all placed in a Control Center-like second shade, which you pull up from the bottom. Yes, it's like the old iOS through and through.
Notification area • It supports expanded notification • The Toggles pop up from the bottom
The traditional ColorOS navigation is through the familiar virtual deck with Tasks, Home, and Back onscreen keys. But the new screen suggests a more immersive experience and that's why Oppo came up with new gestures to replace the whole deck. See, came up isn't exactly true those are the iPhone X gestures 1:1. You swipe from the mid-bottom to close an app, half-mid-bottom swipe opens the task manager, a swipe from the bottom-left pops up the control center, while the bottom-right swipe switches between recent tasks.
Those navigation gestures aren't turned on by default, and are somewhat buried in the Settings menu. The R11s doesn't feature 3D Touch, so we agree some gestures to offer a more immersive experience are in order. But copying those from Apple is not the solution we'd have preferred.
Navigation gestures • The gestures • Gestures • Gestures • Navigation keys
The Screen-off gestures though are something we like in the ColorOS a lot. They are simple commands done on a black screen - O to start the camera, V for the flashlight, several symbols to control the music player and a few custom options.
Screen-off gestures allow you to control the phone without waking it
Finally, there is a Phone Manager quite similar to what Huawei and Xiaomi have with the same name. It handles memory cleaner functions, app permissions and encryption, and virus scan, among other things.
Phone Manager
Performance
The Oppo R11 was the first smartphone to use the Snapdragon 660 chip. Fast-forward six months later and the R11s is still among the very few to employ the upper mid-range 660 SoC. Considering the (un)popularity of the chip, we would prefer to still share some if its rather impressive specs.
The 660's processor a powerful octa-core housing Qualcomm's custom Kryo 260 cores - four of those cores are ticking at 2.2GHz, and the other four are at 1.8GHz. There is the Adreno 512 GPU which offers 30% performance increase over the 510 GPU inside the Snapdragon 653 platform.
Oppo R11s, just like the R11, has 4 gigabytes of RAM, while its Plus version will pack 6 gigs.
Geekbenching the Oppo R11s reveales the S660 superiority over the S625 inside the Mi A1, and the recent S630 inside the Moto X4 and U11 Life. The scores are not that far from the results of the flagship Snapdragon 835 inside the Mi 6 and OnePlus 5T.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5T
1960 - Xiaomi Mi 6
1929 - Honor 9
1876 - Oppo R11s
1614 - Oppo R11
1596 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
916 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
901 - Xiaomi Mi A1
877 - HTC U11 Life
873 - Motorola Moto X4
866 - vivo V7+
767 - LG Q6
584
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 6
6719 - OnePlus 5T
6701 - Honor 9
6457 - Oppo R11s
5907 - Oppo R11
5777 - Xiaomi Mi A1
4292 - HTC U11 Life
4140 - Motorola Moto X4
4136 - vivo V7+
3912 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
3783 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
3251 - LG Q6
2011
The promised 30% jump in the graphics performance is there, alright, and the Adreno 512 is still our favorite GPU for the upper mid-range class. Sure, it's not match for the high-end Kirins or Snapdragons, but it's superior to anything else.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 6
41 - OnePlus 5T
41 - Honor 9
33 - Oppo R11
15 - Oppo R11s
15 - Motorola Moto X4
9.8 - HTC U11 Life
9.6 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
9.1 - Oppo F5
7.1 - Xiaomi Mi A1
6.4 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
6.2 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
6.2 - vivo V7+
6.1 - LG Q6
3.8 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
3.8
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 6
25 - OnePlus 5T
24 - Honor 9
15 - Oppo R11s
8.7 - Oppo R11
8.6 - HTC U11 Life
5.4 - Motorola Moto X4
5.3 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
5.2 - Oppo F5
4.2 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
3.7 - Xiaomi Mi A1
3.5 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
3.4 - vivo V7+
3.3 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
