The OPPO A53 and A53s are its latest A-series mass-market phones that give Joe and Jane Average everything they need in a lower cost device. How do they rate? Brilliantly.
First, apologies to readers (and OPPO), as we have had the OPPO A53 and A53s for a couple of months. Why an apology? We were swamped by reporting the all-digital CES. And we did not quite realise that these are quite amazing phones for the price.
Speaking of price, how does $299 sound for the A53 and $349 for the A53s? Six months ago, you could have added $200 to each, and they would still be a bargain.
Functionally these are twin brothers. Same size, weight, processor, ram, microSD, screen, battery, dual-sim, Wi-Fi AC, BT 5.0, camera look and feel. And they even have some go-fast bits too – a 90Hz screen and UFS 2.1 storage.
The difference – the A53 has 64GB and comes in Mint Cream or Electric Black, and the A53s has 128GB and comes in fancy Blue or Electric Black. Confusion over.
Australian combined review: OPPO A53 and A53s (Models CPH-2127 and CPH2135)
Given the back-to-school rush, let’s just say this is what most Android loving kids and thrifty parents will want in their lunchbox. Although I have to say that being practical I would give the little blighters the less destructible Telstra Tough Max 3 or the Cat42 – kids can be brutal.
Upfront spoiler alert: Everything passes or exceeds or compressive 70-point test. There are no downsides usually associated with a $299 device.
- Australian website for A53 (select A53s tab for that) here
- Price: A53 4/64GB $299 and A53S 4/128GB $349
- From: JB Hi-Fi< Woolworths, Bing Lee (see the warning on grey market later)
- Elevator pitch: Everything anyone needs for a very low price
- Warranty: 2-years ACL
- Country of Manufacture: China
- Company: OPPO (Est 2001) is a privately-owned Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong. It is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics Corporation (Est 1995) along with OnePlus, Vivo, and Realme (and other brands including VSun, XTC, and IMOO). Its executives and long-term staff own many of the shares. BBK is currently the second-largest global smartphone maker (Source CounterPoint February 2020). It is most definitely not part of the Huawei/ZTE/China spying debate.
- Other OPPO reviews here
First impression – nice glass slab
You don’t expect such niceties as a very bright 90Hz screen or the Gorilla Glass 3 coating at the value end. Yes, it has a plastic frame and wraparound back, but it is sturdy and well built. Kids – you will need a case (boring clear TPU supplied), and glass protector.A quick Google search reveals hundreds of options. If you buy from an Australian company, you will have Australian Consumer Law coverage.
Screen – bright and fast
| Size | 6.5” 90Hz, 1600×720, 20:9, 269ppi with left O-hole camera |
| Colour | 400-480nits max Contrast 1200:1 to 1500:1 max Approx 95% sRGB |
| WideVine | DRM L1.1 and HDCP 2.3 means it will stream video in HD/SDR |
This is a very bright screen, so much so that we left it on Auto and it was still a little bright. Good for daylight use as well. 90Hz refresh is a good compromise and does affect the battery too much.
You will like the great haptic feedback and the Gorilla Glass 3 coating is fairly scratch resistant.
Processor – best in class
| SoC | Qualcomm SD460 (SM4250) 11nm, quad-core |
| GPU | Adreno 610 |
| Game use | Any modern browser-based game Game Space app PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile on medium graphics |
| RAM | 4GB LPDDRX |
| Storage | 64GB or 128GB A53s Androbench 509.84/192.21 Mbps sequential read/write – fast |
| micro-SD | Maximum 256GB |
| Geek Bench 5 |
Single/Multi 234/975 It is way about the SD430 and close to the SD632. You will find it in the Nokia 4.3 and vivo Y20s |
| Throttle | Max: 128.512GIPS, Average: 120,030 – 13 % loss over 15 minutes |
Overall an excellent CPU that out-performs any non-Qualcomm brands in this bracket.
Comms – PASS
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 5 AC 1×1 MIMO Signal Strength 5Ghz – distance from ASUS AX1100 router 2m: -35dBm/433Mbps |
| Bluetooth | BT 5.1 |
| GPS | Dual for accuracy and supports India GPS |
| NFC | Yes |
| USB-C | 2.0 480Mbps |
| Sensors | Accelerometer Magnetometer e-Compass |
We love that OPPO has resisted using a combo sensor and has great screen auto-rotation. NFC, Wi-Fi AC and BT 5.1 are almost unheard of at this price.
LTE (note: this test is in a 3-bar 4G area)
| SIM | Dual sim (one active at a time) plus dedicated micro-SD |
| Ring tone | Single |
| Support | VoLTE – dual yes Wi-Fi calling – Yes |
| DL/UL | Test: 31.1/4.7 Mbps (excellent) |
| LTE Band | 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/20/26/28/38/39/40/41/66 |
| Test | -87dBm/20fW in a 3-bar reception area (very good) Found next tower at -64/40fW – superb antenna design |
This test uses a 4GX Band 28 tower approx. 1km from the test site but Blackwall Mountain stands in the way so it often is only 3G. All previous tests have been with this tower.
Since Xmas 2020 Telstra has upgraded a second tower approx. 1.7km from the test site at Ettalong (almost line-of-sight). This phone can connect to it at -58 to -64dBm hence the second tower figures are better.
It has great antenna design and suitable for city and regional use.
