Oppo RX17 Pro hands-on review

Design and handling

We have one word for the Oppo RX17 Pro and it's mesmerizing! We had the Radiant Mist RX17 Pro, which is the face for all press materials and it's even more awesome in real-life.

The shape and build of the Oppo RX17 Pro are nothing to phone home about, really. The design is in line with the latest trends within BBK's offspring - Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Realme. Yes, it's a glass-sandwich phone with a thin aluminum frame.

Lucky for us, the consumers, Oppo has really tried to make the RX17 Pro stand out and it has succeeded alright. Huawei may have made those gradient paintjobs cool, but Oppo took this trend to a whole new level. And it's definitely for the better.

The rear glass is curved and has a tri-color gradient beneath the surface with a subtle S-curve between the hues. Oppo says the final ingredient for the whole thing to work is a layer of condensed light, which is, well, quite impossible. But whatever this extra layer is made from, it has done the job.

But probably the nicest touch of all is the matte finish. It's the same thing we experienced on the OnePlus 6 and 6T matte versions and is the best grip booster any glass phone can have. It is also the best protection against fingerprints and smudges, so it's a double-win however we look at it.

It would have been nice if this stunning panel was undisturbed as it was on the Find X, but the triple-camera setup is mounted here. The Galaxy S9 has lent its main camera to the RX17 Pro - a 12MP snapper with large pixels, dual-pixel PDAF, variable aperture, and OIS.

The secondary shooter is a 20MP one behind f/2.4 lens. And just like on the R15 Pro, OnePlus 6 and 6T - we haven't found any benefits of it being around except perhaps for helping to map the scene depth for better portraits.

The Night Mode from the OnePlus 6T has made it to the RX17 Pro, too. It's not quite like Huawei handheld long exposure shooting mode but it attempts to achieve the same thing.

Finally, the third snapper is a TOF camera for advanced 3D mapping and some unique portrait effects and animations.

We can continue talking about the mesmerizing back, but let's snap out of it and move to the front.

The 6.41" AMOLED screen of 1080p resolution is what you will be looking at the whole time when you are using the RX17 and it's pretty great. We've already seen this panel on the OnePlus 6T and we know that everyone will enjoy it. The screen looks very bright and the contrast is simply great.

The waterdrop notch turned out to be the next big thing on the market, sorry Apple, and we are so glad things are moving in this direction. The curvy cutout isn't as much of an eyesore and it houses only the 25MP selfie camera and a bunch of sensors.

The earpiece is etched in the upper edge of the front glass and is not in the part of the notch.

Speaking of that glass, it's a Gorilla Glass 6 piece with a 2.5D finish around the edge. And if that's not enough of a protection for you, Oppo is still keen on applying screen protectors in its factory and all RX17 Pro units will come with one out of the box.

Oppo RX17 Pro has an under-display fingerprint scanner, probably the same piece of tech the OnePlus 6T uses. And we can confirm it's as fast as on the 6T, but it has one game-changing feature over the 6T's - the sensor is always-on.You don't need to pick up, wake, or tap on the phone first - just put your finger around the bottom of the screen and the RX17 Pro will scan it and unlock automatically. We are yet to see the impact on the battery life, though.

The metal frame is quite thin, but also matte as the back, so the grip isn't compromised. The gradient paint spreads across the frame, too, and it's beautiful - there are no two words about that.

Oppo R17 Pro

The long sides have the volume and power keys, while everything else is at the bottom - the speaker, the USB port, and the SIM tray.

There is no audio port on the Oppo RX17 Pro. And the phone isn't water-resistant, which might be a bummer. But the RX17 Pro is still shaping as one very interesting device despite those omissions.

The RX17 Pro has a 3,700 mAh battery that's comprised of two separate cells to allow for faster charging. It supports company's latest Super VOOC 50W charging, which we've only seen on the Find X Lamborghini Edition so far. With the provided charger you can replenish 96% of the battery in 30 minutes, and a full charge takes a mere 36 minutes. That's quite in line with the charging speed we got on the Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition, although this one had a smaller 3,400 mAh battery.

So, color us impressed. This Oppo RX17 Pro really is something. Follow us on the next pages where we explore its performance and camera chops.