Last week, OPPO announced its revamped mid-range A-series consisting of the A9 (2020) and the A5 (2020), both phones sharing the same design cues as OPPO’s recent Reno line. Of the two, it’s the A9 (2020) that caught our eye; not only does it have stunning good looks, it also has noteworthy specs including quad rear cameras and a massive 5000mAh battery!
Recently we got our hands on OPPO’s latest mid-ranger; specifically, we got to try it out a bit during our Tokyo Game Show 2019 coverage. While we’re still testing it out for our full review, here are our initial impressions of the A9 (2020):
Aside from having a good-looking design (that’s reminiscent of the Reno), the A9 packs rather good specs. Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 665 processor, an upper-midrange SoC that should work well for gaming and general use. Complementing the processor is 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage (expandable).
For its display, the OPPO A9 (2020) has a large 6.5-inch screen with a waterdrop notch and thin side bezels. While it looks impressive, the A9’s screen has a bit of thicker chin, not to mention that it only has an HD+ display (a 720 x 1600 resolution), meaning it might not be the sharpest screen in the mid-range.
While we could’ve used more pixels on the display side, the A9 (2020) packs tons of megapixels in its front and rear cameras. For its main shooter, the A9 has a quad rear camera setup consisting of a 48MP F/1.8 main + 8MP ultra-wide + 2MP portrait lens + 2MP mono shooter. At the front, the A9 has a 16MP F/2.0 selfie camera.
The quad rear camera setup of the A9 is rather interesting; instead of having a telephoto lens, the A9 (2020) has another 2MP shooter. While we haven’t tested out the phone’s cameras much, we believe the camera is used to get more details for better captures.
During our Tokyo Game Show coverage, we took some time off to capture some sights of Tokyo with the A9 (2020). Our initial shots turned out well, with the A9 managing to produced detailed images with good color and detail. Of course, we still need to put the phone through more photo tests, specifically for low-light photography.
Cameras aside, we also liked quite a number of features of the A9 (2020), specifically its connectivity and battery. Unlike other mid-rangers, the A9 still has a 3.5mm headphone jack, not to mention that it has a USB Type-C port for connectivity. As for its battery, the A9 (2020)’s clocks in at 5000mAh, meaning the A9 should last for up to two days.
From what we’ve seen so far, we’re liking the A9 (2020) a lot. OPPO’s new mid-ranger has a pretty good processor, a promising set of cameras, and a massive battery that should let the phone last for up to two days. Of course, we still have to test out the phone a bit more, so check back here soon for our full review of the OPPO A9 (2020)!
OPPO A9 (2020) Specs:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor
- 8GB RAM
- 6.5-inch HD+ display (w/ waterdrop notch), Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
- 128GB storage (expandable)
- 48MP F/1.8 + 8MP ultra-wide + 2MP portrait lens + 2MP quad-rear cameras
- 16MP F/2.0 front camera
- 3G, LTE, Dual SIM
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C
- 5000mAh battery
- Android 9 Pie with ColorOS 6
- Price: PHP 15,990
The OPPO A9 (2020) will be available on September 28 for PHP 15,990. The phone is also available for pre-order now, complete with a free Bluetooth headset worth PHP 2,099.