Oppo A96 Review : The spec sheet all came into play in real-world performance

 

The Oppo A96 comes off as another mid-tier gaming phone catering to people who would like to compromise for a better gaming experience. But as I played around the phone as my daily driver for a week, I was all wrong.

Find out more about Oppo’s latest offering below.

There is no compromise with the Oppo A96. Both the uni-body build and the spec sheet all came into play in real-world performance. I am a heavy user so for me to be impressed with this phone is saying something. 

The Aesthetics

The OPPO A96 has a rather straightforward phone design upon unboxing, complete with the camera configuration at the front and back. I didn’t find any earphones or headphones inside, just your typical phone and charger combo. You can choose from Pearl Pink or Starry Black in terms of colors. As a manly man, I got the Pearl Pink.

What stood out for me was that the back is actually scratch-proof. Nonetheless, I still used the silicon case provided in the package – which more than make up for the missing earphones.

Real-World Performance

The OPPO A96 is a quick and powerful smartphone overall, which is a not-so-little secret. It has been a while since I last held an Oppo phone so I felt it took a little bit for their ColorOS to begin loading after I booted the device. Otherwise, the experience is rather fluid once it gets going, especially when opening apps like Play Store and Chrome and navigating back and forth through various social media apps and feeds.

After the tedious setting up of the phone which was around 6AM prior to leaving for our Grab Ride heading to our staycation in Pasay. I intended to use the phone as my daily driver - taking photos, watching movies, and researching good places to eat within the area – for three days straight. And I swear I was left with roughly around seventy percent battery. I felt embarrassed to bring my USB-C charging cable for this trip. I never did get the chance to use it.

The Oppo A96 did get me thru my staycation on a single charge. So what am I supposed to do with the device upon arriving home? Of course, I installed Diablo III and DisneyPlus and prepared for more battery tests.

User Interface and Navigation

Coming from the Big Apple, using Oppo’s familiar design gave me a grease elbow to navigate the phone with ease. As someone diagnosed with OCD, the interface was streamlined close to perfection (except for some gestures I thought were there but were not).

Phone for the people

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I am a power user. And the Oppo A96 really took a beating. And much to my surprise, it kept up with me. The phone breezed through whatever I threw at it and perform superbly, regardless of how much I gamed or how much I used switched from Facebook, the camera app, and back. This smartphone has game optimization capabilities built into ColorOS that allow gamers to concentrate in-game without being distracted (watch my short playthrough of Diablo III)

And don’t get me started with media consumption! I have binge-watched MCU movies from Disney+ and the 6.59-inch phone was probably the perfect hardware for it, but I forgot it has a punch-hole for the camera. That was how immersive the Oppo A96 was.

Wrap-Up

The OPPO A96 is a capable 2022 smartphone with a starting price of PhP 15,999 that can keep up with your demands. It fulfills every requirement for a powerful smartphone, and for a comparatively low cost.

It isn't the one phone to conquer all, though, like most gadgets in this price range. Even with the 5000mah battery, charging it may disappoint some individuals considerably more than it should. Also, the cameras can be hit or miss sometime. There are ways to get the most out of this device's gaming and media streaming capabilities while occasionally playing catch with other aspects that can be totally disregarded at the end of the day.

Here's the full video review of Oppo A96