I agree with you on the button layout. Power button on the side design might be okay if you're right-handed as your thumb can easily reach the button but I can say from experience that it's awful if you're left-handed (like me). Given the size of the current phones, it's very, very hard to securely reach the power button with your left index finger - but I'd have no problems if the button was placed on the top of the device.
That said, I know left-handed people are the minority and most designs ignore us, but I'm pretty sure there are scenarios when right-handed people use their phone with their left hand. Or at least I use my Nexus 4 with my right hand by time to time (e.g. while driving).
Powerbutton on the top of the device or the bottom is the way to do it. I'm constanly chaning the volume when I turn my s3 off because of that moronic idea of putting them on oposing sides.
And you are spot on that these devices aren't friendly for left handed people, the biggest sinner in my book is nokia their lumia buttons are all on the same (and wrong) side.
I'm mostly ambidextrous, but I'm always using my Lumia 920 with my left hand. I have no trouble using it with my right either (just switch to operating the buttons with my thumb), but I find more often than not, I pick it up and operate it with my left hand. On that note, I suspect I'd get used to the OPPO button placement fairly quickly as well (even if it isn't ideal). I'm guessing you don't much care for operating your phone buttons with your fingers. I do agree with you that putting the power and volume rocker on opposite sides is a generically bad idea, though.
I'm kinda like the Galaxy Nexus's button layout. In the other hand, button layout on the Nexus 7 sucks. I constantly press volume button instead of power button.
I think the power button on the top is good for smaller phone. For a larger phone (>4.6"), it's should be on either left or right side, and on the opposite side of volume buttons). It's too far to reach the top.
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $82h… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online. (Home more information) http://goo.gl/fDMVb
I actually prefer having buttons on the side of modern, large screened phones. The idea of having the power button on top is fine for a device the size of an iPhone, but when you are taking about devices with 5+ inch displays, it is rather awkward to reach all the way to the top of the device to press the power button.
As a right-handed person, I'm usually holding my phone with my left hand so my dominant hand is free to do other things (which occasionally consists of stabbing at the screen).
Maybe I'm missing something, though, but isn't having the power button on the left site (as in this case) advantageous for thumb use if you're using it with your left hand?
Oh, you're right - the power button is on the left side in the OPPO. I just looked at the "Finger Friendly Design" picture and thought that it's on the right side like in my Nexus, haha. At least for me, it would advantageous to have the power button on the left instead.
Basically, with the OPPO all the right-handed people go through the same pain as I go through with the Nexus 4.
Yes I'm left handed to write (but actually right handed for many other things) so for me having the phone in my right hand whilst I'm writing stuff down means the power button is perfect for my thumb.
Having the button on the right side of the phone is perfect for lefties IMO.
Or maybe I just grew up in a working age when we used to make a lot of handwritten notes while talking on the phone.
I'm right handed and almost always use my phone in my left hand to free up my right hand. It's also easier for one handed use since the menu/back button is usually on the top left, which I can easily press with my left thumb instead of stretching to reach it if held in my right hand.
This is a review from the most reliable source that I know, they say the display is the best of all phones on the market today, they get completely different numbers than you guys.
As far as the button layout, I'm left handed and this phone has the best layout I have ever seen, just perfect. Also imo the looks are the best of any phone.
Just based on the numbers, their panel looks slightly better than mine, but overall - good contrast ratio, neutral colour temperature, decently calibrated - how is that any different from what I said?
As far as "finger friendly" designs go, I don't really care where the buttons are as long as they are set into the phone (concave). My only complaint with my S3 is that the buttons all protrude from the body, making unwanted power, home, and volume presses extremely common. Thankfully, I have a simple, somewhat thick $7 plastic slipcase that has button cutouts so I can freely handle the phone without ever accidentally hitting the buttons.
Before today, I didn't know Oppo made anything but the best Blu-ray players on the market. It's a shame that the phone doesn't live up to the precedent.
"I think 4.7” is the sweet spot for display size, something that was reached with the last generation of handsets. There’s not really any benefit to going with a 5” panel over a 4.7” panel beyond just having a bigger number - it’s not like jumping to a Galaxy Note-sized 5.5” or larger display, where the device ends up being more of a phablet than a handset, but it does add just enough bulk to be on the cumbersome side."
