Oppo A60 review: Rugged darling

Oppo has a new-ish smartphone in the Kenyan market. The Oppo A60 looks to shake up what we have to expect of budget smartphones. It is relatively affordable, if we are to use the expansive Kshs 50,000 – 80,000 price range that the brand’s Reno series that we have covered extensively on Android Kenya over the years operates in.

The Oppo A60 sits at the middle of Oppo’s A-series smartphones. We have previously had hands-on with the A92 and A93 from the same series years ago.

It is meant as a very affordable means of getting into the Oppo ecosystem without paying Reno money.

It gets a lot of the premium stuff that we see on Oppo smartphones up the ladder, albeit in a stepped down manner.

For instance, as far as the display goes, there’s a 90Hz refresh rate on that 6.67-inch HD+ panel which is okay-ish outdoors and very usable. The resolution should’ve been better since at HD level, the sharpness you’d expect on media like video is somehow lost.

Its design is reminiscent of the Reno 11F we have just reviewed with the back panel feeling and looking almost the same. It feels a little too plasticky for my liking but, hey, something has to give at this segment, right?

I like that Oppo has seen it fit to include a 3.5mm headphone jack on the device, making it easy for users to plug in their earphones – though the company doesn’t offer any such in the box, a missed opportunity.

The device’s very slim profile makes for good handling given its expansive display. Slap the included clear case and you’ve got even better handling and drops aren’t likely to be your portion any time soon. And if they do, given the device’s much-advertised “military-grade shock resistance”, you should be covered on all fronts. We were daring enough, at Oppo’s urging, to take the A60 through a drop test (when was the last time you saw those?) and, well, it came out unscathed. There was just a minor scuff on the factory-installed screen protector. Watch the embedded video above or this ‘short’ below…

There’s also IP54 protection. This is not unusual on smartphones but, it’s worth bringing up for a device in the Kshs 30,000 price point of the Oppo A60. It guarantees that the device will survive water splashes. You know, when you’re washing your hands at the sink or some other place and your device is by your side? Or you’re hurrying off to shelter and the impatient rain finds you just as you’re about to? No need to worry.

The cameras on this device are satisfactory with the main sensor at the back doing much of the heavy lifting and the secondary sensor existing mainly for cosmetics. The device sorely lacks an ultra-wide-angle lens. The main sensor, while mostly okay, falls short in low lighting. The selfie camera is good but I found more use for it when exploiting the dual-view video recording feature.

The Snapdragon 680 from Qualcomm which powers this smartphone does a good job of smoothening the transitions on ColorOS 14, the custom overlay based on Android 14 that users get to interact with. That means that the device doesn’t feel sluggish and responds appropriately most of the time. A notable ColorOS feature on this device is the 300% volume boost that takes what we saw on the Reno8 T 5G a while back to a whole new level. However, the kind of audio distortion you get at such crazy levels should be enough to dissuade you from making that a regular habit. It’s there if you ever need it though.

Sound is excellent on the A60 and is easily one of the highlights besides the extended shock resistance and splash touch.

The side-mounted fingerprint scanner is fast enough.

Being an Oppo smartphone, users can expect the trusty SuperVOOC fast charging action. Only this time, it’s limited to 45W fast charging. That is still pretty fast, as I found out, even though I’d still have preferred the 67W fast charging that the Renos have spoilt me with. For your curiosity, the 5,000mAh battery easily lasts you a full day before it needs some juicing up – 50% in just half an hour, using the included accessories.