Oppo, a relatively unknown Android smartphone out of Asia, has just announced their flagship handset for the second half of 2013 – the N1. The handset comes with quite a few unique features, which makes it stand out from the flagship handsets of all other top-tier companies. 

The front of the N1 is dominated by a massive 5.9-inch display with Full HD (1080*1920) resolution. Below that giant screen are the 3 Android navigation keys – Menu, Home and Back. Sadly, Oppo has ditched the Recents UI key for the Menu key here. The aluminium metal frame of the handset undergoes a 14-step polishing process to give a ceramic-like feel and helps in keeping the fingerprints away.

The most interesting part of the N1 is its six-element 13MP F/2.0 camera. The camera is located at the top of the handset, and can be rotated up to 206 degrees, allowing it to act as a front-facing camera as well. There is also a dual-LED flash and a Oppo’s own Owl Imaging processor with Pure Image technology. The brightness of the LED flash can be adjusted via the camera app of the handset. Depending on the model you purchase, the N1 camera will include up to 10x or 15x optical zoom.

That’s not all though. Right below the N1’s camera module is a touch-sensitive area known as O-Touch, and depending on the gesture performed, it can be used to skip a music track, launch an app and perform other similar tasks.

Other specs of the N1 include 2GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of storage space, dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS and the other usual bunch of sensors and connectivity features. There is a 3610mAh battery inside, which should help the device to easily last 24 hours of heavy usage. Perhaps, the only low-point in the N1 spec sheet is the Snapdragon S600 processor, instead of the S800. Apart from the performance difference, the S800 brings some major battery and thermal improvements, which should have helped further improve the N1’s battery life.

On the software side, the N1 will be the first phone from Oppo to ship with Color ROM. However, the handset will also be supported by CyanogenMod. The company will be shipping a N1 CyanogenMod Edition in limited quantities, making it the first ever handset to ship with CyanogenMod ROM right out of the box.

Oppo is also going to ship the N1 with O-Click control, a small device that can fit into your keychain. The O-Click can act as a shutter button for the N1’s camera, and can also be used as a trigger to sound off an alarm whenever you loose the handset.

The N1 will hit the shelves in China sometime in October for 3498 CNY or roughly US$575.

Via – Oppo