I just dont understand this statement. The GS4 has a 5' screen and is physically smaller than the OPPO and HTC One. I compared the HTC One side by side with the GS4 in store and it was shorter and thinner than the HTC one and actually fit in my pocket better. I also found that the .3 extra screen did benefit me quite a bit as it provides a better viewing experience for movies and games.
"This is obviously less of a factor in Europe and Asia, where the prices are more equivalent (the Nexus 4 is a phenomenal value in the US through the Google Play Store, but less so in the rest of the world)"
Correction - I'm not sure about the whole world, but at least in Europe you can: a) buy the device via Google Play Store in major markets, and even ship it outside those major markets if you are resourceful enough; b) buy it locally, where available, at an extremely close price point (at least that's the situation in Lithuania). In these cases, Nexus 4 is competitively positioned very close to US market, ending up ca 40% cheaper than flagship devices like HTC One or SGS4...
a) You need a local shipping address AND credit card (VCCs don't work AFAIK) to buy from Google Play Store, hence it's basically impossible to buy one if your local Play Store doesn't carry it yet. Of course, if you a friend in one of the countries where the Nexus 4 is sold through Play Store, then it's easy (I did this to get my Nexus 4).
b) Here in Finland the Nexus 4 (16GB) currently costs ~490€. I got mine for 400€ when including all the shipping costs (the device itself was ~350€ but Google charged £10 for shipping plus another £15 to ship it from UK to Finland). However, the Nexus 4 was 600€ when launched here, so I saved ~200€ back in January.
Holy Crap! Something is cheaper in Sweden! A 16 GB Nexus 4 can be had for ~380€ (3300 SEK). But yeah, the price of the Nexus 4 was around 4500 SEK when launched here, about 520€ at today's exchange rate.
Is the battery situated further from the SoC than the Nexus 4 or Optimus G? As far as I know, it was actually the batterys threshold temperature that actually triggered throttling, since the two were so close. The battery could only get up to 60 degrees before complete shutdown and made the phone throttle at just 36 C.
If you think Phyllis`s story is astonishing,, two weeks ago mother in law basically got paid $4919 putting in ninteen hours a week an their house and their best friend's ex-wife`s neighbour did this for eight months and actually earnt more than $4919 part-time from there labtop. applie the instructions from this address, Exit35.comTAKE A LOOK
Yeah okay, that was supposed to be polycarbonate, my apologies. It got missed among the other eight thousand words, Klug read over it twice before it posted too so we had enough internal editing, this just slipped through.
The button layout isn't too bad, having the power on the left side makes it less likely you'll turn off the device if you suddenly grip it tightly (if you're right handed, you'll apply much more pressure with your thumb than the other 4 fingers on the opposite side). Still, i'd rather have the button on the top. My (more agile) thumb can more easily pick and choose closely spaced buttons than my fingers so having buttons that won't "punish be by turning off the device if I hit the wrong one" on the right side is okay with me.
Wow, that's a lot of annoying software bugs. The cheap Chinese phone my wife has looks pretty good compared to that. Granted, it has and old dual core A9 SoC and only 720p (basically an SGS3 rip off), but it cost 165€. The Oppo Find 5 is currently listed for 466€ here (1 listing only). Not a good deal. If I don't want to deal with importing a cell phone (which one has to do to get the good deals on the Chinese stuff), I'd rather take an SGS3 for 330€ or spend up on the SGS4 for 550€ (HTC One is listed at 590€).
Quote: "This is obviously less of a factor in Europe and Asia, where the prices are more equivalent" I can get the Nexus 4 for 299/349€ in the play store (+9€ shipping) here in Germany. That's about as pricey as the US variant, is it not (including the VAT thing)? :)
Wow, strange that Oppo would get into this market. I own an Oppo DVD player and still use it regularly in this Blu-Ray era. Shame the phone doesn't live up the same level of performance (right now anyway) its DVD/Blu-Ray players do. Oppo is very good about firmware support with those and customer service in general - hopefully that'll be the case with the phones
Oppo may be unheard of in the phone sector but they have unheard of status in the home theater segment. They have completely re-written the book first with DVD playback and then with a series of giant killer BlueRay players. One player after another they have blown the competition out of the water in price/performance. They now make a universal player, BDP-105 whose performance cannot be beat without going into the stratosphere on cost. So much so that spending more is essentially pointless. If they pursue the phone market the way they went after DVD and BlueRay playback we will all soon be using Oppo phones.
