There are many reasons why one would want to purchase a smartphone. It could be that the festive season is knocking and its time to get our loved ones functional durable presents. It could also be that 2020 has been one tough year and it is very much in order to want to reward oneself for just surviving to the end of it. Or that you have a phone that has seen better years and has been overtaken by newer gadgets in the market both in terms of looks and in technology. Because we know that phone manufacturers are really taking leaps in improvements in these two areas.
If you are looking for budget and entry level phones, you may not need to look further than in the OPPO family which has quite a variety right from very affordable, to relatively higher priced flagship devices. I’ve had the pleasure of using the most recent release from OPPO – the OPPO A93 for slightly over a month now and as promised in an earlier article, here is my review and experience of the phone.
The phone is ultra-thin with a shiny matte finish at the back. It came into my life and snuggled right in. You know how you don’t have to struggle to get used to a new gadget? That it is too heavy or too slippery or too big and all that? That is me and the OPPO A93. You know you have it, it is beautiful and powerful, but it is not in your face. That is part of what represents an edgy classy device and the girl in me loves that.
I’ve been using the Magic Blue variant but that is not what got me. What got me is the vertical, well blended blue on blue band about 4cm wide running through the phone from the bottom to the camera housing. This simple break to what could otherwise have been a monotonous blue gives the phone a premium polished look.
It is quite smooth though and for those who drop phones on a regular, the matte finish gives it additional grip. Not that I can relate to dropping phones though. Never have and hopefully never will. The OPPO A93 however comes with a free custom made silicon back cover so those whose lifestyles dictate that they have this additional layer of protection are sorted. I’ve never been a fan of covering up a phone but then again that’s because my daily movements and activities and my general level of careful allow me to use naked phones.
First thing I was looking for when I opened the box was a fingerprint scanner at the back but alas! There is none. The OPPO A93 is built with an in-display scanner and being the first time I’m using this, I’m more than fascinated.
I love beautiful things so please allow me to start with the cute white earplugs that come with the phone. I couldn’t wait to try the feel of them in terms of sound and comfort and they checked both of these boxes. In the past, and in devices from other brands, I’ve had a problem with earplugs that are far from ergonomic, far from cute and to make matters worse, are too big for the ears hence leaving me with a splitting headache within about one hour of use. With the OPPO A93 ones, its all kudos from me.
Even without the earplugs the speakers are quite good. Thanks a lot OPPO for not torturing mid-level phone users with bad sound.
The battery is an impressive 4000mAh and it does not stop there. The OPPO A93 also has fast charge so that if you’re running out of charge and you get say 5 minutes in a coffee shop to charge your phone from zero, you’ll get enough juice for 2 hours talk time. Fast charge will easily give you 50% charge in half an hour.
Otherwise on a daily, a fully charged phone will go for a whole day on regular use. This includes reasonable making of calls, listening to music, social media, use of camera and watching a video here and there. For heavy video users, vloggers, and gamers then understandably you’ll run out of charge at some point midday or thereabout. I fall in the regular use category so I’m covered for a full day on one full battery charge.
You’ll get a whopping 128 GB internal memory expandable via micro SD, and 8GB RAM. I can’t imagine anyone ever running out of storage space for their photos, selfies and videos or ever having to deal with a lagging phone. In there you can through several episodes of your favourite series to take you through that road trip, and you get to watch in a clear screen resolution of 2400×1080. With 8GB RAM, you can also run your games smoothly without annoying starts and stops. I find these specs very reasonable for a mid-level phone and it is good that phone manufacturers are doing good to continuously improve user experience.
Mobile phone manufacturers are making near-professional photographers out of all of us and we’re here for it! Gone are the days when grainy photos were a thing in entry level and mid-level phones. The OPPO A93 has quad cameras at the back and this already gives you superior raw photography. 48Megapixels main, 8Megapixels for wide angle and two 2Megapixel for depth. It also has LED flash and panorama among other features. As one gets used to the phone and gets to tinkering with the nifty features in there, we’re looking at really good photography skills for all. Like the portrait feature which greys out the background and takes the selfie subject in full pop colour. For the selfie lovers, you have 16Megapixels to capture that beauty to high detail.
There is so much to this phone but the simple conclusion for me is that for the price of Ksh30,999/-, it is worth every penny. There are so many nifty features that a curious mind will discover with time and my advise would be to try them out within limits. It is a sturdy device and it will handle.