At what price is a smartphone truly cheap? The answer to that question depends on your budget and how much you value your mobile, but a new just-announced Android device manages to come in at under £200 with a spec sheet that outpunches Samsung.
The Oppo A5 5G has just launched in the UK and is available for just £179. That’s more than £500 less than the iPhone 16 or Samsung Galaxy S25, yet manages to pack in a huge 6,000mAh battery, 6.67-inch OLED screen with zippy 120Hz refresh rate and a 50MP main camera lens.
That’s pretty impressive for the price, and the phone even has IP65 dust and water resistance and is built to military-grade shock standards, so it’s double-tempered glass screen should withstand 160 percent higher impacts than regular glass, according to Oppo. That said, I’d still use a case if I were you.
On paper, the Oppo A5 outguns its main rival at this price, the £199 Samsung Galaxy A16 5G. Both phones have 5G connectivity, similar size screens and 50MP cameras, but Oppo outshines the Galaxy in other areas.
Its display is 120Hz compared to the A16’s 90Hz and can get brighter too, at up to 1,000 nits compared to 800. The 6,000mAh battery is also larger than the Samsung’s 5,000mAh, and Oppo’s can charge much faster too at 45W compared to just 25W for the Galaxy. The A5 can charge from zero to 30 percent in 21 minutes, according to Oppo.
Oppo is promising “five years of reliable service” for the A5’s battery, saying it’ll retain 80 percent of its full capacity even after daily usage for that long.
These two phones are practically the same dimensions and are both 7.9mm thick, though the Oppo tips the scales lighter at 194g compared to 200g. Oppo’s IP65 rating is also better than Samsung’s IP54, though neither will likely survive an accidental dunking – you need IP68 for that.
One thing Samsung adds that the Oppo doesn’t is an ultra-wide camera, so if you want a wider field of view for some of your snaps, go for Galaxy. Both phones have a 2MP sensor for portrait shots, but with a spec like that, don’t expect much. The 50MP main camera on the Oppo A5 is paired with Oppo’s on-device AI to help improve your shots, too.
Without testing these phones, I can’t say which performs better day-to-day, though. The Oppo A5 runs the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip while the Galaxy A16 has Samsung’s own Exynos 1330.
Samsung impressively promises up to six years of Android and security updates, which will take you to 2030 as the A16 came out in 2024. The new Oppo A5 won’t get six Android updates, but it ships with Android 15 and Oppo says you’ll get security updates until July 2031.
https://www.oppo.com/uk/psti/
If you want the best value for money in an Android smartphone under £200, the Oppo A5 5G could be well worth a look if you don’t want to go with a Samsung phone. Spec for spec, Oppo is offering more for less cash.