Oppo launched in South Africa during lockdown, and has found a comfortable space in the market left by its Chinese counterpart Huawei. That is following a myriad of bans and sanctions set by the US government and its previous administration. Now, Oppo’s going hard on the budget-to-mid market with its range of stellar smartphones, the latest of which is the A74 5G device.

While not brand new, the A74 5G was announced globally in April 2021, and has made its way to local shelves as of today. It brings with it some standout features like a 90Hz display (which seems to be becoming commonplace in this segment) and a large 5,000mAh battery supported by 18W fast-charge capability.

The next Oppo-rtunity

“Oppo A74 5G appeals to smartphone users that balance work with life and seek a mainstream design from a smartphone, but also pays attention to the details that enable users to extract the most value from a truly well balanced Oppo A Series phone in terms of tech and design,” says Liam Faurie, head of go-to-market and operations for Oppo South Africa.

While fitted with a 48MP rear camera, Oppo is very proud of the fact that it can offer up to 108MP picture quality using some fancy upscaling tech. The main sensor is accompanied by an 8MP and two 2MP camera sensors — each dedicated to their own photography function, of course. The upscaling feature is something we’d like to test for ourselves once we get our hands on review units.

“South Africans are savvy tech users and understand exactly what it is that they want from a smart device. At Oppo we remain committed to developing technology that does more, costs less, and is still aesthetically pleasing,” concludes Faurie.

The A74 5G is also fitted with a 5G chip, as the name suggests, and comes in the Fluid Black colour. You can expect 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage on this one. It’s available for R7,500 cash, while a contract with MTN will set you back R400p/m from participating Vodacom and MTN stores.