Nowadays, we can say that mid-range phones are all over the market. Some of them are slightly higher on the pricing but only able to offer average performance, while a few of them can provide great value for money. However, how should you choose among them all? Well, if you're looking for a phone with excellent battery life and a decent camera, you may want to consider the newly launched mid-range phone from OPPO, the OPPO A98 5G.
OPPO A98 5G
Price: RM1,399
Pros | Cons |
+67W SUPERVOOC charge + 5000mAh big battery capacity | -LCD Display |
+Fashionable design | |
Design
In terms of appearance, as always, OPPO A98 5G utilizes its own exclusive OPPO Glow technology, giving it a glossy and fingerprint-resistant design. Thanks to the OPPO Glow, it not only allows users to see different colors from different angles but also provides a comfortable grip for the phone!
Apart from visual upgrades, the A98 5G has also made improvements in terms of durability. The OPPO A98 5G has also passed the complete test of 48-month fluency test in the OPPO laboratory before it was distributed all around the world. Therefore, it is guaranteed that the A98 5G is “well-trained” to face the demands of everyday usage.
OPPO A98 5G comes in two color options, Dreamy Blue and Cool Black, the unit minmin received is the Dreamy Blue version, which exhibits a gradient of pinkish-white hues on the back, changing as you view it from different angles.
Display
The only aspect that leaves me with a so-so feeling about this phone is the screen. A98 5G features a 6.72-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 and a 120Hz refresh rate. The performance of the LCD display falls slightly behind OLED screens in terms of color reproduction, especially in displaying black.
However, the colors presented by the A98 5G are still vibrant and beautiful. For me, the LCD screen doesn't seem to have a significant impact on daily use.
Camera
For the camera part, the OPPO A98 5G houses a 64MP AI main camera, 2MP depth camera, and 2MP microlens. Besides the regular photography and Ultra Night mode, OPPO A98 5G also comes with two noteworthy camera features, which is the Extra HD mode and Microscope mode.
During the review, minmin found out that the A98 5G still requires a certain level of lighting to capture decent night scene photos, although it comes with Ultra Night mode, the resulting images may still be slightly blurry and noise, though this doesn’t make the A98 5G a bad device for its cameras.
Despite how the OPPO A98 5G's camera underperformed during the night, minmin would say the OPPO A98 5G does provide an outstanding shooting experience when it comes to daylight photoshoot.
The Extra HD mode enables you to capture photos with higher resolution through Super-resolution algorithms, capturing every detail of the scene in the photo.
(Normal mode VS Extra HD mode)
If you enjoy taking selfies, the OPPO A98 5G is the one for you thanks to these amazing features such as the AI Portrait Retouching, where you can post the outcome straight away after taking your OOTDs.
Following its first appearance on the previously released OPPO Reno8T, it seems that the Microscope mode has became a crucial feature in OPPO cameras. With this feature, you are now capable of capturing extremely small objects as if you had a portable microscope.
Coaster during normal mode VS Coaster under Microscope mode
(tbh it kinda looks like crystal xD)
Performance
The OPPO A98 5G is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor and comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. It also supports Smart RAM Expansion which allows you to juice up your RAM to 16GB (8GB original + 8GB Extended RAM)!
Overall, the performance of the SD 695 5G chipset is quite impressive, allowing the phone to handle various mobile games smoothly. Through testing it with "Honkai Star Rail", the A98 5G did not experience any lag issues even at medium graphics settings during the gameplay.
Min min also ran the AnTuTu Benchmark on the OPPO A98 5G, which resulted with a score of 480,654, it's not a bad result though there's still a noticeable gap compared to other similar spec phones in the market.
Through the new Dual Stereo Speaker and Ultra Volume Mode 2.0, the A98 5G is able to provide a more immersive audio experience, the latter also allows the phone's volume to be increased up to 200%!
In terms of battery life, the A98 5G boasts a large 5000mAh battery capacity and supports 67W SUPERVOOC fast charging. It only takes around 44 minutes to fully charge the device from 5% to 100%.
Buy or no buy?
Overall, although the display performance of the OPPO A98 5G is not the best, it's excellent battery life and photography capabilities make up for this minor flaw in this mid-range smartphone.
The pre-order promotion for OPPO A98 5G will start from May 15th to 18th, with an official price of RM1,399. Users who purchase during this period will also receive gifts up to RM377, which include an OPPO Band, TWS Earbuds, and a 1+1 year warranty.
