OPPO A83 Review - Affordable Powerhouse!
OPPO started the year strong with the release of the A83, a sub PHP 10K smartphone with highly capable specs and cameras for the price.
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| OPPO A83 review! |
Fast forward March 2018, it is still one of our favorite at this price point today. Why? Read on!
Here's our full review!
Display Quality
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| Big tall screen! |
The A83 is equipped with a "big" 5.7-inch HD+ 1440 x 720 screen with 2.5D curved glass and tiny bezels on the sides and minimal bezels on the top and chin.
Big tall screen!
Having OPPO's "full screen" on a budget device is impressive. Moreover, viewing experience is decent. Colors are surprisingly natural looking and punchy enough for an IPS panel. Viewing angles and brightness are good for indoor use too.
However, it'll struggle under direct sunlight hit. Sunlight legibility is decent, but it isn't that good. It is also quite prone to fingerprint smudges as well.
It has 10 points of touch which is great for gaming.
Audio Quality
A83 has a single speaker at the bottom. It is capable of producing loud enough tunes with enough clarity and detail. Bass response is lacking as expected though. It isn't the loudest around too. Just decent.
For headphones, audio output is alright. Signature is balanced and natural sounding enough for a phone. Resolution is isn't HiFi grade, there's hissing at times, and driving power (loudness) is far from strong.
The audio recorded for videos are also good and stereo in quality. It isn't free from noise, but the quality is acceptable. For calls, quality is decent.
Battery Life
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| 11 hours and 46 minutes! |
Incredible! The A83 has a big 5.7-inch display, but the battery capacity is just at 3,000mAh. But, the battery benchmark score and actual battery performance of this device is simply incredible!
Amazing battery performance for the battery size!
In our test, the A83 clocked an impressive score of 11 hours and 46 minutes. In comparison, our Lenovo K8 Note with "massive" 4,000mAh battery only scored 9 hours and 29 minutes. We also recorded 6 hours and 50 minutes of screen on time on heavy usage.
Charging time is around 2 hours and 30 minutes from 0 to 100 percent.
Camera
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| 13MP shooter! |
At the back, the A83 only has a 13MP f/2.2 snapper with PDAF focus and single LED flash. On paper, it isn't that exciting right? But fortunately, it is one of the best single camera snapper we tested under PHP 10K!
Like the regular OPPO F5 and F5 Youth, the A83 also has auto HDR, face beauty, panorama, 2x digital zoom, several filters, and robust expert mode. It has white balance, EV (-3 to +3), ISO (100 to 3200), shutter (1/8000 to 16 seconds), and manual focus. The expert mode or pro mode it has is one of the best at this price point.
Like what we mentioned earlier, the primary shooter of the A83 is quite impressive. It has really fast focus and shooting speed for the price. It is even great for macro shots in well-lit conditions.
Speaking of picture quality, it has good details and colors with nice contrast and overall dynamic range. Indoor performance is also strong. In lowlight, most of our shots are acceptable.
Yes there will be loss of details in lowlight, but its overall quality quite surprising for a phone with only f/2.2 aperture size.
In addition, it has a nice manual mode that you can use if you have steady hands or a tripod. The flash could be useful at times too.
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| Main cam UI |
Like the regular OPPO F5 and F5 Youth, the A83 also has auto HDR, face beauty, panorama, 2x digital zoom, several filters, and robust expert mode. It has white balance, EV (-3 to +3), ISO (100 to 3200), shutter (1/8000 to 16 seconds), and manual focus. The expert mode or pro mode it has is one of the best at this price point.
Very impressive camera for the price!
Like what we mentioned earlier, the primary shooter of the A83 is quite impressive. It has really fast focus and shooting speed for the price. It is even great for macro shots in well-lit conditions.
Speaking of picture quality, it has good details and colors with nice contrast and overall dynamic range. Indoor performance is also strong. In lowlight, most of our shots are acceptable.
Yes there will be loss of details in lowlight, but its overall quality quite surprising for a phone with only f/2.2 aperture size.
In addition, it has a nice manual mode that you can use if you have steady hands or a tripod. The flash could be useful at times too.
Rear Camera Samples
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| HDR with warm colors |
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| Highly detailed and vibrant afternoon shot |
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| Close-up daylight |
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| Indoor close-up auto |
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| Lowlight |
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| EV -3 (ISO 100, 3s) |
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| Flash |
In front, it has an 8MP shooter with f/2.2 aperture size and OPPO's A.I. Beauty Recognition Technology and screen flash.
Like the F5, it has auto HDR, face beauty, and depth effect. We find the auto face beauty mode quite effective. It will beautify you, but won't exaggerate the result. Its performance is a bit more consistent than what we got with the higher-end F5.
