We go hands-on with OPPO’s A71!
While OPPO is known for its selfie-centric mid-range phones, the Chinese brand also wants a share of the budget smartphone market, hence the launch of its latest handset, the A71. Priced a hair under Php 9K, the A71 offers decent mid-range level specs, with its “speedy operation” as the main selling point for this phone.
OPPO A71 Specs:
- 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6750 octa-core processor
- Mali-T820 MP2 GPU
- 3GB of RAM
- 16GB of expandable 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 3.1
- 3000mAh battery
Initial impressions: One sleek beauty
Holding on to the A71 for the first time, the phone feels solid, even if it uses a polycarbonate unibody design instead of the aluminum unibody design we are too familiar with. Its solid black colorway (it is also available in champagne) gives the phone a serious appeal, such that you would not even think that this is an entry-level phone. While its 5.2-inch IPS display is only HD, the colors on the A71 are bright and saturated.
At the phone’s front, you also get your capacitative buttons at the bottom, and your 5-megapixel, f/2.4 camera on top, right beside the earpiece.
Rounding up its sleek appeal is the rear’s matte finish, which has a faux aluminum feel. Its 13-megapixel, f/2.2 camera has a slight protrusion, but is barely noticeable from afar. The protrusion should be not a problem since you have a jelly case included with the phone. Having a unibody design, the 3000mAh battery is fixed and non-removable.
While it comes with 16GB of storage, you can expand it via a MicroSD card. The SIM tray, which can carry two Nano-SIM cards and a MicroSD card, is found at the phone’s right side, along with the power button.
At the phone’s bottom, you have your Micro-USB port and grilles housing your speaker and microphone.
Fiddling through the A71, we noticed that it is snappy and fast considering that this is an entry level model. Even with its ColorOS skin, loading apps is a breeze with this phone. Taking photos with it, the A71 is fast, with barely any lag from taking multiple photos. Along with a speedy operation, photos from both its front and rear cameras are of quality, with properly exposed highlights.
That’s it for the quick hands on. We look forward to doing some heavy-duty testing (like games and HD video) with the A71 once we get a review unit. The OPPO A71 will retail for PHP 8,990.
