OPPO A92 First Impressions

OPPO is set to introduce a new smartphone for the Philippine market designed to challenge the mid-range norm soon—the A92.

Tiny punch-hole!

The Chinese mobile tech giant has yet to reveal its official local SRP, but our sources claimed that the device could be one of the most capable for the price. On paper, they could be right if the device is competitively priced.

Coming A9 2020 last year, the OPPO A92 is an attractive handset with an all-new design, better display, and upgraded cameras.

Ahead of its launch, let's take a quick look at the A92. Here's part 1 of our review—the first impressions.

Watch: OPPO A92 Unboxing

Build Quality/Design

Rectangular camera hump

At the back, the OPPO A92 is using a 3D curved glasstic material. It has a protruded rectangular camera hump with a glass-looking cover to protect its multiple lenses. As expected, the frame is also made out of plastic. In front, it has a 2.5D curved glass display with a punch-hole for the selfie cam.

It's a pretty basic build commonly found on mid-range smartphones. There's no mention of glass protection and even just splash resistance though.

But in terms of design, this handset will standout. The 3D curved back looks neat and it comes in 3 colorways—Aurora Purple, Twilight Black, and Shining White.

Great style, plenty of cameras!

The unit that we got is the Twilight Black version with a shiny paint finish and a ray-like reflection depending on the angle you are looking at. It also has a rectangular camera hump dubbed as the Matrix Camera design with symmetrical multiple cameras and flash.

It is used to house the 48MP f/1.7 main camera of the phone along with the 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide-angle secondary camera, 2MP f/2.4 retro, 2MP f/2.4 mono, and the single LED flash.

Both the 48MP main and 8MP wide cams of the phone supports the Ultra Night Mode 2.0 with enhanced HDR for better low light images. OPPO said that the pair of 2MP cameras are "unique" portrait-style lenses. For videos, this device can shoot up to 4K 30fps. It also has EIS for stabilized videos.

Like most phones with a high-gloss finish, the back of the phone is prone to fingerprint smudges.

Large and immersive screen

In front, you'll find the 6.5-inch large TFT LCD display with FHD+ resolution, cinematic 20:9 screen aspect ratio, and a punch-hole for the selfie camera.

This display is impressive as it has an ultra-narrow side bezel of 1.73 mm which translates to an immersive 90.5 percent screen-to-body ratio. It also has a Contrast Ratio of 1500:1, up to 480 nits brightness, and TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification.

Immersive screen, loud audio!

The device measures at 162 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm which is the 2020 average for phones with big screens.

Top and bottom view

On top, you'll find nothing. Above the display, you'll see the ear speaker that also acts as the phone's secondary speaker. Below, there's the 3.5mm jack, single mic, USB-C port, and the primary speaker grille.

Since it has two speakers, this phone can let you enjoy stereo sound on a mobile phone. It even has the Dirac 2.0 audio for better-sounding speakers and Hi-Res Audio certification for wired audio.

Left and right view

At left, you'll see a hole for the triple-slot tray and the volume up and down keys below. At right, there's a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that doubles as a power key. So far, we find its fingerprint scanning capability to be accurate and fast.

At 195 grams, the device has proper heft and it doesn't feel cheap at all. If you have big hands, one-handed operation is possible. The phone is also comfortable to hold due to its generous curves and nice finish behind.

OPPO A92 Specs

Display: 6.5-inch 2.5D curved TFT LCD screen w/ FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 405 ppi

CPU: 2.0GHz 11nm Snapdragon 665 AIE octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 610

RAM: 8GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 128GB UFS 2.1 expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB (dedicated)

Back Camera: 48MP f/1.7 w/ PDAF, EIS + 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 retro + 2MP f/2.4 mono + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.0

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 18W fast charging

OS: Android 10.0 w/ ColorOS 7.1

Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, sound, magnetic

Others: Fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, Hi-Res Audio, USB-C, Colors: Aurora Purple, Twilight Black, Shining White

Dimensions: 162 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm

Weight: 195 g

Price: PHP 15,990

As of the moment

A phone with a good screen and strong speakers

This mid-ranger impresses due to its fresh design, big display, stereo audio, and large battery capacity with reasonably fast charging. I also like that it has capable back and front cameras and Android 10-based ColorOS 7.1 with Dark Mode and Smart Sidebar. 

However, its choice of reusing the 2.0GHz 11nm Snapdragon 665 AIE octa-core processor is a bit questionable. Fortunately, it has a large and fast 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage, and Hyper Boost Engine for improved performance.

Actual performance is snappy for social media usage so far. Let's hope that the price is right.

See also: OPPO A92 with 8GB RAM, 48MP quad-cam, and stereo speakers now official in PH

See you in our full review.