There's a whole bunch of midrange smartphones in the Malaysian market now with plenty of extra value features. However, if you're looking for one with a flashy design, thin profile, big battery and even a free drop case then you might want to consider the OPPO A3 Pro.
Featuring a 6.67-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate and 1000 nits brightness, the OPPO A3 Pro also has 45W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge to go with its larger 5100 mAh battery for just RM1099. Is it the one for you? Check out our full review of the OPPO A3 Pro below to find out.
Design - Flashy in purple
The OPPO A3 Pro has a 6.67-inch 1000 nits brightness display
Going for flat sides with rounded corners, the OPPO A3 Pro has a flashy design with shiny flat sides and rounded corners, along with a shimmery curved outline on the back that shimmers as you turn it. Our review unit was obviously the Moonlight Purple version, but there's a Starry Black colour as well.
On the front, there's the 6.67-inch LCD display with an 8MP front camera in the top middle punch hole. On the side, the power button has been integrated with a fingerprint sensor and above it, there's the usual volume rocker. On the other side, there's the SIM tray. And on the bottom, there's the speaker and USB Type C port along with a 3.5mm audio jack (something you don't often see in a midrange device these days).
On the back the curved shimmer really makes the name Moonlight Purple appropriate
On this side there's the fingerprint sensor + power button and volume rocker
On the bottom there's a speaker grille, USB Type C port and 3.5mm audio jack
The SIM card tray is located on the other side
The rear cameras only have a slight camera hump
There's space for a nano SIM card and microSD
There's a very slight camera hump for the backside that houses the 50MP + 2MP dual rear cameras along with the LED flash. All in all, the phone looks quite premium for a device in this price range. It's great to see OPPO maintain a thin 7.68mm chassis even with the 5100 mAh battery inside the OPPO A3 Pro as well.
Tech Specs and Features - Mid-range mix but a bit too focused on the screen
Here are the tech specs and features for the OPPO A3 Pro:
- MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset (ARM Mali-G57 MC2@1072MHz GPU)
- 6GB RAM (LPDDR4X@2133MHz) + 128GB storage (UFS 2.2) / 8GB RAM (LPDDR4X@2133MHz) + 256GB storage (UFS 2.2)
- 6.67-inch display (LCD, 1604 x 720 resolution, HD+, 89.9% screen ratio, maximum 120Hz refresh rate, maximum 120Hz touch sampling rate, maximum brightness 1000nits, China Southern Glass (twice-reinforced), Panda (twice-reinforced))
- 50MP (f/1.8; FOV 76°; 5P lens; AF) + 2MP (f/2.4; FOV 89°; 3P lens; FF) dual rear camera | 8MP (f/2.0, FOV 80°; 4P lens) front camera
- 5100mAh/19.95Wh (45W SUPERVOOCTM; backward compatible with 33W SUPERVOOCTM)
- Features Fingerprint + power button, Facial recognition, dual Nano SIM, 5G, 3.5mm audio jack, free drop case
- Supports Wi-Fi (802.11ac), 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® 5.3
- Measures 165.79mm x 76.14mm x 7.68mm | 186g
- ColorOS 14.0.1
- Available in Moonlight Purple and Starry Black
This is what you'll find in the box
You should probably put on the free silicone drop case as soon as possible
Featuring a 6.67-inch LCD display with 1000 nits brightness and 120Hz refresh rate it's quite obvious that OPPO is focusing a lot on the display for the OPPO A3 Pro. In addition, the screen has been twice reinforced with both China Southern Glass and Panda Glass. Perhaps because of this, the display only offers up to 1604 x 720 pixels, or 720p resolution (which is rare for a midranger). In addition, there's also a free silicone drop case included in the box as well.
At 186g, the phone is a bit heavy but given the 5100 mAh battery this isn't so bad. The battery also supports up to 45W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge but we're a bit disappointed that the phone only supports up to IP54 splash resistance (good enough for the rain, but maybe not a swim). It does have Splash Touch functionality though, so the screen will work with wet fingers. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage / 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variants, so it is powerful enough for most midrangers.
