With the likes of Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and other brands entering SA, finding a top-tier, high-spec device at a decent price point is becoming more and more feasible. However, another Chinese brand, Oppo, has launched in South Africa too, bringing some very interesting options to the market, and ones which phone-aficionadoes should take note of.
We got our hands on the flagship Oppo A74, which is the company’s big-ticket option for those looking for a powerful yet sleek device that, even with a relatively high price-tag (R7,499), is not going to break the bank anywhere near compared to what other brands’ options will, especially something with 5G capabilities.
The device runs on ColorOS, which is Oppo’s variant running on the Android 11 platform. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and won’t throw too many curveballs for those already familiar with Google’s mobile systems. Furthermore, the A74 5G offers 6GB on-board memory and 128GB storage running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 480 5G. There are more powerful devices out there, but for the general user, you get more than enough oomph under the hood.
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The A74 looks and feels like a real luxury device, featuring a beautiful gradient-finished plastic back and almost edge-to-edge screen, which really does carry that ‘premium’ feel. With its 6.5-inch display, it is a big device, but those consumers already operating in this high-end market will be more than familiar with its size in your hand, especially if you’ve used the likes of Apple and Samsung’s flagship models.
The display itself boasts a 90Hz Hyper-colour screen, which really does pop with the brightness turned up. Furthermore, the A74 also introduces Oppo’s All-day AI Eye Comfort feature, which allows for automatic screen colour and brightness adjustment dependent on the user’s surroundings. This technology helps to reduce eye fatigue when using the device for extended periods of time.
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ColorOS 7 on the Oppo A74 5G.
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It’s a big device, so it’s got a big battery to go with it. The A74 houses a 5,000mAh 18W fast charge battery, which gives you two or so days of use, but as we’ve become accustomed to these days, a nightly charge will easily get you through a day or more.
In terms of shooters, the device features a 16MP front camera and a triple-lens rear camera with a primary 48MP lens and the ability to capture 108MP photos through software upscaling. The camera performance is surprisingly sharp and captures photos in deep contrasted colours easily, without the need to add any artificial saturation, which seems to be a problem with many smartphone cameras these days.
As for some additional bells and whistles, the Oppo A74 features a hidden fingerprint reader on the side, which is a nice touch but does take some time to get used to; along with NFC functionality, if you have any payment or NFC nodes around your house to tinker with.
The Oppo A74 5G is available now for the recommended retail price of R7,499.
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