2.6 - LG Q6
2.1
The BaseMark X and ES3.1 scores say the same thing.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5T
38656 - Xiaomi Mi 6
38541 - Honor 9
29398 - Oppo R11s
20914 - Oppo R11
20350 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
14619 - Motorola Moto X4
14479 - HTC U11 Life
14286 - Xiaomi Mi A1
10472 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
10446 - vivo V7+
9955 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
9543 - Oppo F5
9205 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
7004 - LG Q6
6179
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 6
861 - OnePlus 5T
856 - Honor 9
699 - Oppo R11s
348 - Oppo R11
345 - Oppo F5
251 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
229 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
191 - Motorola Moto X4
189 - HTC U11 Life
183 - Xiaomi Mi A1
136 - vivo V7+
131 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
119 - LG Q6
82
Finally, we come to the compound tests, which we deem the most important measures for a smartphone's performance. Here the Oppo R11s proves to be almost flagship-grade. Sure, it isn't as good as the Mi 6 and 1+5T with the Snapdragon 835, but it's miles ahead of the rest mid-range chips.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5T
179790 - Xiaomi Mi 6
177326 - Honor 9
143583 - Oppo R11s
121638 - Oppo R11
118677 - HTC U11 Life
72854 - Motorola Moto X4
71224 - Oppo F5
63889 - Xiaomi Mi A1
61762 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
61616 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
60767 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
58068 - vivo V7+
57791 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
55657 - LG Q6
37276
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5T
3632 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3547 - Honor 9
3072 - Oppo R11s
2499 - Oppo R11
2386 - Motorola Moto X4
1532 - HTC U11 Life
1342 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite / Honor 9i
1309 - vivo V7+
1290 - Xiaomi Mi A1
1262 - Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
1198 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
1050 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
497 - Oppo F5
424 - LG Q6
275
Oppo R11s and its Snapdragon 660 are once again leading the upper mid-range class in terms of performance by a large margin. Qualcomm did a wonderful job with the 660 chip and we can't but wonder why more makers aren't adopting the platform. Money?
Obviously Oppo has a noticeable edge over the current crop of mid-rangers and makes the R11s an easy pick when performance is concerned. Some of the Snapdragon 835 phones now costs close to the R11s, which may eventually become an issue and that's why we left the Mi 6 and OnePlus 5T in the benchmark charts.
The S660 is manufactured at the 14nm process and is quite energy-efficient. We can applaud the R11s for keeping the shell cool even after going through various benchmarks for the better part of an hour.
Telephony and speaker
The phone app is simple but functional. The dialer supports smart dial, or you can go into the Contacts tab for a more extensive search. You can block numbers from calling you, a handy way to screen unwanted calls. You need to head to the Settings menu for more options.
The dialer app • Smart dial • Contact details • Phonebook
The Oppo R11s is a dual-SIM phone with VoLTE support. This technology offers superior audio quality but needs to be supported by your carrier.
The Oppo R11s scored a Good mark with its single loudspeaker. It's fairly quiet in the vocal range, but it performs great for music and the sound output is rich and clean.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 62.9 | 65.2 | 71.6 | Below Average | |
| 66.4 | 71.5 | 65.0 | Average | |
| 63.5 | 70.8 | 71.5 | Average | |
| 68.4 | 73.2 | 69.9 | Good | |
| 67.0 | 69.3 | 76.1 | Good | |
| 67.8 | 72.9 | 73.3 | Good | |
| 67.2 | 71.1 | 80.7 | Good | |
| 66.5 | 73.1 | 79.6 | Very Good | |
| 69.2 | 72.9 | 77.5 | Very Good | |
| 74.0 | 73.9 | 90.4 | Excellent | |
| 88.9 | 77.8 | 84.6 | Excellent |
Apps
The Oppo R11s has the complete Google package, but it brings its own alternatives to many of them. We already saw several, like the Theme Store and Phone Manager. It's time to meet the others.
