OPPO launched its A1k smartphone in the Indian market targeting the budget segment recently. In general, the ‘A’ series smartphones from OPPO focuses more on battery, affordability and of course the display. We got hold of the device for some time and here’s our take on it.
Box Contents
- OPPO A1k smartphone in Black color
- 2-pin charger (5V-2A)
- Micro USB Cable
- SIM Card Ejector
- Clear protective case
- Quick Start Guide and Warranty Information
Display and Design
The OPPO A1K sports a 6.1-inch (1560 × 720 pixels) HD+ display with Waterdrop Notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. In this case, OPPO has also managed to reduce bezels all around but has a thin chin at the bottom. The display looks decent with good colour reproduction, text looks sharp and offers good viewing angle too. Having said that, the sunlight legibility becomes an issue and it is not up to the mark.
The earpiece is present on the top edge, and the camera is present below that. The ambient light sensors is present on the bezel. A special technology is applied to conceal the proximity sensor on the upper front of OPPO’s smartphone for the whole look of simplicity, says the company.
The power button is present on the right side. On the left there is a SIM tray that also houses the microSD slot that lets you expand the storage up to 256GB.
The speaker grill, micro USB port, microphone and the 3.5mm audio jack are crammed on the bottom.
It has a polycarbonate body, which looks decent. The phone measures 154.5x 73.8x 8.4mm and weighs 170 grams since it has a huge 4000mAh battery. There is a single camera on the back with LED flash. You can also see the OPPO branding. Also, there is no fingerprint scanner on the hardware here.
Software
On the software side, the device is shipped with ColorOS 6.0 based on Android 9 Pie out of the box. To be honest, OPPO has drastically improved the UI this time and it has made good use of colours especially, in the notification panel. ColorOS also has its own navigation gestures to further the full-screen experience too. Additionally, it has some useful features including Smart Assistant and the Smart Driving.
OPPO has implemented a form of face unlock that employs the front camera. This works fairly well in good light and is predictably hit or miss in low light.
There are third-party apps like UC Browser, Amazon and Facebook preloaded on the phone. There are apps for weather and a phone manager that claims to improve performance by clearing out the RAM. All in all, if you’ve used Color OS before, there’s not too much new here. The interface is functional and gets the job done. The phone comes with 32GB storage, which is good when most phones have 16GB storage.
Camera
The OPPO A1K comes with an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP camera on the front. The phone manages to take reliably decent shots in the daylight conditions but starts to go south once the light dips. Having said that, this is the case for most mid-range phones.
The 5MP front camera might not be the absolute best in its category, but it does a good enough job to capture your day-to-day moments.
Performance
The OPPO A1K is powered by an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P22 (MT6762R) 12nm processor. This is paired with an IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Day to day usability is smooth. Sometimes, there’s a slight hint of latency because of the overuse of animations throughout the interface. Generally, the phone performs well, and we were able to run almost everything we threw at it. If you are a heavy user, we advise you to overlook this device. Check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
Connectivity
The OPPO A1K has the full suite of connectivity options you’d expect from a mid-range smartphone. The phone supports Dual 4G VoLTE connectivity. There’s Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS + GLONASS onboard. The phone also supports FM Radio.
Battery life
The battery on the phone is a 4000mAh unit which proved to be just about sufficient for a full day of use. In our one charge rating, the OPPO A1K achieved 17 hours and 31 minutes, which is good. With the bundled 10W charger it takes over 2 and half hours to charge and 0 to 50% charge takes over an hour.
Conclusion
At a price of Rs. 8,490, the OPPO A1K is just a normal smartphone with a notch and a minimal design. The performance is decent, battery life is good, but the camera is just average, especially in the low-light and the phone lacks a fingerprint sensor, when most phones in the price range have one. The OPPO A1k comes in Red and Black colors and it is available from Amazon, Tata CLiQ, Paytm Mall and all offline stores.