Business Insider/ Lisa Eadicicco
The Oppo R5 is the thinnest smartphone you can buy. It's 4.85mm thin, which is more than two millimeters slimmer than the iPhone 6.
I've been using the $445 Oppo R5 for about a week, and it truly is a gorgeous device. It looks elegant, polished, and its screen is incredible.
I've tested a ton of phones, and it's the only one that's attracted the attention of my coworkers as they walked by my desk.
But it made me wonder whether or not there's any benefit from using a phone that's so skinny.
Here's the funny thing about the Oppo R5. It looks like something you'd want to hold, but once you get your hands on it, the phone feels rigid and angular. Being so thin automatically makes the R5 feel light, but it also feels delicate, and I wouldn't feel comfortable using it without a case.
It seems like the phone was designed more to be looked at rather than held. That's not to say this really limited me from using the phone in any way - it's just something I observed since I'm used to phones that are more rounded like the iPhone 6, HTC One, and Galaxy Note 4. Unlike those phones, Oppo's device isn't available in the US just yet, although you can technically order it from Amazon and use it via Wi-Fi.
The phone's design and display are without a doubt its greatest two features. The Oppo R5 features a 5.2-inch AMOLED 1080p screen, which is similar to that of the Galaxy S5.
Business Insider/ Lisa Eadicicco The Oppo R5 is about as thin as a magazine.
Looking and photos and watching Netflix on the Oppo R5 was pleasant; the picture was extremely crisp and colorful. I did notice, however, that the iPhone 6 Plus' screen displayed colors a little more vibrantly.
The one thing about the phone's design that sticks out in a negative way — literally — is its camera. Since the Oppo R5 is so svelte, the camera noticeably bulges out.
Business Insider/ Lisa Eadicicco
Still, the camera takes decent photos and is capable of capturing plenty of light.
Take a look at the two images below. You'll notice the coloring is noticeably different in each one. The photo shot with Oppo's 13-megapixel camera is bright, clear, and colorful, especially when you look at the main building. But, the lower left corner looks a bit too dark. The lighting and coloring throughout the iPhone 6 Plus' photo looks more even and balanced, although the building doesn't look quite as sharp and defined as it does in Oppo's photo.
Oppo R5
Lisa Eadicicco iPhone 6 Plus
Lisa Eadicicco
But there's another downside to the R5's ultra thin frame — there's no headphone jack. Oppo supplies a pair of its own headphones that plug directly into the phones micro USB port, but that's likely to be a significant drawback for at least some consumers. Don't count on using your own pair of headphones unless you plan on buying an adapter.