If your 2023 resolution was to get a new phone that wouldn’t break the bank, Oppo might have your answer all sorted.
A new mobile isn’t always an inexpensive affair, and if you were thinking this year would be the year you’d get your finances sorted by spending less on a phone, a new model from Oppo could be just what your wallet ordered. It could even be the ideal first phone for folks not too fussed with needing the best of the best.
It’ll come in another of the “A-series” Oppo handsets, what has basically become the inexpensive range for the brand, below the mid-range Reno and the high-end Find.
While we’re expecting to see some interesting models in that last one this year, possibly with a foldable Find set for release later on, the first Oppo A of 2023 is the A17, a phone that’ll sell for under $300, and yet come with a few interesting features despite the budget price.
For starters, there’s a huge 6.56 inch screen, though it’s one that manages to keep the price down thanks to the HD+ resolution, running 1612×720 rather than the Full HD displays these phones normally see.
Oppo is also equipping the A17 with two cameras, one of which offers a staggering 50 megapixels, though the second is a bit of a cheat, using a low-res 2 megapixel camera alongside, likely for a portrait mode’s blurring of the background. Like the display, this shift in using a low-end 2 megapixel camera instead of a 5 or 8 megapixel camera feels very much like a cost-cutting measure, though you do still get a 5 megapixel selfie camera.
The whole thing arrives with a 5000mAh battery, though, and one of the MediaTek’s Helio G35 chips with support for 4G in a body weighing 189 grams. Given that combination, you can expect decent battery life, as this is a big battery married to a chip not exactly focused on high-end performance. Oppo even quotes the battery life as up to “20 hours of phone calls on a full charge”, which seems more than what most people will likely do.
“The A17 might be a lightweight smartphone, but make no mistake, this device packs a punch, ” said Michael Tran, Australia Managing Director for Oppo Australia.
“With the A17 we’ve prioritised features that Aussies value most, such as a quality camera system, long-lasting battery and sleek design, and brought them to market at a pocket-friendly price point,” he said. “We’re confident the A17 will impress.”
Pricing for the Oppo A17 sees the handset arrive in Australia for $259 this week, with purchases before February 12 reportedly eligible for a 22GB SIM plan from mobile player Konec, which launched in Australia last year.
