Review of oppo a37

OPPO released in the country last month one of its newest smartphones with a premium-looking build, 5-inch display, Snapdragon 410 quad-core CPU, LTE, and a price tag under Php9K – the OPPO A37. WIth tons of smartphones cramming in this price range, does it have enough to attract consumers who are on a hunt for a bang-for-the-buck device? Let’s find out.

Design and Construction

Right off the bat, the OPPO A37 is a standard-sized smartphone with a 5-inch display up front. Above it are the earpiece, the 5MP camera, and sensor. Down below are three unlit capacitive buttons for Recent apps, Home, and Back.

To the left are the volume buttons, while on the right are the power/lock button and the tray for the SIM and microSD card.

Up top is the headset jack, while down below are the microUSB port, and two sets of holes for the loudspeaker and microphone.

Flip it on its back and you’ll see the 8MP camera, LED flash, and the shiny OPPO logo etched at the upper center.

As mentioned earlier, the A37 looks premium thanks to its metallic finish. It also feels solid and sturdy – no creaking or bending. The 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4 is also a good addition as not only it provides protection but also gives a nice feel when gripped.

Display and Multimedia

The OPPO A37 sports a 5-inch IPS display with HD resolution which equates to 294ppi. It has a very decent resolution for a screen this size. Colors and viewing angles are good with sufficient brightness for outdoor use. Overall, there’s no problem with this department aside from the screen size if you prefer larger displays.

As for sound quality, the loudspeaker can produce decent sound good for casual listening. Audio is a bit tweaked towards mids and highs so vocals are emphasized during hands-free or video calls. Loudness could use some boost though, but should suffice if you’re in a quiet room.

Like we usually recommend, if you want a good listening experience, especially if you want to take advantage of its Dirac HD Hi-Fi sound feature, better plug in a good pair of headphones or a Bluetooth speaker.

OS, UI, and Apps

While most newly released smartphones come with Android Marshmallow, the A37 uses the older Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which can be a downer as it misses out on some newer features like improved battery management and security. On the bright side, OPPO regularly releases updates to improve its features and fix bugs.