Oppo A78 review: Should you spend Rs 18,999 on this 5G smartphone? If we look at the pricing, the Oppo A78 5G competes directly with the Redmi Note 12 5G. While Oppo's new phone offers decent cameras, the display on the Redmi Note 12 5G is much better. In that case, which one should you buy?

5G will become the norm as we move forward. Xiaomi India recently launched three new 5G-enabled smartphones under the Redmi Note 12. Samsung is set to announce multiple devices with 5G connectivity this week. Now, Oppo has unveiled the new Oppo A78 with support for six 5G bands for Rs 18,999.

If we look at the pricing, the Oppo A78 5G competes directly with the Redmi Note 12 5G, which I reviewed recently. The latter is a good choice, though some old Redmi users will find it a tad overpriced. Old Oppo users, on the other hand, won't be too surprised as their 5G smartphones are typically priced above Rs 15,000. However, there's more to a smartphone than 5G connectivity, and there are specific checkboxes that OEMs shouldn't be missing, regardless of the price bracket. I expect the same with Oppo for their latest 5G smartphone, especially in 2023.

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On paper, the Oppo A78 5G looks decent. It packs a 90Hz display, Dimensity 700 SoC, and dual cameras. The phone also carries a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging (charger included in the box). I also appreciate that Android smartphone makers are slowly doing away with 64GB storage, which is the way to go forward. In that case, the Oppo A78 5G has only one model with 128GB of storage and 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM - a decent combination for the price.

Design-wise too, it is not bad, which I confirmed after showing the smartphone to multiple colleagues at work. But like any other smartphone in this category, the Oppo A78 5G isn't perfect. This and more in this review.

Oppo A78 5G design and display

Until a few years ago, smartphones under the Rs 20,000 segment were infamous for being bulky due to their big battery and large display size. The Oppo A78 5G, in that case, is sleek and comfortable to hold. It weighs roughly 188 grams and measures 7.99mm in thickness. This is more or less similar to the Redmi Note 12 5G's dimensions and weight.

Oppo sent me a black unit of the Oppo A78 5G, although customers have the option to purchase a blue-coloured model. I have mentioned in previous reviews that I am not a fan of black smartphones, but I spoke with some colleagues who prefer this colour. Almost all of them liked the colour and also appreciated the glossy tone of the rear panel.

In terms of physical buttons, the Oppo A78 5G includes all the essentials. It's too early to expect a port-less smartphone, as this feature has not yet been implemented even on flagship devices. The bottom edge is the most cluttered, with a 3.5mm audio jack, a Type-C port for charging, and a speaker chamber. The sides have volume rockers and a power button with an integrated fingerprint scanner. The fingerprint is decently fast but fails to function with sweaty fingers.

The package also includes a transparent silicone case, though I prefer using the phone without it. As expected, this makes the phone more vulnerable to damage as the build is plastic. This does not change my impression of the smartphone, as plastic quality isn't sub-standard, and the lightweight design makes it easy to carry everywhere.

While the Oppo A78 5G excels in the design department, its display needs improvement. The 90Hz refresh rate may attract some customers, but the phone features a 6.5-inch LCD display. This results in relatively dull colours compared to the Redmi Note 12's 6.67-inch AMOLED display. The brightness of the phone is also disappointing, and I struggled to use apps under harsh sunlight. If you're someone like me who uses the smartphone in dark mode, content under bright light will be practically unreadabl