There are limits to how much we all spend on phones, but if what you’re after is a high speed phone with resistance to the elements, Oppo has something new.
Mobiles can sure cost a pretty penny, but fortunately the mid-range is taking off in a big way.
One of most obvious areas to see the “democratisation of technology” — where great technological features from the high-end can be shared to more price points — the mid-range is where manufacturers can deliver bang for the buck.
It’s pretty much the area that screams value, pricing high quality features between the $300 and $1000 mark. Anything beyond is more or less marked as high-end, which can hit as high as $3K these days.
Back in the mid-range, you typically need to spend between $500 and $900 to get something with lots of storage, water resistance, AI, and several cameras, but time is changing.
Oppo is adding another option to the mix this year with the A5 Pro 5G, a variant of its A-series phones that sees a sizeable 6.67 inch 120Hz LCD screen paired with an equally sizeable 5800mAh battery, essentially suggesting a battery life of two days.
Already a bit of a drawcard, the feature set sounds like it fits in line with the democratisation of technology, thanks in part to support for 5G, Bluetooth, WiFi (WiFi 5), NFC for Google Pay, and two cameras on the back, covering a 50 megapixel main camera and a 2 megapixel portrait camera to blur the background.
You won’t find wireless charging here, but you will find fast 45W fast charging thanks to Oppo’s SuperVooc technology, which can charge 10 percent of its life in less than five minutes and the full 100 percent in a little under an hour and a half.
There are other features along for the ride, including AI image editing, AI document summaries, and AI text rewriting, as Oppo brings the age of AI to a price point lower than $500.
Specifically, the A5 Pro 5G will be a $399 phone when it launches in Australia, doing so with IP69 water resistance, making it ideal for the elements, or even just a dropped bevy.
“Our research shows that nearly a quarter of Australians plan to spend under $500 on their next smartphone,” said Michael Tran, Managing Director of Oppo in Australia.
“As our first A Series release of 2025, the Oppo A5 Pro 5G is a game-changer in this space, raising the bar for affordable smartphones with premium durability, performance, and design,” he said.
The Australian release of the A5 Pro isn’t quite like its international counterpart. We’ll see one variation with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage in the colours of olive and mocha, while international models offer as much as 12GB RAM and a pink variation.
No such luck on the latter for Australians, but the A5 Pro 5G will at least be inexpensive, and available outright from the likes of Big W, JB HiFi, Officeworks, The Good Guys, and Oppo’s online shop.
