Oppo R17 Pro review

Camera

One of the highlights of the OPPO R17 Pro is the camera setup. There are three sensors on the back which includes a dual-aperture 12MP camera very much like the Samsung Galaxy S9, though you can’t manually adjust the aperture. 

There’s also a 20MP f/2.6 sensor at 2X zoom that helps with portrait modes and finally there is a TOF 3D camera which allows you to measure things such as the length of an object or its surface area. As of time of publishing this review, the TOF features aren’t actually available in the native camera app – you have to head to Oppo’s website to download the ‘AR Measurement’ apk file in order to actually use the TOF features of the R17 Pro.

The app allows you to measure length, distance, area, and angles, and is fairly easy to use. Simply mark a start point, move the phone to trace out a line, and tap again to measure. It’s somewhat accurate, and really would be only useful if for example you were trying to measure a space in your apartment for a new piece of furniture.

One of the features that OPPO wants to highlight with the dual aperture camera is night time photography that OPPO calls Ultra-Night mode. Using the f/1.5 aperture and software tricks, the OPPO R17 Pro lets you play with long exposure stabilization, noise cancellation, and a wider dynamic range. 

Here are some sample shots taken from the OPPO R17 Pro in both day and night time.

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A standard daylight shot

Same daylight shot with the 2X Zoom camera

The Portrait mode allows for good bokeh effects

Here's a regular Night mode shot

Ultra-Night mode takes long exposures to let more light into photos.

Daytime shots are generally quite crisp

Indoor shots can be a bit muted at times

Here's a street photo with HDR turned off

Here's the same scene with HDR and Dazzle Color turned on

Food shots are generally quite vivid

Selfies are well-lit and crisp, with good color balance

Portrait mode brings the subject sharply into focus, with only slight softening around edges

Also present is a 25MP front camera with AI beauty modes to please selfie lovers. Effects allow you to slim your face and add makeup with live previews. We’re not huge selfie takers but for those of you that are, OPPO has always been innovative with front cameras.

Battery life

It wouldn't be an Oppo phone if it did not support ultra-fast charging, and the Oppo R17 Pro is no different. The R17 Pro comes bundled with the Super VOOC charger that, in 10 minutes, charged the phone from 25% to 59%, which is insanely fast.

The phone’s 3,700mAh battery is actually made up of two separate batteries, which supposedly helps in faster charge times than if it was just a single battery. The R17 Pro was more than able to hold out for nearly a full day of mixed us, which included everything from streaming music to watching Netflix on the go and of course lengthy phone calls. While wireless charging isn’t supported, it’s a small price to pay when your phone can charge itself in a fraction of the time anyway.