Come one, come all to Pepper and Hannah\u2019s two-for-one special review of Oppo\u2019s new offerings \u2013 the Oppo A9 2020<\/strong> and the Oppo A5 2020<\/strong>. These are phones which, for all intents and purposes, are identical bar a heftier RAM and camera on the A9 (for a cool extra NZ$100-$150). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the phones are two different flavours of the same tech, a joint review just made more sense. If you want an Oppo (and you should), this will help you to understand which to get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:\n<\/strong>The Oppo A9 2020 is a\ndangerous beast. With prestige-level battery capacity, very good camera\nquality, and blazing chip performance, this affordable smartphone is a powerful\nalternative to more premium devices. It\u2019s certainly raising a challenge to my\nexpectation of spending +$1000 on a smartphone ever again.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>I have similar feelings about the Oppo A5 2020, with its intelligent camera, hearty battery and sleek aesthetics. Would I pay an extra $150 for the more powerful camera? Maybe. But the A5 is no slouch either; a genuinely great all-rounder at the budget end of mid-range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper: <\/strong>First, let me wax a\nlittle on the aesthetics of the thing (I\u2019m an artist by trade, bear with me).\nOne of my favourite things about Oppo\u2019s phones in general is that they\u2019re\nactually beautifully made. The design of most mid-range Android phone models\ncan be almost identical, so it\u2019s nice that Oppo\u2019s phones make the effort to\nstand out. While the A9 does still feel a little plasticky, the Marine Green\ncolour of the model I tested has a rich, deep iridescent sheen that makes the\ndevice feel like a fashion accessory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>The A5 I tested donned \u201cSpace Purple\u201d, which I\nalso find deeply sexy. The rippling gradient of the colour is not so loud to be\ngaudy, but sufficiently different that I let out a small \u201cohhh\u201d when it came\nout of the box. Marine Green and Space Purple appear to be the only colours\navailable at this time, so if you\u2019re after the clean-cut black, you\u2019re out of\nluck. However, I\u2019m not sure why you\u2019d want that with these two beauties at your\nfingertips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper: <\/strong>Regarding the physical design, the triple camera\nplaced at the back of the phone has a tasteful raised metal bezel, but dust and\noil does get trapped around it and need a clean out from time to time. The\nbuttons are placed near the centre of the sides of the phone, which takes some\ngetting used to since your fingers are generally higher than that when holding the\ndevice. The buttons, while plastic, don\u2019t feel cheap when you press them, and\nthe whole device gives off an air of considered design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper: <\/strong>If you\u2019re someone who likes a big screen, the A9\nand the A5 both deliver very well for the price. The Waterdrop Sunlight screen\ndelivers rich colours, a self-adjusting brightness that works well in both\nlow-light and direct sun conditions, and very good 1080p resolution. With 89%\nscreen to body ratio, there\u2019s not a lot of bezel to deal with on the edges.\nCompared to my iPhone 8 Plus, despite being the same body size, it feels like a\nhell of a lot more screen to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>And we can\u2019t forget the notch! I really\nappreciated how the waterdrop notch at the top of the screen is respectably\nminimal, comprising only a small dip for the front-facing camera. Less bezel,\nless notch, more screen. Everyone\u2019s happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> A nice touch that ices the cake for me are Oppo\u2019s extra features\nthat take a lot of the effort out of looking after your phone (and yourself).\nIn the box, you\u2019ll find a decent case for the device, plus a pre-applied screen\nprotector. I don\u2019t know about you, but not having to apply a screen protector\nis a nice bonus for me. The display also includes Oppo\u2019s Blue Shield\ntechnology, which protects your eyes from harmful blue rays. Pretty great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>And while you\u2019re watching those glorious colours, the Dolby Atmos Dual\nSpeakers on both models do a good job with the audio experience. While they\u2019re\nnever going to be as immersive as a good pair of headphones, the dual speakers\ndo provide surprisingly clear and dynamic sound for a mid-range phone. This was\nthe case at both low and high volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> <\/strong>The A9 and the A5 both\nrun Android 9.0 (Pie), wrapped in Oppo\u2019s ColorOS 6. With a Snapdragon 665\nprocessor, the device is quick and responsive. The OS is easy to use, even for\na non-Android user like me, although I always struggle to swipe out of Android\napps successfully without a home button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>I feel you there. While I am an Android user, my\nHuawei has on-screen buttons on the opposite sides. I was constantly exiting\nout of apps when I didn\u2019t mean to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> During the week of testing, I actually had a\nfew apps that weren\u2019t working on my iPhone, so I ran them on the A9 and they\nworked right away (annoying, Apple). A side\nnote: there isn\u2019t currently a Dark Mode setting for ColorOS 6, so if you\u2019re not\ninto eye-searlingly white interfaces, be prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah:<\/strong> It should also be noted that while clocking in at 64GB, the A5 has\naround half the storage of the A9 (128GB). I strongly believe this really\nshouldn\u2019t be the deciding factor of your Oppo purchase, as both models allow\nfor 256GB expandable memory, which is likely more than you\u2019ll ever use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> <\/strong>I\u2019m not a mobile gamer,\nbut if you happen to play a lot of high-performance games on your phone, the A9\nhas Game Boost 2.0, which increases the sensitivity of the screen and adds\nperformance to the Snapdragon chip\u2019s output. The Game Space app allows you to\nadjust your phones\u2019 optimisation to suit what you\u2019re doing: there\u2019s Competitive\nMode (less battery life, more performance), Balanced Mode, and Low-power\nConsumption Mode. It also has features that allegedly reduce latency, restrict\nnetwork access to prioritise the game you\u2019re playing, and allocate system\nresources for a smoother gaming experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>The Oppo A5 2020 is also no slouch on the gaming front, with 4GB of ram\nto play