Google Calendar oversees your daily routine, but that's for the international models. The Chinese ROM comes with an iOS-like Calendar app. The Weather app seems similarly borrowed from Apple. It pulls data from AccuWeather, too.
The Calendar app • The Weather app is powered by AccuWeather
Oppo has pre-installed the free version of WPS Office. It can create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and it offers a nice selection of templates to give you a flying start. Note that some templates are paid, and you'll occasionally see banners for the premium version of the app.
There is also a dedicated File Manager app with File safe option that allows you to lock certain files with a fingerprint/pattern for safe keeping. FTP connections are supported, too.
Free WPS Office • WPS Office • Files • All files • Sharing files over FTP
The Backup and Restore app has an extra feature that's not found in its name - it can clone phones, simplifying the transfer from your old device. For backups, it will make a copy of System data, Applications, and Personal data.
The Backup and Restore app can also move your data to a new phone
Multimedia
The Gallery app is pretty standard. It defaults to showing your camera roll sorted by date (we miss the option to change the thumbnail size). Alternatively, you can browse images by folder, including a special "Recently deleted" folder, which will save accidentally deleted photos. The app should eventually start creating smart albums by location tags, time, or faces.
An iOS-like gallery • Browsing by folders is the only option • Viewing an image • Editing a photo
The ColorOS music player is also a standard affair. You can browse the local music library by track, artist or album and that's about it. You can favorite songs to make them easier to find. Lyrics can be displayed, but they must be embedded into the file itself; the player will not fetch them from the Internet.
The one more advanced setting is Dirac's Real HD Sound. It's an equalizer with multiple presets and three sliders for manual tuning - Bass, Baritone and Treble. This works with headphones only, as Dirac Power Sound powers the loudspeaker.
The ColorOS music player • Browsing the music library • Dirac Real HD Audio is the player's equalizer
Audio output is a mixed bag
The Oppo R11s performed nicely in the first part of our audio quality test. When working with an active external amplifier it produced impressively output with excellent clarity and above average loudness.
Headphones caused some notable degradation with volume dropping to below average, stereo crosstalk increasing and some intermodulation distortion creeping in. Frequency response was affected as well, even if it wasn’t too bad. All in all the R11s is hardly the audiophile’s dream phone, its performance coming a step below most 2017 flagships.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -93.4 | 93.2 | 0.0025 | 0.012 | -90.8 | |
| +0.20, -0.37 | -93.4 | 93.0 | 0.015 | 0.320 | -55.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0018 | 0.011 | -93.7 | |
| +0.15, -0.09 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0071 | 0.135 | -60.1 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0038 | 0.0072 | -93.5 | |
| +0.31, -0.01 | -93.3 | 93.3 | 0.016 | 0.243 | -63.8 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.1 | 92.1 | 0.0020 | 0.0086 | -92.5 | |
| +0.03, -0.03 | -92.5 | 92.5 | 0.0024 | 0.046 | -77.3 | |
| +0.02, -0.01 | -93.2 | 93.1 | 0.0008 | 0.0069 | -94.2 | |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -92.9 | 92.9 | 0.0057 | 0.051 | -68.1 | |
| +0.05, -0.11 | -94.1 | 94.1 | 0.0017 | 0.0067 | -94.5 | |
| +0.05, -0.02 | -93.7 | 93.8 | 0.0018 | 0.105 | -53.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -90.6 | 90.4 | 0.018 | 0.027 | -92.6 | |
| +0.30, -0.20 | -90.5 | 90.0 | 0.0018 | 0.145 | -65.7 |
Oppo R11s frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
The OnePlus 5T camera still doesn't make sense
It's so rare we start a chapter with a critique, but that's the reality. It doesn't really matter if OnePlus or Oppo came up with this new dual-camera setup, it still doesn't make any sense as an advancement to us.
