Hardware

Published on January 20th, 2020 | by James Wright

OPPO A9 2020 Series Review

Coming in two stylish colours (Marine Green & Vanilla Mint), the OPPO A9 2020 Series (CPH1943 )is one of this company’s latest mid-range smartphones and like all things OPPO, photography is a key component. This includes a powerful 48MP Ultra Wide Quad Camera, including their new Ultra Night Mode 2.0. Another great element is a powerful 5000mAh that easily gives you a full day usage, including reverse charging to help other people out if their phones need a wireless charge.

This phone is powered by a Snapdragon 665 processor, 4GB RAM (LPDDR4x Dual Channel Memory) and 128GB of storage with Android 9 and ColorOS 6. Further to this is a large 6.5’’ Waterdrop Sunlight Screen, including access to Game Boost 2.0 which improves gameplay. In terms of screen quality, it’s excellent on the A9 with sharp images, vibrant colours and a resolution of 1600 x 720 with a 89% screen-to-body ratio. It even filters out harmful blue light.

Gamers and lovers of music will also be pleased to know that it features Dolby Atmos and Dual Stereo Speakers (not one) for immersive audio. Furthermore, this phone also has a 3-card slot that allows for dual-sims and a microSD card slot for up to 256GB that would give you 384GB of storage which is great for photos, music, films and of course games for a price of just $399.

In total, there are five separate cameras on this smartphone with one of these being a 16 megapixel front facing camera that is perfect for taking selfies, particularly with its AI beautification. The “beautification” process also has some clever AI built into its technology that identifies ages and gender in order to select the right filter which works well. This can also be further tweaked.

It’s great that OPPO have included a 119° Ultra Wide lens which is perfect for those panoramic photos or even family portraits. If you have a small home and want to list large items like beds of tables on eBay or Gumtree, it’s also great for that as well! Adding to the camera abilities is 4K video with EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization), including a gyroscope to provide shake-free filming.

Setup? What setup! The setup process of this OPPO smartphone took just under a minute to set it up as a new phone, however if you import data from a previous smartphone, this will take considerably more time that is dependent on a number of factors like how many photos you have, what apps you are transitioning, including contacts and messages as some of the data that can be migrated.

Box Contents

• OPPO A9 2020
• Adapter
• Headset
• USB Type-C Cable
• Important Info. Booklet with Warranty Card
• Quick Start Guide
• Mobile Muster card
• SIM Card Tool
• Protective Film, pre-applied
• Case

The first thing we noticed about the A9 out of the box was its stylish design and professional build quality with excellent coloured grading effect on the back. It’s also great how OPPO include everything you need to get started, even a protective film on the screen plus a case to help protect your phone from apocalyptic disasters!

Setting up a new OPPO smartphone

Once you have completed the setup process, you are then treated to the welcome screen for ColorOS 6 which basically sits over the Android 9.0 operating system and adds additional functionality to this smartphone. ColorOS 6 adds tailored intelligent features such a Smart Riding Mode, Smart Assistance, Swipe-Up Gesture Navigation plus access to the OPPO Cloud Service.

Android 9 / ColorOS 6 Images

The phone also has a Smart Assistance which basically allows you to easily access the main features of your phone such as favourite contacts, events or quick functions that allow you to add your most used apps. These additional features really assist in making your smartphone experience a smoother one.

So how did the A9 hold up with its photo technology? Check out these images below!

As expected the above images turned out quite well during the day, however this smartphone did struggle a little nightmode which of course was dependent on how much light was involved.

The final image was macros and the A9 produced a super sharp image!

Lastly, games and apps worked well on this phone with no issues whatsoever. While we benchmarked this phone with 3DMark, it did score on the lower-end, however once again, no issues in playing games, however some titles needed resolution and detail turned down. Apps were fast and all in all, this is one very responsive phone.

Final Thoughts?

For just $399, the OPPO A9 2020 Series packs a punch when it comes to affordability and features, particularly it’s photographic capabilities. It’s also a good looking phone that is fast, feels good in your hands and has some clever features like ColorOS and smart assistant to help streamline your usage… especially with a 500 mAh battery plus reverse charging to help out your friends!

Recommended!

Official Specifications of OPPO A9 2020 Series Smartphone

About the Author

James Wright

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