New cheap Android phone beats Samsung on price, | Tech News

At what price is a smartphone actually cheap? The reply to that query relies upon on your funds and how a lot you worth your cell, however a new just-announced Android gadget manages to come back in at underneath £200 with a spec sheet that outpunches Samsung.

The Oppo A5 5G has simply launched within the UK and is on the market for simply £179. That’s more than £500 much less than the iPhone 16 or Samsung Galaxy S25, but manages to pack in a big 6,000mAh battery, 6.67-inch OLED screen with zippy 120Hz refresh price and a 50MP foremost digicam lens.

That’s fairly spectacular for the price, and the phone even has IP65 mud and water resistance and is constructed to military-grade shock requirements, so it’s double-tempered glass screen ought to stand up to 160 % increased impacts than common glass, based on Oppo. That mentioned, I’d nonetheless use a case if I have been you.

On paper, the Oppo A5 outguns its foremost rival at this price, the £199 Samsung Galaxy A16 5G. Both telephones have 5G connectivity, comparable measurement screens and 50MP cameras, however Oppo outshines the Galaxy in different areas.

Its show is 120Hz in comparison with the A16’s 90Hz and might get brighter too, at up to 1,000 nits in comparison with 800. The 6,000mAh battery can be bigger than the Samsung’s 5,000mAh, and Oppo’s can charge a lot quicker too at 45W in comparison with simply 25W for the Galaxy. The A5 can charge from zero to 30 % in 21 minutes, based on Oppo.

Oppo is promising “five years of reliable service” for the A5’s battery, saying it’ll retain 80 % of its full capability even after every day utilization for that long.

These two telephones are virtually the identical dimensions and are each 7.9mm thick, although the Oppo suggestions the scales lighter at 194g in comparison with 200g. Oppo’s IP65 ranking can be higher than Samsung’s IP54, although neither will seemingly survive an unintended dunking – you need IP68 for that.

One factor Samsung provides that the Oppo doesn’t is an ultra-wide digicam, so if you’d like a wider area of view for some of your snaps, go for Galaxy. Both telephones have a 2MP sensor for portrait photographs, however with a spec like that, don’t anticipate a lot. The 50MP foremost digicam on the Oppo A5 is paired with Oppo’s on-device AI to help improve your photographs, too.

Without testing these telephones, I can’t say which performs higher day-to-day, although. The Oppo A5 runs the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip whereas the Galaxy A16 has Samsung’s own Exynos 1330.

Samsung impressively guarantees up to 6 years of Android and security updates, which is able to take you to 2030 because the A16 got here out in 2024. The new Oppo A5 received’t get six Android updates, nevertheless it ships with Android 15 and Oppo says you’ll get security updates till July 2031.

https://www.oppo.com/uk/psti/

If you need the best worth for money in an Android smartphone underneath £200, the Oppo A5 5G could possibly be effectively value a look for those who don’t need to go along with a Samsung phone. Spec for spec, Oppo is offering more for much less money.