OPPO recently launched the OPPO A92 in the Philippines. The midrange handset features a 48MP quad camera setup, a large display, stereo speakers, and a huge battery.
The OPPO A92 is priced at PHP 15,990. It is available for pre-order until June 26, 2020. Pre-orders will come with a free Rockspace P62 Pro power bank worth PHP 1,299.
We last posted our unboxing and first impressions of the phone, and now, we’re here for the review.
Design
On my unboxing and first impressions post, I gushed about the OPPO A92’s design and colorway. My review unit is in Shining White, by the way, and I stand what I said before. The handset is gorgeous. I love the way the colors shift from aquamarine to bluish white near the top. The frame is also color coordinated, featuring the same shift in shades.
Moreover, I like how the A92 feels on the hand. Despite the plastic materials, it is solid and quite sturdy. It’s not as slippery and fingerprint prone as most shiny phones.
The handset has that familiar OPPO look with a clean layout. The back panel curves to the sides which makes the phone more ergonomic and feel thinner than it actually is.
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The OPPO A92 is a large phone, but not unwieldy. Again, the curves have something to do with it. It has a 6.5-full HD IPS display with a punch hole cutout on the upper left corner. It is surrounded by thin bezels with a noticeable chin. The earpiece is flushed on the top bezel also doubles as a second speaker.
On the left hand side, we have the triple slot SIM tray and volume rocker. The power button, which has an integrated fingerprint scanner, is on the right. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. I really like this implementation. Its easier to unlock and reach as my fingers usually rest on this spot. The fact that these sit in convenient spots just above the center of the frame makes it even more convenient.
At the bottom is where we’ll find the 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, the USB Type-C port, and the main speaker.
In my unboxing post, I mentioned that I find the power button/fingerprint scanner to be thinner and smaller than most. I still find it thin and small. But it is fast. There are times though that it takes me more than once to unlock. You also get face unlock too. It is almost instant.
Turn the phone over, and we’re looking at the beautiful back panel. The quad cameras are on a more modern rectangular layout on the upper left. While you get the OPPO logo on the lower left side.
I noticed that my review unit already has micro scratches at the back. So I suggest you use the silicone case to protect it.
The OPPO A92 is bundled with a silicone case, an 18W charger, a USB Type-C cable, a SIM eject tool, a 3.5mm earphones, and the usual documentation.
Display
The OPPO A92 has a large 6.5-inch full HD IPS display. It has a punch hole cutout on the upper left corner with thin bezels and a noticeable chin. The bezels are not as thin as flagships, but they’re narrow enough to give the phone a 90.5% screen-to-body ratio.
Seeing as most of us are glued to our smartphones more than ever, OPPO also has a few features to protect your eyes. The display has a TUV Rheinland Certification for blue-light protection. It also has dark mode to minimize the glare, and eye care mode to lessen eye fatigue.
The display has punchy colors and good viewing angles. It is wide and expansive, perfect for watching movies and streaming videos. Plus, the phone’s Widevine L1 Certification will ensure full HD Netflix streams.
Performance
Before I go into the OPPO A92’s internal specs and performance, I want to first get into its audio and video performance.
In a nutshell, its great for watching videos. The dual stereo speakers give more body to movies. And for music nuts (like myself), it has a 3.5mm audio jack, Hi-Res audio support and Dirac 2.0 for a much better listening experience. Smartphones in this price range usually don’t offer these extras.
The OPPO A92 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor with 8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage. It runs on ColorOS 7.1 on top of Android 10.
Check out the benchmark scores below for AnTuTu, Geekbench and 3DMark:
The Snapdragon 665 chipset was announced in early 2019, so it isn’t the newest for midrange phones. But it gets the job done. Benchmark scores are middle of the pack. Basic navigation is smooth and responsive. And you won’t experience any issues while playing light games. Just don’t expect too much from the chip when it comes to graphics heavy games and you’ll be fine.
Cameras
The phone has a total of five cameras — four at the back and one in front. The rear cameras include a 48MP main, an 8MP ultra-wide, a 2MP monochrome, and a 2MP depth. While in front is a 16MP selfie snapper.
The A92 uses the 48MP and 8MP sensors for photography with the other two sensors relegated as support to either enhance details and color or control depth. The main sensor bins images into 12MP photos. It has up to 5x digital zoom via image crop, and can shoot 4K videos at 30fps. If you shoot at 1080p, you can use its EIS or electronic image stabilization to lessen blur.
Like most modern OPPO phones, the A92 has night mode. With it, you can take images in low light conditions with longer exposure times handheld. And if you want more control, you can opt to use Pro Mode, allowing you to toggle settings like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and more.
As for the image quality, its actually pretty good. Colors are fairly accurate with plenty of detail and good dynamic range. It does its best work when used in good lighting conditions.
The ultra-wide camera has a 119-degree field-of-view, allowing you to include more of the subject and background into your shots. Images taken by the ultra-wide camera lose a bit of color and some details compared to the main camera.
With images shot on maximum zoom, you lose a lot of detail and saturation. Noise also creeps in. But despite that, its still begrudgingly useful and somewhat acceptable in this social media world.
Night mode does a good job of lighting up subjects in low light conditions. It boosts shadows and adds a bit of clarity. It’s very much usable, and people won’t probably notice anything wrong with it on social media. You do get more noise if you use it in situations where there’s very little light.
As for selfies, the 16MP front camera does a good job of keeping skin tones accurate. Selfies are quite pleasant. You can use beauty mode if you want to to boost self-esteem if you need it.
Battery
The handset has a 5000mAh battery with 18W fast charging. With moderate usage, you can get a day of use out of it. You can probably push for more (like a day and a half) if you really need to by cutting down on videos and social media.
The battery is huge and thankfully, it comes with 18W fast charging. Charging to fill takes over 2 hours. Its not bad, considering other devices with the same battery capacity but no fast charge takes around 3 hours to fill up.
Final Thoughts
For PHP 15,990, the OPPO A92 offers a lot of value with a 48MP quad cameras, dual stereo speakers, a large, immersive display, and an equally large 5000mAh battery. Its great for media consumption, especially with its dual stereo speakers and Hi-Res audio support. And despite its year old processor, you still get good performance and battery life.
OPPO A92 specs
- Display: 6.5-inch Full HD IPS Display, 2400 x 1080, 90.5% Screen-to-body Ratio
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 Processor
- RAM: 8GB LPDDR4x RAM
- Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1 Storage
- Rear Cameras: 48MP Main + 8MP Ultra-wide + 2MP Monochrome + 2MP Depth Quad Rear Cameras
- Front Camera: 16MP Selfie Camera
- Network: 4G LTE
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi AC, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
- Others: USB Type-C, Side-mounted Fingerprint Scanner, Dual Stereo Speakers, 3.5mm Headphone Jack
- OS: ColorOS 7.1, Android 10
- Colors: Twilight Black, Shining White
- Battery: 5,000mAh Battery, 18W Fast Charge