While the App Market does provide easy but secure access to all the necessary apps without having to sign in, there's unfortunately a lot of bloatware that comes with the phone. Most of the time, you can get rid of them, but there are certain apps (Fineasy, etc) that you can't. The ColorOS 14 OS is pretty easy to navigate and use though and comes with some AI features like the AI Eraser in the Photos app. There's also the 300% Ultra Volume, Hyperboost game monitor and both 5G and NFC support as well.
While the ColorOS 14.0.1 is easy to navigate, it does come with a lot of bloatware
Fortunately you can uninstall most of them but not all
Despite being an entry-level midranger, the OPPO A3 Pro also comes with the AI Eraser function
There's also the 300% Ultra Loud feature
And there's the Hyperboost gaming monitor feature as well
Performance - Surprisingly well in some areas
From our benchmarks, we have to say that the OPPO A3 Pro didn't do as well as most midrangers did. However, perhaps because of the lower resolution needs of the 720p screen, the phone was able to play Genshin Impact on medium settings with almost no lag. It did make the phone a bit warm after a while but the free casing keeps your fingers comfortable.
Battery life was superb, lasting close to 2 days on normal usage while the 45W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge gets you back to 100% in an hour or so. Unfortunately, the cameras weren't what we were expecting from a midrange device. Granted, with enough light the phone does pretty well, but past 8pm here in Malaysia and there's a lot of noise from the cameras.
Geekbench 6 and 3DMark scores were rather low for a midranger
Battery life was very good and recharging is only about an hour or so
Zoom shots were also grainy, but the cameras do surprisingly well for black-and-white photography and macro shots. However, video recording is really lacking in terms of stabilisation, so make sure you have a tripod or gimbal on hand if you intend to record video with this phone. Check out our samples below.
The audio from the speaker was clear for the most part, but even with 300% Ultra Loud volume on, it's not enough to replace your boom box. It's nice to have the OPPO AI on a midrange phone like this but be careful with the Smart Lasso. If it selects the wrong thing it may just replace it with something else entirely.
Since OPPO wanted us to test its durability, we slapped on the free drop case and did some drop tests. Needless to say, dropping the OPPO A3 Pro at shoulder level with the drop case resulted in no damage whatsoever. According to OPPO, they've even dropped the phone with the drop case from 8 meters with no problems. However, given that "Glass is still Glass" we wouldn't recommend dropping the phone without the case.
If there's not enough light, details lack definition
Pretty good results for macro
The OPPO A3 Pro cameras did surprisingly well for this black and white shot
The OPPO A3 Pro cameras work just fine when there's enough light
Night shots or low-light shots can get a bit grainy
Do you want to see if the OPPO A3 Pro drop case works?
Conclusion - A relatively tough long-lasting midranger
Overall, the OPPO A3 Pro 5G is a reasonable mix of long-lasting battery life with a few midrange features. We liked the flashy metallic purple design as it was pretty eye-catching and the slim profile made it comfortable to use. The long-lasting battery life was also great while the free drop case should keep the phone safe and sound (as long as you put it on as soon as possible, of course).
At the price of RM1099, it's a good phone if you like the above. But, we would have liked it more if it had FHD and better cameras as well like the similarly priced Samsung Galaxy M33 5G, realme Narzo 50 5G and the more recent Nothing CMF Phone 1. If you're willing to pay a bit more for a tough phone then there's the all-angle Ultra Tough HONOR X9b with a 6.78-inch 120Hz FHD screen, 108MP camera and a larger 5800 mAh battery for an RM1699 price tag.
So, are you in the market for a long-lasting midranger that is fairly tough with a free drop case? If you are, would you consider the OPPO A3 Pro? Share your thoughts in the comments below and as always, stay tuned to TechNave.com.
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