Smartphone buyers looking for a midrange smartphone that offers capable camera performance and excellent battery life have been given a new content to consider in OPPO’s A78 5G, which can put in the hours per day to work back its R9.3k asking price over the long haul. The A78 5G measures 163.8 x 75.1 x 7.99 mm and weights around 188g, meaning you don’t need to be an NBA player or rugby forward to use it one-handed (unless you have small hands), and packs a multimedia consumption-friendly 6.56″ HD+ (1612×720).
It sports a 90Hz refresh rate which mobile gaming fans should appreciate, while some added versatility includes the ability to change the colour gamut for the specific user scenario as a vivid mode is offered (96% NTSC/100% DCI-P3) which makes colours pop in photos and for video, whilst normal usage works well with the gentle mode (72% NTSC/100% sRGB). Whichever mode your in, there’s an adequate amount of detail (269PPI) while the screen can also be used outdoors in direct sunlight thanks to a brightness level of around 480nits on average, and 600nits maximum.
Accompanying the good-looking visuals is some good quality sound at high volumes, thanks to the smartphone’s dual stereo speakers. Equally impressive is the shooting ability of the camera setup, which in this case is a 50MP (f/1.8, FOV 77.07°, 5P lens, AF, open-loop focus motor) main camera coupled with a 2MP (f/2.4; FOV 88.8°; lens) black and white camera, which combine to bring good quality shots in almost any scenario or time of day. The A78 5G offers up to 20% faster image processing which treats users to a good amount of detail and also colour accuracy in low-light scenes. Selfie-shooters employ the 8MP (f/2.0; FOV 77°) front snapper. Unfortunately, no 4K video shooting is on offer, with modes such as 1080P@30fps or 720P@30fps being catered to by the rear shooter and 1080P@30fps or 720P@30fps, plus a SLO-MO mode at 720P (120 fps) on the font snapper.
Reviewing these photos, multitasking, mobile gaming or running any other task on Android 13 is kept smooth and snappy thanks to the smartphone being powered by MediaTek’s 6833 processor that sports 8 cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz along with a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU clocked at 950Mhz. This CPU is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB worth of expandable (via memory card) internal storage. Other noteworthy features include the 3.5mm audio jack for audiophiles, plus a 5000mAh battery which will get you well into a second working day. When it does run low, you do have 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging via USB Type-C delivering 50% charge from flat in 30 minutes or can charge it back to full in around an hour (67 minutes).
Ultimately, OPPO’s A78 5G is a capable midranger delivering great battery life and good camera functionality for a recommended retail price of around R9300 from local retailers such as Takealot. For competitors that offer around the same features and bang for your buck at this price range, check out Samsung’s Galaxy A54 5G or if you prefer iOS, Apple’s iPhone XR which goes for around R9k from the iStore but offers less of a spec bang.
