Hardware

Published on January 20th, 2020 | by Adrian Gunning

OPPO A5 2020 Series Review

OPPO have been in Australia for a few years now and they have cemented themselves as an innovative company that offers excellent photographic capabilities across their range of smartphones. They also offer some great low to mid-range phones and unlike some of their competitors, these devices are well-made and even offer some high-end features.

Today, we’re checking out the OPPO A5 2020 Series (Model #: CPH1941) that is available through Telstra with an RRP of $279AUD (Jan 2020). The A5 comes in two colours (Marine Green & Space Purple), is powered by the Snapdragon 665 Processor with 4GB of RAM plus 64GB of internal storage.

Adding to the features of this phone is a powerful 5000mAh battery with a 6.5” display and a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. Add in USB Type-C charging, rear quad cameras (12MP + 8MP + 2MP +2MP) and a front selfie camera of 16MP and the OPPO A5 2020 Series smartphone definitely ticks some impressive boxes.

Unboxing & Setup

Well packed from the OPPO, the first thing that we noticed about the A5 was its great build and this smartphone measures at 163.6mm x 75.6mm x 9.1mm with a weight of just 195 grams. It also feels good in your hands while you are using it. While it is priced on the lower end of the financial spectrum, it definitely screams high-end aesthetics with its appearance. Furthermore, OPPO include a case plus, including a pre-applied protective film to protect this smartphone from bumps, knocks, scratches and even drops.

The setup process of this OPPO smartphone took just under a minute to set it up as a new phone, however if you import data from a previous smartphone, this will take considerably more time that is dependent on a number of factors like how many photos you have, what apps you are transitioning, including contacts and messages as some of the data that can be migrated.

Setting up a new OPPO smartphone

Once you have completed the setup process, you are then treated to the welcome screen for ColorOS 6 which basically sits over the Android 9.0 operating system and adds additional functionality to this smartphone. ColorOS 6 provides tailored intelligent features such a Smart Riding Mode, Smart Assistance, Swipe-Up Gesture Navigation plus access to the OPPO Cloud Service.

Android 9 / ColorOS Images

The phone also has a Smart Assistance which basically allows you to easily access the main features of your phone such as favourite contacts, events or quick functions that allow you to add your most used apps. Needless to say, these features do come in handy if you use your smart phone religiously.

When it comes to camera quality on the A5 definitely, it definitely runs circles around its similar priced competitors and even with the smoke haze from the devastating fires in Australia, it produced exceptional clear and colourful images that were quite vibrant. Given the price of this smartphone at $279, it took some great photos and while it is missing wide angle, it’s great for those on a budget. Night photos were a mixed bag but all in all, the images speak for themselves.

As you can see from the above images, photos taken in daylight turn out quite well with excellent sharpness and vibrant colours

The above photos were taken in night mode in various light settings. As you can see, the photo quality does degrade depending on light.

Above is a macro image which is quite clear. All in all, this smartphone performed quite well in different conditions, however the night mode still cannot compete with high-end phones but compared to its competitors, it still wins. There’s also plenty of tweaking you can do with the photos, including wide angle.

3DMark scored this phone at 1089 that is a good score for a phone at this price point.

Using this phone for everyday use from surfing the net, listening to streaming services like Deezer or playing casual games, we had no issues whatsoever in terms of performance. While this is not a gamers phone per se, it does have a game mode which does slightly improve this element on the phone. However all in all, the A5 is a relatively fast phone that delivers great value for money.

Final Thoughts?

Given the cost of the OPPO A5 2020, I really can’t fault this smartphone and it does provide a better overall experience to its similar priced competitors. What we liked was its design, screen quality and even photo quality, although it does struggle with night shots. It’s also a speedy phone, even with the addition of ColorOS. So if you’re looking for a good phone on a budget with impressive features, the OPPO A5 2020 is excellent value at just $279… although just be warned that you will be stuck with Telstra.

Official Specifications of OPPO A5 2020 Series Smartphone

About the Author

Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.

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