[UPDATE] Hands On: OPPO R7 Lite – The Most Affordable Model In R7 Series

[UPDATE (945PM)]: We have finally obtained OPPO Malaysia’s side of the story. Learn more here.

[UPDATE (6:00PM)]: Confirmed – the unit that we tried last night was indeed a R7 which will not be released in Malaysia, not a R7 Lite. Check out our subsequent article for further information.

[UPDATE (1:29AM)]: We have found an abnormality in the unit that we used for this hands on article. Read further to know more.

When the new OPPO R7 Series was first unveiled in Beijing in May, this particular model was somehow not revealed to the world alongside R7 and R7 Plus. Instead, the existence of R7 Lite was only officially announced during the R7 launch in Indonesia later that month but even then, OPPO didn’t released any details regarding the new smartphone.

Things were slightly different when it comes to the R7 Series launch in Malaysia few hours ago though as the R7 Lite is actually here, in flesh. Then again, Malaysia is one of the selected markets where OPPO is going to make the device available for consumers. Anyway, guess we just got first dibs on the new device then.

Physically, it seems to me that the R7 Lite is derived directly from the R7 which will not be released in Malaysia. Its buttons placement, physical dimensions, and weight in addition to the protruding camera module on its rear – every single point on R7 Lite looked really identical to R7. In fact, I began to wonder if OPPO used the same shell from R7 for R7 Lite not long after I held the device on my hand.

At the same time, the build quality of R7 Lite feels rather good and the phone is certainly a looker with its metal unibody chassis as well as the 2.5D curve screen. With a thickness of 6.3mm and weights around 147 grams, OPPO somehow made a rather curious decision by painting the front part of R7 Lite in white even though the frame and back part of the phone can be obtained in either golden or silver finish.

While the physical aspect of R7 Lite is identical to R7, there are a number of differences that set both devices apart. One such aspect is the resolution of their AMOLED displays since R7 Lite is equipped with HD display as opposed to R7’s display that outputs in full HD. Additionally, R7 Lite comes with 2GB of RAM instead of 3GB memory that is available on R7.

Not enough with that, OPPO’s VOOC Flash Charge that is available on R7 is missing from R7 Lite even though the latter does come with its own quick charge system although it has around half of VOOC’s capability. Apart from these differences, other components on R7 Lite are exactly the same with R7 which include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor (also used in their predecessor, the super slim R5), 16GB internal storage with support for microSD card, and 2,320 mAh battery.

In addition to that, the R7 Lite also features 13-megapixels rear camera and 8-megapixels front camera together with enhancements by Pure Image 2.0+ software. The device also comes standard with ColorOS 2.1 on top of its Android 5.1 operating system. It is rather too early to judge the device in terms of performance since I only managed to spend very little time with the R7 Lite but nevertheless, I don’t see any visible lags or stutter during my time with it.

As far as my first impression goes, the device seems to perform rather smoothly. [UPDATE (1:29AM): We found an abnormality on the display unit that we used at the event for this article. Explanations are available after the photo gallery below.] Not only that, the combination of its slim physique and quality build material have given the R7 Lite its premium vibe. At the same, its RM 1,298 price tag put the R7 Lite right in between HTC Desire 826 and Sony Xperia M4 Aqua according to our 2015 Snapdragon 615 smartphones comparison table which seems to be rather reasonable…way more reasonable than the price that OPPO has set for its bigger sibling, the R7 Plus.

[UPDATE (1:29AM)]: After going through the images that we have captured during the R7 Series Malaysian launch event once again, we spotted an abnormality on the unit that we used for our hands on during the event. It turns out that device might be a R7 instead of R7 Lite since it contains 3GB of RAM as opposed to 2GB. Below is the said image:

We are not sure if this is the only “R7 Lite” display unit with 3GB of RAM in the experience zone at the launch event or there are others as well, if not all of them. We have reached out to OPPO Malaysia for explanation since it is rather inappropriate to label one’s device with another name, no matter how similar they looked.

Furthermore, this might cause a serious misinterpretation of the product not only for us but to everyone that attended the launch event especially when R7 Lite supposed to be a lower tiered model as compared to R7. Maybe this is why the “About Phone” section of the R7 Lite display units at the launch event were hidden…aha.