with and the same Game Boost 2.0 bells and whistles. King\u2019s Raid and\nThe Sims ran like a dream; smooth and lag-free. However, it did stutter on Need\nfor Speed: No Limits \u2013 a 2015 release. So, while this Oppo range is more than\nequipped to deal with 90 per cent of your mobile gaming needs, it\u2019s not the\nultimate gaming phone on the market. However, the beautiful big bright screen\nand ridiculous amount of battery life do make it a very respectable gaming\npartner indeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper: <\/strong>I tested the gaming performance out with both\nEA\u2019s Real Racing 3 and the timeless classic of Goat Simulator, both of which\nran with a good frame rate and quick responses on Balanced Mode. The tilt\ncontrols of Real Racing felt really quick, and the large screen lends itself\nwell to a better gaming experience. With the advent of subscriptions like\nGoogle Play Pass, it\u2019s exciting to be seeing phones optimised for a great\ngaming experience coming onto the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> Where the Oppo A9 2020 really shines is the camera setup. While\nyou\u2019re not going to get the quality of Oppo\u2019s Reno 10x Zoom (which is more than\ntwice the price), the Oppo A9 2020 brings you five lenses to make sure you get\na quality shot. The 48 MP rear main camera is your general shooter, it takes\nexcellent shots in a variety of settings, and Oppo\u2019s intelligent Camera app\nsenses whether that shot is indoor, outdoor, green plants, a face, etc. I was\nreally impressed by how it adjusted to match the content in the frame. It does\ndecently in low-light settings, but really shines with close up textures and\nrich colours. The zoom isn\u2019t really much to write home about, at the top 10x\nsetting, the photo is extremely potato quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>And here we run into the main difference between the A9 and the A5, and\ninevitably the determining factor for the model upon which you spend your\nhard-earned cash. While the A5 also boasts five lenses, the main camera is 12MP\ninstead of 48MP. That\u2019s a substantial drop. That said, when you pair Oppo\u2019s intelligent lenses with the\nmind-boggling battery life of the phone, you\u2019ve got a more than reliable way to\nrecord every moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> The wide-angle 112\u00ba lens on both models takes\nadequate 8MP photos and is a nice addition to the kit. While they\u2019re not\nlife-changingly great resolution, it\u2019s handy to have a good panorama lens, and\nit works well in good lighting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah:<\/strong> Agreed. This is the first time I\u2019d really\nplayed with panorama on a phone, and I hope you\u2019ll forgive the pun but the\nphotos always panned out great<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper: <\/strong>If you\u2019re a selfie junkie, the 16MP front-facing\ncamera is excellent, and offers a stylish Portrait mode to blur out the background\nand enhance your features. It also includes some AI-powered real-time editing\ntools that auto-magically make you question the quality of your skin, face\nshape, and eye size by adjusting them to beauty trends. The last two rear\nlenses provide depth sensing for portrait taking, handy for snapping photos of\nyour friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>The portrait taking was handy indeed, but in my\nexperience sometimes had hit and miss results. With the A5, there were some\nshots spotlighting my face like the moon, and others where my face was\ndarkened, like the phone couldn\u2019t bear to draw attention to me. As an\nillustration, the photos below were taken a moment apart, with no change in\nexternal lighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper:<\/strong> <\/strong>Finally, let\u2019s talk\nabout this beefy battery. Battery life is a huge perk with this device,\nsporting a massive 5000mAh capacity. Running this phone all day, even with some\ncasual gaming, is just not a problem. Unless you\u2019re playing high performance\ngames or videos for big chunks of the day, you\u2019re unlikely to need to charge\nthis bad boy before bedtime. I also had the phone in my bag, turned on (without\na SIM) for several days, and it still had plenty of juice left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>Oppo even claims that you can run HD videos non-stop for 11\nhours \u2013 not something I really had time in the day to test, but I\u2019d believe it! <\/strong>The A5 boasts the same whopping 5000mAh\ncapacity battery. And trust me, I did everything I could to suck the life out\nof it. While travelling internationally over the course of a few weeks, I took literally\nhundreds of photos a day, some videos, and lived<\/em> on Google maps. And you\nknow what? I still had a good chunk of battery left every evening. Not having\nto worry even a little that my battery was going to survive through the day was\nliberating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepper: <\/strong>The Oppo A9 2020 and A5 2020 are strong disruptors to the rather bland mid-range of Android smartphones available at the moment, with powerful features making it an incredibly well-priced option for those looking to upgrade with ending up out of pocket. With an all-day (and possibly all-night) battery capacity, great camera options, and a snappy processor with gaming optimisation, I\u2019m stunned that the A9\u2019s price tag sits at $500NZD. I\u2019d recommend this phone to folks who might be looking to escape from the upgrade cycle of the latest top-end phones, without losing out on functionality and a little bit of shimmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah: <\/strong>And if you like the sound of the above but are\nmore serious about savings than slick photography, the Oppo A5 2020 may be the\npartner for you. With all the clever features of the A9 but with a downsized\n12MP main camera, the A5 is a more than respectable option. It all comes down\nto what you value in a budget to mid-range phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The A9 2020 and A5 2020 are gorgeous, well-specced phones for mobile gamers and everyday users \u2013 at great value to boot. You really can\u2019t go wrong with either of these phones. Go on, your wallet will thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Oppo A9 2020 is a strong disruptor to the rather bland mid-range of Android smartphones available at the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"@PepperRaccoon and @100DaysOfHannah reviewed Oppo's latest mid-range phones, and they're big fans of the brand that keeps on surprising.\n\nRead their A5 & A9 2020 review here","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[207,220],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n