Having a smartphone variant being priced less or more is not new in 2017 anymore, and from a business stand, a lot of factors come into play when these decisions are made. Variants are made to give consumers options that fit well into their needs. Enter OPPO’s F5 duo for this quarter – the F5 and F5 Youth.
| SPECS | OPPO F5 | OPPO F5 Youth |
| Display | 6.0″ 1080 x 2160 LTPS IPS LCD (~402 ppi)
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
6.0″ 1080 x 2160 LTPS IPS LCD (~402 ppi)
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Dimensions & Features | 156.5 x 76 x 7.5 mm, 152g
Dedicated dual SIM & MicroSD tray, pre-installed screen protector, metal + plastic unibody |
156.5 x 76 x 7.5 mm, 152g
Dedicated dual SIM & MicroSD tray, pre-installed screen protector, metal + plastic unibody |
| Chipset | Mediatek MT6763T Helio P23 | Mediatek MT6750T |
| CPU | Octa-core (4×2.34 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53) | Octa-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | Mali-G71 MP2 | Mali-T860MP2 |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM, 32GB (expandable up to 256GB) | 3GB RAM, 32GB (expandable up to 256GB) |
| Connectivity | LTE Cat. 5/4, 802.11n, BT 4.2, GPS, microUSB 2.0 + OTG, 3.5mm audio jack | LTE Cat. 5/4, 802.11n, BT 4.2, GPS, microUSB 2.0 + OTG, 3.5mm audio jack |
| Cameras | Rear: 16 MP, f/1.8Front: 20 MP, f/2.0 |
Rear: 13 MP, f/2.2Front: 16 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 3200mAh | Non-removable Li-Ion 3200mAh |
| OS | ColorOS 3.2 (Android 7.1) | ColorOS 3.2 (Android 7.1) |
| Price | PhP 15,990.00/$320 | PhP 14,990/$300 |
Design
Going by the design, there is really nothing unique for either. They have the same shape, display size, camera and fingerprint scanner placement – literally everything. Well, almost. If ours are the same color, we would actually have a hard time determining which is which save for the little print of the model number on the lower end of the rear part. Looking closer, the F5 actually has its metallic antenna bands exposed compared to the cleaner and sleeker look that the F5 Youth went for.
Down to the hybrid triple-slot SIM tray, both are the one and same with slots for 2 nano-SIMs and a microSD card.
Display
Same with the design, the display is also the one and same. A 6-inch 1080×2160 18:9 display comprised of an LTPS IPS LCD that does well above others in its league. Bezels are still present with
Colors are well-reproduced although lighter colors will get piercing to look at when the phones are used in above 75% brightness. For an IPS LCD panel, the F5 and F5 Youth’s maxes out at around 470 nits which does not translate well when used under direct sunlight.
Being 18:9, HD content will not be displayed in full and cannot be cropped to fit the whole screen. In a future update maybe, OPPO?
User Experience
ColorOS v3.2 is pretty on the surface but can be rough in some areas. For instance, the app drawer is still not present for those who have gotten used to it. On the bright side, searching for specific apps is just a swipe away. The same goes for the drop-down notifications and command center. Nothing is sluggish
Even with this recent major update, the camera UI is still based off of iOS’s which is not a bad thing since everything can still be accessed with a tap or swipe away.
Camera
With the cameras, the 1k-peso gap is now made clearer. The more-expensive F5’s shots are brighter in a lot of scenarios with better contrast. The extra 3MP does not do much in the way of details, but the larger aperture actually translates to an overall better exposure that daylight shots do not do justice. In the nighttime, that advantage pops up with better-lit details, requiring less post-processing in case you do plan to buy for some mobile photography.
Selfies are similar with OPPO’s Beautify feature. And unlike their predecessors, neither comes with a front-firing flash for selfies in total dark. Even so, selfies are still decent in low-lighting conditions.
As with video-recording, both are identical with up to 1080p at 30FPS recording. A lot of details are lost in the process but colors are vibrant. Stabilization is nearly non-existent with really shaky footages, so do not expect acceptable quality while on the move. Even the exposure shifts are brutal with finicky autofocus.
Performance
Regarding horsepower, both run on a Mediatek 6763T SoC with an octa-core Cortex-A53 and 2 Mali-G71 cores for graphics processing. As for the RAM, the F5 comes in 4GB/32GB and 6GB/64GB variants while the F5 Youth only comes in 3GB/32GB, and in effect, having less multitasking overhead, especially when keeping many apps on the background.
| Device | AnTuTu | PCMark Work 2.0 | Androbench |
| OPPO F5 | 65234 | 3216 | Seq. Read: 290.88MB/s
Seq. Write: 106.44MB/s Ran. Read: 72.11MB/s Ran. Write: |
| OPPO F5 Youth | 178423 | 3151 | Seq. Read: 285.34MB/s
Seq. Write: 101.23MB/s Ran. Read: 73.24MB/s Ran. Write: |
Being similar in a lot of aspects, benchmark scores and game performance is fundamentally equal with an acceptable error of margin.
Battery
Equipped with the same non-removable 3300mAh Li-Ion battery, the F5 and F5 Youth gave strikingly similar battery results in both usage and charging.
| Device | Battery | MS Battery Rating | Charging-Time (0-100) |
| OPPO F5 | 3300mAh | 37h 28m | 1h 49m |
| OPPO F5 Youth | 3300mAh | 36h 42m | 1h 51m |
Audio
And lastly, with the audio. The F5 and F5 Youth are equipped with the same bottom-mounted speaker without any difference. They are loud and crisp for watching videos, playing games, and casually listening to music in a cold afternoon.
To OPPO’s credit, the Real Sound Technology that they added is commendable to an extent with an included narrow tuner and the capability to monitor what goes in through your mic.
Verdict
So, what is our pick? They’re virtually identical in a lot of aspects, and even we were to mention what has the better camera, they’re the same. The extra 1,000 pesos is actually worth more than what the F5 has over the F5 Youth. So, what’s your choice? Is it the F5 or F5 Youth? Let us know in the comments below!
