New Delhi: Smartphone makers, across all segments, are innovating to make the lives of users easier and offering a unique proposition or a unique one among the rivals. Oppo is one such smartphone OEM that has earned the reputation of bringing stylish smartphones that don’t burn a hole in your pocket. Now, the handset maker has told ABP Live what’s behind the manufacturing of the Oppo F21 Pro’s industry-first fiberglass leather design ahead of its launch.
Coming to the fiberglass leather, it’s a durable design and according to the company the Sunset Orange variant of the Oppo F21 Pro also doubles as a “frameless” battery cover. Oppo revealed, “Fiberglass leather is an amalgamation of litchi-grain leather and fiberglass and both the materials combine their respective properties to ensure that the final product can withstand high temperatures and pressures, making the phone highly durable. “
The company said that it took almost two years to fine-tune the design of the Oppo F21 Pro Sunset Orange variant. “Oppo invests heavily in R&D to bring premium devices to its users. For example, our teams have spent nearly two years refining the design of the new F21 Pro Sunset Orange model, which features the industry’s first fiberglass There is a leather design that is water resistant as well as withstands high temperatures,” Tasleem Arif, Vice President, India R&D Head, Oppo India told Krishna Sinha Choudhary of ABP Live.
“Similarly, the Cosmic Black variant of the F21 Pro features our proprietary ‘Glow’ technology that makes it shine while giving it a matte-in-hand feel. It is also fingerprint and stain-resistant,” said Arif.
How is the fiberglass leather on the Oppo F21 Pro different from other imitation leather finishes?
Using synthetic leather is nothing new and Samsung used it in the Galaxy Note 3 in 2013 and using imitation leather has its disadvantages too. However, Oppo is trying to differentiate the leather of the F21 Pro from the fake leather finish. “To ensure the quality of the finished fiberglass leather, we have put it through ultimate durability testing. It has been subjected to various simulated abrasion tests that are designed to mimic the tears of day-to-day use. These tests include 5,000 rubbing alcohol tests, 200,000 denim rubbing tests, and 10,000 rubber eraser tests, to ensure color fidelity and durability,” the company explained.
It should be noted that the upcoming Oppo F21 Pro has taken a cue from the leather and metal design of classic film cameras and has done away with the plastic mid-frame support. The thickness of the smartphone will be 7.54-mm in the Sunset Orange variant, while the Auroral Blue model will have 7.49-mm and the Cosmic Black model with 2.5D front will have a thickness of 175 grams.
The 8GB/128GB storage model of Oppo F21 Pro is expected to cost Rs 21,990 for the 4G variant and Rs 25,990 for the 5G variant.