The Oppo BDP-105 is going for 1340€ here in Germany. Isn't that stratosphere cost already? :P Seems like it integrates A/V receiver stuff as well. I don't like that. More hassle to upgrade. Oh well.
They recently started shipping this in Europe, unfortunately it doesnt support UMTS 900 MHz band that is widely used in Europe.
But the biggest show stopper for me is the battery life - today this is the biggest problem in phones so the manufacturers must do everything to make battery life longer. This is where you experience matters, Oppo don't have this experience so we see the results: a phone that won't last you a day.
Oppo Find 5 is definitely one of the greatest creations of the company, however, Oppo recently made a announcement about Oppo Find 9 which i heard in http://www.techvicity.com/ .. well the phone is believed to be the flagship phone of the company in 2016 with 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB internal storage, that is something else man, really can't wait for it
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Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
I agree with you on the button layout. Power button on the side design might be okay if you're right-handed as your thumb can easily reach the button but I can say from experience that it's awful if you're left-handed (like me). Given the size of the current phones, it's very, very hard to securely reach the power button with your left index finger - but I'd have no problems if the button was placed on the top of the device.That said, I know left-handed people are the minority and most designs ignore us, but I'm pretty sure there are scenarios when right-handed people use their phone with their left hand. Or at least I use my Nexus 4 with my right hand by time to time (e.g. while driving).
kondamin - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Powerbutton on the top of the device or the bottom is the way to do it. I'm constanly chaning the volume when I turn my s3 off because of that moronic idea of putting them on oposing sides.And you are spot on that these devices aren't friendly for left handed people, the biggest sinner in my book is nokia their lumia buttons are all on the same (and wrong) side.
JPForums - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
I'm mostly ambidextrous, but I'm always using my Lumia 920 with my left hand. I have no trouble using it with my right either (just switch to operating the buttons with my thumb), but I find more often than not, I pick it up and operate it with my left hand. On that note, I suspect I'd get used to the OPPO button placement fairly quickly as well (even if it isn't ideal). I'm guessing you don't much care for operating your phone buttons with your fingers. I do agree with you that putting the power and volume rocker on opposite sides is a generically bad idea, though.mr_tawan - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
I'm kinda like the Galaxy Nexus's button layout. In the other hand, button layout on the Nexus 7 sucks. I constantly press volume button instead of power button.I think the power button on the top is good for smaller phone. For a larger phone (>4.6"), it's should be on either left or right side, and on the opposite side of volume buttons). It's too far to reach the top.
WhiteAdam - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $82h… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online. (Home more information)http://goo.gl/fDMVb
nancy919 - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
it's realy the easiest work Ive had.mwarner1 - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
I actually prefer having buttons on the side of modern, large screened phones. The idea of having the power button on top is fine for a device the size of an iPhone, but when you are taking about devices with 5+ inch displays, it is rather awkward to reach all the way to the top of the device to press the power button.Zandros - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
As a right-handed person, I'm usually holding my phone with my left hand so my dominant hand is free to do other things (which occasionally consists of stabbing at the screen).Maybe I'm missing something, though, but isn't having the power button on the left site (as in this case) advantageous for thumb use if you're using it with your left hand?
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Oh, you're right - the power button is on the left side in the OPPO. I just looked at the "Finger Friendly Design" picture and thought that it's on the right side like in my Nexus, haha. At least for me, it would advantageous to have the power button on the left instead.Basically, with the OPPO all the right-handed people go through the same pain as I go through with the Nexus 4.
VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Yeah the OPPO power button is a nightmare. I am not impressed by their so-called finger friendly design.Zandros - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
*side, dammit. Couldn't we edit these things before? :pjabber - Thursday, May 30, 2013 - link
Yes I'm left handed to write (but actually right handed for many other things) so for me having the phone in my right hand whilst I'm writing stuff down means the power button is perfect for my thumb.Having the button on the right side of the phone is perfect for lefties IMO.
