This OPPO phone comes with a huge 5,000mAh battery – OPPO A96 Review

OPPO A96 Review – OPPO’s $399 phone is here and this latest model on the A-series comes with a whoppingly-large 5,000mAh battery, 33W SUPERVOOC flash charging, 90Hz refresh rate display, and a 50MP rear camera setup. It sure packs a punch at that price but we’ll have a look closer about how it performs and whether the camera is any good.

Obviously, the A-series is on the lower-end model compared to the Reno and Find X series so do be objective when looking at the photo shots and adjust your expectation properly.

So let’s get to the chase!

OPPO A96 Review – Unboxing and Packaging Contents

The packaging includes a see-through case with a tight, snugger fit compared to the previous OPPO phones and cases I’ve reviewed.

As always, the phone comes with a screen protector applied so you don’t have to buy it separately and risk having air bubbles when applying it on your own.

OPPO A96 Review – Design & Features

OPPO A96 still looks very good despite of the price and is available in two different colours: Sunset Blue and Starry Black. My review unit that you see here is the Starry Black. It looks pretty sleek and feels nice to hold with my hand. According to OPPO, the back of the phone is also safe from scratches which does sound great – especially if you are not planning to use a case.

OPPO A96 has a 6.59″ screen with 2412 x 1080 resolution (FHD+), 401PPI, and a Punch-Hole display which is nice to look at and if you hate notches. The display also supports up to 90Hz refresh rate so you get that smooth feel when scrolling your social media app or when interacting with the phone overall.

It’s powered by an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor, Qualcomm Adreno™ GPU 610, and 8GB of RAM (with 128GB of storage). It’s fast enough to ensure your day-to-day tasks can be done quickly and smoothly. I don’t see any hiccups while scrolling down news on Google Chrome and also on my Instagram feed.

Switching between apps or opening them also feels good on the OPPO A96. It’s a proof that you don’t even need a $1,800 phone to have a great day-to-day experience checking your emails, posting photos to social media, etc. But of course, if you are going to use the phone heavily to edit and export long videos or using high-intensity apps, then the phone would struggle – like many other “below $500 phone” would.

Unlocking the phone can be done using the fingerprint sensor located on the power button or facial recognition. They are pretty quick and seamless too.

OPPO A96 Review – Camera

And if you are here to find out whether the camera is good enough for your needs before making your purchase decision, here is a dedicated section for it. OPPO A96 is equipped with a 50MP rear main camera, 2MP bokeh camera, and a 16MP selfie camera (front). There is no wide angle camera lens or optical zoom here though.

There is Portrait mode, OPPO’s AI that can automatically enhance your shots, and other tricks like shooting Panorama and Timelapse.

The photos aren’t bad, especially if you have plenty of lighting or take shots outdoor.

And when the lighting condition is a bit challenging, the photos can still look good if you look at them on the phone or post them to social media. However, once you get home and look at them in a bigger monitor screen (like my 27″ BenQ EX2780Q), you can see the quality/sharpness suffers and some parts actually look blurry. In low lit conditions, I notice that the camera is struggling to get details and consistencies, like any other low to mid-end smartphones would.

The lens also doesn’t like fast moving subjects (i.e slow shutter speed) so if you plan to take lots of kids photos with this phone, you may struggle a bit unless the subject doesn’t move too fast and you are shooting in really good lighting condition.

OPPO A96 Review – Conclusion

OPPO A96 is a good day-to-day phone with excellent battery life and an excellent technology to charge it fast (through OPPO’s 33W SUPERVOOC). The punch-hole display with 90Hz refresh rate keeps thing looking smoothly and the phone supports two methods of unlocking at the same time.

While the camera isn’t bad, it isn’t great either unless you often take shots outdoor or in places with good lighting. It sometimes struggle with fast moving subjects as if it has a slow shutter speed, and you won’t find either a Telephoto (for Optical Zoom) or Wide Angle lens either.

But if you are not here for the camera, running high intensity apps and games, the OPPO A96 is an excellent phone at that price. OPPO A96 is available now for purchase and retails for A$399 RRP.

Disclosure: OPPO A96 review sample was supplied for reviewing