OPPO A83 Review: An underrated smart selfie smartphone for mid-range segment

Introduction

OPPO has been here always to secured the hashtag #SelfieExpert from the start of their marketing in the country. They’re coming up to release capable smartphones with competent selfie camera quality for those selfie lovers. Last January, OPPO Philippines released the OPPO A83 as the first on the “A” series to have a ‘full-screen’ display. This aimed at those consumers who like larger devices in a narrower screen.

Not just that, but this is also their first device under P10K price tag to pack A.I. beauty recognition on its selfie camera. This feature makes this smartphone to be quite higher than any selfie-centric handsets in the market today. So, come on and let us discuss on how will the OPPO A83 stands-out among its competitors.

Key specs:

• 5.7-inch HD+ IPS LCD display, 1440 X 720 resolution, 282 ppi
• Android 7.1 “Nougat”, ColorOS 3.2
• Dual-SIM, dual standby
• 2.5Ghz 64-bit MediaTek MT6763T octa-core processor
• Mali-G71 GPU
• 32GB internal storage
• Expandable microSD slot up to 256GB (dedicated)
• 3GB RAM
• 13-megapixel, f/2.2 aperture with auto-focus and LED flash
• 8-megapixel rear camera, f/2.2 aperture
• 1080p at 30fps of video recording
• Face Unlock
• 4G LTE (Category 6)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, with A-GPS
• USB-OTG capable
• microUSB 2.0 connector
• 150.5 x 73.1 x 7.7 mm
• 143 grams
• 3,180 mAh non-removable battery

Unboxing

Display and build

The OPPO A83 is a well-built phone that flaunts in a 5.7-inch 18:9 mainstream display with HD+ resolution. It is covered by a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass, having minimum bezels across its body. The back cover has a polycarbonate shell and carries a very nice design that is very easy to hold and it feels pleasant in hands. This is due to the round edges and the 143 grams of weight.

The screen is reasonably bright and vibrant, and as much as we play videos via Youtube, the graphics are rich, though it’s reflective when we viewed under direct sunlight. Besides, viewing angles could have been a little bit finer.

Audio quality

The loudspeaker on the bottom of the OPPO A83 performs very well, with high sound decibels. The clarity is untouched and the bass can be slightly heard. There’s a little distortion in the maximum volume, but it’s respectable compared to others.

Putting the OPPO A83 to an external speaker, the audio performance is incredibly loud and executes a balanced output with nice clarity and using a pair of earphones, it has the same capability as the speaker with a decent amount of loudness with no distortion at 100% volume.

Software & UI

OPPO A83 relies on Google’s Android 7.0 “Nougat” version as the operating system. However, the manufacturer has used their own’s ColorOS 3.2, a heavily-customized user interface with some pre-loaded application.

The user interface seems to be very clean, with few bloatware applications that are needed to optimize the phone’s performance. These include the Phone Manager that cleans up the unnecessary files and the common Google applications. The on-screen navigations can be re-arranged in the settings, depending on the user’s preference.

First, the fingerprint scanner is nowhere to be found on the phone’s hardware. This was replaced by the face unlock recognition that performs very well in good light. It misses some points in low-light, though acceptable. Once we unlock, we go straight to the main home screen, and as we can see in the image above (center screenshot), all of the installed and downloaded applications were laid out in a grid-like pattern, as there’s no app drawer. To see the list of notifications, we must pull down the screen, while pulling up will reveal the quick toggles, including the brightness slider. Themes can be downloaded thru the Theme Store that has a variety of well-design themes.

Other interesting features in the OPPO A83 are the clone apps that allows compatible apps, such as WhatsApp to enable two accounts at the same time; the night shield mode for eye-friendly use in dim lights and the split-screen.

Performance

The OPPO A83 is powered by MT6763T, also known as the Helio P23 by MediaTek, that has 8 ARM Cortex-A53 cores and is manufactured by 16 nm FinFet+ process. The system-on-chip is divided into two clusters: 2.3Ghz for the performance cluster, and the power-efficiency cluster that clocks at 1.65Ghz. This is paired with the integrated Mali-G71 for graphics processing unit, which is clocked up to 770 Mhz. Using the phone every day is very smooth. We never experienced any lags or stutter performance and we were able to run most of the high-demanding applications, including some games with high graphics.

Camera

The cameras on the OPPO A83 are the 13-megapixels (rear) and 8-megapixels (front), respectively with f/2.2 aperture. The resulting photos are good enough in its mid-range category. The back cameras can manage to take pleasant shots with nice color reproduction. Details are still intact even if we used the 2X zoom. The HDR mode works well but some overexposed on the other parts. Overall, nothing spectacular but the images are manageable to compete with other smartphones in the same price segment.

We also tested the front camera performance. It gave us a mixed-to-positive reaction to the performance. The good thing here, colors are fresh and natural, including the skin tone and some outdoor selfies. Low-light selfies are pretty good too. Interestingly, it has the depth-of-field feature that uses the integrated artificial intelligence, in order to detect depth.

Rear camera

Front camera

Connectivity

The OPPO A83 can be inserted by two nano-SIM cards simultaneously. The frequency bands were relatively low – 4 GSM, 3 WCDMA, 7 FDD-LTE and 3 TDD-LTE bands. To transfer files, there’s Bluetooth v4.2 but the NFC is absent. For Wi-Fi, the module supports the standard 802.11 a/b/g/n that transmits the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequency range for good signal connection. Another onboard connectivity is the GPS, with the support of A-GPS that enhances the navigation performance.

Battery Life

The non-removable battery capacity in OPPO’s A83 is a 3,180 mAh, slightly lower than those on its bigger sibling – OPPO F5. It scored an amazing 11 hours and 49 minutes in our PCMark benchmark test. The respectable battery runtimes can be easily last more than a day.

For charging, we need 2 hours and 20 minutes to refill the completely empty battery, with the 5V/2A power supply. It doesn’t have a fast charge technology.

Verdict

The OPPO A83 stands its own ground among the mid-range tiers, as being one of the best (if not the best) devices under sub-P10K cost. It is a well-built device where the highlights were placed on the screen looks, and the decent camera performance over-all. Having a price of P9,990, it can be a worthy buy that the consumer must consider before looking for an alternative one.

Pros

• Slim and lightweight
• Build quality
• Dedicated microSD slot
• 18:9 display
• Sturdy performance
• Camera quality
• Long-lasting battery life

Cons

• No fingerprint sensor
• Reflective screen