OPPO A55 (Starry Black) Unboxing and Review

Last month, OPPO Philippines released another A-series smartphone that promises very competitive features and pricing in its category - the OPPO A55.

The new A-Series smartphone comes with a 6.51-inch HD+ IPS display, 4GB of RAM plus 64GB of internal storage, 50MP triple rear camera setup, 5,000mAh battery with an 18W Fast Charge, and runs on the Mediatek Helio G35 octa-core processor.

I was able to get my hands on one and this review will further help you in deciding if this smartphone is the one you are looking for. So, let's deal first with the unboxing.

Unboxing the OPPO A55

The front portion of the packaging indicates the A-Series branding, the OPPO A55, and the RAM plus the storage variant at the upper left; while the brand details—model number, IMEI number, serial number, device variant, color, and the summary of the four important features of the OPPO A55, are imprinted on the back portion of the box.

You can also find the OPPO A55 print on the left, while on the right indicates the lone OPPO logo. There is nothing to look at from the top and bottom portions.

Inside the Box and Accessories

After sliding the cover and opening the lid of the plain white box with a lone OPPO logo on top, the pack contains the SIM card ejector tool, protective silicone case, quick guide, and safety guide with warranty card.

Underneath the pack is the OPPO A55 smartphone wrapped in white matte plastic. Beneath is the 18W Fast Charger and USB type-C to USB-A charging cable. OPPO A55 does not come with headphones – you still have to provide your own.

Design and Walk Around

The Starry Black color found in my OPPO A55 uses the OPPO Glow Design, which features an elegant layer of shimmering nano-scale diamond-like crystals that glitter and resemble the stars shining in the night sky. It is also available in Rainbow Blue color, which shows some gradient of rainbow colors when viewed at different angles.

I like this kind of texture because it protects the phone from scratches, and is less susceptible to fingerprint smudges.

On the front, the OPPO A55 is equipped with a large 6.51-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS LCD screen. There is a punch-hole camera located at the upper left and the earpiece is quite thin and discretely etched between the frame and the screen. Like most smartphones in this segment, the side bezels are relatively slim but with a pretty thick chin. Also, there is no glass type protection mentioned, but it has a pre-installed screen protector.

At the back, the triple-rear camera set-up is vertically arranged and the design showcases “CD-patterned” decorative rings that encircle the 50MP and 2MP bokeh cameras that play tricks to reflect light with shadows. The 2MP macro camera and a single LED flash are also found below.

Found on the left side is the card tray with a 3-card slot for two Nano-SIM cards and a dedicated slot for a microSD card capable of up to 256GB of expandable storage, handy for users who want to further improve storage capacity. Also on the left and below the card tray is your standard volume rocker.

On the right side, the OPPO A55 features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button.

There is nothing on the top part of the frame, while at the bottom you can find the USB Type-C charging port, a single downward-firing speaker, primary microphone, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

OPPO A55 is thin and measures only 8.4mm while weighing in at about 193g. Despite the narrow frame, the OPPO A55 manages to pack in a large 5000mAh battery. The middle frame also includes a 3D curved design, which is comfortable and easier to hold compared with its predecessors.

Display and Multimedia

The OPPO A55 comes with a 6.51-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS LCD screen with an 89.2% screen-to-body ratio and is accompanied by a 4.88 mm punch-hole. When capturing a photo, the punch-hole brightens up, indicating that the front camera has been activated.

The IPS display panel produces great colors; viewing angles are also decent and at 270ppi, the display looks sharp even though the display comes with an HD+ resolution.

OPPO A55 comes with a series of features that adjust the display’s brightness levels under ambient light to provide All-day Eye Care and Eye Comfort. The screen can also get bright, up to 550 nits (peak brightness) automatically depending on the ambient lighting conditions.

The audio quality of the loudspeaker is like your typical smartphone at this price range. It can get loud and the audio quality is average. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker using the 3.5mm audio jack for better audio quality.

Camera

Rear Cameras

OPPO A55’s rear cameras feature a 50MP F1.8 main camera with Phase Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF) and pixel binning technology, a 2MP F2.4 macro camera for close-range shots, and a 2MP F2.4 depth camera.

Using the pixel binning technology (combining 4 pixels into one), the 50MP main camera outputs 12.5MP photos by default. You can also choose 50MP Mode in Settings. By doing so, the camera will output 50MP photos.

