If you’ve ever watched international sporting events, you would have come across the name Oppo before. Now, South Africans will get a chance to know the brand much better as the smartphone manufacturer from China has decided to expand into Africa, with three new smartphones ready to enter the local market.
Since their establishment in 2004, Oppo is now in 40 different countries and regions around the world. They’ve employed around 40,000 people and invested over $1.4 billion to create innovative smartphones. Presently, over 300 million people own an Oppo device and now they’ve decided to bring it to Mzansi.
This is exactly what South Africans needed, especially considering the hold that Samsung, Apple and Huawei have had in the market. Oppo is the fifth-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world and the third largest in China. The company plans to launch three mid-range devices this year and flagship options in the first half of 2021. In a statement, Oppo said they were going to offer “the best blend of premium features, such as large main camera sensors; big, crisp displays; and long-lasting, fast-charging batteries, but at an affordable price”.
Oppo A72
The initial three mid-tier devices from Oppo are the A15, A53S and the A72 . As with the Samsung Galaxy range, the higher the number, the higher the model on the smartphone tier. The Oppo A72 is at the high-end of those three models with a Snapdragon 665 chipset along with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It sports a 6.5-inch LCD screen and a whopping 5,000mAh battery that supports fast charging. That’s great value for a mid-tier device. In terms of the cameras, you can expect four cameras at the back, including a 48MP, 8MP and two 2MP sensors with a front-facing 16MP camera.
Oppo A53S
The A53S has a Snapdragon 460 chipset with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. You will get the same battery as the A72 but the display resolution decreases to 720x1600. The selfie camera is the same, but it houses three rear cameras - 13MP and two sets of 2MP lenses.
Oppo A15
The lower mid-range option is the A15 which there isn’t much information about from the company. However, we do know that it has a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a 4,230mAh battery.
Oppo hasn’t confirmed exactly when the devices will be available nor have they released the prices. Either way, competition is always great, especially for the consumer, and we welcome Oppo’s entrance into the South African market.
