Phone vs watermelon - who wins?
Viral video shows smartphone Oppo R5 shattering various items
Oppo smash.
You could describe the Oppo R5 as the Hulk of smartphones. It was used to smash nuts, split fruits, even hammer down nails and yet it still worked fine, without a scratch.
A clip of the phone doing all these tricks was released by Oppo as an advertisement on its YouTube channel last December.
Titled "The R5 - Does it Smash?", the viral video has since garnered more than 1.5 million views.
And the biggest trial that the phone went through in the 71-second video? A car was driven over it.
Other YouTubers have gone beyond the stunts in the video, using it to smash ice and other assorted objects.
The New Paper pitted the R5 against a watermelon in our newsroom, and yes, it did indeed smash the fruit.
The New Paper test
Mr Sean Deng, 29, Oppo's managing director for Singapore, said: "The purpose of the advertisement is to show just how durable the phone is. Seeing is believing and we've received a lot of good feedback."
At only 4.85mm thick, the Oppo R5 is the thinnest smartphone in the market
Designing such a sleek phone was no easy feat, and the company went through great lengths over three years to ensure all design flaws were solved.
Their first problem - a slim phone would easily bend.
Unlike competitors who use a three-section manufacturing process, Oppo crafts the back of the R5 using a single piece of stainless steel.
Polishing it down to a smooth finish that fits perfectly in one's hand is a process that takes 16 days.
Mr Deng said: "(This) affects the number of phones we can produce, but our philosophy is that there is no compromise for quality, and we (will) do what it takes to achieve quality"
Overheating was another issue, but Oppo came up with a solution of liquidising a composite material to dissipate the heat.
The original video
Most impressive though, is how Oppo solved the problem of a shorter battery life despite a thinner battery.
Oppo's VOOC charging system, which has 16 patents, takes only 30 minutes to go from 0 per cent to a 75 per cent charge.
Innovation is the key to good design, said Mr Deng.
He added:"We're not competing with other companies, we're constantly competing with ourselves."
The Oppo R7 is launching this month.
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