Oppo A96 Review: Budget Phone with Impressive Battery Life

The Oppo A96 is part of Oppo’s budget lineup, offering a balance of essential features at an affordable price. With a focus on battery life, performance, and durability, the A96 is aimed at users who need a dependable phone for everyday tasks without spending a fortune. In this review, we’ll dive into the phone’s design, display, performance, camera, and battery life to see if it meets the expectations for a budget device.

Design and Build Quality: Simple and Functional

The design of the Oppo A96 sticks to a familiar formula—nothing too flashy, but functional and solid. It sports a plastic back with a matte finish, which helps to avoid fingerprints and smudges. The phone feels sturdy in hand, and while it lacks the premium feel of glass-back phones, the build quality is good for the price range.

The camera module is placed neatly on the top-left corner, giving it a modern look, though it does protrude slightly. The A96 is available in a few color options, including Starry Black and Sunset Blue, which adds some flair to its otherwise simple design.

Display: Decent for the Price

The 6.59-inch IPS LCD display on the Oppo A96 provides a resolution of 1080 x 2412 pixels, which is quite decent for a budget phone. The colors are reasonably vibrant, though they don’t match the punchiness of AMOLED screens. The large display size makes it ideal for media consumption, whether you’re watching videos or scrolling through social media.

One of the notable features is the 90Hz refresh rate, which adds a touch of smoothness when navigating through the phone’s interface. While it’s not as responsive as the higher-end 120Hz displays, it’s a welcome addition for a phone at this price point.

Performance: Reliable for Everyday Tasks

The Oppo A96 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor, paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The phone handles everyday tasks like web browsing, social media, and streaming videos with ease. Multitasking is smooth, and switching between apps is relatively fast, though the processor shows its limitations when it comes to more demanding tasks, such as heavy gaming or intensive multitasking.

Casual games like Candy Crush or Clash Royale run without any issues, but performance may drop slightly when playing more graphically demanding titles. Overall, the Snapdragon 680 ensures that the phone remains reliable for general use, but it’s not a powerhouse for high-end gaming or resource-heavy apps.

Camera: Serviceable but Limited

The Oppo A96 comes with a dual-camera setup, featuring a 50MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The camera performance is decent for its price, capturing clear images in good lighting conditions. However, like many budget phones, it struggles in low-light environments, with images losing detail and becoming grainy.

The primary camera delivers good color accuracy and sharpness when shooting outdoors or in well-lit scenarios. Portrait mode benefits from the depth sensor, producing respectable background blur for close-up shots. However, there’s no ultra-wide or macro lens, which limits the camera’s versatility compared to competitors in the same price range.

For video, the phone can shoot up to 1080p at 30fps. The video quality is stable but not exceptional, and like the camera, it performs best in well-lit situations.

Battery Life: A Major Selling Point

If there’s one area where the Oppo A96 truly shines, it’s the battery life. The phone is equipped with a massive 5000mAh battery, ensuring that it easily lasts a full day, even with heavy use. For users who need a phone that won’t run out of juice halfway through the day, the A96 is a reliable option.

The phone also supports 33W fast charging, which can charge the battery to 50% in about 30 minutes. While this isn’t the fastest charging speed in the market, it’s more than sufficient for most users, especially considering the price point.

Software: ColorOS 11.1 on Android 11

The Oppo A96 runs on ColorOS 11.1, based on Android 11. The software provides a smooth and user-friendly experience, though it’s missing some of the newer features found in Android 12. The interface is clean, with several customization options, including gesture controls and the ability to change themes.

There are a few pre-installed apps, but most can be removed if they aren’t needed. Overall, ColorOS delivers a satisfactory user experience, although those expecting the latest Android features might feel a bit disappointed by the lack of Android 12 out of the box.

Verdict: A Great Budget Option with Outstanding Battery Life

The Oppo A96 is a well-rounded budget phone that excels in areas like battery life and build quality. While the camera system and performance are not groundbreaking, they are adequate for everyday use. The inclusion of a 90Hz display and fast charging also helps the A96 stand out in the budget category.

If you’re looking for a reliable phone that won’t break the bank and can easily last through a busy day, the Oppo A96 is worth considering. Its performance may not be on par with mid-range or flagship models, but for a budget device, it offers excellent value.

FAQs

• Q1: Does the Oppo A96 support 5G?
  No, the Oppo A96 does not support 5G. It is limited to 4G LTE connectivity.
• Q2: How fast is the charging on the Oppo A96?
  The Oppo A96 supports 33W fast charging, which can charge the battery to 50% in about 30 minutes.
• Q3: What is the screen size of the Oppo A96?
  The Oppo A96 features a 6.59-inch IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate.
• Q4: Does the Oppo A96 have expandable storage?
  Yes, the Oppo A96 has a dedicated microSD card slot for expanding the storage up to 1TB.
• Q5: What version of Android does the Oppo A96 run on?
  The Oppo A96 runs on ColorOS 11.1, based on Android 11.
• Q6: Is the Oppo A96 water-resistant?
  No, the Oppo A96 does not have an official IP rating for water or dust resistance.
• Q7: How is the camera performance of the Oppo A96?
  The 50MP primary camera takes decent photos in good lighting but struggles in low-light conditions. There’s no ultra-wide or macro lens, limiting the camera’s versatility.
• Q8: Can the Oppo A96 handle gaming?
  The Oppo A96 can handle casual games easily, but more demanding games may show performance drops due to the Snapdragon 680 chipset.
• Q9: How is the battery life of the Oppo A96?
  The Oppo A96 has excellent battery life thanks to its 5000mAh battery, which can easily last a full day on moderate to heavy usage.
• Q10: Does the Oppo A96 have a fingerprint sensor?
  Yes, the Oppo A96 has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for fast and secure unlocking.