Oppo A5 4/32 Gb smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

Oppo has released a smartphone from its "A" budget line. The number 5 was added to the name of the line and the name A5 was obtained. Nevertheless, the phone has taken some intermediate position between the budget and mid-price segment. Let's see if it rightfully takes this place and compare it with its closest competitors.

Equipment

The smartphone is delivered in an uncomplicated cardboard box, in which, in addition to the device, the following equipment is available:

• charging at 1 A;
• micro USB cable;
• transparent silicone case;
• screen protector;
• a clip for removing SIM cards;
• instruction;
• warranty card.

Appearance

The phone has an interesting design with an unusual texture on the back. The drawing imitates the facets of a gem. Body materials - plastic, glass and metal. Dimensions: 156.1 x 75.6 x 8.2 mm. The smartphone is not light in weight - 168 grams. It is comfortable in the hand, but the thickness and weight are still felt.

On the front, there is a 6.2-inch screen with a monobrow and thin bezels around the edges. The display occupies almost 89% of the front panel surface. At the top is the front-facing camera with a speaker.

The back is covered with glass, under which you can see the textured grooved surface, which makes the design unique. It looks very nice, but, unfortunately, the glass gets dirty very quickly. There are red and bright blue options. In the upper left corner, the dual camera and flash are located horizontally. The side frames are made of metal. Power key on the right, volume rocker on the left. At the bottom there is a micro USB input, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a speaker.

On the positive side, there is a Micro SD slot with a maximum memory capacity of 256 GB. Moreover, the slot for it is your own, i.e. you can put two SIM cards and memory.

Specifications

We list the main technical characteristics of the Oppo A5

Screen

Screen diagonal 6.2 inches, aspect ratio 19: 9, screen resolution 1520 x 720 pixels.By the standards of 2019, the resolution is not very high, but for games, watching videos and surfing the Internet it is quite sufficient. In addition, a low, by modern standards, resolution is good for the speed of games and battery life. The screen has 16.7 million colors. It is quite bright and contrasting, has a good anti-reflective coating. Even in the sun you can see something.

The color rendition is good, but the white color goes a little bluish. This can be corrected in the settings. You can also adjust the color temperature of the screen. The viewing angle of the screen is small, when you change it, the screen gets very dark. There is a night mode, when the screen goes into yellow tones, and a black and white mode.

The screen is controlled using virtual buttons. There are several control configurations in the settings. The disadvantage is that when you use the cover your finger catches on the edge. Because of this, the virtual buttons may not work, which makes using the smartphone a little uncomfortable.

Overall, the screen is decent. In terms of brightness and contrast, for example, it greatly outperforms the popular Xiaomi Redmi 6 model at the same resolution.

operating system

The phone has Android 8.1 plus Oppo's Color OS 5.1 shell. The interface is similar to iOS. There is a Russian language, support for widgets. You can hide the control keys and use gestures. The gesture controls are very well implemented. There is support for working with two applications on one screen. You can, for example, watch a video on YouTube and simultaneously launch a browser or some kind of chat. No serious lags were noticed, in general everything works well.

The face scanner is unfortunately not always accurate. Sometimes you have to use it twice for unlocking to work. But the fingerprint sensor works clearly and quickly enough.

Performance

The Oppo A5 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor that runs on 8 Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz. Video processor Adreno 506. This processor has low power consumption, which fits well into the concept of this smartphone. Snapdragon 450 is now very often installed on budget models. This is essentially a slightly stripped-down Snapdragon 625. The processor is not the fastest, but the toy pulls well. For example, Pubg Mobile is quite comfortable to play, albeit at the lowest settings. But the processor is still weak for active games. It costs 4GB of RAM, which is great, and 32GB of internal storage.

The results of some tests Oppo A5:

• AnTuTu Benchmark - 75 989;
• GeekBench 4 all cores - 3,144;
• GeekBench 4 single core - 761;
• 3DMark - 449.

Autonomy

An economical processor and a 4,230 mAh battery make this smartphone very autonomous. During normal use of the phone without games and long video viewing, the charge lasts for two days. A full charge lasts about 9 hours of gaming. Unfortunately, fast charging mode is not supported.

Cameras

Cameras are not the strongest point of this smartphone. Let's figure out how the phone takes a photo and how it shoots a video.

