OPPO A71 (2018) Unboxing, Quick Review: Budget Gaming Phone?

OPPO A71 (2018) Unboxing, Quick Review: Budget Gaming Phone?

We unbox the A71 (2018)!

It’s only the third month of 2018 but we’re already seeing a heck of a lot of really good offerings from international brands under the 10K price point. Huawei’s recently announced Nova 2i Lite looks to be a solid smartphone for the money, but fellow Chinese brand OPPO isn’t about to be left behind. The firm has announced a refresh of their A71 smartphone which has the guts and the battery to keep up with most Android games without breaking the bank.

OPPO A71 (2018) Specs

  • 1.8Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core processor
  • Adreno 506 GPU
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB internal storage (up to 256GB via microSD)
  • 5.2-inch HD IPS TFT display, 1280 x 720 resolution
  • 13-megapixel rear camera, f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, LED flash
  • 5-megapixel front camera, f/2.4 aperture
  • 4G, LTE
  • Dual SIM
  • Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
  • GPS, A-GPS
  • Android 7.1 Nougat with Color OS 3.2
  • 3000mAh battery

Packaging and contents:

The 2018 refresh of OPPO’s A71 comes in the company’s now standard white packaging. The box shows the phone on the front, while the rear of the box show some of the key specs of the device.

Once you take out the white carton sleeve and open the box, you’ll see the phone as well as the USB charger, cable and headphones. There’s no freebie softcase for the phone, though there’s already a screen protector applied on the front.

Initial impressions: the design won’t impress you, but the internals are pretty good

OPPO has concentrated most of its efforts on the A71 refresh on components that give cash-strapped, performance-minded folk an edge up on mobile gaming. Because of that, the new A71 doesn’t have the usual polish that some devices in the same price range possess. The body, for example, is made out of plastic instead of metal, and the display is a plain 16:9 5.2-inch HD TFT panel as opposed to the 18:9 screens that are currently in vogue now.

Despite that, the phone feels solid in the hands, and the pink coloration that our review unit had made it appealing to our eyes. The A71 may be a budget device, but the build quality certainly doesn’t feel lacking.

The phone’s single, 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and PDAF is tucked away at the upper left side, flanked by a single LED flash unit. Overall the design language is typical OPPO, and we’re not going to blame the company for not doing anything new with the overall look of the phone considering it’s a budget unit.

The physical Android navigation keys are located right below the display, with the volume rocker and power button on the left and right of the frame, respectively. The 3.5mm jack is on the top. The 5-megapixel front camera has an f/2.4 aperture, and is advertised as having the same AI-powered selfie smarts as the company’s more expensive phones.

Inside the A71 (2018) is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset, paired with a Areno 506 GPU, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. That’s more than enough to play most Android games in decent graphical settings, and the 3000mAh battery is big enough to give the phone long legs for longer gaming though we’ll have to review the phone thoroughly to see if the hardware holds up.

OPPO is pricing A71 (2018) at Php 7,990.

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