Or maybe I just grew up in a working age when we used to make a lot of handwritten notes while talking on the phone.
Reikon - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
I'm right handed and almost always use my phone in my left hand to free up my right hand. It's also easier for one handed use since the menu/back button is usually on the top left, which I can easily press with my left thumb instead of stretching to reach it if held in my right hand.Panzerknacker - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Strange, your findings in the review are quite different from other reviews:http://tweakers.net/reviews/3017/4/oppo-find-5-sch...
This is a review from the most reliable source that I know, they say the display is the best of all phones on the market today, they get completely different numbers than you guys.
As far as the button layout, I'm left handed and this phone has the best layout I have ever seen, just perfect. Also imo the looks are the best of any phone.
VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Just based on the numbers, their panel looks slightly better than mine, but overall - good contrast ratio, neutral colour temperature, decently calibrated - how is that any different from what I said?mayankleoboy1 - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Cant see any benchmarks on the CPU benchmarks page.tipoo - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Which he explains on the CPU benchmarks page.VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Oh, no, I just straight up forgot to put them there - that was a big miss by me, sorry guys.VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Wait, no I didn't, they're there. Why aren't you seeing the benchmarks?tipoo - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Huh, now I see them. I assumed since you said they were so similar you just didn't post them.nathanddrews - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
As far as "finger friendly" designs go, I don't really care where the buttons are as long as they are set into the phone (concave). My only complaint with my S3 is that the buttons all protrude from the body, making unwanted power, home, and volume presses extremely common. Thankfully, I have a simple, somewhat thick $7 plastic slipcase that has button cutouts so I can freely handle the phone without ever accidentally hitting the buttons.Before today, I didn't know Oppo made anything but the best Blu-ray players on the market. It's a shame that the phone doesn't live up to the precedent.
cknobman - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
"I think 4.7” is the sweet spot for display size, something that was reached with the last generation of handsets. There’s not really any benefit to going with a 5” panel over a 4.7” panel beyond just having a bigger number - it’s not like jumping to a Galaxy Note-sized 5.5” or larger display, where the device ends up being more of a phablet than a handset, but it does add just enough bulk to be on the cumbersome side."I just dont understand this statement. The GS4 has a 5' screen and is physically smaller than the OPPO and HTC One. I compared the HTC One side by side with the GS4 in store and it was shorter and thinner than the HTC one and actually fit in my pocket better. I also found that the .3 extra screen did benefit me quite a bit as it provides a better viewing experience for movies and games.
MantasPakenas - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
"This is obviously less of a factor in Europe and Asia, where the prices are more equivalent (the Nexus 4 is a phenomenal value in the US through the Google Play Store, but less so in the rest of the world)"Correction - I'm not sure about the whole world, but at least in Europe you can: a) buy the device via Google Play Store in major markets, and even ship it outside those major markets if you are resourceful enough; b) buy it locally, where available, at an extremely close price point (at least that's the situation in Lithuania). In these cases, Nexus 4 is competitively positioned very close to US market, ending up ca 40% cheaper than flagship devices like HTC One or SGS4...
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
a) You need a local shipping address AND credit card (VCCs don't work AFAIK) to buy from Google Play Store, hence it's basically impossible to buy one if your local Play Store doesn't carry it yet. Of course, if you a friend in one of the countries where the Nexus 4 is sold through Play Store, then it's easy (I did this to get my Nexus 4).b) Here in Finland the Nexus 4 (16GB) currently costs ~490€. I got mine for 400€ when including all the shipping costs (the device itself was ~350€ but Google charged £10 for shipping plus another £15 to ship it from UK to Finland). However, the Nexus 4 was 600€ when launched here, so I saved ~200€ back in January.