Battery – good for two days
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Charger | 5V/2A or 9V/2A 0-100% in just over two hours |
| Tests Most at 60hz screen |
Video Loop test: 60Hz 1080p/50%/aeroplane mode – 20 hrs Video Loop test 90Hz as above – 19 hrs Typical use 4G, Wi-Fi Test – 15 hrs MP3 music test: 50% volume played from storage – 24+ 100% load Battery drain – 12 hrs T-Rex – 60Hz 723.7min (12 hrs) 2054 frames T-Rex – 90Hz 645.3min (10.7 6hrs) 2030 frames Drain screen off: 250 mA (about 30 days) |
It is nice to see the 90Hz screen not substantially impacting battery life. We occasionally got three full days of normal use during the two weeks of use. It was nice having the A53 and A53s as we could set different screen rates and accelerate battery testing.
Sound – stereo
| Speakers | It has an earpiece and down-firing speaker offering stereo sound |
| AMP | It has a combo AMP and DAC – Qualcomm Aqstic WCD9370 with 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz and low THD. Enhancement is Dirac 2.0 |
| BT codecs | Codecs are SBC (standard), LDAC (Sony), aptX/Adaptive/HD (Qualcomm), FLAC, ACC etc. |
| Mic | Single |
| 3.5mm | Yes, plus supports USB-C cabled headsets as well (FSB4480) |
| Tests dB Anything over 80dB is excellent |
Media – 64 Ring – 79 Alarm – 77 Earpiece – N/A Handsfree – adequate but only one mic means you need to hold it close |
| Sound Stage |
Quite wide but we suspect because the op speaker projects upwards and outwards |
| BT Headphones | Drove our reference Sony WH-1000xM4 in SBC, AAC and LDAC (OPUS) modes and provided good clear sound and plenty of volume. |
Sound quality – pleasant
| Deep Bass: 20-40Hz | Nil |
| Middle Bass: 40-100Hz | Nil |
| High Bass: 100 to 200Hz | Flat |
| Low-mid: 200-400Hz | Flat |
| Mid: 400-1000Hz | Flat |
| High-mid: 1-2kHz | Flat |
| Low-treble: 2-4kHz | Flat |
| Treble:4-6kHz | Slight peak |
| High Treble: 6-10kHz | Dip to remove harshness |
| Dog whistle: 10-20kHz | Gone from 12khz |
While it is quite pleasant listening, it tends towards bright vocal (bass recessed, mids/treble boosted). The EQ pre-sets do very little to change that.
There is a slight volume difference between the earpiece and the bottom speaker (slightly louder).
Build – well made
| Size/Weight | 163.9 x 75.1 x 8.4mm x 186g |
| Colours | A53 has 64GB and comes in Mint Cream or Electric Black A53s has 128GB and comes in fancy Blue or Electric Black |
| Build | Gorilla Glass 3 front, plastic frame and back with OPPO vacuum paint deposition – nice |
| IP | No |
| In the box | TPU Bumper cover 18W charger USB-A to USB-C cable 3.5mm buds |
Unusually well made for the price bracket.
Android 10 – will we see Android 11?
| Android | Google Android 10 Security patch date 5/11/20 |
| UI | ColourOS 7.2 |
| All standard apps, Google Lens and Assistant. Dedicated Google Assistant key. | |
| Bloatware | Mostly OPPO productivity and utilities. You can uninstall Facebook |
| Update Policy | Assume no OS update. Security patches quarterly for two to three years |
| Security | Fingerprint – 10/10 reliability FaceID – 7/10 reliability |
Colour OS sits beside Android 10 and adds significant value to its usability.
Missing
| IP rating | Not a deal-breaker |
Camera – Basic but serviceable
| Camera | Primary 13MP |
Macro 2MP |
Depth 2MP |
Selfie 8MP |
| Sensor | OV13B | GC02K0 | GC02M1B | Likely GC8034 or GC 8054 |
| Lens | 5P | 3P | 3p | 5P |
| Focus | PDAF | FF | same | same |
| Aperture f-stop | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
| Pixel size um | 1.12 | 1.75 | 1.75 | 1.12 |
| FOV° and cropped | (67.9) | n/a | n/a | (67.2) |
| Stabilisation | No | |||
| Flash | 1 LED | Screen fill | ||
| Zoom | 5X digital | |||
| Video Max | 1080p@30fps | 1080p | ||
| Features |
This is a good, serviceable camera for outdoors and office light. It is not strong at low light and does not have Night processing.
Daylight, outdoors
Low light (room with <40 lumen)
Selfie
Fixed focus and reasonably tight FOV. But it does have screen fill flash and beautification.
Bokeh – Indoors Office Light (400 lumens)
-
Normal -
Bokeh
While it has a portrait setting, we found it amped the colours too much and was too blurred in the background. There is a slider, and backing off to 40% produces adequate results.
Video
Its pure 1080p@30fps with no EIS or OIS. Good results if you use a tripod.
GadgetGuy’s take
If I were to say it was an ordinary every day, a damned good budget phone I would be right. But it exceeds all I could expect from a $299/349 device.
A great CPU, excellent battery, above-average camera and a terrific screen.
OPPO A53 and A53s – rating explanation
In theory, passing all our tests means at least 8/10. Then we add or subtract for exceed or fail. It is a 10/10!
Grey market – no Australian warranty
We issue the standard warning that you must buy the genuine model with Australian firmware. It works on all Australian Telco carrier LTE bands, especially Band 28, has dual VoLTE and can make a 000-emergency call (not 911) without a SIM. These also have Google Pay that works with Australian PayWave readers.
We have noticed a few A53 models with different SoCs and cameras too – these are not the models we get here.
We have named and shamed the major grey marketers here.
OPPO A53 and A53s, OPPO A53 and A53s
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