OPPO A54 (6GB+128GB) Full Review
OPPO Philippines recently launched the latest member of its A-Series that promises value-for-money capabilities and features - the OPPO A54.
Since I am already done with the unboxing and first impression of the OPPO A54, this review will further help you in deciding if this smartphone is the one you are looking for.
Design
The OPPO A54 still uses polycarbonate plastic for the frame and back panel. The curved back panel has a glossy finish design and is very prone to fingerprint smudges, so it is best to use the free protective silicone case right away.
As for the color, OPPO A54 is available in two colors: Crystal Black and Starry Blue. My unit comes in Crystal Black color.
OPPO A54’s body measures only 8.4mm thin and 192g in weight, despite fitting a large 5,000mAh battery it is still easier to hold and fits well in hand and pockets. Considering the thickness and weight of the whole device, the body is solidly built and sturdy.
Display and Multimedia
The OPPO A54 comes with a 6.51-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS LCD screen with an 89.2% screen-to-body ratio. There’s a punch-hole camera located at the upper left and comes with a dazzling light effect around the edge of the hole punch when the front camera is turned on. Like most smartphones in this segment, the side bezels are relatively slim but with a pretty thick chin. Although there’s no glass type protection mentioned, it has a pre-installed screen protector.
The IPS display panel produces great colors; viewing angles are also decent and the screen can get bright but could use a bit more boost so you can still use it outdoors comfortably. At 270ppi, the display looks sharp even though the display comes with an HD+ resolution.
The audio quality of the loudspeaker is like your typical smartphone. It can get loud and the audio quality is average. There’s also some distortion when you maximize the volume. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker for better audio quality.
Camera
Rear Cameras
The OPPO A54 boasts a triple-camera setup - comprised of a 13MP F2.2 primary camera with Phase Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF), a 2MP F2.4 macro camera for close-range shots and a 2MP F2.4 bokeh camera.
The three rear cameras are no longer arranged vertically but instead in a matrix layout that matches the 3D phone body. The bottom of the camera bump is pasted with a film and the color is consistent with the overall tone of the back panel. The fourth dot in the lower right is an AI logo and looks like a camera at first glance.
Quality from the rear cameras under bright lighting conditions is pretty good with accurate colors and sharp detail, though dynamic range can be better.
For low light, photos can be muddy in certain situations even with the Night Mode feature turned on, but without turning it on, it’s generally a poor performer in low light.
Front Selfie Camera
OPPO A54 uses a 16MP in-display front camera with an F2.0 aperture. The camera also supports different features such as AI Beauty, Portrait Mode and Filters. For selfies, it produces good photos, especially in bright conditions.
Video
For video, the OPPO A54 captures videos up to 1080p/720p@30fps with its main and front-facing camera. It also supports 720p SLO-MO videos at 90fps. There is no 4K mode, 60fps shooting and electronic image stabilization (EIS).
The recorded video from the main camera is good enough and usable for casual social media postings.
ColorOS, Apps and Security
OPPO A54 runs on ColorOS 7.2, based on Android 10 out of the box. The ColorOS 7.2 is a seamless, clean and pretty UI that is easy to navigate. Pre-installed are the standard OPPO and Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.
In terms of security, OPPO A54 is equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button. It is also equipped with facial recognition for unlocking the device.
Both work well---the side-mounted sensor is pretty fast and with high accuracy. However, the face unlock feature can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.
Hardware and Performance
OPPO A54 comes with a Mediatek Helio P35 (MT6765) octa-core processor. This processor is made using a 12nm process and is equipped with four Cortex-A53 cores at up to 2.35GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at up to 1.8GHz, along with PowerVR GE8320 GPU.
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| OPPO A54 Struggles in Asphalt 9: Legends (Visual Quality in Default) |
My unit comes in a 6GB RAM variant. The performance of OPPO A54 is buttery smooth in casual and light tasks; gaming experience in graphics-intensive games is okay and tolerable with slight stutters and lags, so you’ll most likely use the lowest available settings to improve your gameplay.
For those into casual mobile gaming, OPPO A54’s HyperBoost improves the performance and smoothness of select apps or games by reallocating system resources, depending on how you use your phone.
OPPO A54 is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 128GB storage, with 110GB of available storage (18.0GB used out of the box). If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 256GB via its dedicated microSD card slot.
Below are the benchmark scores from this device:
- AnTuTu v9.0.10-OB – 112,047
- Geekbench 5 – 164 (Single-core), 969 (Multi-core)
- PCMark – 4,699 (Work 3.0)
- 3DMark – 383 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 610 (SSE – Vulkan)
- AndroBench – 277.76 MB/s (Seq. Read), 169.07 MB/s (Seq. Write)
Additionally, OPPO guarantees remarkable quality for every product. OPPO A54 is equipped with 5 layers of protection. And it has undergone various strict tests including radiation, climate, slight drop, and signal, etc. And it also passed 50+ production process controls, 130+ ultra rigorous reliability tests, and 320+ experimental tests. OPPO A54 also achieves the industry standard of IPX4 under the laboratory setting condition.
18W Fast Charge, Battery Life and Connectivity
One of OPPO A54’s key attributes is its large 5000mAh battery which is good enough to last you a full day of usage without an additional charge. OPPO A54 will last you up to 2.2 days on a single charge, 25.4 hours of call time, 19.9 hours of video streaming playback and 23 hours on social messaging apps.
With the 18W Fast Charge, the 5,000mAh battery can be fully charged up to 100% in 2 hours and 23 minutes. If you’re looking for a quick charge, ten minutes will get you as much as a 13% charge or 70% of the battery within 60 minutes.
Deep software optimization like Super Nighttime Standby, Smart Temperature Control, Optimized Night Charging, Power Saving Mode and Super Power Saving Mode are also available in OPPO A54 which could make a big difference in battery life.
Aside from the battery and charger, the OPPO A54 has your usual connectivity features, including dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by), 4G LTE, dual-band WiFi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack and USB Type-C.
OPPO A54 Specifications
6.51-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display, 270ppi, 60Hz refresh rate
MediaTek Helio P35 MT6765 octa-core processor
4GB/6GB LPDDR4X RAM
128GB of internal storage
up to 256GB via MicroSD
Triple-rear cameras (13MP F2.2 main + 2MP F2.4 macro + 2MP F2.4 bokeh)
16MP F2.0 front camera
ColorOS 7.2 (Android 10)
Dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0 / GPS, A-GPS
USB Type-C / Fingerprint scanner
5,000mAh battery w/ 18W Fast Charge
163.6 x 75.7 x 8.4mm (dimension)
192g (weight)
Colors: Crystal Black and Starry Blue
What’s inside the box
If you haven't seen the unboxing of the OPPO A54 yet, the box contains the smartphone itself, USB type-C to USB-A charging cable, 18W Fast Charge, SIM card ejector tool, protective silicone case, quick guide and safety guide with warranty card.
Price and Availability
The OPPO A54 (6GB+128GB) variant is now available exclusively via Shopee and Lazada for Php9,999, while the (4GB+128GB) retails for Php9,499 and is available on Shopee, Lazada and via OPPO’s authorized stores nationwide.
Verdict
For Php9,499 for the 4GB+128GB variant and Php9,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant, the OPPO A54 is a good and reliable smartphone with its RAM, internal storage and 5,000mAh battery capacity with 18W fast-charging. But lacks key features like a powerful processor, 1080p display, higher camera resolution and a newer OS.
Is this the smartphone you are looking for? Given its price and various competition, it’s a tough sell. But if you’re a casual user looking for a smartphone as your daily grind, you can shortlist this one.
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