Just like the Oppo R11, the R11s packs a 16MP+20MP dual camera setup with the same sensors on its back. But now those sensors share the same equivalent focal length of 27mm, compared to the R11's 24mm+36mm kinda-sorta wide/tele arrangement. Both apertures are equally wide, too, at f/1.7.
Both OnePlus and Oppo claim the secondary 20MP camera purpose is to improve the low-light shots and help gather info for the portrait shots, of course. And while even a 2MP secondary cam would have done a fine job for portraits, we once again wondered how a higher-res camera with the same lens as the primary one will improve the low-light quality. And if it happens you, just like us, hoped to find some answers this time around, we are sorry to disappoint you.
But before we dig into details, let's take a look at the camera app. The interface has borrowed a lot from the iOS app, of course. Most settings are on the left (or top, depending on the orientation), while different modes can be selected on the right next to the shutter key. Strangely, the left-hand side also has a few additional modes that didn't find a spot in the right carousel.
Photo • Portrait • Filters • Manual mode
There are a few settings, including location tagging and guidelines, separated out in their own menu in the phone's settings. There is a total lack of any clear resolution control for stills. All you get is a choice of aspects, between the standard 4:3 one, 1:1 and 16:9. It's not clear which aspect ratio is native to the sensor, and how choosing any of the other affects the resolution of the images.
Expert mode is available for those seeking more manual controls. It comes with a handy horizon level and can change most settings on the primary camera (this mode doesn't work on the selfie cam). The shutter speed control lacks fine adjustment, good mostly for very low-light shooting - it starts at 1s and increments at full stops to a maximum of 16s. Manual focus adjustment is present as well.
The Portrait mode offers a regular (2x telephoto-like) view, or you can opt for the outzoomed option from the dedicated virtual key.
Image quality
The regular samples turned out very good with lots of detail, excellent contrast, and lively colors. The dynamic range is about average. There is little oversharpening here and there, but that's hardly noticeable unlike the somewhat noisy skies.
Oppo R11s 16MP camera samples
The 2x pictures are far worse than the 1.6x we got from the R11. They were cropped and then digitally upscaled to 16MP and you can tell right away.
Oppo R11s 16MP 2x zoomed samples
Low light is where the second camera comes into play. It automatically starts in low-light conditions. With its intelligent technology it merges 4 pixels into one aiming to cancel out noise - in our book this leaves a 5MP image. However, what we get is a 16MP so it must be upsampled. This sounds like just what the OnePlus 5T is doing, though on the R11s you will always get a 16MP image, whereas the 5T sometimes spits a 20MP one.
It doesn't look like the two (16+20MP) cameras work together by merging their images to get a better end result, as each one is on its own. You can check out the soft low-light shots from below.
Oppo R11s 16MP low-light samples
Just like on the 5T, we may not completely understand the process and we wouldn't have cared what was going on under the hood if the resulting photos were awesome, but that's not the case. The noticeable benefits of the second camera seem to be diminishing fast.
Even the long exposure shots can't match the R11'sл
Long exposure, 5s shutter • Long exposure 2x, 5s shutter
And as for the 2x mode in low-light mode, well, let's just say it doesn't get any better than what we've seen so far.
Oppo R11s 16MP 2x low-light samples
Panorama
The 180-degree panoramic images are flagship-worthy. They are about 2,500px tall and can continue for up to 25MP. There is plenty of detail, excellent colors and contrast, and good sharpness.
Oppo R11s panorama sample
Portrait mode
Portraits are pretty good, both wide or telephoto-like. Subject separation works well, there aren't abrupt transitions from sharp to blurred, the bokeh is nice, and overall - those are among the better portraits we've seen. Yay, the second camera finally came in handy!
Telephoto-like portrait • regular portrait • telephoto-like portrait • regular portrait
Selfies
The 20MP selfie cam looks more promising than the 20MP rear one. It doesn't have autofocus, which isn't an issue in and of itself - it's just that the focus plane is all too close to the phone. There isn't enough detail, but the colors and contrast are great. And given the high resolution, those pictures would look perfect once downsampled to any other size.
