OPPO’s major role in the competitive mid-range market
Over the past few years, the mid-range smartphone market has changed dramatically all over the world. With the specification wars raging on in full force, major handset manufacturers are constantly competing with each other for the top spot in the premium market segment. This comes at a price, though. Certain devices from major OEMs can cost upwards of $900 unlocked, but recently, it seems as though consumers aren’t willing to pay as much as they used to.
For those of us who aren’t willing to pay almost $1,000 for a smartphone, what are our options? The mid-range market has been growing over the years, sure, though it’s been proven quite difficult to penetrate. Unlike Motorola’s Moto G, which has arguably found the winning formula for great performance in the low-end market, mid-range devices haven’t quite hit their stride yet. It seems like many OEMs have been trying to find the correct balance between high-end specs and a low price point, but none have really produced too many memorable options that check all of the boxes.
Of course, this is just now beginning to change, as we’re now seeing a handful of notable smartphone makers approach the winning recipe for success in the mid-range market. One OEM that’s a good example of this is OPPO, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. Build quality and features aside, OPPO’s most recent mid-range offerings seem to check most of the boxes many consumers look for when seeking out a capable mid-ranger. Today we’re going to take a look at the OPPO R7 and R7 Plus, two handsets that were announced last May, and how exactly these smartphones are providing a good example for the rest of the mid-range market to follow.
The OPPO R7 Series and the current mid-range market
OPPO announced its R7 and R7 Plus handsets back in May, and we’ve already posted our full review of the smaller handset. Suffice it to say, we’ve really enjoyed our time with the R7, and that’s no accident. The R7 features a 5.0-inch Super AMOLED display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 1.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board storage and microSD expansion up to 128GB. Not only that, it comes with a non-removable 2,320mAh battery, a 13MP rear-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and an 8MP front-facing camera. This device’s bigger brother, the R7 Plus, features mostly the same specs, but also boasts a 6.0-inch Full HD display, 32GB of base on-board storage and a much larger 4,100mAh battery.
These devices are being offered starting at just $400 unlocked, which is a steal. However, that’s not really the most important thing, here. Sure, the mid-range market is arguably defined by the prices at which smartphones are sold, but there’s more to it than that. When you’re not trying to create a phone that’s the most low-cost or highly-spec’d device out there, you need to focus on the overall user experience to bring the ultimate value to users, which is what OPPO aimed to do with the R7 and R7 Plus.
When talking about specific features, both of these devices provide many enhancements that you normally would only see in high-end devices. The Color OS software overlay is highly customizable, and there are even a few nifty gestures built in to the device that allow you to launch specific applications or turn on the device more easily. There’s even an “eye protection display” mode that places a warm hue over everything when triggered, which is perfect for users with sensitive eyes. OPPO believes these are features most users will enjoy, but don’t readily have access to given the high price of other flagships on the market.
Consumers aren’t the only people who are excited about the R7 series. According to Sino-Market Research, the R7’s launch in May bumped OPPO’s marketshare up in China’s offline markets, with the company managing to surpass Samsung the following month and today only trailing Apple. Not only do the specs and build quality help out with the R7’s successful sales, the naming scheme also has something to do with it, too. Customers will remember a product much easier if the device names aren’t all over the place. For instance, Motorola’s Moto X, G and E lines employ a similar strategy, in turn making it much easier for consumers to remember which products fit in where.
Where is the mid-range market headed?
In a global smartphone market that’s slowly adopting off-contract pricing and getting rid of carrier subsidies, the mid-range market might see the most change out of all of the smartphone tiers. It used to be extremely difficult to afford an unlocked smartphone without a carrier’s help, but that’s changing now. Two or three years from now, if all carriers get rid of subsidies, nobody is going to want to pay almost $1,000 on a smartphone, especially if there’s something comparable out there for less than half of the price.
With manufacturers like OPPO putting more and more focus on user experience as opposed to checking off boxes on the spec sheet, consumers are now starting to realize a great smartphone doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. Because of this, the mid-range market will only grow from here.
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