The smartphone market is flooded with phones in the sub-20K range, including phones with 5G, high-resolution cameras, super-fast charging, stereo speakers, and even IP ratings. Will Oppo K10 be able to stay in this race? let us know
Oppo K10 price in India
The price of the 6 GB RAM variant of Oppo K10 in India is Rs 14,990. Its 8 GB RAM variant costs Rs 16,990. Both variants have 128 GB of storage. The phone comes in Black Carbon and Blue Flame color options.
Oppo K10 Design
Despite being low budget, Oppo has made the looks of this phone very attractive according to this price segment. I really liked the bright and dynamic look of the blue color. The frame of the phone has been given a matte finish and the rear panel also has the same element for the most part. Its smooth texture does not allow fingerprints to come off easily. I even tried scratching the back panel with my fingernail as Oppo claims, but it didn’t leave any marks. Even without the case, it probably won’t cause you any trouble.
Its rectangular camera module is reminiscent of the Oppo A76, but the phone has a different shiny area around the camera bump. Some things are written here like ‘Super Performance’ and ’10-K’. Oppo says this is just part of the phone’s design, whereas I initially thought it had to do with the phone’s name.
The headphone jack is located at the bottom of the Oppo K10. The speakerphone is here too, but the earpiece is used for stereo sound. The fingerprint sensor is provided on the power button.
The phone has a 6.59-inch LCD screen with Full HD Plus resolution (2412×1080 pixels) and 90Hz refresh rate. It’s a beautiful standard looking panel. The brightness and colors are quite good. The selfie camera has been given a cutout, which looks quite modern. You will be able to see thick bezels all around the screen.
A transparent case and a 33W SuperVOOC charger along with some other accessories are available in the Oppo K10 box. The quality of the case is very good, it protects the screen on all sides. It also makes the edges and ports of the rear camera safe. The finish of the phone is quite smooth, so this case prevents the phone from slipping out of your hands.
Oppo K10 Specifications and Software
The IP54 rating given on the Oppo K10 is one of its special features, as the IP53 rating is seen on other rivals in this price range. In terms of protection against dust, it will perform just as well as other smartphones, but it should be better in terms of protection against water.
The company has used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor. It does not support 5G connectivity, but it is quite powerful. You will also find the same processor in phones like the Realme 9i and Redmi Note 11. Apart from this, the phone also has features like dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, GPS, and FM radio. Its battery capacity is 5,000 mAh. With 33W fast charging, it charges very fast. A dedicated microSD card slot is also provided on the SIM tray. Supports up to 1TB of storage.
The Oppo K10 smartphone comes with ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11. Many pre-installed apps are available on the phone, but most of them can also be removed. Some apps provided by Oppo, such as Theme Store and Game Space, send spam notifications many times. Oppo has not promised updates for a long time. That is why it cannot be said that even after Android 12, there will be an update or not.
Oppo K10 performance and battery life
The 6 GB variant of the Oppo K10, which I tested, performed very well during the review. The phone was very fast in general use and the fingerprint sensor never failed. It also has facial recognition, which also works well in low light. The K10 also comes with an expandable RAM feature which is set to 2GB by default. But I didn’t feel the need to increase it. By the way, it can also be increased up to 5 GB.
It was a joy to watch and listen to videos with the phone’s screen and speakers. But the left and right channels are not well balanced. The main speaker is quite loud compared to the earpiece, but it’s better than no stereo sound. The screen is easily readable even in direct sunlight.
The gaming performance of the phone is quite good. However, the best experience was not found in most of the heavy games like Asphalt 9: Legends and Call of Duty Mobile. The images were a bit disappointing. Call of Duty visuals improved slightly after changing graphics to ‘Very High’ settings. The most advanced graphics settings were not available.
Oppo K10 did well in terms of battery life. On a single charge, I was able to use the phone for almost two full days. The phone also performed well in our HD video loop test, lasting around 15 hours. It’s not the best, but it’s good enough. The battery can be charged quickly. The phone fully charges in about an hour.
Oppo K10 cameras
Oppo K10 has a 50-megapixel main camera, as well as depth and macro shooters. You don’t get an ultra-wide camera, which can be a disappointment. I would have preferred an ultra-wide camera over the other two 2-megapixel cameras on the phone. This is not the case only with the K10. The same was recently seen on the Realme 9 5G when the ultra-wide camera was missing on the phone. There is a 16-megapixel camera on the front for selfies.
The camera app looks stock, similar to what we’ve seen on recent Oppo phones. There are some features on this phone that I haven’t seen before. One of them is the AI Palette feature. You’ll find it in the Edit menu of the Photo Gallery. Through this, you can apply different color tones on the photo. This is very useful for those who like to edit with their photos more. Apart from this, there is an AI retouch slider through which you can adjust the level of beautification on people’s faces in photos and videos. But it only works on the rear camera. The phone also has Oppo’s Bokeh Flare Portrait filter that we saw on the Oppo Reno series.
In good lighting, the main camera was capable of taking decent photos. In direct sunlight or with slight backlighting, the Oppo K10 struggled a bit with exposure. However, the landscape shots were decent. Close-ups taken outdoors were also decent. The macro camera did not impress with its quality.
Colors were good in low-light landscape shots, but details were lacking. There was a bloom effect when taking photos facing the light source, which was fixed after turning on night mode. However, even after this, there wasn’t much of a difference in detail. Close-ups taken in low light were also decent.
Outdoor selfies were decent. The camera kept them in full 16 megapixels. Edge detection wasn’t very good in shots taken in portrait mode. Selfies taken in low light were average and lacking in detail.
The Oppo K10 smartphone can only record videos up to 1080p. You will not get stabilization on this. There’s also no separate stabilization mode, even if you keep the resolution at 720p. Speaking of quality, the videos were usable in daylight but not so much at night.
Verdict
The Oppo K10 is very similar to the recently launched Oppo A96 in terms of design and specifications. Due to the stereo speakers, macro camera, and IP54 rating on the phone, it seems to be better value for money. The battery life of the phone is quite good. You’ll love its fast charging, captivating display, and all-around performance. The price of the phone is also good, but keep in mind here that there are 5G options on the market at the same price. For example, the Poco M4 Pro 5G is a good option, with an IP53 rating. The Redmi Note 10S is a bit old but it’s still a good phone for the same price as the K10.
The biggest weaknesses of the Oppo K10 are its poor video recording performance and the lack of an ultra-wide camera. If you are not very interested in photography or videography, then this may be a good option for you. The basic variant of the Oppo K10 offers the best value.