Phone-makers have become very fond of a blue-to-pink gradient colouring the back of their devices, mimicking twilight and looking eye-catching in the bargain. Oppo has used the colours on other phones. This very gradient is rather prominent and strongly coloured on Oppo’s new K1, the first phone to be launched in India in its mid-range K series. Just recently, Samsung also launched a whole new series in this space, though the M series phones that came in are actually cheaper. But quite evidently, the plot is thickening in the sub ₹20,000 segment. The K1 is ₹16,990 and quite a premium-looking device for the price.

Those who want to stay all sober can opt for the ‘Piano Black’ variant but bets are that the ‘Astral Blue’ with the twilight gradient will be more sought after by young people who like to keep it colourful. The colour stays undisturbed on the K1 except for a hard-to-miss Oppo logo standing out in white. It does rather like finger smudges, but you can use the translucent back cover given in the box.

Display delight

Apart from its looks, this phone also feels quite nice to hold. It’s quite slim and the edges have been fine-tuned to give a tactile feel so that you’re aware of your grip and yet not be uncomfortably sharp or anything. It’s also quite a light device even though it has a not-unsubstantial 3,600 mAh battery on the inside. Oppo has used something on the back of the phone that looks like glass but apparently isn’t. A good idea, that. On the front, there’s Gorilla Glass 5 on this phone and that isn’t a bad deal when you consider some manufacturers don’t even mention the glass they use. The 6.5-inch FHD+ (1080x2340) Super AMOLED display has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, which means a 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to the tiny water-drop notch on the top of the phone. The display is one of the stronger reasons to consider this phone, in my opinion. It’s nice and crisp and clear and the colours are such that you find yourself wanting to keep looking at it.

The negligible notch isn’t the only thing OPPO brings to the mid-range phone but also an in-display fingerprint sensor, so far present in the more expensive phones but gradually trickling down to cheaper ones. The sensor works well, as do all others now after minor glitches on the first few phones that sported them. You also have face unlock and can access the phone with both features.

Specs and interface

The K1 has decent mid-range specs. It runs on the stable tried and tested Snapdragon 660 SOC and has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. It has all the extras users like dual SIM capability, memory card slot, VoLTE support, and even a 3.5 mm headphone jack with earphones in the box. In my time with it, the K1 has been a smooth-enough performer. It is based on Android 8.1 and OPPO’s ColorOS, which has nothing special to recommend, unfortunately. Something on this device invites a bombardment of spam from the wholly unnecessary Oppo App Store and the phone’s pre-loaded browser. I dream of a day when there’s nothing on a phone but the Google Play Store and a phone dialler but that’s asking for the impossible.

The ‘Selfie Expert’ has put in a 25 MP front camera that turns out a little too expert at taking selfies as the so-called AI smoothens and whitens and softens to unrealistic extents. One can turn some of that off, but like on many phones, the idea is to flatter with the front camera and one won’t see a huge difference between the first level and the end level of beautification. The 12 MP dual camera on the rear is not bad for a sub-₹20,000 phone, though there are noticeable drawbacks. Though the tools are there — zoom, portrait style mode, and decent handling of low light without too much noise — and an f/1.7 aperture, these don’t live up to how they good they sound. All the same, while the camera is not the reason to buy this device, it isn’t a reason to set it aside if one is looking in this price bracket.

Price: ₹16,990

Pros: Premium look and feel, superior screen, pleasing colour-accurate camera, light, tackles heavy tasks smoothly, in-display fingerprint sensor

Cons: No USB-Type C, far too much spam from App Store and browser, unexciting skin, too much beautification with front camera.

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