OPPO A12 Review: A 2019 Smartphone That Launches In 2020

The entry-level segment is always among the busiest in the smartphone market. According to reports, this segment occupies a substantial part of smartphone sales. This also a very competitive market where smartphone makers keep releasing the best phones with the highest value to money. The OPPO A12 is one of OPPO’s attempts to win the price range. The handset features a 6.22” HD+ display, a 4,320mAh battery, and an Helio P35 chipset. Let see how the handset performs in real life in your OPPO A12 review below.

OPPO A12 review: Price in India

The OPPO A12 price in India is Rs. 8,490 for the 3GB + 32GB option while Rs. 10,990 is the price of the 4GB + 64GB variant.

OPPO A12 review: Display

The device rocks a 6.22” IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution. The display is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3. Even though the handset has a maximum brightness of 450 nits, I struggled to use the phone under direct sunlight. However, it performs pretty well indoors when it comes to playing games or watching movies and videos. 

OPPO offers the Night Shield feature on this phone to help users prevent the strain on their eyes when using the phone for a long period of time.

OPPO A12 review: Performance

About the hardware specifications, the OPPO A12 doesn’t shine in the segment as it comes with an Helio P35. It is an entry-level chipset with eight cores and built on TSMC's advanced 12nm FinFET node. The handset is available in two memory configurations - 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage or 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. You can expand the A12’s storage using a microSD card (up to 256GB).

The OPPO A12 performance is just average and is nowhere to be on par with some other phones at the price point. For example, the Redmi 9, which is priced at Rs. 8,990, comes with the Helio G80, which is also a chipset from MediaTek. When comparing the Helio G80 vs Helio P35, it is clear that the former is far more superior, especially in gaming performance.

If you are into gaming, then you should look for other options on the market like the Redmi 9 we have just mentioned before. It doesn’t mean that you can’t play games on the OPPO A12. Games like Call of Duty: Mobile or PUBG Mobile is playable on the phone, it is just that you will have to play with low graphics. 

Another thing I want to point out is that despite launching in July 2020, the handset only runs on Android 9 out of the box, and is yet to get updated to Android 10. Meanwhile, 

As for biometrics security, we are pretty surprised that the handset comes with both a Face Unlock system and a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. However, the Face Unlock feature is hit and miss while the fingerprint scanner is much more reliable and quicker.

OPPO A12 review: Cameras

The OPPO A12 is equipped with a dual-camera lens setup, while many other phones in the segment already arrive with triple or even quad cameras. In comparison, the Redmi 9 or Realme C15, which are both in the same price range, rocks four cameras at the back of its phone. 

The camera setup of the A12 includes a 13MP main sensor and a 2MP secondary shooter for portrait shots. It supports 1080p videos at 30fps and that is it. The camera app is pretty simple and easy to use. You can use the Portrait option to take portrait shots with a bokeh effect in the background. Other camera modes include Expert, Panorama, HDR, Sticker, Dazzle Color, and Time-lapse.

With just two cameras, the OPPO A12 obviously lacks the ability to take ultra-wide-angle or macro photos. Here are some of the camera samples taken by the OPPO A12.

OPPO A12 review: Battery

With a 4,320 mAh battery, the OPPO A12 battery life is quite good, thanks to the smaller display and the weak Helio P35. However, it is still substantially smaller than the 5,000 mAh battery inside the Redmi 9 or Redmi 9 Prime. On top of that, while the A12 only supports standard 10W charging capability, the Redmi 9 and 9 Prime come with an 18W fast charger that will certainly charge faster than the 10W unit of the A12.

As for battery life, the A12 still lasts for a day and a half if I keep my usage low. When I spend a bit more time watching videos, playing games, and browsing the Internet, I have to charge the phone at night. 

OPPO A12 review: Verdict

Overall, the OPPO A12 isn’t the best, if not a good pick in the sub-Rs. 10,000 price range. There are lots of better options out there with a better display, better cameras, more powerful performance, and the more recent Android 10. If you are not sure what are those better picks, take a look at the Redmi 9, Redmi 9 Prime, Realme C15, or Galaxy M01s.

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