We were sent over the OPPO A95 a few months after its November launch. This midrange member of OPPO’s A series is marketed by the company for users who want a good-looking phone with long battery life. How does it fare? Read on to find out and find out if it’s a smartphone fit for your needs.
It is built for binge-watching sessions
One of the best things about the OPPO A95 is it is built for consuming content. It has a 6.43-inch AMOLED FHD+ display that’s pretty enjoyable to watch on. It has a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio and reaches up to 800 nits of brightness “in certain scenarios.” You can keep it at half its brightness indoors, but it does struggle to be readable at full brightness outdoors when it’s sunny.
Suppose you do want the screen’s brightness to adapt to your environment. In that case, the OPPO A95 offers All-day Eye Care, which includes features like AI Smart Backlight and DC Dimming, to ensure you have a comfortable viewing experience throughout your day.
The best setup for enjoying your favorite shows and movies would be in bed with lights low and earbuds plugged in or connected via Bluetooth. We appreciate OPPO for keeping the audio jack here, but that’s expected at this price point.
Like many others at its price point, it also only gets a bottom-firing speaker. It’s not the best we’ve heard, and it’s on the softer side. But it can be helpful in a pinch. If you’re the only one listening to what’s coming out of the speaker, just listen through wired or wireless earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker.
The OPPO A95 is built for these marathons with its large-capacity 5,000mAh battery. An eight- to nine-hour screen-on time is possible with moderate to heavy daily use. We’ve even reached 10 hours once. Expect to cut into that when you do your binge-watching sessions. But, at least you know you can go longer on this device. A day and a half seem like standard length until the battery runs out.
Battery drain, at least for this new unit, is minimal at around 3% typically at night. OPPO does include some battery-saving functions that can get you through long periods between charges. And when you do need to top up, it charges in around 72 minutes. It supports 33W Flash Charge, so that allows for that quicker charge.
While this phone is built more for consuming content, it does have a decent set of cameras you can use to preserve and share your favorite moments. The camera setup includes a 48-megapixel main + 2-megapixel depth + 2-megapixel macro on the rear and a 16-megapixel front.
I do like the software tweaks OPPO does to images. It does boost the color a bit, even without using the AI Scene Enhancement. It makes it easier to just shoot and then post. Of course, it’s the best in great lighting.
As I mentioned in my first impressions story, there is some pleasing bokeh with the main rear even without using Portrait mode. But I actually prefer the quality of portraits taken with the front camera. OPPO is one of those brands that develop their selfie technology well, and I can see that in this camera’s Portrait mode. When I use selfie Photo mode, it’s a bit too soft for my liking. Sometimes I look unfocused in it.
Edge detection fares a bit better with the front-facing camera, too. But understandably, it’s spotty around the edges at times. I haven’t encountered a phone yet that gets this perfectly, especially in the midrange segment.
The OPPO A95 can quickly focus on the subject, either automatically or with a tap on the screen. I spent most of the time shooting with the primary sensor because there is only so much you can do with a 2-megapixel sensor. As I mentioned before, I use 2x zoom more to shoot close-ups than the dedicated Macro mode.
(Left) Macro vs. (Right) 2x photo
If you’re the type of person who prints out smartphone photos or zooms in closer to your shots, you can use the 48MP mode on this phone. Of course, that comes at the cost of these shots taking up more storage space. It’s nice to have the option when you need it, though.
(Left) 2x photo vs. (Right) Cropped in 48MP photo
As for shooting at night or in low light, the OPPO A95 comes with a Night mode. It won’t get rid of the grain, but it’ll brighten up an image. Unsurprisingly, the photos lose the sharpness they could have in brighter areas. If you want to get better quality low-light shots, experiment with the Pro mode. Something as simple as slowing down the shutter speed while having the phone on a tripod or stable on some surface makes a lot of difference for the final image.
LiTT Tip #1: The out-of-focus background or bokeh in Portrait mode is adjustable while you’re shooting. But not after you’ve taken your photo. So, if you want to adjust the blur, tap on the circle icon surrounded by tiny dots on the top left of the Portrait mode’s interface. A slider will show alongside the word Bokeh and the percentage of background blur. You can just slide it to the amount you want.
It’s ready for on-the-go productivity
If you’re the type who has to be out in the field a lot but don’t really need power-intensive apps, the OPPO A95 can be a good option for you. That lengthy battery life can help you out.
You can answer your emails, write, and research on this phone. I’ve written most of my notes for this story on that OPPO A95. Even if it uses an older Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, it has no trouble handling those tasks.
OPPO pairs that with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. You don’t even have to worry about sacrificing the second SIM slot for your microSD card. The A95 gets a dedicated card slot for your extra storage. The company’s RAM expansion tech is available here, which converts your unused ROM storage into RAM to keep the phone running without any hiccups.
There are times when I ran into the phone lagging just a little bit, even with this feature enabled. But it happened rarely and understandably did so when I was editing videos like this on CapCut.
My games of choice these days are Dadish 2, Word Lanes, Brawl Stars, and Sliding Seas, and those casual titles work just fine. If you want to play more graphics-intensive games, just temper your expectations. You might have to play your favorite games at lower settings. What we are missing here is having more than the 60Hz refresh rate this handset comes with. It does have a slightly more responsive touch sampling rate at 180Hz when in Game Mode. (Typically, it’s at 135Hz.)
The A95 does come with the OPPO mobile gaming features like Hyper Boost, which it claims “ensures more stable gaming experience.” You also get Game Space, Game Assistant, Game Focus Mode, and Bullet Notifications. These come in handy when you stay immersed in your game. You can go as far as rejecting calls to stay uninterrupted while playing.
LiTT Tip #2: To boost the OPPO A95’s virtual RAM, head to Settings > About phone > RAM. Tap on RAM to enable the feature. You can choose between 2GB, 3GB, and 5GB of RAM. OPPO notes that you’ll need to restart the phone for the setting to take into effect.
LiTT Tip #3: If you want to overlay apps on top of others, OPPO has some built-in multi-tasking tools like Floating Window, Mini Window, and Split Screen. An easy way to access them is to pull up your Recent Apps. Then tap on the two dots to access these tools.
You want a low-maintenance handset
As mentioned before, the OPPO A95 unit the company lent us comes in Glowing Starry Black. It’s a bit more pared back than the Glowing Rainbow Silver. But for those looking for a more subtle design, the black option is the way to go.
OPPO’s Glow design doesn’t just make the phone look like it’s sparkling. It also seems to be smudge-resistant. If you don’t want to have it in the silicone case it comes with, you don’t have to worry about your fingerprints getting on it.
It feels slightly slippery, but I haven’t had any accidental drops during my testing. If you’re uneasy about that, I suggest just putting it in the case.
What’s lit and what’s not?
What’s lit about it:
- Nice display for binge-watching
- Long-lasting battery with relatively quick wired charging
- Retains the audio jack
- Varied camera modes to play around with
- Has a dedicated microSD storage slot
- RAM expansion for a performance boost
- Multi-tasking tools like Floating Windows and Split Screen
- Smudge-proof back
What needs the extra spark:
- Deals with glare when used outdoors
- Want a louder speaker
- Underwhelming extra camera sensors
- Uses an older processor
- Only has a 60Hz refresh rate
- A bit on the pricey side, given it has an older chipset
Final thoughts
The OPPO A95 undeniably faces some heavy competition from newer phones in its price range. But for the less demanding user who just wants to catch their favorite content in a portable device while still getting the functionality of a phone and a serviceable camera, then the OPPO A95 might be enough for you.
The OPPO A95 is available for PHP 15,999 (around USD 313 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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