Oppo a9 2022 กับ a5 2022

Refreshing its existing A series of smartphones, Chinese smartphone brand Oppo recently launched Oppo A9 2020 and Oppo A5 2020 devices. While Oppo A5 2020 is a budget phone that comes with a price tag of Rs 12,490 onwards, the Oppo A9 2020 is priced at Rs 16,990 for the base model of 4GB. The smartphone’s 8GB RAM variant, on the other hand, is priced at Rs 19,990.

The key feature of OnePlus A9 2020 is its quad camera setup at the back comprising of a 48MP primary lens. The smartphone comes in two colour options: Marine Green and Space Purple. We used the 8GB RAM model with Marine Green colour for some time and here’s what we think about the phone.

Oppo A9 2020: Display and design

Oppo A9 2020 comes with a big display and a plastic body design. The phones feels lightweight and is suitable for single hand usage. We really liked the rear design of the device. It has a gradient colour design at the back with Marine Green colour on the edges. The colour gets darker towards the centre. However, due to its glossy plastic built, the surface is reflective. Further, the phone easily registers fingerprint marks and isn’t smudge free. We would like to add that the back has a slippery design and is vulnerable to accidental falls from hand.

Oppo A9 2020 features a 6.5-inch HD+ screen and has a 89% screen-to-body ratio. The display comes with a waterdrop-style notch on the top and a layer of Gorilla Glass 3+ for protection. The phone measures 16.36x7.56x0.91 cm and weighs 195 grams. The front notch houses the 16MP selfie camera.

The smartphone has thinner bezels with round edges. Bezels at the bottom of the display are comparatively thicker (about 1cm).To the right side of the handset is the power button. SIM card slot tray along with volume rockers can be found on the left edges. The SIM tray consists of two card slots for SIM and a separate micro SD card slot to expand internal storage. The internal storage can be expanded up to 256GB. We did not find any problem accessing either of these buttons while using the device with a single hand.

Towards the bottom of the device is the speaker grille along with USB Type-C charging port. One can also see 3.5mm headphone jack and microphone placed below.

Talking about the rear side of the device, Oppo A9 2020 boasts of quad camera lens at the back. While three camera sensors out of the four are aligned vertically from top to bottom, the fourth lens is placed below the LED flash. The three lenses are placed in a separate module below which lies the fingerprint sensor. One can also see the branding of Oppo at the back with words ‘Designed for A-series’ embedded at the back. As we said before, the phone has a glossy plastic back and is vulnerable to slips. We would recommend using the phone with back cover as a precautionary step to ensure safety.

The phone has a large display and is good for streaming videos or playing games. The phone reproduces satisfactory colours and we had no issue with that. Brightness levels were good and using the phone in daylight was comfortable. The screen offers three display colour temperature adjustments: cooler, warmer and a default option. Oppo A9 2020 does not disappoint in terms of design and display.

Oppo A9 2020: Performance

Oppo A9 2020 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 octa-core processor with Adreno 610 GPU support. This is coupled with 4GB/8GB LPDDR 4x RAM. Buyers get an internal storage of 128GB with both RAM variants and as we stated before, there is a dedicated microSD card slot to expand the storage. During our review, we found that the phone worked well, even during multitasking. The handset’s processor is well equipped to handle heavy games like PUBG or Asphalt 9. There is also a separate Game Boost 2.0 feature to boost the gaming experience. Other features to up the game ante are the Frame Boost and Touch Boost features.

The handset runs on ColorOS 6.1 based on Android 9 Pie operating system. Being a custom UI, one will find some third party apps that come pre installed with the device. These include apps like Paytm, UC Browser, Newspoint, WPS office and others. Users can uninstall these apps if they wish too. The custom OS was smooth to use and one eventually adapts to the user interface over time.

Switching between apps was easy and hassle free. there were no heating issues reported while using the phone for daily chores. However, long hours of watching videos begin to heat up the phone. But that can be avoided easily.

We did not face any problem while registering fingerprint or face data for safety and unlock. In fact, it was quick and without any issue. Talking about the time it takes to unlock the device using biometrics, we found that the fingerprint is faster and more efficient than the face unlock tech. Also, one may have to rely on fingerprint for unlocking the phone in dimly lit areas as the face unlock disappoints in low light. In short, it requires sufficient light -- sun when outdoors and bulb when indoors for the face unlock to work well. Having said that one can always choose the PIN or Pattern lock to secure their devices. This helps one ensure better safety of both the handset and your biometrics data.

Watching videos in the Oppo A9 2020 bigger screen is an overall good experience. Sound quality is fine and loud enough in closed spaces. When outdoors, one may have to rely on earphones/headphones, depending on their choice.

We did a couple of benchmark tests. The handset managed to score 77509 in the AnTuTu benchmark test.

Oppo A9 2020: Camera

After Realme, Oppo is one of the popular smartphone brands to bring quad camera setup in affordable price range category. The Oppo A9 2020 boasts of 48-megapixel quad lens setup at the back. This comes coupled with 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with F2.25 aperture, 2-megapixel monochrome shooter having an aperture of F2.4 and a 2-megapixel depth sensor for portraits with F2.4 aperture.

Some of the camera features available on the device are professional mode, panorama mode, portrait mode, night scene mode, time-lapse photography, slow motion and more. The phone clicks good images in broad daylight. Bokeh effect in portrait mode was satisfactory, though we weren’t that impressed with it. Images clicked by the phone were sharp and clear, though one will find traces of noise in the photos. Having said that we would like to add that the camera manages to retain the original natural colour in clicked photos.

Oppo A9 2020 has a separate night mode for low light photography. Despite this, the images clicked at night lack detail and one can easily notice tiny grains when the image is zoomed out.
The phone promises to capture videos with support for up to 4K@30fps, 1080P @30fps and 720P@30fps. There is also a stable mode for shooting videos. Other features are slow-motion video, time lapse and panorama.

Oppo A9 2020: BatteryOppo A9 2020 comes with a big battery of 5000mAh. Oppo claims that the phone can deliver battery life of 20 hours with single charge. During our usage, we found that the phone can last for the said time period. But this is true for those with average usage. For those who are in the habit of continuously checking their phones and using social media, they may not get the claimed battery life with Oppo A9 2020.

Oppo A9 2020 comes with 18W charger with USB Type-C port. Although the presence of Type-C charger is a plus, we were not happy with the time this phone takes to charge. The smartphone takes more than 3 hours on an average to charge completely. This again may vary for those who skip full charge and prefer charging the device as and when the battery reaches minimum levels.

Verdict

Oppo A9 2020 has all the features of a promising phone. However, one major challenge that the handset face is the problem of plenty. The price segment in which Oppo has launched the handset is flooded with multiple options. Realme, for example has recently got a stronghold in this price range with the launch of Realme 5 series phones. Then there is Realme XT which is priced at Rs 15,999 onwards and comes with a better processor and camera abilities. Xiaomi phones like Redmi Note 7 Pro and Oppo’s sister company Vivo with Vivo S1 may give tough competition to the Oppo A9 2020.

Having said that big display, premium design and quad camera are the features that Oppo A9 2020 has to offer to the users. The 5000mAh battery capacity is another attraction point of the phone. But then these are the features — except the battery — that every second smartphone offers today. Without any standout feature, we are afraid Oppo A9 2020 may find it difficult to carve a space for itself in the India smartphone market.