The camera angle is average in wideness. Shooting speed is fast. Picture quality is great for the price. Colors are balanced, but it still has some color pop when needed. Lowlight selfie performance is good even if it has some acceptable grain. The bokeh mode is simply one of the best.
Unfortunately, the video quality produced by this phone is far from great. Yes, it has decent colors and details, but it is very shaky in quality. Both the back and front cameras can shoot up to 1080p 30 fps. The selfie camera video is a bit better versus the main camera video quality.
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| Selfie UI |
Like the F5, it has auto HDR, face beauty, and depth effect. We find the auto face beauty mode quite effective. It will beautify you, but won't exaggerate the result. Its performance is a bit more consistent than what we got with the higher-end F5.
The camera angle is average in wideness. Shooting speed is fast. Picture quality is great for the price. Colors are balanced, but it still has some color pop when needed. Lowlight selfie performance is good even if it has some acceptable grain. The bokeh mode is simply one of the best.
Selfie Camera Samples
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| Natural looking selfie |
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| Great bokeh mode |
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| Lowlight with face beauty and screen flash |
Unfortunately, the video quality produced by this phone is far from great. Yes, it has decent colors and details, but it is very shaky in quality. Both the back and front cameras can shoot up to 1080p 30 fps. The selfie camera video is a bit better versus the main camera video quality.
Video Samples
Performance
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| One of the highest AnTuTu score for the price! |
Most smartphones with the 64-bit Helio P23 octa-core processor are found in the over PHP 13K price range. But, OPPO is agressive enough to put that chip on a phone under PHP 10K. OPPO also paired it with Mali-G71 MP2 graphics, 3GB RAM, and 32GB expandable storage.
As a result, the OPPO A83 delivered the same SPEEDY performance found on its higher-end F5 Youth and F5 siblings. Opening of apps is breeze, multitasking is smooth even if it doesn't have of RAM, and it rarely crashes.
Moreover, it can load some demanding 3D games like the NBA 2K18 on all high settings without cloth simulation easily. Thermal management is better than expected as well.
As expected, the A83 loads with Android 7.1 Nougat w/ ColorOS 3.2. It is iOS inspired, easy to use, and has no app drawer. You may also swipe down notifications and swipe up to view the control center.
Like the F5, it has the OPPO Share fast file sharing, Night Shield blue light filter, and the face unlock technology. The face unlock is one of the most accurate and fastest around.
You cannot permanently change the default keyboard and it has no fingerprint scanner though.
The rest of the connectivity experience is great. Dual SIM works, GSM signal is mostly strong and LTE connectivity is stable. We are just not sure if it has the same 700 MHz LTE found on the higher end F5.
Like the rest of the F5 series, the A83 has OTG, gyroscope, and stable GPS connectivity.
This handset is one of the speediest if not the speediest for the price!
As a result, the OPPO A83 delivered the same SPEEDY performance found on its higher-end F5 Youth and F5 siblings. Opening of apps is breeze, multitasking is smooth even if it doesn't have of RAM, and it rarely crashes.
Moreover, it can load some demanding 3D games like the NBA 2K18 on all high settings without cloth simulation easily. Thermal management is better than expected as well.
As expected, the A83 loads with Android 7.1 Nougat w/ ColorOS 3.2. It is iOS inspired, easy to use, and has no app drawer. You may also swipe down notifications and swipe up to view the control center.
Like the F5, it has the OPPO Share fast file sharing, Night Shield blue light filter, and the face unlock technology. The face unlock is one of the most accurate and fastest around.
You cannot permanently change the default keyboard and it has no fingerprint scanner though.
The rest of the connectivity experience is great. Dual SIM works, GSM signal is mostly strong and LTE connectivity is stable. We are just not sure if it has the same 700 MHz LTE found on the higher end F5.
Like the rest of the F5 series, the A83 has OTG, gyroscope, and stable GPS connectivity.
Pros - Big tall screen, long battery life, great performance for the price, capable cameras, speedy face unlock
Cons - Plastic build, no fingerprint scanner, video recording quality is shaky
Cons - Plastic build, no fingerprint scanner, video recording quality is shaky
Verdict
Whether you like OPPO or not, the A83 is easily one of the best for the price! It simply has looks, performance, features, and cameras that can wow a lot of people in the sub PHP 10K price category.It would have been better if it has a fingerprint scanner, but it would have made this phone pricier than it is right now.
Overall, this handset is a must consider for us.
Build / Design - 4
Display - 4
Audio - 3.75
Battery - 4.5
Camera - 4.5
Performance - 4.75
Average - 4.25 / 5
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