Oppo R11s 20MP selfies
The R11s may lack a secondary selfie sensor for the bokeh shots, but it still does great in detecting and separating the person from the background. Sure, you can notice the processing tries to mask the borders with some forced blur, but this actually improves the effect instead of hurting it. The R11 did a great job with the portrait selfies and the R11s is continuing the good work.
Oppo R11s 20MP portrait selfies
Picture Compare Tool
Finally, you can head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Oppo R11s handles the controlled environment of our studio. We've pre-selected the Oppo R11 and OnePlus 5T, but you can replace those with any other two phones you feel like.
Oppo R11s vs. Oppo R11 vs. OnePlus 5T in our Photo compare tool
Video recording
The Oppo R11s records videos in 4K and 1080p at 30fps. There is no digital stabilization available on any resolution.
The standard 2160p/30fps mode is encoded at about 42Mbps, on par with the flagship crop. Audio is recorded in stereo at 96Kbps - far from impressive.
The 4K videos are a bit softer than we prefer, but with enough detail and great contrast. The frame rate is steady, and we liked the color rendition. The excellent dynamic range is among the things worth mentioning, too.
The 1080p videos came out even softer than the 4K clips despite the 20Mbps high bitrate usually suggests the opposite. The resolved detail is mediocre, but the dynamic range and contrast are the same.
You can, of course, download untouched video samples, the way they came out of the Oppo R11s - 2160p at 30 fps (10s, 53MB) and 1080p at 30fps (9s, 24.5MB).
Finally, for some extra pixel peeping head over to our Video compare tool, where you can examine the Oppo R11s output against any phone we've tested before. We've pre-selected the Oppo R11 and the OnePlus 5T, but you can of course pick your own set.
2160p: Oppo R11s against the Oppo R11 and the OnePlus 5T in our Video compare tool
Wrapping it up
Oppo did an excellent job bringing the R series up to speed with the competition. The R11s' 18:9 widescreen comes just on time for the holiday shopping season, and it's the hot feature to have right now. And that red paint job, coupled with the Starry sky pattern above and below the screen, makes the R11s so hard to resist - Oppo has a real head-turner, and we all know the first impression counts big time.
We loved the Snapdragon 660 in the Oppo R11, so we just can't think of a better midrange chipset to power the R11s. The battery life and charging speed are the usual good stuff while the Color OS with the new Face Unlock feature is even more like iOS. Even if it's just a novelty for its sake, you can still use the fingerprint scanner as a fallback.
The camera is what bothers us. The R11 produced great regular photos and reasonably good telephoto images, while the R11s dropped the telephoto lens and didn't really provide a worthwhile substitute with this secondary camera. Long story short, it's neither the 2x photos nor the low-light samples that live up to the promise. And we'd still very much prefer the native sort-of-telephoto pictures of the regular R11 to the digitally zoomed output of the R11s. Both Oppo and OnePlus have to do some serious thinking on what they want to do with this type of setup because what they did on the R11s is more of a downgrade than an improvement.
Oppo R11s key test findings
- The phone looks great, and the hand feel is well on par, flagship-worthy. We appreciate the light but meaningful touches to the exterior.
- The AMOLED display can get as bright as the OnePlus 5T's. The colors are equally off but some people just like their screens with more punch. Sunlight legibility is average for AMOLED but altogether good enough. Gorilla Glass 5 provides a welcome protection, but it doesn't hurt to keep the pre-applied screen protector. We've seen other phones with GG5 scratch easily.
- Battery life is adequate with a 77-hour Endurance rating and performance is consistently good across all tests. The proprietary VOOC charging is very fast indeed, but it's still stuck in the micro USB era while the phones by OnePlus use seemingly the same technology over the more modern USB-C port.
