OPPO A76 Review: You get what you pay for - no more, no less

In an age where phones can double as wallets with NFC capabilities, 5G is on the horizon and most come with more cameras than you can poke a stick at, it’s interesting to see how far $349 (RRP) will go nowadays. After having some time to really dig in and put the OPPO A76 through its paces, we made some very interesting findings while revealing what this device was lacking. If you’re curious about the new OPPO A76 and want to know if it is true value for money, keep reading our review below.

OPPO A76 design, performance, and features

Let’s start with the design. The A76 features a generous 6.56-inch glass screen, which works well in all conditions, even on blinding sunny days and performs relatively well overall. What’s a little disappointing is the screen is comparatively low resolution - many competitors offer higher pixel density at the same price point. As such, the display may not be as sharp as you’d expect.  As a nice bonus, OPPO has included a basic clear, silicone case and a pre-applied screen protector. The A76 comes in two colours - Glowing Black (which we tested) and Glowing Blue. While it would be nice to see more options, these colours are quite mesmerising, sleek and resistant to fingerprints. Speaking of fingerprints, this device demonstrates great attention to detail by moving the fingerprint scanner to the side-mounted power button while shifting the side buttons further down the device entirely. It’s fantastic to see the designers have carefully considered how reachable their buttons are, given this is a slightly larger phone. 

In terms of features, wave goodbye to 5G, better water resistance, and a lighter design. Very few devices under the $300 mark simply don’t offer those features. Although when you look at competitors for the same price point as the OPPO A76, both the Samsung Galaxy A13 (RRP $329) and the Nokia G21 (RRP $299) offer greater pixel density and larger storage expansion capabilities (Nokia allows up to 512GB and Samsung maxes out at 1TB). They’re both also cheaper.

Samsung alone boasts a bigger screen, better resolution, Android 12 instead of 11 and a whopping four cameras while Nokia has NFC capabilities for making payments on the go, an even better battery and an extra macro camera. Even when comparing in the same price range, the A76 should be offering more than it currently is. Overall we have no complaints about the A76’s performance. It did everything it was supposed to. It’s responsive enough to handle apps with no noticeable lag. The phone manages the basic functions well enough.

OPPO A76 camera

In all honesty, the OPPO A76’s camera situation is disappointing. While the quality is more than satisfactory on a well-lit day, as soon as you find yourself in the shade, in overcast weather, in dark rooms or in enclosed areas, the quality rapidly declines. The camera lens supports digital zoom of up to 5x, but the results are practically unusable due to the intense grainy picture it produces. The default 1x zoom is the safest option but even then there’s still noticeable noise, the colours aren’t very vibrant or true to reality nor does the camera seem to know quite where to focus, even in Portrait mode.  Video audio and picture quality are decent enough but the quality is often shaky. If this were your primary phone and you were into making videos, reels or vlogs, we strongly suggest investing in a gimbal or tripod.

OPPO A76 battery

The A76’s claim to fame is its fast-charging, long-lasting battery - capable of taking your device from 0 to 55% in just 30 minutes. And it does! That’s not quite as fast as what OPPO’s more expensive phones can achieve, but is great for a more affordable handset. The phone can last a full day even with heavy usage, but you can easily get through two or more days if you’re a less demanding user.

OPPO A76 - Final Thoughts

In a single statement, the OPPO A76 is average at best. It takes ok photos, its audio quality is alright, and its construction feels sturdy enough but that’s it. While this phone doesn’t fail, there are also no ‘wow’ factors besides its fast-charging abilities, and you would expect the A76 to have NFC capabilities, even with its reasonable price tag.

While it’s nothing to complain about, it’s also nothing to write home about either: the OPPO A76 is a very nice phone that looks sleek and modern, but it does the bare minimum.

Opting for the aforementioned Galaxy A13 will save you $30 while getting you a higher resolution screen, but is also missing NFC. Or if you can spend $50 more, the OPPO A96 gets you double the RAM, a larger and higher resolution screen, higher resolution cameras, and NFC. It’s one of those cases where spending a little extra gets you a lot more.

OPPO A76 camera samples

2x zoom

Christie Graham

Digital Content Editor

Christie Graham is a tech industry expert and former head copywriter for Harvey Norman's Computers and Tech category. She won a national Newscorp writing competition to review TV shows on Binge, and keeps busy juggling her many hobbies including baking, painting, archery, stargazing, tending to her chickens, training her Border Collie, expanding her Harry Potter replica collection, and making lists (much like this one).

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