You would have thought that Oppo had done enough for the time being, what with announcing the two Find 7 variants, but the engineers have been hard at work shrinking the elephantine N1 into a smaller package.
This time it will have the same swivelling camera arrangement that is currently unique to the N1, but rather than sitting above a 5.9-inch full HD display, it will be atop a less vertigo inducing 5-inch screen (presumably the same superb panel used in the Find 5).
OK, 5-inch isn’t what you’d normally think of as mini, it’s more along the lines of less massive, but it will make the phone more user friendly and therefore more appealing to the average user.
It’s not just the size that’s changing though. Whereas the N1 uses a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, the N1 Mini will either have a MediaTek or Samsung Exynos octa-core chipset. An interesting and unexpected move, when it would seem so much easier just to make the standard N1’s internals a bit smaller. I’m no smartphone engineer or accountant, so I probably have no right to judge!
I owned and reviewed an Oppo N1 CyanogenMod Edition, which I have since sold. There is only one reason I felt the need to pass it on – the size, it was just too unwieldy for sensible use. A 5-inch form factor puts it squarely in the ballpark of the most popular Android phones, such as the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, Nexus 5 and LG G2. At the right price, with the right supporting specs, this could be a great alternative for someone with an eye for the unusual.
There’s also talk of a 4G LTE version, something that the full fat N1 is currently bereft of.
We’re likely to see the N1 Mini announced in May or June. We’ll keep you updated on all the inevitable leaks as summer approaches.
Source – Singapore Hardware Zone
Here’s a reminder of the current N1’s specs:
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; penta-band 3G with HSPA
- 5.9″ 16M-color 1080p Super IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 373ppi
- Android Custom CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM
- Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300 CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset
- 13 MP autofocus camera, 207 degree module rotation; dual-LED flash; HDR, long exposure (up to 8 seconds)
- 1080p video recording @ 30fps with HDR mode, continuous autofocus and stereo sound
- O-Touch touchpad on the back
- Dual-band Wi-Fi ac/a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA; Wireless TV-out (Miracast)
- GPS with A-GPS
- 16GB of built-in storage
- microUSB 2.0 port, USB on the go support
- Bluetooth v4.0
- NFC
- 3.5 mm audio jack
- 3610 mAh battery
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- Premium aluminum and polycarbonate finish
- O-Click Bluetooth Remote Control in the package