- The user interface is a nice blend of Android and iOS, with some useful touches in all the right places. Face Unlock works great, it's super-fast, but its setup is a hit and miss.
- Benchmark performance is superb for the class, really close to flagship grade.
- Audio output quality is great on an external amplifier, but only average with the headphones. Good loudspeaker volume, crisp and clear output.
- Photos shot with the primary cam are very detailed, with pleasing colors and good dynamic range. We snapped a few good low-light samples too. As it stands, the secondary camera on the R11s doesn't have much use beyond helping in snapping portraits with defocused background.
- Speaking of which, Portrait mode works well enough and is very good at separating the subject and background.
- The selfies lack the level of detail you'd expect from a 20MP camera but have good colors and contrast. The simulated bokeh effect is great. Oppo claims it uses AI to provide the beautification effects here, but we liked the regular selfies shot by Oppo's own R11 a notch better.
- 4K videos have lots of resolved detail, nice colors, and great dynamic range. The 1080p/30fps mode has less detail, but low noise and good colors. The 96 Kbps audio stream is disappointing, however.
The competition
When we think of a competing phone, the first name that comes to mind is none other but the Oppo R11. The regular R11 is better at taking pictures, regular photos and selfies alike. It is also cheaper, and if the 18:9 screen is not a must, then we'd pick the R11 instead.
Oppo R11
The cheaper Oppo F5 is pretty much identical to the R11s, widescreen and Face Unlock included, though it's got an LCD instead of AMOLED and a different make of chipset. You will have to give up the second 20MP camera, but its benefits are questionable in the current setup anyway. The VOOC charging will likely be missed though.
Oppo F5
The vivo V7+ does a marvelous job of taking selfies, and it's perhaps equally fast in graphics tasks thanks to the lower-res screen. It's cheaper; it's made of plastic, and the screen is hardly a match to the R11s' in resolution and quality. But the selfie-loving crowd should probably give it a chance. And, by the way, despite its lower resolution, the screen turned out great.
vivo V7+
The LG Q6 is cheaper too, but you'd probably give up on too many things - performance, camera quality on both sides, battery life, even the looks. But the phone is MIL-STD-810G compliant, meaning it can survive more than a few bumps and drops and fear not dust and water.
LG Q6
The Huawei Mate 10 Lite is a good match for the R11s - and cheaper too. It has a beautiful metal body, a similar screen (though LCD), a capable chipset and at least it doesn't pretend that its secondary camera is anything more than a depth sensor used for defocusing backgrounds in portraits. Sure, this one doesn't have 4K video recording but the still images are good, and there are some advanced low-light modes.
Another sharpshooter from a reputable maker, the Sony Xperia XA1 Plus offers a high-res 23MP main camera, a slightly less capable processor but impressive battery life and a bunch of proprietary Sony goodies.
Huawei Mate 10 Lite • Sony Xperia XA1 Plus
And if the 18:9 screen is not a priority, the cheaper Xiaomi Mi A1 or Redmi Note 4 will certainly serve you well with a bang-for-buck ratio that's hard to match. The Mi A1 has a pretty good dual-camera at that (wide+tele), while the Note 4 is a real bargain if not as hip.
Xiaomi Mi A1 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
The verdict
So, the Oppo R11s - a great-looking handset that's in touch with the times but just not the great cameraphone it could have been. The new dual-camera setup was chosen with the best intentions, but something went wrong implementing it. Not sure whether it can be fixed via a firmware update and honestly they can leave it as is - the R11s will be a reasonably good cameraphone - it's just not great.
Other than the step back in the imaging department though, everything else was improved in a meaningful way: the looks, the screen, the software. The regular R11 is cheaper to have and better at some aspects of photography. The novelty factor and the looks are entirely in the Oppo R11s favor. And looking at this stunner of a paint job again, this may be just all it takes to get one hooked - especially around this time of the year.
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