OPPO’s new value, A57 smartphone shows that a $328 phone need not have too many compromises – if at all.
The A57’s price sits squarely in iTWire’s paradigm for a mass market, sub $500 device but in almost every respect has features that fall into the mid-range $500-799 bracket. Things like a 5.2” IPS LCD, 16MP selfie, 13MP PADF rear camera, 3GB RAM/32GB Storage/microSD to 256GB and Qualcomm 435 processor.
In addition to its camera features, the A57 is equipped with its fast fingerprint reader and a long-lasting 2900mAh battery.
Michael Tran, Executive Director at OPPO Australia, said, “The A57 offers fantastic value for money and an excellent user experience. It has many of the features of our leading smartphones, from rapid Touch Access to stunning camera technology, packaging them up into an affordable device for new smartphone users or travellers touring Australia.”
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And that begs the question – what doesn’t it do? What compromises are made? Or if you are a positive type – how can OPPO do it for the price.
The specifications are below with the writer’s comments where appropriate
- Screen: 5.2” IPS, 1280 x 720, 282ppi, 68.6% screen-to-body-ratio, Gorilla Glass 4. The 720p resolution is fine for everyday use and will help lower battery drain. It is the more expensive IPS technology.
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 435. This is the latest 4XX series and has many of the 6XX functions migrated to it. Things like LTE Cat13/7 (300/100Mbps), 2 x Image Sensor processors, H.264/265 compression, Fluence HD audio, eight-core 1.4GHz ARM A53, Adreno 505 GPU, and Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 (although OPPO use VOOC).
- RAM/Storage/expansion: 3GB/32GB/microSD to 256GB (using second SIMM slot)
- Rear Camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, 1.12 µm pixel, phase detection auto-focus, HDR, LED flash. This is not the brightest aperture but would be good in daylight and OPPO seem to extract maximum performance out of the StackedCMOS sensor.
- Selfie camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, 1.12 µm pixel, 1080p record, panorama (I know this camera and it is class leading with crisp, vibrant images, good filters, and very low noise)
- Comms: LTE Cat 13/7 (300/100), VoWiFI, VoIP, VoLTE, Dual SIMM (4G and 2/3G)
- Other: Wi-Fi AC, Wave 2, dual band, 1 x 1 MU-MIMO; Bluetooth 4.1 LE; GPS; Fingerprint reader; FM radio; NFC (chipset supports it but may not be implemented); 3.5mm audio jack
- Battery: 2900 mAh, micro-USB 2.0 supporting OTG. Expect a full day use
- Size/Weight/Colour: 149.1 x 72.9 x 7.65 x 147g – gold or black full metal unibody
- Android 6.0 and ColourOS 3.0
- Australian website: none at present
- Retailers: JB Hi-Fi and OfficeWorks
So, the compromises are in the 720p screen and the camera, yet compared iTWire’s mass-market paradigm IPS screens and any camera above 8MP and below f/2.4 are a bonus.
International markets like India have had the phone for a couple of months and the consensus so far it that it is a very good product at a very good price – I concur.
