The smartphone market is flooded with handsets in the below 20,000 range, which include handsets with 5G, high resolution cameras, super fast charging, stereo speakers and even IP ratings. Will Oppo K10 be able to sustain itself in this race? Let’s know.
Oppo K10 price in India
The price of 6 GB RAM variant of Oppo K10 in India is Rs 14,990. Its 8 GB RAM variant costs Rs 16,990. 128 GB of storage has been given in both these variants. 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 the bright and dynamic look of the blue color. The frame of the phone has a matte finish and the back panel also has the same element in most parts. Its smooth texture does not allow fingerprints to come through easily. I also tried to scratch the back panel with my fingernail as claimed by Oppo but there was no mark on it. Even without the case it probably won’t give you any trouble.
Its rectangular camera module is reminiscent of the Oppo A76 but a separate bright area has been given around the camera bump of the phone. Some things are written here like ‘Super Performance’ and ’10-K’. Oppo says this is only a part of the design of the phone, whereas I was initially thinking it was associated with the name of the phone.
The headphone jack is given at the bottom of the Oppo K10. This is where the speaker is as well, but the earpiece is used for stereo sound. Fingerprint sensor is given in the power button.
The phone flaunts a 6.59-inch LCD display with Full HD+ (2412×1080 pixels) resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. This is a pretty standard looking panel. Brightness and colors are very good. A cutout has been given for the selfie camera, which looks quite modern. You will get to see thick bezels all around the display.
The box of the Oppo K10 comes with a transparent case and a 33W SuperVOOC charger along with a few other accessories. The quality of the case is quite good, it gives protection to the display all around. It also protects the sides and ports of the rear camera. The finish of the phone is quite smooth, so this case protects the phone from slipping in the hand.
Oppo K10 specifications and software
The IP54 rating given in Oppo K10 is one of its special features, as the IP53 rating is seen in other competitors in this price range. In terms of protection against dust, it will perform like other smartphones, but in terms of protection against water, 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 find this 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 gets charged very fast. There is also a dedicated microSD card slot in the SIM tray. It supports storage up to 1TB.
Oppo K10 smartphone comes with Android 11 based ColorOS 11.1. There are many pre-installed apps available in the phone but most of them can also be removed. Some apps provided by Oppo such as Theme Store and Game Space have been seen sending spam notifications at times. Oppo hasn’t promised updates for a long time. Therefore, it cannot be said whether any update will come in it even after Android 12.
Oppo K10 performance and battery life
The 6GB variant of the Oppo K10, which I have tested, performed very well during the review. The phone was very fast in normal use and the fingerprint sensor never failed. It also has face recognition, which works well even in low light. The K10 also comes with a 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.
Enjoyed watching and listening to videos with the phone’s display and speakers. But the left and right channels are not balanced well. The primary speaker sounds a lot louder than the earpiece, but it’s better than the lack of stereo sound. The display can be read comfortably even in direct sunlight.
The gaming performance of the phone is quite good. However, most heavy games like Asphalt 9: Legends and Call of Duty Mobile didn’t get the best experience. The visuals were a bit disappointing. Then after turning the graphics to ‘Very High’ settings, the visuals of Call of Duty improved slightly. Most of the advanced graphic 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 days. The phone also performed well in our HD video loop test and lasted for about 15 hours. It’s not the best, but it’s pretty good. The battery can be charged rapidly. The phone gets fully charged within about an hour.
Oppo K10 cameras
The 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 ultrawide camera rather than the other two cameras of the phone’s 2 megapixels. This is not the case only with the K10. Recently, the same was seen in Realme 9 5G when the ultrawide camera was missing from the phone. There is a 16-megapixel camera on the front for selfie.
The camera app seems to be standard, similar to the one seen on recent Oppo phones. There are some features in this phone which I have not 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 tone on the photo. This is of great use for those who like editing more 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 only works in the rear camera. The phone also has Oppo’s Bokeh Flare Portrait filter which we saw in the Oppo Reno series.
The main camera was able to capture good looking photos in good light. The Oppo K10 struggled a bit with exposure in direct sunlight or a slight backlit. However, 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 fixed after turning on the night mode. However, even after this the details did not make much difference. Close-up shots taken in low-light were also good.
Selfies taken outdoors were good. The camera was saving these 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 in 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 up to 720p. In terms of quality, videos were being recorded usable in daylight, but it was not so during night time.
Verdict
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 in the phone, it seems more value for money. The battery life of the phone is quite good. You will love its fast charging, captivating display and all-round performance. The price of the phone is also good, but keep in mind that 5G options are also available in the market at the same price. For example, Poco M4 Pro 5G comes as a good option, which has an IP53 rating. Redmi Note 10S is a bit old but still a good phone for the same price as the K10.
The biggest weakness of Oppo K10 is its poor video recording performance and lack of 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 gives the best value.
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