OPPO A39 Initial Review: OPPO F1s Lite?

OPPO A39 Initial Review: OPPO F1s Lite?

OPPO has made a huge splash when it decided to focus on the growing number of people who enjoy taking selfies with their smartphone. So much so that when they released the OPPO F1s in August last year, the Chinese company had been reported to be the 2nd best selling smartphone brand in the country. Four weeks ago, they quietly released the A39; a phone that features the same internals as OPPO’s selfie expert, but with a few of its features left out. We gave you the live unboxing for the OPPO A39 on Facebook last night, now its time to jump in for its initial review.

OPPO A39 Specifications

  • 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6750 octa-core processor
  • 3GB of RAM
  • Mali-T860 MP2 GPU
  • 5.2-inch HD IPS TFT display; 1280×720 resolution, 2.5D Arc Glass, Corning Gorilla Glass 4
  • 32GB of storage; expandable up to 256GB via MicroSD card
  • 13-megapixel rear camera, LED flash, f/2.0 aperture
  • 5-megapixel front camera, f/2.4
  • 3G, LTE
  • Dual SIM
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
  • Android 5.1 Lollipop, Color OS 3.0
  • 2900mAh battery

Initial Impressions: The OPPO F1s without the Cameras

As mentioned above, the OPPO A39 is pretty much identical to the OPPO F1s with a few of its features left out. In fact, looking at the device from the rear, it would be pretty hard to tell the A39 and F1s from each other; apart from its screen size, of course, because even its camera placement is the same. We initially thought that the A39 was made of polycarbonate plastic, but it has a thin, lightweight body made of a magnesium-aluminum alloy. It doesn’t have a unibody build, but it’s built as solidly as its siblings in the F1 series.

You have the power button on the right side of the OPPO A39, with the SIM tray right above it. You’ll be happy to know that this isn’t a hybrid SIM tray, so you’ll be able to use two different SIMs and a MicroSD card for extra storage. On the right of the device is the volume rocker, and you’ll find the 3.5mm jack, MicroUSB port, and speaker grille on the bottom of the A39.

Moving on to the front of the device, you’ll see its 5.2-inch HD TFT display. Despite being a TFT display, and an HD one at that, the images still look rather crisp. Its contrast is a bit on the high side, but colors still look great and our initial YouTube video binges have been pleasant so far. One thing you’ll notice that’s missing is the presence of a fingerprint scanner on the A39. We’ve really been spoiled by convenience of using our biometrics to unlock our phones and we really do miss it having it around. You really don’t know what you’ve got, till its gone.

For its cameras, OPPO has chosen to forego a higher MP front camera for selfies and has instead armed the A39 with a 5-megapixel front shooter with an aperture of f/2.4. You have a 13-megapixel camera for its main shooter with a LED flash, which we’ll still have to confirm with the folks over at OPPO if its the exact same one that the F1s is rocking.

Under the hood, you’ve got the same processing package as the OPPO F1s. It’s got a MediaTek MT6750 clocked at 1.5GHz, which is paired with a Mali-T860 MP2 GPU, 3GB of RAM, and 32G of storage; all of this runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with OPPO’s custom Color OS 3.0 UI. Navigation is smooth and apps launch without any noticeable delays, but we’ll have to see how it does as we take it out for a spin. The OPPO A39 has a 2,900mAh battery, which we’re guessing is enough to get you through the day.

That’s pretty much it for this initial review for the OPPO A39. We’ll be taking it around with us as our daily driver for the next few days, so do check back for its full review. The OPPO A39 is priced at Php 10,990.

Read:
OPPO A39 Lands in the PH
OPPO Upgrades the F1s with More RAM and Storage
OPPO F1s Review: The New Selfie King?

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