- Surprisingly decent photos
- Great battery life
- Bright display
- Runs a bit slow
- Selfie camera
- A lot of bloatware on setup
The latest mid-range phone from OPPO, the A79 5G, holds up surprisingly well for a $369 phone in terms of photo quality and battery life. On the other hand, it’s just adequate in most other aspects.
If you’re on your phone 24/7 for social media, video games, or work this might not be the device for you, but if you want a reliable phone to take the occasional snazzy picture it could be the right fit.
Hit and miss
The OPPO A79 has a dual camera setup with a 50MP main wide lens supported by a supplementary 2MP camera to help with depth. It might as well be a single lens. I was quite pleased with the shots I managed to take and would happily post the photos I took to social media. I must admit I did expect less for a phone at this price point especially since OPPO emphasises the camera on the more expensive Reno line. It handles some low light and night shooting well. However, the more light you can find, the better results you'll get.
I wasn't as thrilled however when it came to the 8MP selfie camera. It's far from terrible but it leaves something to be desired with the main camera delighting. Unless I bothered to engineer a shot with perfect lighting most of the time any snaps with the front-facing came out looking soft - without as much detail.
OPPO A79 5G camera samples
For a better idea of what the OPPO A79 5G cameras can do take a look at these samples samples. Click or tap on any photo to see a larger version.
The phone exceeds expectations in terms of battery life. With fast charging, you can get the A79 to 100% from flat in just over an hour. I found I could comfortably get through the whole workday without needing a top-up and still have enough charge for the evening. I got around eight hours of screen time or more per charge, which is excellent. It's easily enough for a day-and-a-half of moderate usage per charge. The battery does run down faster while playing games but an hour each way on your work-commute won't reduce it by much. Depending on the game I found I lost around 8-10% of my battery each hour.
The OPPO A79 features a dual stereo speaker system that can reach up to 300%. I found this particularly useful when I needed to make a phone call in a crowded space. However, it did catch me off guard occasionally if my Bluetooth earbuds weren’t connected and I became that guy on the train. Handily, this “Ultra Volume Mode” doesn’t apply itself when you are connected to earbuds, otherwise, I surely would’ve destroyed my eardrums.
Bigger isn't always better
With a 6.72-inch display, the A79 5G isn’t a small phone by any means, it’s just slightly bigger than the iPhone 15 Pro Max (6.7-inch display). The size doesn’t appear to make any meaningful difference at least not in terms of specs except for battery life.
In terms of design, nothing stands out - it's a very square rigid phone. It does come in a second colourway, a kind of mint green "Glowing Feather" that does add a nice sheen. It's still light although the frame isn't as sturdy as I would like. The camera ridges were easily scratched after a cursory expedition outside with the phone in the same pocket as my keys - rookie error, but usually not a problem.
The glossy back of the OPPO A79 is a veritable fingerprint magnet. In the Mystery Black colourway, at least the large number of fingerprints I left behind certainly made it look like I was partaking in some kind of murder mystery and the device had been dusted for prints. Despite my best efforts to keep it clean, I ended up just rolling with it. The smudges won.
Given its size, you’d be forgiven for thinking the OPPO A79 5G is a workhorse but it comes with a fairly standard processor. It handled mobile games okay. With Genshin Impact there was a noticeable lag when I encountered over a handful of enemies or really started to string attacks together. On a turn-based game like Marvel Snap this wasn’t an issue, but I still resigned to playing Royal Match to pass the time because it didn’t suffer from any visual quality loss or lag like the other two.
Generally, across the board, there's some slowness. Everything seems to take just that second or two longer than it does on more expensive devices. Not a problem when you're not in a rush but if you have to fire off a bunch of texts it can be frustrating. I also noted a lack of responsiveness or sensitivity. Sometimes it seemed no matter how precise I tried to be I wasn't able to tap some buttons or links.
I also had some initial trouble getting my fingerprint to properly register so I could unlock the phone. In the end, turning on both face ID and adding the same fingerprint a second time ended up being a decent workaround.
As with other budget OPPO phones, the A79 comes pre-loaded with a bunch of bloatware including a large amount of games (most filled with ads) and odd stuff like the Temu app and Booking.com.
OPPO A79 5G - Final Thoughts
The OPPO A79 is in a word "adequate". With a surprisingly decent camera and highly practical battery life it can
be relied upon to get the job done as a smartphone. You'll get by playing some games, making calls, and using social
media.
But its price is reflected in its performance. There are a few bugs, lag, and issues with
responsiveness that are worth putting up with for the price you pay. There's not much of a wow factor - but
if you're after a budget phone this one could do the trick.
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Digital Content Editor
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