Oppo leaves Apple behind in race for “Sapphire Phone”

Last year, many reports and leaks claimed that Apple will use sapphire glass in its new range of iPhones. Although, Apple has used it on its TouchID for the latest iPhones, it is Oppo which has come out with the much talked about “Sapphire Glass” phone.

The new Oppo R1C sports a sapphire back panel that allows the device to be incredibly thin while remaining surprisingly sturdy. But, we do think that Sapphire glass in the front would have added more to the classiness of the phone.
On the design front, the Oppo R1C follows the design philosophy adopted by most of the Chinese manufacturers. The phone has a lot of design influences and looks like a mix of iPhone and Xperia range. It also reminds us of the Gionee S5.1. The front has a little resemblance with an iPhone. On the back, it looks like a Xperia with clean design and similar placements of camera and branding.
Further, the R1C packs a 5-inch IPS screen with 720P resolution which amounts to a respectable 294 ppi. It comes with a 13 MP primary and a 5 MP secondary camera with support for full HD video recording. The Oppo R1C’s 13-megapixel rear camera uses a Sony IMX214 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture lens for allowing more light and improving low light performance. Under the hood, it is powered by an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM. The Oppo R1C supports Dual-Sim and has a non-removable 2420 mAh battery.  It comes with 16GB internal storage and the external storage is expandable upto 128GB.
The R1C costs around INR 24,999 and is targeted at mid range android users who look for style and performance in their phones. Coupled with the earlier launches of Oppo R5 and Vivo X5 Max, Oppo is trying hard to carve out a niche in the Indian market.