fabarati - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Holy Crap! Something is cheaper in Sweden! A 16 GB Nexus 4 can be had for ~380€ (3300 SEK). But yeah, the price of the Nexus 4 was around 4500 SEK when launched here, about 520€ at today's exchange rate.tipoo - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
Is the battery situated further from the SoC than the Nexus 4 or Optimus G? As far as I know, it was actually the batterys threshold temperature that actually triggered throttling, since the two were so close. The battery could only get up to 60 degrees before complete shutdown and made the phone throttle at just 36 C.flyingpants1 - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
So spec-wise, it's an Xperia Z series clone. YawnPatriciaBau42 - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
If you think Phyllis`s story is astonishing,, two weeks ago mother in law basically got paid $4919 putting in ninteen hours a week an their house and their best friend's ex-wife`s neighbour did this for eight months and actually earnt more than $4919 part-time from there labtop. applie the instructions from this address, Exit35.comTAKE A LOOKflamencoguy - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
A version with a Snapdragon 600 has already been announced.editorsorgtfo - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
LOL @ Polyurethane. Editors or GTFO.VivekGowri - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Yeah okay, that was supposed to be polycarbonate, my apologies. It got missed among the other eight thousand words, Klug read over it twice before it posted too so we had enough internal editing, this just slipped through.Sertis - Thursday, May 30, 2013 - link
The button layout isn't too bad, having the power on the left side makes it less likely you'll turn off the device if you suddenly grip it tightly (if you're right handed, you'll apply much more pressure with your thumb than the other 4 fingers on the opposite side). Still, i'd rather have the button on the top. My (more agile) thumb can more easily pick and choose closely spaced buttons than my fingers so having buttons that won't "punish be by turning off the device if I hit the wrong one" on the right side is okay with me.Death666Angel - Thursday, May 30, 2013 - link
Wow, that's a lot of annoying software bugs. The cheap Chinese phone my wife has looks pretty good compared to that. Granted, it has and old dual core A9 SoC and only 720p (basically an SGS3 rip off), but it cost 165€. The Oppo Find 5 is currently listed for 466€ here (1 listing only). Not a good deal. If I don't want to deal with importing a cell phone (which one has to do to get the good deals on the Chinese stuff), I'd rather take an SGS3 for 330€ or spend up on the SGS4 for 550€ (HTC One is listed at 590€).Death666Angel - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Quote: "This is obviously less of a factor in Europe and Asia, where the prices are more equivalent"I can get the Nexus 4 for 299/349€ in the play store (+9€ shipping) here in Germany. That's about as pricey as the US variant, is it not (including the VAT thing)? :)
BeauCharles - Thursday, May 30, 2013 - link
Wow, strange that Oppo would get into this market. I own an Oppo DVD player and still use it regularly in this Blu-Ray era. Shame the phone doesn't live up the same level of performance (right now anyway) its DVD/Blu-Ray players do. Oppo is very good about firmware support with those and customer service in general - hopefully that'll be the case with the phonesmars2k - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Oppo may be unheard of in the phone sector but they have unheard of status in the home theater segment. They have completely re-written the book first with DVD playback and then with a series of giant killer BlueRay players. One player after another they have blown the competition out of the water in price/performance. They now make a universal player, BDP-105 whose performance cannot be beat without going into the stratosphere on cost. So much so that spending more is essentially pointless.If they pursue the phone market the way they went after DVD and BlueRay playback we will all soon be using Oppo phones.
Death666Angel - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
The Oppo BDP-105 is going for 1340€ here in Germany. Isn't that stratosphere cost already? :P Seems like it integrates A/V receiver stuff as well. I don't like that. More hassle to upgrade. Oh well.tom5 - Saturday, June 8, 2013 - link
They recently started shipping this in Europe, unfortunately it doesnt support UMTS 900 MHz band that is widely used in Europe.But the biggest show stopper for me is the battery life - today this is the biggest problem in phones so the manufacturers must do everything to make battery life longer. This is where you experience matters, Oppo don't have this experience so we see the results: a phone that won't last you a day.
aranyak - Wednesday, December 2, 2015 - link
Oppo Find 5 is definitely one of the greatest creations of the company, however, Oppo recently made a announcement about Oppo Find 9 which i heard in http://www.techvicity.com/ .. well the phone is believed to be the flagship phone of the company in 2016 with 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB internal storage, that is something else man, really can't wait for it