Oppo is one of the top smartphone brands in China and was ranked as the 8th leading brand worldwide in 2016. The company has been hoping to carry over its success to India’s competitive smartphone market. Till date, the company has released a slew of budget and semi-premium smartphones, many of which were touted as being “selfie experts”. The Oppo A5 is one of the company’s newest phones, released in Aug 2018.
With the Oppo A5, the company is hoping to capture the ~Rs.15,000 budget smartphone market. Oppo has a reputation for making solid phones. Does the A5 live up to expectations? Should you buy this phone or look at another phone in the Rs.15,000 range? Let’s find out!
What You Need to Know About the Oppo A5
The Oppo A5 has a lot going for it. Although it misses some features you’d find in other similarly-priced smartphones:
- The Oppo A5 has an excellent 4GB of RAM and a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 1.8GHz octa-core processor.
- It has a massive 6.2-inch touch screen with a decent resolution (720 x 1520p).
- The phone has 32GB of built-in storage, with an option to expand to 256GB via the hybrid SIM slot.
- It includes a fingerprint scanner and a facial unlock feature for added security.
- The Oppo A5 has an FM radio, a feature absent in many premium and semi-premium smartphones.
Design: Stunningly Sleek
There are several bad and average-looking smartphones in the Rs. 15,000 smartphone bracket, but the Oppo A5 isn’t one of them. The A5 looks and feels like a premium phone: Oppo definitely hasn’t been stingy when it comes to the phone’s design. The phone has a glossy polycarbonate back with a “diamond cut” pattern, which is pretty eye-catching. The phone is big (6.2-inch display), somewhat thicker-than average (8.2mm wide), and moderately heavy (168 grams). The phone is a pleasure to behold.
The Oppo A5 doesn’t have an IR rating or water resistance. However, the phone does include a 3.5mm audio jack, FM-radio support, responsive buttons, and a super-fast fingerprint scanner. It’s also sturdy, though we recommend you use a cover with the phone. There’s a notch on the display at the top, in keeping with the trend. Design-wise, it’s one of the best-looking and most usable phones in its segment.
Display: Bigger is Better
The Oppo A5 has an absolutely massive 6.2 inch IPS LCD screen. The display has rounded corners and is almost uniform, save for the notch at the top. Is it a good display, though? The screen supports a resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels. Yes, it’s an HD display with a good PPI.
The color reproduction is accurate and the white balance is great. The screen is bright and usable in sunlight. Videos and images look true-to-life on the phone. If you like watching movies and videos on your phone, the Oppo A5 will provide a satisfactory, immersive experience.
Camera: Good
It’s difficult to pack a good camera on a budget smartphone. Oppo has done well, though. The A5 includes a dual-camera setup at the back and a single selfie camera at the front. The back camera is 13MP, with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP depth sensor for support, with an f/2.4 aperture. The front camera is 8MP with an f/2.2 aperture. These cameras are very similar to cameras found on other smartphones in this price range, so you are getting a competitive camera.
Do the cameras on the A5 take good photos? In daylight conditions, they do so extremely well. The dynamic range, contrast, and level-of-detail are very good. The back camera is good for taking photos of people and places at close-range and medium range. The camera app includes features like Depth, HDR, Panorama, and Portrait mode. The selfie-camera is also pretty good. Photos clicked in low-light conditions are good. Overall, the cameras on the A5 are perfect for everyday use.
Performance: Good for Everyday Use
We found the Oppo A5 to be an excellent phone in most daily usage scenarios. The Oppo A5 comes with a Snapdragon 450 chipset, with cores clocking in at 1.8GHz. The GPU is an Adreno 506. The phone has an Antutu score of 57,000, which makes it better than many other smartphones out there. The RAM is 4GB, which is great if you’re a multitasker. With 32GB of inbuilt storage and the option to put in a 256GB SD card, you won’t be running out of storage anytime soon.
How well does the phone do when running apps? Apps boot up quickly. Browsing the net or just the phone’s UI is a breeze. Videos and pictures are loaded and displayed very fast. Social media apps run well. The Oppo A5 also does a decent job at gaming. The Snapdragon 450 chipset is powerful enough to run demanding games like Asphalt 9 at medium settings.
Software: Android Oreo 8.1 with Color OS
You can expect a quality Android experience with the Oppo A5. The phone runs Android Oreo 8.1 out-of-the-box, which is the same as most of the competition. Oppo’s custom Color OS firmware is fast and intuitive. It includes many customization options, so you can truly make your phone your own. The phone comes preloaded with several useful apps.
The Oppo A5 is currently available with Android Oreo 8.1. The OS in its current state is usable and has several good features.
Battery Life: Far Surpasses Expectations
Oppo A5’s battery life is simply outstanding. At 4,230mAh, the Li-ion battery is bigger than the ones found on many high-end smartphones. It carries enough juice to power the Oppo A5 for one day on a single charge. If you use the phone sparingly, you may even be able to stretch it to two. The Oppo A5 is unlikely to die out in the middle of the day, like so many other smartphones. You should be able to use and travel with the phone worry-free.
The Oppo A5 is able to charge up its battery quickly. On some test models, the phone managed to get from 0 to 100% in a little over 2 hours. 2 hours of charge for 2 days of use is a very good deal. The Oppo A5 has one of the best batteries in its segment.
The Bottom Line
The Oppo A5 looks great, offers decent performance, has a good camera, and can last for up to 2 days on a single charge. It’s good at multitasking and offers an excellent video-streaming experience. All in all, the phone makes for a good buy if you have a budget of around Rs. 15,000.
Love the look and feel of the Oppo A5 but don’t want to commit to a purchase? No problem! You can rent the phone from RentoMojo for 6-18 months for a nominal monthly price. RentoMojo allows you to try the phone out and – if you like it – buy it later. You also have the choice to upgrade to a different phone afterwards. For more details, click here.
Bigger is better!