OPPO recently sent over one of the mid-range devices it launched back in November. The brand dubs the OPPO A95 a smartphone for “dream chasers’ who want a device that packs in a stylish design and ultra-long battery life. The company tries to hit that mark with what this handset offers.
As I take the device out for a spin and offer you my hands-on thoughts, I wanted to share my initial impressions from my first 24 hours with it.
February 17, 2022
11:37 am
Of course, the first order of business is to unbox the OPPO A95. You get the standard accessories for mid-range OPPO devices, including a silicone case, USB-C cable, charging brick SIM ejector tool, and documentation.
The unit we got for testing comes in the more subdued black color, but OPPO jazzes that up with its Glow design. The brand describes it as “luxuriously silky-smooth, fingerprint-proof, and wear-resistant.” The Glowing Starry Black color does look like it shimmers when the light hits it, even up to the rectangular camera module that OPPO tends to use for its devices. The texture is matte, though, so it doesn’t seem to attract or show fingerprints at the back.
I wanted to see the Glowing Rainbow Silver option, but I think this black will work for those who want something a bit more subtle.
If there’s one thing I’m happy to see on this handset, it’s the headphone jack. It sits beside the USB-C port at the bottom and this phone’s lone speaker. It has the power button on the right and the volume rocker on the left. The fingerprint scanner is in the display, and you also get facial unlock via the selfie camera located in the cutout on the upper left of the display. The triple camera array at the back is on the phone’s upper left, and then you get the OPPO logo at the bottom right of the rear panel.
Even with its large capacity battery, the OPPO A95 feels like it’s on the thinner side. It comes in at 7.95mm thick and 175g in weight. It’s not a small phone, but I can easily reach the power button when I hold the phone in one hand. It’s still mostly a two-handed device when in use, though.
1:43 pm
The OPPO A95’s battery was at 74% out of the box. I wanted to check how long it’ll take to top that up to 100%. This phone comes with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W flash charge. I got it up to 100% in under 30 minutes.
2:21 pm – 100% battery
The OPPO A95 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, which we’ve seen in action on the Huawei nova 8i. The A95 has roughly the same configuration with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. It’s a combination that can work for gaming but don’t expect it to play all the demanding titles in their highest settings.
OPPO offers a way to improve performance, though. It has RAM Expansion software designed to “lower frame loss rate, reduce memory frag, and improve data reading performance.” It converts available ROM to virtual RAM, so your phone continues to run smoothly.
Out of the box, it’s set at 8GB + 3GB, which it takes out of your storage. You can decrease that to 2GB or bump it up to 5GB. I’ll test it out to see if there is any visible improvement.
The OPPO A95 runs on Android 11-based ColorOS, one of the more straightforward Android skins I’ve used. I can still do with fewer pre-installed apps, but it isn’t as many as others. The system utilizes under 20GB of storage out of the box, so you still have plenty of storage to work with.
3:51 pm – 98% battery
As for its camera setup, the OPPO A95 comes equipped with a triple camera array at the back, including a 48-megapixel main, 2-megapixel depth, and 2-megapixel macro. There is no ultra-wide lens here. In front, you get a 16-megapixel sensor.
Taking a few quick test shots you see below, and, of course, it performs well in good lighting. Looking at the pictures straight from the phone, that slight color boost is noticeable.
It does seem to perform well at separating the subject from the background, even outside of Portrait mode. Photo quality, even when I zoom in, looks quite good. Even at 5x, it still seems serviceable, but there is already some graininess there. I see myself using the 2x zoom more for close-up shots than Macro mode. After all, there’s only so much you can do with a 2-megapixel macro camera.
Took the cameras out for a spin with a quick video as well, and you can see the results of that below:
8:10 pm – 79% battery
The OPPO A95 has a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. It’s a nice big display built for watching content or staying updated on your social media feeds. Unfortunately, if you were looking to game on a faster display, you only get a 60Hz refresh rate on this device. It has a slightly more responsive touch sampling rate at 180Hz when in Game Mode. But typically, it’s at 135Hz.
This display can reach up to 800 nits “in certain scenarios,” but that shouldn’t be much of an issue for indoor use. I keep it at a little less than 50% when I use it inside, and it’s usable. Bezels are pretty thin on three of its sides. It has just a slightly thicker chin typically seen on devices at its price range. Its screen-to-body is at 90.8%.
Tried watching YouTube videos on it, and it made me wish the sound was louder coming out of the bottom-firing speaker. I had to connect it to a Bluetooth speaker to hear better. But you can use wired or wireless earbuds here, which is excellent for solo listening.
11:08 pm – 56% battery
This evening, a software update came in that brings the January 2022 security patch to this device.
Outside of that spent the evening playing casual games like Sliding Seas and Dadish 2 and then listened to music on Spotify while I worked. Ended the night at 56% battery; by default, it had Sleep Standby Optimization enabled, so I expected it wouldn’t drain as quickly.
February 18, 2022
8:40 am – 53% battery
Checking on the phone at 8:40 and found it only drained around 3% overnight. Now, I wanted to see if it would be visible when I used it outside while I stretched. OPPO equips the A95 with the all-day Eye-Care, an intelligent AI tech that automatically matches your screen’s brightness to your environment. It still contended with a bit of glare when I used it, but I could still use it.
11:10 am – 35% battery
Used it for the rest of the morning to watch YouTube videos, leaving this phone at around 35% before lunch.
First thoughts
Performance so far seems to be what I expect from a device using its processor. I see the OPPO A95 working as a device you can use for watching content on for hours on end. Let’s see if that impression changes throughout my testing.
The OPPO A95 is available for PHP 15,999 (around USD 311 converted) in all OPPO Brand Stores, partner dealers, and online on Shopee and Lazada.
Buy the OPPO A95 from Lazada HERE. *
Buy the OPPO A95 from Shopee HERE.
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