Take a look at this new phone from OPPO. It’s the OPPO A96. It’s a fairly simple phone with a lot of traits from the higher-end cousins, but the price of the OPPO A96 is only at RM1,299. So, let us share our thoughts about this phone with you today.
For the review of the OPPO A96, since this is a simple phone after all, we’ll be using our usual 6 points that make up a smartphone.
Design
We’ll start off with the design. The OPPO A96 still uses the iconic OPPO Aura Glow color with its sparkly finish at the back and changes color when viewed at different angles. From what I can see, it changes from a peachy red color to blue and hey – it really looks amazing.
Yet the OPPO A96 isn’t exactly a big phone too – that makes the phone really nice to hold and I truly like the curved edges at the back that meets the frame but retained a flat display at the front.
Display
The display on this phone is a 6.59-inch IPS LCD screen with up to 90Hz refresh rat at the resolution of 2412×1080 pixels. It actually has a decent size overall.
While some people might complain that the bezels of the phone is not symmetrical since the bottom part is much bigger, I’d say it is actually fine and in fact, more ergonomic since everything is technically “higher” and doesn’t cause strain pains on my fingers.
However, having an IPS LCD screen at this price point might be a bit difficult to accept since other phones in this price range are already using AMOLED screens. Don’t get me wrong – the IPS LCD screen still looks good, just not as good as OLED.
Performance
Then comes the performance. Our version of the OPPO A96 comes with the Snapdragon 680 chipset and we have already tested this chipset before. The performance for day-to-day tasks is decent but can’t run games like Genshin Impact at a comfortable 60fps at the lowest settings.
With 8GB RAM though, that means the OPPO A96 can literally multitask like nobody’s business, and yet – we can further expand the RAM too with the RAM Expansion feature. It’s not going to be as fast as the real RAM, but hey, in case you need it – there you have it. To have a look at all the pictures taken with the OPPO A96, watch our video at the top of this review.
Battery life
As for the battery life, this phone comes with a 5,000mAh battery which I have no idea where they stuff it since the phone is so small and thin. Anyway, the battery life is pretty good, lasting about 16 hours in our battery life test – and that is not surprising since the Snapdragon 680 chipset is very low-powered anyway.
Charging test
As for the charging test, this phone comes with a 33W Super VOOC charger and it can reach from 15% to 100% in about an hour’s time – pretty typical speed for a 33W charger on a 5,000mAh battery.
Software
Now comes the software. The OPPO A96 is using the ColorOS 11.1 with Android 11. Truth be told, it’s a dated piece of software now and I have no idea why it’s not shipped with ColorOS 12 with Android 12.
Anyway, ColorOS 11.1 is still pretty good to use. The user experience is good since there is no annoying settings menu or random timers or “app scanner” popups while installing apps on the Google Play Store.
However, the OPPO A96 is plagued with a lot of bloatware out of the box, and there are also many ads pushed via notifications from the built-in theme app, the OPPO App Market, and Game Center. I just muted everything.
Conclusion
At the end of the day though, I think for the price of RM1,299, the OPPO A96 is indeed high in price when compared with other phones with similar specs. However, the experience it offers is actually much better than its rivals.
Even the camera – even though there is only one camera – takes better pictures. I’d say the OPPO A96 is a good choice.
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