It’s hard to draw praise from a 14-year-old. So when my teenager says the Oppo A5 Pro 5G is “really good”, you know it’s impressive.
Two types of folks tend to ask me for advice on which mobile phone to get: seniors and school kids, though the latter are exclusively my own. (And they’re not asking for opinions, but which price bracket they can get away with.)
I’m struck by how similar their requirements are though: neither wants (or will be allowed) the latest flagship but both need something that will cope well with calls, messaging, photography, simple games – and survive being used by a butterfingers, as well as with buttery fingers. In the A5 Pro 5G, Oppo has ticked all those boxes and more.
Massive battery, check. Fast charge, check. Water and dustproof, check. Military standard durability, check. So far, so good.
In the hand, the A5 Pro 5G looks and feels like a much more expensive device, with a swish leather-patterned back panel. Side by side with Oppo’s Reno 13 Pro, which costs almost three times as much, there’s not much to tell them apart.
The 120Hz display is super smooth in use and bright, too, but isn’t the highest definition. It does however boast an interesting Glove Touch mode, which boosts screen sensitivity to let you use the device without needing to remove your gloves: great for folks who wash a lot of dishes – but a real selling point for all sorts of tradies who need fast access to their phone while working.
‘One of the best on the market’
To see how the A5 Pro 5G held up in use, I handed Oppo’s review device over to our teenage son and waited to see how much scorn would be poured on it. The IP69 protection rating must also protect against disdain though – because the reaction was generally good.
The fingerprint sensor on the power button was deemed “really good” and “way quicker than any under-screen sensor anywhere near the price range”. Also praised was “game mode”, for being “very useful, giving you loads of options so you can do what you want to do quicker”.
My son has mainly used Samsung Android phones with their One UI skin so I was intrigued to hear his thoughts on Oppo’s own ColorOS skin. “One of the best on the market”, he reckoned, “a solid 7 or 8 out of ten”. And there was special mention made of the “amazing” AI editing tools that let you remove blur, reflections and even random objects or people from your photos on the device itself.
The file dock and quick panel were also acclaimed as “really useful: they let you copy files, text and images to a handy clip board that you can open at any time”.
Pushed for some negatives, our teen tester reckoned the camera was a bit of a let down. It was fine in the main, but lost definition and sharpness when zoomed in to anything. Stick to point and shoot though and most folks will be quite happy with their pictures.
‘Can withstand plenty of drops’
Any other comments, kiddo? “It’s ridiculously durable and can withstand plenty of drops with barely a scratch.” How does he know that? It fell out of his shorts while he was playing basketball — on a concrete court. But “it’s OK, dad, it only has a few tiny scratches on one side”. Oppo shoots, Oppo scores.
With an asking price of $500, the A5 Pro 5G is a solid, budget device with a long-lasting battery and a very long-lasting build quality. Three cheaper variants of the handset are also on the market: the $229 A5x, the $299 A5 and the $319 A5 5G. Though compromised to meet those price points, each offers varying degrees of dust and water protection but they all have military-grade shock resistance and large batteries.
Oppo A5 Pro 5G specifications
- Dimensions: 165 x 76 x 7.8 mm
- Weight: 196g
- Screen: 6.67-inch IPS LCD, 120Hz, 1160Hz PWM, 1000 nits
- Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 6300
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB
- Operating system: Android 15, ColorOS 15
- Main camera: 50 MP, f/1.8
- Selfie camera: 8 MP, f/2.0
- Audio: Stereo speakers, no 3.5mm jack
- Battery: 5800 mAh with fast charging
- Price: $499
