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Introduction; I do reviews based on the consumer point-of-view; what works for me and what doesn’t. With that being said, I do not discriminate phones based on their price points.
OPPO recently sent over their newly launched A3 Pro 5G. The Singapore release happened in August of this year. At the retail price of SGD$379 and easily available through many physical and online platforms, the phone is one of the most affordable phones that I have reviewed. Check out these shops at the end of my review if you’re interested in getting one!
The Details
The A3 Pro 5G is a pretty sleek phone with the dimensions of 165.79mm x 76.14mm x 7.68mm and weighing in less than 200g at about 186g. It comes in two different colours, Starry Black and Moonlight Purple. There are two memory capabilities; 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 256GB. In addition to these, here are the specs of the A3 Pro 5G:
- Display: 6.67″
- Processor : MediaTek Dimensity 6300
- Rear Camera: Main Camera (50MP; f/1.8) + Portrait Camera (2MP; f/2.4)
- Front Camera: 8MP f/2.0
- Operating System: ColourOS 14.01
Aside from the specs, OPPO claims that the A3 Pro 5G has 360degree Damage-Proof Armour Body, 45W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge, Splash Touch and Premium Gleaming Design. Aside from these four, OPPO does boast quite a few other claims but we will not focus on everything.
First Impressions
The first was the Premium Gleaming Design that really intrigued me. The website states, “Like a moonrise in a deep purple sky, this colour is created with an innovative crescent magnetic particle design that shimmers and shifts, creating a lustrous and mysterious look.” Poetic and well, gives me the thought that the A3 Pro 5G would look incredibly well-made. Unfortunately, we were loaned the Starry Black so I don’t have an impression of how the Moonlight Purple actually look. But based on the black, the design is acceptable to me. Impressive? Mmm, not really but acceptable.
What I really like though was the fact that Oppo provides you with a phone case, albeit it feels quite soft and flexible but better some than none right? The Oppo A3 Pro 5G also comes with its own charger and usb-c wire, YAY!
Take a look at this “unboxing” video.
The next that made me raise my eyebrows were the 360degree Damage-Proof Armour Body. I am, I have to admit, very clumsy in my handling of my personal belongings. Thankfully, all the loaned items that I have reviewed were returned in the same condition it was sent over. But my phone, oh my phone; so many dings and scratches. Let’s not even mention how when my two kids were toddlers, their favourite activity was to throw Mama’s phone.
Of course, there is no way I could deliberately drop the phone to test out the actual durability; a claim like this could assure people with butter-fingers or children that their phones would be safe. From both themselves and their curious tots.
Then, there’s also the Splash Touch claim. OPPO claims that the screen would continue to be responsive with wet hands or when water splashes on the phone. Let’s watch the video and see whether it really works.
From the video, we can see that there is a little bit of lag time while my husband tries to scroll through the phone.
The 45W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge means that in 30mins, you would be able to get a charge increase of up to 50%. Did I test it out? Of course I did. Did I record it? Captain Obvious, say no more. Watch the video and see the result.
The result came out underwhelming, to be very honest. The phone started at 9% and after 30 minutes, it had only gone up to 34% even though it’s fast charging. However, my husband did point out that maybe I should do a second round using the provided charger and wire. So, that’s what I will do!
Unfortunately, the second video failed as well. Here’s the start:
However, the result did come out quite positively using the actual charger. The phone started with about 15% and in the span of 30 mins, it did increase to about 58%. While it was not close to an exact 50% increase, the battery charge did increase by about 43%. So that’s a small win!
The Test
I started the test with the Sling Shot and the results were pretty alright for an affordable phone. It does score on the lower side, but I do not expect it to score as high as other phones which cost upwards of $1000.
Next test, the Wild Life Stress Test. Now this result actually impressed me as the Oppo A3 Pro 5G proved to be extremely stable at 98.9% . Do remember that the Wild Life Stress Test mimics the usage of the phone whilst playing mobile games that uses heavy graphics and battery-life. This would mean great news for those who are looking for an affordable phone without compromising on your COD/ML games etc.
Work Performance was the third test that we ran. To be very frank, amongst all the phones that I have review, this is probably one of the lowest scores so far. There was one phone that had a score lower than the Oppo A3 Pro 5G but that phone came out 4 years ago, in 2020. So, yeah.
The initial battery test failed, so I am trying a second time currently while typing this out. However, if it fails again, I would most likely skip the test. The second round of test failed again however, the phone did run for approximately 16 hours before the test stopped abruptly. So I do have some positive views on it.
The Camera Test
The camera is no frills. It takes photos quite well and I have no complaints about it. The colours came out well and the pictures were sharp and crisp. The contrast between the cat’s dark fur and lighter fur was especially clear. I love how the colour of the cat’s eyes were bright, peep those yellow eyes. The colourful playground in the shadow of the block of flats were still true-to-colour.
Conclusion
There are a few pros and cons that I have in mind while reviewing the phone.
A major pro for the Oppo A3 Pro 5G is of course, the price. It’s such an affordable price point and for a phone, it functions well as one. The battery life is long enough to last the whole working day and there’s not much worry since there’s always portable chargers that we can bring along.
A little mmm, I might have is the splash touch. However, I don’t really feel like it’s super necessary to use the phone with wet hands. Dry your hands people, and your phone will work normally!
So, in conclusion, the Oppo A3 Pro 5G is a functional phone that would actually serve quite well as a work phone. Why work phone? Due to the fact that it’s no frills and the price point, you could simply just use it for calls and messages relating to your work instead of cluttering your personal phone with work stuff.
If you’re considering a second phone with a great price point, go for it!
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