OPPO A15s review

Look luxurious with the charming Mystery Blue color

Our first discussion focuses on the exterior. OPPO A15s adopts the exact same design language as its brother, A15. The appearance still looks elegant and typical of today’s cellphones. In terms of design quality it is very good and does not look like a cheap product at all.

You will still find the back cover which is decorated with a square camera housing in the top left corner, as well as a fingerprint sensor in the middle. Even though it’s actually the same in terms of function, to be honest I personally prefer the placement of the fingerprint sensor on the side that is attached to the power button . The reason is simple, so that the back cover looks more plain.

One of the main differences from the OPPO A15s design is the color options. If the A15 is available in Dynamic Black and Fancy White variants, OPPO offers a new color called Mystery Blue which in my opinion looks very attractive and not on the market.

The glossy finish on the back cover also gives the impression of luxury especially when it sparkles when exposed to light. Finger marks can still stick, but they are classified as minimal and it is not easy to make them look dirty. Even so, I think the body is a little slippery.

The grip sensation of the OPPO A15s is quite fun. The dimensions and weight (175 grams) fit perfectly in my rather large hand. In addition, this phone is also fairly thin because it has a thickness of only 7.9mm.

Just like most cellphones today, the OPPO A15s has a camera housing that sticks out a bit. Fortunately, the protrusion is not too excessive and will be easily protected if you install the built-in case that is included in the sales package.

Regarding ports, one thing that I think is a bit unfortunate is that the OPPO A15s still uses a microUSB port. It would be better if it had USB Type-C to make it more contemporary. There is also a 3.5mm audio jack port which is positioned right next to the microUSB port.

There is only one speaker hole and is located at the bottom too. As for the availability of slots, you can install two SIM-cards at once and don’t have to sacrifice one of them if you want to install a microSD as additional storage.

Bright screen, okay color presentation

OPPO A15s carries an IPS screen measuring 6.52 inches with a resolution that is still HD + only. It is quite natural to compensate for the default chipset even though it might be left behind because several competing brands have provided Full HD + screens at similar price ranges.

To be sure, this screen looks bright enough even for outdoor use in the sun. The color serving is also okay. I feel that the OPPO A15s screen is still very ideal for supporting various needs such as browsing, watching videos, and playing games.

It should also be noted that OPPO has immediately installed a scratch-resistant coating on the A15s screen. That means, you don’t have to buy again separately. In addition, unfortunately the OPPO A15s screen does not yet have Widevine L1 certification to play content from streaming applications such as Netflix in HD resolution.

Can be relied on to take pictures in several conditions

The OPPO A15s is equipped with a 13 megapixel main sensor which is claimed to be able to produce sharp and bright photos. The other two cameras include a 2 megapixel sensor with a macro lens and a 2 megapixel depth sensor for creating photos with a bokeh effect. Interestingly, this bokeh effect can be enhanced with 6 unique portrait filters.

Other features embedded by OPPO in the A15 camera are Dazzle Color, AI Scene Recognition, 15 photo filters and 10 video recording filters. Most recently, users are presented with a new AI Scene Enhancement feature that makes the camera smarter to recognize objects by optimizing for 21 different scenes.

Overall I am quite satisfied with the capabilities of the OPPO A15s camera. Even though it is included in the cheap cellphone category, it turns out that the resulting photos still look good in some of the shooting scenarios that we do.

Smooth performance for everyday use

OPPO A15s is armed with the MediaTek Helio P35 chipset as performance support hardware. The chipset is accompanied by 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64 GB of internal storage, complete with a microSD slot of up to 256 GB.

A combination that is certainly not the best in its class. There are still some competing cellphones that offer more powerful chipsets and are certainly more fun when used for playing games.

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But that doesn’t seem like what OPPO wants to put forward through the A15s. OPPO might want to present a smartphone with more balanced capabilities in all sectors, not just a matter of fast performance.

In my opinion, the Helio P35 is still ideal to support daily use. Optimal performance. Opening the application and browsing page by page feels quite fast. Because it has more RAM, I also don’t need to worry too much when multitasking by opening several applications at once.

For gaming, it’s not really that special. If you run casual games that don’t require high graphics performance, there’s definitely no problem. Mobile Legends, for example, can be played smoothly in High graphic settings. PUBG Mobile is also okay as long as you play on Smooth-Medium.

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What about the battery? Armed with a capacity of 4,230 mAh, I can use the OPPO A15s all day long in normal usage style. Naturally, because some of the hardware that is embedded in this cellphone is not greedy for power.

One drawback is that the OPPO A15s is not yet supported by capable fast charging technology. It is only 10W and it takes a long time for the battery to be fully charged to 100 percent, which is about 2 hours 55 minutes.

Ideal for online school and other casual use

OPPO A15s does not position itself as a smartphone that excels in certain sectors only. As I mentioned above, this is a device with balanced capabilities so that it can accommodate the needs of various users, for example for online learning or those who like to take photos and access social media.

For those who are interested, the OPPO A15s with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage is sold at a price of Rp. 2,299,000.

OPPO A15s is suitable for:

• Students and students: OPPO A15s is suitable for school children and students who need a device for online learning. The screen size is large, the battery is durable, and it’s still okay to play light games like Mobile Legends.
• Housewife: Those of you who are housewives can make OPPO A15s a daily driver. A pretty good camera can help you capture exciting everyday moments with your children.
• Users who are active on social media: If you are among those who use smartphones more often to access social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so on, then the OPPO A15s is an attractive option for you.
• Employees: Online meetings are the most common activity during a pandemic. With a wide screen, okay front camera, and long battery life, OPPO A15s is suitable for those of you who need a device for WFH.
• Online merchant: Excellence in the camera sector and battery life is the right combination for those of you who have online stores both on e-commerce and Instagram. With OPPO A15s, you can run a business comfortably and you can use the camera to take pictures of your merchandise and then upload it to the storefront.

The advantages of OPPO A15s:

• Nice and slim design
• The screen is bright with eye-catching colors
• The main camera is okay for shooting during the day
• There is a Night Mode
• Long battery life
• Memory larger than A15
• Still ideal for casual gaming
• Fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate
• Lots of interesting built-in features such as Game Space, Quick Return Bubble, and so on

Disadvantages of OPPO A15s:

• Performance is still below its competitors
• The screen is not yet Widevine L1
• The port is still microUSB
• Slow charging