Table Of Content

• Introduction
• Design
• Display
• Camera
• Performance
• Battery
• Software
• Special Features
• Competition
• Verdict
• Pros
• Cons

Introduction

The OPPO A53 is a mid-range smartphone released by Chinese electronics company OPPO in August 2020. It succeeds the OPPO A52 from earlier that year and competes with other mid-range devices like the Xiaomi Redmi note 9.

The OPPO A53 was unveiled on August 20, 2020 and went on sale shortly after at the end of August. It launched with a starting price of around $200 USD, making it an affordable option compared to flagship phones. The phone is available  globally including markets like Europe, Southeast Asia, and the middle East.

Design

The OPPO A53 features a sleek and stylish design with an alternative color gradient on the back over. It measures 164.4 x 75.4 x 8.4mm and weights 186g, making it quite slim and lightweight for comfortable one-handed use.

The A53 comes in two beautiful color options Electric black and mint Cream. The black variant has a dark blue to black gradient, while the mint version fades from mint green to white. Both gradient designs look modern and stylish.

The phone has a plastic back panel with a laminated finish that resists fingerprints. The plastic build helps keep the weight down while still feeling sturdy. The frame is made of plastic as well. While not as premium feeling as metal or glass, the A53 design is well-crafted for its price range.

The front is dominated by the display with slim bezels on the sides. The chin bezel at the bottom is slightly thicker. The water drop  notch at the top center houses the front camera. Overall, the A53 has an eye-catching and fashionable design despite its affordable price lag.

Display

The OPPO A53 features a 6.5inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. The screen has an aspect ratio of 20.9, which provides an immersive viewing experience for videos and games.

Despite having an HD+ resolution, the display looks quite sharp and vivid. Color appear punchy and brightness levels are also good enough for comfortable outdoor visibility. The panel supports HDR10 playback, so you can enjoy high dynamic range content from streaming apps.

Overall, the A53 display is perfectly suitable for its price range. The large screen size and tall aspect ratio make it great for multimedia consumption. The resolution may not be the highest, but texts and images still look reasonable crisp. Features like HDR and good brightness/colors further enhance the viewing experience.

Camera

The OPPO A53 features a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 13MP main camera, 2MP macro camera, and 2MP depth camera. The main camera 13MP camera has an f/2.2 aperture and FDAF autofocus. It can capture decent photos in daylight conditions but struggles a bit in low light.

For selfies, there is a single 8MP front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture. It can capture social media ready selfies in most lighting conditions.

Some key camera features and modes on the OPPO A53 include:

• Portrait mode with artificial BOKEH effect
• Panorama mode to stich together wide landscape shots
• Time lapse for compressed videos events over time
• Slow motion videos recording
• Night mode to brighten up low light photos
• Beauty mode with AI enhancements for selfies

Overall, the OPPO A53 has a very versatile camera setup for the price range with nice features like portrait mode. However, the image quality is not going to beat more expensive flagship phones, especially in low light. For casual everyday use and social media, the camera are quite decent.

Performance

The OPPO A53 is a powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 chipset, which features an OCTA-CORE CPU running at up to 1.8GHz and an Adreno 610GPU. This provides decent performance for everyday tasks and light gaming.

The phones comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage in the base model. There is also a 64GB storage. The storage can be expanded via a Macro SD card up to 256GB.

In benchmarks, the A53 scores around 175,000 on ANTUTU. On GEEKBENCH, it achieves about 1300 points on the single-core test and 4500 points on the multi-core test. These results put it slightly below other phones in the price range with Snapdragon 6-series chips.

The Snapdragon 460 and 4Gb RAM can handle casual games like Subway surfers and candy crush smoothly. But more demanding games like Call of Duty may require turning down the graphics setting for optimal performance. Overall, the A53 offers decent mid-range power for the price.

Battery

The OPPO A53 is a powered by a large 5000MAH battery, which is impressive for a budget smartphone. The big battery capacity ensures that the A53 can easily last through a full day of use and potentially up to 2days on a single charge, depending on your usage.

Charging the A53 is fairly quick thanks to 18W fast charging support. Using the include fast charger, you can charge the battery from 0 to 100% in around 2 hours. This is decently fast and means you can top up the battery quickly when needed.

In terms of battery life estimate, OPPO claims the A53 can deliver.

• Up to 40hours of calling on 4G networks
• Up to 15hours of online video streaming
• Up to 17hours of social media browsing
• Up to 9hours of intensive gaming

Real world battery life will very depending on setting, usage patterns and signal strength. But with its large battery capacity and efficient processor, the A53 should reliably deliver excellent battery life for most users, even heavy users. The fast charging support is also a nice bonus for quickly topping up when running low.

