Oppo has announced the A77 5G in Thailand, a revamped version of the earlier Oppo A77 that got its release back in 2017. This new take on the Oppo A77 introduces 5G support as well as other improvements, as we will see below.
The device which should land in the middle range category heavily borrows its design from the recently released Oppo Reno 8 series, featuring a water drop notch display. It measures 163.8 x 75.1 x 7.99 mm and only weighs 190 grams.
The display features a 6.5 inch IPS LCD panel with an HD+ resolution (720 x 1600 pixels). The large display gives the smartphone a 20:9 aspect ratio with a 90 Hz refresh rate to keep things feeling smooth when watching content on Netflix or YouTube, or playing games. The pixel density is measured at 269 PPI.
Taking a look at the camera, the selfie camera sticks out as it only has an 8 MP sensor, which is a downgrade from the 16 MP selfie camera that was in the 2017 version of the Oppo A77. However, this does not mean that the pictures taken will be of lower quality, mainly because of the advances in software and image processing since 2017.
A rectangular set-up is preferred for the rear cameras, consisting of two cameras and two LED flash modules. 48 MP for the primary camera and 2 MP for depth shots. Interestingly, a sensor for ultrawide shots is nowhere to be seen. GSMArena notes that the primary camera can take 108 MP shots after applying some software trickery.
On the software side, Oppo A77 5G will come out of the box running Android 12, but as always with Oppo, they will have their custom UI, ColorOS 12.1 coated on top. They however do not mention whether the device will get an update to Android 13 later down the line.
The MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset developed on the 6 nm process has been preferred to power the middle range device. The upsides of the Dimensity 810 SoC is its support for 5G but comparing it to the Reno 8 which is being powered by the Dimensity 1300 SoC, the A77 5G’s performance should comfortably be outpaced in demanding activities like games.
At the moment, only one variant of the A77 5G has been mentioned featuring 6 GB of RAM which can be expanded virtually by up to 5 GB. Storage-wise, you get 128 GB of internal storage and there is also a microSD card slot for storage expansion.
The battery size is fairly standard in 2022 at 5,000 mAh with support for 33W fast charging. Oppo claims you will be able to charge 53% in just 30 minutes and 100% in 69 minutes.
Other notable features the Oppo A77 5G has include: PX4 water resistance, NFC, a side-mounted fingerprint reader, and stereo speakers for a dual-channel surround sound experience.
Oppo has the device listed at THB9,999 which is around Ksh 34,000, putting it right at the lower end of the midrange category. Whether it makes its way to Kenya is a matter of speculation, but I would expect it to later in the year. At the time of writing, it is only currently available in Thailand.
