The Pros and Cons of OPPO A5i Pro
Many people are now looking for mobile phones that are durable and still affordable. If the phone also comes with a big battery, it will be even more valuable. This is what OPPO A5i Pro tries to give as part of the OPPO A5 Series.
Besides that, OPPO A5i Pro also has other good points. It has a bright screen, decent performance, and a reliable main camera. Let's take a look at what this phone has to offer!
Pros of OPPO A5i Pro
OPPO A5i Pro costs around US$150. For this price, it already gives strong durability and long battery life. Here are some of its main strengths.
1. Minimalist and Elegant Design with Strong Durability
OPPO A5i Pro comes with a simple and elegant look for its class. It has three camera circles arranged vertically. To avoid looking like Samsung, OPPO gave a small rectangular pattern around the camera area. The pattern does not make it look too flashy, so the design still feels elegant.
The body is made of plastic but with a smooth matte finish. This makes it nice to hold and also helps reduce fingerprint marks. The phone still looks clean even after long use.
There are two colour choices, Midnight Purple and Mist White. Mist White is more unique with a special pattern, while Midnight Purple is plain and fits those who like simple style.
The main strength of OPPO A5i Pro is its durability. It has MIL-STD-810H certification for impact resistance after passing military-grade tests. It also comes with SGS certification, which means it can survive falls up to 1.5 metres.
For water and dust protection, it has IP65 certification. This makes the phone dustproof and able to handle strong water spray. With this, OPPO A5i Pro can be used safely in outdoor activities.
2. Bright and Strong Screen for Outdoor Use
The screen size is 6.67 inches, which is large enough. The bezels are thin for a phone in this price range, though the bottom edge is still a bit thick. It uses an IPS LCD panel. Even though it is not AMOLED, the colours are good and it can show more than 1 billion colours. The sharpness is also fine for daily use.
The downside is that the screen resolution is still HD+ (720 x 1604 pixels). Many other phones in this class already use Full HD+ or AMOLED screens.
The best thing about this screen is its brightness. It can reach 1000 nit with High Brightness Mode when you set the brightness to the highest. This helps the screen stay clear under strong sunlight that's perfect for outdoor use.
The phone also supports a 90 Hz refresh rate. Even though it is not 120 Hz, it is already smooth for scrolling social media, browsing, or gaming at this price level.
3. Large 6000 mAh Battery that Lasts All Day with Fast Charging
OPPO A5i Pro not only has strong durability but also a big 6000 mAh battery. With this, the phone is more suitable for outdoor use. You don't need to worry about dropping it, or worry about the battery running out quickly because it can last a whole day.
The battery size is the same as OPPO A5x and a bit larger than OPPO A5 Pro which has 5800 mAh. It is also bigger than OPPO A3x which only has 5100 mAh.
For charging, OPPO A5i Pro supports 45W SuperVOOC Flash Charge. OPPO says the phone can charge 30 percent in 19 minutes and reach 50 percent in 36 minutes.
In a test by OPTechWithAskar, the charging speed was a little slower. To reach 30 percent it took about 21 minutes, while a full charge took about 84 minutes or almost one and a half hours.
4. Powered by Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1 for Stable Performance
In the US$200 price range, OPPO A5i Pro uses the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1. This same chipset is also used in OPPO A5x, OPPO A5 Pro, and OPPO A3x. So the performance level is almost the same as those models.
Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1 is basically a new name for Snapdragon 662 with very similar specs. Even so, the performance is still good enough for daily tasks and sometimes heavier ones like gaming.
The chipset is built on 11 nm and has eight CPU cores. Four Cortex A73-based Kryo 260 Gold cores at 2.1 GHz are used for performance, while four Cortex A53-based Kryo 260 Silver cores at 1.8 GHz handle efficiency.
For graphics, it uses Adreno 610 GPU. It also has Hexagon 683 DSP to manage audio, video, and image processing.
Benchmark scores of Snapdragon 662 are usually in the 240s. With the slightly higher clock speed, Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1 might score a little better. This makes OPPO A5i Pro smooth for daily use like multitasking or browsing, and even for casual gaming with adjusted graphics.
5. Comes with MicroSD Slot and Audio Jack Port
To support performance, OPPO A5i Pro is paired with 8 GB LPDDR4x RAM. It also has 128 GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage. Even though the memory is not very big, this phone still has a special microSD slot. With this, you can add more storage if you need it.
OPPO A5i Pro also still keeps the 3.5 mm audio jack port. This is useful for people who like using wired earphones instead of TWS. It becomes even more important since the phone only has one speaker hole or mono speaker, not stereo.
6. 50 MP Main Camera Works Well in Daytime
For the camera, OPPO A5i Pro does not have very special features. On the back, it uses a 50 MP main camera and a 2 MP depth camera. This is the same setup found in OPPO A5 Pro and other phones in the same range.
The main camera has an f/1.8 aperture with a 1/2.0-inch sensor. It is also supported by PDAF, which helps to keep focus and stability. The photos from this camera look sharp, with good colour and detail.
On the front, there is a 5 MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. For video recording, both the front and back cameras can only record up to 1080p at 30 FPS.
From these specs, we can see that OPPO A5i Pro is good mostly for its main camera. The results are best when there is enough light, such as during the day. In low light, the details will look a bit blurry.
Cons of OPPO A5i Pro
Even though the price is still affordable, there are some things you need to note about OPPO A5i Pro.
1. Only Uses Mono Speaker
One weakness of OPPO A5i Pro is that it only has a mono speaker. This means it only has one sound source, so the sound is not stereo.
OPPO claims that the speaker can be boosted up to 300 percent. This makes the sound louder, but it is only useful in special situations, like making a call in a noisy place. If you use it for music or movies, the sound quality becomes less clear when you raise it over 100 percent.
The good thing is the phone still has a 3.5 mm audio jack port. This is helpful for people who like using wired earphones, especially when gaming or watching videos, because the sound feels closer and clearer.
2. Simple Camera Setup Without Ultrawide and Limited Video
Another weakness is that the phone does not have an ultrawide camera. Instead, OPPO only added a depth camera. The ultrawide camera could have been more useful.
Maybe OPPO chose to spend more on durability features instead of adding an ultrawide camera. Still, this could be a drawback for users who like wide-angle photos.
The video recording is also limited. Both the front and back cameras can only record up to 1080p at 30 FPS. For people who often upload videos to social media like Instagram or TikTok, this quality may feel less satisfying.
Summary
OPPO A5i Pro is an affordable phone from OPPO that gives strong durability. It has MIL-STD-810H and SGS 5 Star certification, which means it can survive bumps or drops up to 1.5 metres. It also has IP65 certification that makes the phone safe from dust and water spray.
Because of this, OPPO A5i Pro is a good choice for outdoor activities. The screen is bright and strong, and the 6000 mAh battery can last all day.
In its price range, there are still a few limits. The screen only has HD+ resolution, the sound comes from a single speaker, and the camera setup is quite simple. If these points are not a big problem for you, then OPPO A5i Pro can be worth buying.