The smartphone market is flooded with handsets in the sub Rs 20,000 range, which include handsets with 5G, high resolution cameras, super fast charging, stereo speakers and even IP rating. Will Oppo K10 be able to maintain itself in this race? Let us know.
Oppo K10 price in India
Oppo K10 The price of 6 GB RAM variant in India is Rs 14,990. The price of its 8 GB RAM variant is Rs 16,990. Both these variants have 128 GB storage. The phone comes in Black Carbon and Blue Flame color options.
Oppo K10 design
Despite being low-budget, Oppo has made the look of this phone quite attractive according to this price segment. I really liked its bright and dynamic look of blue color. Matte finish has been given in the frame of the phone and the back panel also has the same element in most parts. Its smooth texture does not allow fingerprints to come in easily. I even tried scratching the back panel with my fingernail as per Oppo’s claim but there was no mark on it. Even without the case it probably won’t cause you any problems.
Its rectangular camera module is reminiscent of the Oppo A76 but there is a separate bright area around the phone’s camera bump. There are some things written here like ‘Super Performance’ and ’10-K’. Oppo says this is simply a part of the phone’s design, whereas I was initially thinking it had to do with the phone’s name.
Headphone jack is provided at the bottom of Oppo K10. There is also a speaker here, but the earpiece is used for stereo sound. Fingerprint sensor is provided in the power button.
The phone has a 6.59-inch LCD display with Full HD Plus (2412×1080 pixels) resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. This is a standard looking beautiful panel. Brightness and colors are quite good. A cutout has been given for the selfie camera, which looks quite modern. You will get to see thick bezels around the entire display.
The box of Oppo K10 comes with a transparent case and a 33W SuperVOOC charger along with some other accessories. The quality of the case is quite good, it gives all-round protection to the display. It also protects the edges and ports of the rear camera. The finish of the phone is quite smooth, so this case prevents the phone from slipping from the hand.
Oppo K10 specifications and software
The IP54 rating given in Oppo K10 is one of its special features, because IP53 rating is seen in other competitors in this price range. In terms of dust protection, it will perform like other smartphones, but in terms of water protection it should be better.
The company has used Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor in it. It does not support 5G connectivity, but is quite powerful. You will also see the same processor in handsets like 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 5,000mAh. With 33W fast charging, it charges very fast. A dedicated microSD card slot is also provided in the SIM tray. It supports up to 1TB storage.
Oppo K10 smartphone comes with Android 11 based ColorOS 11.1. There are many pre-installed apps on the phone but most of them can also be removed. Some apps provided by Oppo like Theme Store and Game Space were seen sending spam notifications at times. Oppo has not promised updates for a long time. Therefore, it cannot be said whether there will be any update in it even after Android 12 or not.
Oppo K10 performance and battery life
The 6GB variant of the Oppo K10, which I tested, performed very well during the review. The phone remained quite fast in normal use and the fingerprint sensor never failed. It also has face recognition, which works well even in low light. K10 also has RAM expandable 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 expanded up to 5GB.
It was fun watching and listening to videos with the phone’s display and speakers. But the left and right channels are not well balanced. The primary speaker is noticeably louder than the earpiece, but that’s better given the absence of stereo sound. The display can be read comfortably even in direct sunlight.
The gaming performance of the phone is quite good. However, the best experience was not found in most heavy games like Asphalt 9: Legends and Call of Duty Mobile. The visuals were a bit disappointing. Call of Duty’s visuals improved slightly after turning the graphics to ‘Very High’ settings. Most advanced graphics settings were not available.
In terms of battery life, Oppo K10 performed well. 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 and lasted about 15 hours. It is not the best, but quite good. The battery can be charged faster. The phone gets fully charged in about an hour.
Oppo K10 cameras
Oppo K10 has a 50-megapixel main camera, along with depth and macro shooters. You don’t get an ultra-wide camera, which may be a disappointment. I would have preferred to have an ultrawide camera instead of the other two 2-megapixel cameras on the phone. This is not the case only with K10. recently Realme 9 5G The same thing was seen in I too when the ultra-wide camera was missing from the phone. There is a 16 megapixel camera in the front for selfie.
The camera app seems to be standard, similar to what we’ve seen on recent Oppo phones. There are some features in this phone that I have not seen before. One of them is the AI Palette feature. You’ll find this in the Edit menu of Photo Gallery. Through this you can apply different color tones on the photo. This is very useful for those who like editing with their photos. Apart from this, there is an AI re-touch slider through which the level of beautification on people’s faces in photos and videos can be adjusted. But it works only in rear camera. The phone also has Oppo’s Bokeh Flare Portrait filter which we saw in the Oppo Reno series.
In good lighting the main camera was able to capture good looking photos. In direct sunlight or mildly backlit, the Oppo K10 struggled a bit with exposure. However, the landscape shots were good. Close-up shots taken outdoors were also good. The macro camera did not impress with its quality.
Colors were good in low-light landscape shots but details were lacking. There was a blooming effect when taking photos in front of a light source, which got resolved after turning on night mode. However, even after this there was not much difference in the details. Close-up shots taken in low-light were also good.
Selfies taken outdoors were good. The camera was saving them in full 16 megapixels. Edge detection was not very good in shots taken in portrait mode. Selfies taken in low light were average and lacked details.
The Oppo K10 smartphone can only shoot videos up to 1080p. You will not get stabilization in this. There’s also no separate stabilization mode, even if you keep the resolution at 720p. Talking about quality, videos were being recorded usable in daylight, but this was not the case at night.
Verdict
Oppo K10 recently launched in terms of design and specifications Oppo A96 Very similar to. Due to the stereo speakers, macro camera and IP54 rating in the phone, it seems to be more value for money. The battery life of the phone is quite good. You will like its fast charging, attractive display and all-round performance. The price of the phone is also good, but keep in mind that there are 5G options available in the market at the same price. For example, the Poco M4 Pro 5G is a good option, with an IP53 rating. Redmi Note 10S A bit old but still a good phone at the same price as the K10.
The biggest weaknesses of the Oppo K10 are its poor video recording performance and the absence of an ultrawide camera. If you are not very interested in photography or videography, then this can be a good option for you. The base variant of Oppo K10 offers the best value.