Quality from the rear cameras under bright lighting conditions is pretty decent with good colors and details, though dynamic range can be better. While the 2MP macro camera, as expected produces low-quality images.

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 A55 uses a 16MP in-display front camera with an F2.0 aperture. The camera also supports different features such as AI Beautification, Portrait Mode, Dazzle Color, and 15 Photo Filters.

For selfies, it produces good photos with accurate skin tones, especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfies isn’t that perfect but good enough.

Video

For video, the OPPO A55 captures videos up to 1080p/720p@30fps with its main and front-facing camera. There is no 4K mode, 60fps shooting, SLO-MO videos, and electronic image stabilization (EIS).

The recorded video from the main camera is shaky since there is no image stabilization, but is good enough and usable for casual social media postings.

ColorOS, Apps, and Security

OPPO A55 runs on ColorOS 11.1, based on Android 11 out of the box. The ColorOS 11.1 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 A55 is equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button and can recognize up to five fingerprints. It is also equipped with facial recognition for unlocking the device.

Both work well---the side-mounted fingerprint 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 A55 comes with a Mediatek Helio G35 (MT6765G) octa-core processor. This processor is made using a 12nm process and is equipped with four Cortex-A53 cores at up to 2.3GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at up to 1.8GHz, along with 680MHz PowerVR GE8320 GPU.

My unit comes in a 4GB RAM (LPDDR4X @ 1600MHz) variant. The performance of OPPO A55 performs smoothly in casual and light tasks; gaming experience in graphics-intensive games is okay and tolerable with slight stutters and lags, even with the use of the lowest available settings. Take note that this isn’t a gaming-focused smartphone so don’t expect too much.

OPPO A55 is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 64GB storage, with 46.1GB 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 v9.2.1 – 101,296
• Geekbench 5.4.2 – 172 (Single-core), 1,014 (Multi-core)
• PCMark – 5,075 (Work 3.0)
• 3DMark – 479 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 659 (SSE – Vulkan)
• AndroBench – 283.85 MB/s (Seq. Read), 144.37 MB/s (Seq. Write)

Additionally, OPPO A55 is equipped with 5 layers of protection as it’s undergone 6 major tests including radiation, climate, slight drop, and signal. Additionally, OPPO A55 achieves the industry standard of IPX4 splash resistance to provide users with an extra layer of safety.

18W Fast Charge, Battery Life, and Connectivity

One of OPPO A55’s key attributes is its large 5,000mAh which is good enough to last you a full day of usage without an additional charge. OPPO A55 will last you up to 29.79 hours of phone calls, 16.31 hours of video streaming playback, or 24.40 hours of online music playback. In the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, the unit yielded a score of around 14 hours and 38 minutes.

With the 18W Fast Charge, the 5,000mAh battery can be fully charged up to 100% in 2 hours and 20 minutes. If you’re looking for a quick charge, 15 minutes will get you as much as a 17% charge or 33% of the battery within 30 minutes.

Deep software optimization like Sleep Standby Optimization, Optimized Night Charging, and Power Saving Mode is also available in OPPO A55 which could make a big difference in battery life.

Aside from the battery and charger, the OPPO A55 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 A55 Specifications

6.51-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display, 269ppi, 60hz Refresh Rate
MediaTek Helio G35 CPU
IMG GE8320 GPU
4GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB of internal storage
up to 256GB via microSD
Triple rear cameras (50MP main + 2MP bokeh + 2MP macro)
16MP front camera
Dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE
WiFi 5 / Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
Fingerprint scanner (side)
3.5mm audio jack / USB Type-C
ColorOS 11.1 (Android 11)
5,000mAh battery w/ 18W fast charge
163.6 x 75.7 x 8.4mm (dimension)
193g (weight)
Colors: Rainbow Blue and Starry Black

Price and Availability

The OPPO A55 (4GB+64GB) retails at Php9,999 SRP and is available in all OPPO Brand Stores, online stores, and both e-commerce platforms - Shopee and Lazada.

Verdict

Is this the smartphone you are looking for? If you are upgrading from its precursor the OPPO A54, it’s a no. Given its price and competition offering better specs for less, it’s a tough sell. But if you’re a casual user looking for a smartphone as your daily grind, you can consider this one. The OPPO A55 is a good and reliable smartphone with its decent quality camera and battery performance.