Oppo A53 Review

Oppo A53 Review

5.8
Expert Score

Oppo A53 | A Midrange Champ Or A Colossal Downgrade?

The Good
  • Big Battery
  • Big Display
The Bad
  • Modest Camera Output
  • Slow Processor

Launched in August 2020, the all new Oppo A53 is a slim device with an okay-ish spec sheet, and a discouraging price tag. Released in August 2020, the device will retail for PKR 28,000. Is this device a midrange champ or a colossal downgrade?

Design and Display

Oppo A53 comes in Electric Black, Fairy White and Fancy Blue colors. Weighing 186g and sporting a slender body, there’s an overall nice feel to the phone. The device is sturdy and slim, which makes it a proper one-handed phone. Edges are curved and the bottom-bezel doesn’t rack up much space, thus adjusting screen-size to an 83% screen-to-body ratio.

A53 sports a 6.5-inch 720p display with a 270ppi density. This will be a huge let-down for buyers who’d prefer to have an FHD display in this price-category. Perhaps the only plus point about this display is the Ambient light-sensor that reduces retinal strain on the user.

Performance and Hardware

Oppo’s ColorOS 7.2 UI works well, with Android 10 providing a seamless integration for applications.

Oppo A53 is powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 processor. It comes in 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB variants, so deciding on storage won’t be a problem here. The Snapdragon chipset is a cause for concern for a phone in this price-range. Multi-tasking is good, but heavy app usage and background programs sometimes cause the device to stutter in the 4GB/64GB variant.

Heavy games like PUBG and COD Mobile work fine, as long as graphic settings are set to basic configurations. The phone starts to lag midway during gameplay, which is expected from a phone with an inferior SDM chipset.

A fingerprint sensor sits in the rear and works pretty well; the 6GB version unlocks faster than the 4GB variant. The sensor might be unresponsive if there’s dirt, so make sure to keep the back clean at all times.

Camera

At the back, Oppo A53 packs a 13MP primary camera with an f/2.2 aperture; a second 2MP camera with an f/2.4 aperture and a third 2MPcamera with an f/2.4 aperture. The rear camera setup has auto-focus and the image quality is good; you might have to adjust camera settings to reduce high exposure, which is a common problem in midrange Oppo handsets.

The front punch-hole selfie camera is a 16MP sensor, with an f/2.0 aperture. Portraits are blemished and colors saturate at unnatural angles. It’s a job well-done, but in terms of camera quality and the price-tag that comes with it, there’s phones in lower price range that offer better camera quality.

Battery

Oppo A53 packs a 5000mAh battery that provides optimal conditions for conserving power with an optimization setting. There’s no fast-charging and the phone takes at least 2-3 hours to go from 0-100%.

When fully charged, the battery lasts 24-36 hours on average. On a side-note, the phone supports USB On-The-Go which allows reversible charging and external access to files.

Verdict

It’s a good phone with a nice spec sheet for a PKR-28,000 device. The battery works well, there’s a big display, and fast storage. The camera is good for basic usage, but don’t expect the results to be too good. To get your money’s worth, Realme and Infinix pack a much better spec sheet in this price-range.
If you prefer battery stats over specifications, go for Oppo A53. In terms of performance, we’d recommend the Infinix Hot 10 which is cheaper and sports a 5200mAh battery. The Infinix Note 7 isn’t a bad alternative either!