Earlier this year, Oppo launched an affordable 5G model for China called the A3 Pro (not to be confused with the A3 Pro for India). Now comes the vanilla Oppo A3, which cuts down on some hardware specs in the name of being affordable. However, the phone hasn’t sacrificed much.
Oppo A3
For example, it has a 6.67″ OLED display with FHD+ resolution. Even better, it’s a 10-bit panel with a 120Hz refresh rate (240Hz touch sampling) and the new Gorilla Glass 7i for protection. This panel can reach up to 1,200 nits of brightness.
Oppo A3: 6.67” 120Hz 10-bit OLED • Snapdragon 695
The chipset took a step back with the veteran Snapdragon 695 replacing the Dimensity 7050 used in the Pro model. It is paired with 8/12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256/512GB of UFS 2.2 storage. A microSD slot is also available for additional storage.
The camera has a 50MP sensor with an f/1.8 lens that can record 1080p videos at 30fps (there’s also a 2MP depth sensor at the back). The front-facing camera is a basic 8MP module punched into the display, which is also capable of recording 1080p @ 30fps videos.
50+2MP rear, 8MP front cameras • 45W charging for 5,000mAh battery
The USB-C 2.0 port charges the battery at up to 45W with a VOOC adapter. The battery capacity is 5,000mAh (19.55Wh), which is the same as the A3 Pro’s 5,000mAh/67W battery and 50% better than the A2 charge rate.
Other things worth mentioning are the A3’s slim build – it’s 7.15mm thick (vs 7.5mm for the Pro) and weighs 178 grams. It’s dust and water resistant, but no rating is given. Connectivity includes 5G (dual-SIM), Wi-Fi 5 (ac), Bluetooth (aptX HD), but there’s no NFC or 3.5mm jack.
Durable Design
At least not on the Chinese model, although we suspect it will be present on the global model, if Oppo even releases it (there’s no information on that yet).
You can find the Oppo A3 on China’s Oppo online store, it’s currently on pre-order. The base 8/256GB model costs CNY 1,600 (this converts to $220/€205/₹18,500). There’s also a 12/256GB model available for CNY 1,800 and a 12/512GB option for CNY 2,100. There are three colours to choose from: green, black, and purple. The open sale will begin on July 5 (Friday).