Main camera

The main dual camera of 13 megapixels and 2 megapixels with LED flash shoots pretty average. The resulting photos can be safely used for social media. networks. Disadvantages are already visible on a computer or other devices - weak dynamic range, poor detail. Autofocus works quite stable. Pictures are saved quickly. The lack of a manual mode is disappointing. But the portrait mode is well implemented.

During the day, you can get quite decent photos. Let's see how the rear camera takes pictures at night. Everything is sad here. Focus is lost, sharpness drops, and a lot of noise appears.

The camera app is very easy to understand, even for a beginner. Only the necessary things are brought to the fore, and the settings for more experienced users are carefully hidden deep into the interface.

There are also problems with the video. Color rendition and clarity are good, but autofocus does not work well, which is why the result is not very good.

Selfie camera

The front 8 megapixel camera with 2.2 aperture makes selfies mediocre too. Not bad during the day, albeit a little pale, but at night everything is much worse.But there are a lot of all sorts of gadgets that, using artificial intelligence, can change the face beyond recognition, add glasses or attach a cat's ears and mustache.

Sample photos

Wireless interfaces

The Oppo A5 keeps the connection well. GPS works smoothly. There is Bluetooth 4.2, Dual Sim. 4G works on all popular bands. Now about the bad - NFC is not here, as well as dual-band Wi-Fi.

Sound

The loudspeaker is average - loud enough, does not distort the sound too much, no wheezing. Perfect for listening to the radio. But in headphones, you can get good sound, especially if you delve into the equalizer settings.

Price

How much and where to buy the Oppo A5? The model has just appeared on the market and in all stores the price is the same - 16,990 rubles. Probably, we should wait for the price decrease. Oppo usually drops the prices of its smartphones some time after launch.

Comparison with other popular models

Let's compare popular models in the same price range. The best manufacturers of Sino-Taiwanese origin compete here. The popularity of the models presented in the review is not accidental. All of these new products have received good reviews and have excellent functionality at a low price.

Comparison with Motorola G6

The Motorola G6 smartphone has the same chipset as the A5. He looks great too. The G6 has less memory of 3GB versus 4GB. The screen is slightly smaller, but better - with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. Motorola, unlike Oppo, has NFC, a slightly better camera, but much less autonomy. The battery is only 3000mAh. The Motorola G6 is slightly cheaper. What is the best model to buy? A5, if you need increased autonomy, G6, if you need NFC and a Full HD + screen.

Comparison with ZTE Blade V9

The ZTE Blade V9 has the same chipset and is therefore as powerful as the A5. Oppo loses to all its rivals in screen quality. The V9 is no exception, which also has Full HD + resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. ZTE has always been famous for its excellent cameras, even in budget models. The cameras in this model are also very good, which cannot be said about the A5 cameras. But Oppo has more memory of 4GB versus 3GB. And the autonomy of 4 230 mAh versus 3 200 mAh is noticeably better. The V9 is slightly cheaper than the A5. What are the selection criteria here? Oppo A5 wins in terms of autonomy and memory. If the quality of photo and video shooting and picture on the screen is more important, then your choice is V9.

Comparison with ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 almost topped the rating of high-quality inexpensive smartphones right after its release. It surpasses the Oppo A5 in almost every way. It has a more powerful Snapdragon 636 processor, with the same 4 GB of RAM, more (64 GB) of permanent memory, a Full HD + screen, a larger 5000 mAh battery. Smartphones are roughly equal in price.

It would seem that it is clear which device is better. But it's not that simple. With a higher battery capacity, Asus' autonomy is less due to a more powerful processor and a higher screen resolution. The A5's camera shoots a little better, while its formal characteristics are slightly worse. Plus, Oppo's design is much more interesting. How to choose from these models? If design is important, then the choice is the A5, if the filling is important, then you should choose the more powerful Asus model.

Bottom line: the pros and cons of the Oppo A5

• original design;
• 4 GB of RAM;
• excellent autonomy;
• additional memory expansion slot.

• low resolution screen;
• weak cameras;
• no NFC;
• no fast charging.

Overall, the Oppo A5 makes a good impression. The main feature of a smartphone is autonomy. This device is for those who are looking for a reliable smartphone with a capacious battery that does not need to be charged every day.