The OPPO A71 hits a sweet spot being one of the most affordable handsets of the company in the fiercely contested smartphone market. However, in contrast to its older brethren, the OPPO A71 may not be a selfie-centric handset. In fact, the company markets it the humble smartphone that can do all of your necessary tasks in a "speedy" fashion. This sub Php 9K handset is a direct response to OPPO fans to have an Android 7.1 Nougat-handset right out of the box.
OPPO A71 Review
The OPPO A71 is a humble smartphone, but it could have all the power you need in your daily activities. With that in mind, let's take a closer look.
Design
The OPPO A71 sports an impressively slick matte design finish. It also give a metallic appeal on top of its slim profile. It's undeniably a good looking smartphone for its price. The faux-metal finish registers soft on the hands. The unibody construction also makes the handset sturdy and in the event of a fall. And for everybody's delight, OPPO even managed to include a clear case on the fly.
The bottom edge of the handset houses the micro USB port and the speaker grill. The right edge is a home to the SIM tray which features three dedicated slots for the SIM cards and the microSD card. The 3.5-millimeter headphone jock is up top; while the right side has the volume rocker and the power button.
The glass front of the handset comes with a 5MP selfie camera on top and capacitive keys at the bottom.
Display
The OPPO A71 boasts a 5.2-inch display with 720x1280 pixels. In my time of using the handset, I find the display to be sharp with its 282ppi pixel density. It may offer HD resolution but I think the display is more than enough for a regular user. The handset is very generous in viewing angles; and the display is also readable outdoors. While the screen may not blow you away, it is still crisp and colourful.
Bezels are tolerable. I should say it's I've seen an ample number of phones with thicker bezel at this price standpoint. There’s no 2.5D curve glass treatment, I guess you can't have everything.
Software
OPPO A71 boots with Android 7.1 Nougat. It's a breath of fresh air to see a clean interface without the app drawer courtesy of the Color OS skin. I could also point out the UI's striking similarity to iOS. You can access the notification shade by swiping down from the top and the control center by swiping from the bottom of the screen.
Android has come a long way in innovating its software. It’s now slick, beautiful with so many built-in features baked in its core. This is reflective to the skinned Android 7.1 Nougat where Color OS is running.
Built in apps include Google’s suite of apps. Unlike any other Android skin, the Color OS is quite a breath of fresh air to use. It offers a few alternatives to major apps like Chrome and Photos but it gives easy access to these Google-owned apps at the same time.
Performance
Using familiar titles is such a breeze. Running Netflix and Spotify for streaming is a no-brainer in this handset. Popular games like Mobile Legends and Arena of Valor are surprisingly smooth to run with the OPPO A71. On a normal day-to-day task, the OPPO A71 delivers; it faster than most of its peers. It is also capable of running Graphic intensive games like Lineage 2 Revolution; but it didn’t fare well, it occasionally drops frames. But I could say that it has plenty of power for basic tasks.
The OPPO A71 ticks with a MediaTek MT6750 chipset which crams a 1.5GHz octa-core processor and a Mali-860 MP2 GPU. In our Antutu Benchmark test, the handset scores 42835 which is pretty impressive for a sub Php 9K handset. The OPPO A71 also comes with 3GB of RAM, it is very evident since I experienced smooth app launching and switching in between tasks.
Camera
Specs-wise, the OPPO A71 features a 13MP f/2.2 which sounds impressive on paper. It also performs well in real time testing. In a good lighting condition, the handset is capable to capture great shots. The camera app is pretty straightforward. Autofocus function is also fast enough to deliver stunning shots with great details.
The front-facing camera is a 5MP affair with f/2.4 aperture. OPPO is not marketing this handset at par to their selfie expert line of smartphones, but it does produce great selfies. It even comes with Beautify and Depth Effect modes. See sample shots below.
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| Outdoor, Well-lighted |
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| Night Shot, lowlight |
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| Indoor, Well-lighted |
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| Indoor |
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| Outdoor, Overcast |
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| Outdoor, Overcast |
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| Macro, Color Reproduction |
Video recording is pretty basic. The handset could record up to 1080p at 30fps. Here's a sample video:
Battery
The OPPO A71 battery registers above average. It comes with 3000 mAh pack that could last more than 24 hours with light to moderate use. In a casual day with series of emails, one hour Arena of Valor, an hour of Mobile Legends, 30-minute Spotify streaming, two dozens of camera shots, an hour of Netflix and a total of 15-minute calls, we hit the sack with 19 percent battery. All activities were done over LTE network.
It does not support fast charging but if you’re the type that charges a phone overnight, that wouldn’t be an issue.
Conclusion
The OPPO A71 definitely prefers speed of operation over selfies. It is very evident on how it effortlessly chew everything thrown at it. It is a significant improvement to the lower mid-tier phones OPPO has released last year. Its solid construction and subtle curves make it very appealing on the hands. It’s also not a fingerprint magnet due to its smooth faux metal finish. Both the camera and battery are above average for its price.
OPPO A71 is for users who wanted to have a speedy performance in a tight budget. It’s also for those who wanted to have a good looking phone despite its sub Php 9K price. If you’re in the market for an affordable smartphone that could handle your daily tasks without choking, and has a good balance of performance and battery life, then OPPO A71 is one of the best phones you can get in this price standpoint.
What we love about the OPPO A71:
- Decent to above average speed at its price
- Solid Build, Design
- Good Camera
- Battery Life
- Dedicated Triple slot
What we don't like about the OPPO A71:
- Small Storage
- Audio Jack on Top Side
OPPO A71 Specs
- 148.1 x 73.8 x 7.6 mm, 137 grams
- 5.2-inch HD IPS LCD Display, 1280 x 720 pixels at 282 ppi
- MediaTek MT6750 SoC
- Octa-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 CPU
- Mali T860 GPU
- 3GB of RAM + 16GB ROM, up to 256GB expandable
- 13MP Rear Camera, f/2.2 aperture,AF, LED Flash
- 5MP Selfie Camera with f/2.4, screen flash
- 4G LTE, 3G, 2G
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, Hotspot
- Bluetooth 4.0
- GPS, A-GPS
- FM Radio
- microUSB 2.0
- 3.5mm Audio Jack
- Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass, Accelerometer Sensors
- Android 7.1 Nougat with Color OS 3.1
- 2900 mAh Li-Ion Non-Removable Battery
- Champagne Gold, Black
- Php 8,990 Price in the Philippines
