Introduction
I recently unboxed the OPPO A74 4G and gave my first impressions about the phone. After using the phone for a few weeks, here’s the full review!
OPPO A74 4G Specs
- 6.43-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor
- 6GB RAM
- 128GB UFS 2.1 storage
- Cameras
- Rear: 48MP main + 2MP depth + 2MP macro
- 16MP selfie camera
- 5,000mAh battery with 33W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0
- ColorOS 11.1 on top of Android 11
- Colors: Prism Black, Midnight Blue
Design
Being the successor of last year’s A73, the OPPO A74 4G does look slightly different. It still has reasonable thick bezels around the screen with a thick chin at the bottom. Unlike its predecessor, it now has a hole-punch selfie camera on the top left corner.
Since it’s using an AMOLED panel, OPPO can put an optical fingerprint sensor under the screen. The fingerprint sensor works quite well, but don’t expect it to have a fast response speed like high-end phones.
Unlike the A73, the A74 now has a 3D curved body, which is more comfortable to hold, and it’s pretty thin at just 7.95mm. It comes in two colors: Prism Black and Midnight Blue, both colors have a shimmery black and are fingerprint magnets, make sure you snap the included case if that frustrates you.
It still has a 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom, next to the USB-C port and the speaker grille, something a high-end phone missing.
Display
The OPPO A74 4G sports a 6.43-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display. Like I said before, I personally prefer a 60Hz AMOLED display over a 120Hz LCD. Overall, it has the best display in its class.
Performance
Powering the OPPO A74 4G is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB expandable storage. It’s the same processor as the A73, don’t expect it to perform well on gaming, but it can get some simple tasks done. There’s also a RAM disk feature where a certain amount of internal storage is allocated to be treated as “RAM”.
Software
The OPPO A74 4G runs on ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11. The overall software experience is quite similar to other OPPO phones launched this year like the Reno5 and Find X3 Pro. Keep in mind that some features might not be available on the A74 since there are still differences in terms of hardware.
Camera
The phone has a triple-camera setup on the back — 48MP main + 2MP depth + 2MP macro. Unlike its predecessor, the ultra-wide camera has been taken out. I would have preferred OPPO to keep the ultra-wide camera and remove the depth sensor and macro camera, since both are quite useless, to be honest.
12MP Main
48MP Main
Night Mode
Image quality generally is quite decent in broad daylight. The main camera shot great dynamic range photos, while night mode performance is quite average. Click here to see more camera samples.
Battery Life
The OPPO A74 4G packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0. I was able to get more than 6 hours of screen-on-time and it is possible to charge this phone once in two days. The phone will take around an hour to charge from 15% to full in terms of charging speed.
Final Words
Retailing at just RM899, the OPPO A74 4G is a phone with a good display, long-lasting battery life, and a nice software experience. If you spend most of your time on your phone watching videos, its great display and long-lasting battery life are your deciding factors.
The OPPO A74 4G is available in Prism Black and Midnight Blue colors. You can purchase the phone via:
Yay
- Great display
- Nice software experience
- Great battery life
Nay
- Unimpressive gaming performance
- Mediocre camera performance
- No ultra-wide camera