Software

The OPPO A53 runs color OS 7.2 based on Android 10 out of the box. color OS offers a highly customized user interface with many useful features and customizations not found in stock Android.

Some of the key software features of color OS on the A53 include;

• Game space –  A dedicated app that optimize the gaming experience by freeing up RAM, blocking notifications, and customizing performance.
• Three finger Screenshots-  A gestures to take screenshots by swiping three fingers down the screen.
• Clone Apps-  Allows duplicating apps to run multiple accounts.
• App Lock-  Password protect access to individuals apps.
• Private Safe-  An encrypted space to store private files and information.
• Simple mode-  A simplified interface with larger icons and fonts.
• Smart Sidebar- Quick access to favorite apps and shortcuts.

color OS offers deep customization options for themes, icons, fonts, animation, and more. There are also many useful utilities like a file manager, whether app, voice recorder, and note taking app. Overall, color OS provides a highly customized Android experience with many extras not found on stock Android.

Special Features

The OPPO A53 stands out for its special features that enhance the overall user experience. Some of the notable special features include.

In-display fingerprint

The phones comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor that allows for quick and secure biometric authentication. User can unlock the phone by simply placing their finger on the display.

Face Unlock

In addition to the fingerprint sensor, the A53 also offers fast Face Unlock functionality. Using the front camera. users can unlock the phone just by looking at it. This provides an alternative biometric unlock method.

Game space

There is dedicated Game space mode that optimize the gaming experience. It blocks notification and calls, allocates resources tp gameplay, and provides quick access to screen recording and other useful features.

Three-finger screenshots

Taking screenshots is easy with the three-finger swipe down gesture. This allow capturing the screen without any buttons.

OTG Reverse Charging

The phone can act as a power bank and charge other devices via OTG reverse charging. This is useful in case you need to provide emergency charging to a friend phone when outdoors.

The special features make day-to-day usage very convenient and add value that sets the OPPO A53 apart from competitors. The combination of useful utilities like fingerprint unlock. face recognition, game enhancements, and OTG charging help boost productivity and enjoyment for users.

Competition

The OPPO A53 competes with other budget smartphone in the $200-300 price range. Here how it stacks up against some of its main competitors.

Xiaomi REDMI note 9

The REDMI Note 9 has a similar 6.53LCD display with a hole-punch camera and large 5,020MAH battery. However, the REDMI uses a slower MEDIATEK Hello G85 processor compared to the A53 Snapdragon 460. The REDMI has a 48MP main camera vs the A53 13MP, but the A53 has more RAM/Storage options. Overall very comparable phones.

REALME 6i

REALME 6i also has 6.5 LCD and 5,000 MAH battery. It has the same Snapdragon 460 chip but only comes in one 4GB/64GB configuration. The 6i has a 48MP main camera like the REDME Note 9. The A53 pulls ahead with its nicer design and more RAM/Storage options.

Samsung Galaxy M11

Samsung M11 has a 6.4 LCD, Snapdragon 450 chip, 13MP main camera, and 5,000MAH battery, making it very similar to the A53. However the M11 only comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. The A53 offers better performance and flexibility.

Vivo Y20

Vivo Y20 is comparable with its 6.51 LCD, Snapdragon 460 chip, 13MP main camera, and 5,000MAH battery. The Y20 also only has 3GB RAM/64GB storage. The A53 is the better value with more memory and storage configurations.

Overall, the OPPO A53 holds its on against the competition with it sleek design, solid specs and performance, good cameras, big battery, and multiple memory/storage options at an affordable price point. For budget smartphone shoppers, the A53 is a strong contender in this price range.

Verdict

The OPPO A53 is a decent budget smartphone with some good features but also some drawbacks.

Pros

• Attractive design with color options
• Large 6.5inch display
• Decent rear triple camera setup
• Good battery life with 18W fast charging
• Runs Android 10with color OS 7.2

Cons

• Underwhelming processor performance
• Low resolution 720p display
• Average low-light camera performance
• Lacks higher refresh rate display

The OPPO A53 is best suited for budget-conscious buyers who prioritize design and battery life over raw performance. With its large display and battery capacity combined with fast charging. Its a good choice for media consumption and casual use. However, gamers and photo enthusiasts may want to consider other options.

For those seeking an affordable phone with a large screen and long battery life, the OPPO A53 is a solid choice. But if you require more power. better display quality, or advanced camera capabilities, you may want to look at other devices in this price range. Overall, the A53 provides good value for everyday users focused on style and endurance rather than peak performance.