The Oppo A74 5G is a competitively priced 5G smartphone with average specifications. Does that make it a good buy or are there competitors that offer more value for money? Computer! Totally find out in this Oppo A74 5G review.
Oppo A74 5G
MSRP € 319,-
To colour Black, purple and silver
OS Android 11
Screen 6.5″ LCD (2400 x 1080, 90Hz)
Processor 2GHz octa-core (Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G)
RAM 6GB
Storage 128 GB (expandable)
Battery 5,000 mAh
Camera 48, 8, 2 and 2 megapixels (rear), 16 megapixels (front)
Connectivity 5G, 4G (LTE), Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 5, GPS, NFC
Format 16.3 x 7.5 x 0.84 cm
Weight 190 grams
Website www.oppo.com 7.5 Score 75 
- Pros
- Long battery life
- Complete specifications
- Three years of updates
- Negatives
- Housing looks dirty quickly
- ColorOS peel takes some getting used to
- Extra cameras add little
Oppo has been selling the A74 5G since April for a suggested retail price of 319 euros. There is also a 4G model for sale. This device has a suggested retail price of 249 euros and partly has less good specifications. Remarkably enough, he performs better in other respects. In this Oppo A74 5G review, I focus on the 5G version.
Design and screen
The Oppo A74 5G is made of plastic and with 190 grams of average weight. The device feels solid enough but does attract fingerprints. The shiny back in particular therefore quickly looks dirty. A case solves this.
The smartphone has an accurate and fast fingerprint scanner in the on and off button, which is located on the right side. The front of the Oppo A74 5G consists largely of the screen, with a hole for the selfie camera.
At 6.5 inches, the screen is difficult to operate with one hand. Thanks to the full-HD resolution, the image looks sharp and the higher refresh rate of 90Hz provides a smoother image than a 60Hz screen. Oppo’s choice for an LCD screen instead of an OLED screen is striking. A number of competing smartphones have a nicer OLED screen and the cheaper Oppo A74 4G also has an OLED screen. It doesn’t make sense to me that the more expensive version has a less good screen.
Hardware
The Oppo A74 5G has complete specifications and that is worth a compliment given the competitive price. The device is equipped with a lot of working and storage memory (6GB and 128GB), an NFC chip, 5G support and a modern Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor. It’s fast enough for popular apps and simple games. The processor is also in smartphones like the Nokia X20. In the price range of the Oppo A74 5G, faster phones can be found, including the Poco X3 Pro and models from Realme. The slightly more expensive OnePlus Nord CE also feels smoother.
Battery life and charging
A large 5000 mAh battery is placed in the Oppo A74 5G and it lasts a long day without any problems. A nice certainty. You can charge via the USB-C port and Oppo supplies an 18-watt charger. Not very powerful, but fine if you take into account to charge the smartphone at the end of the day or at night.
Cameras
Four camera lenses are placed on the back of the smartphone, complete with trendy marketing expressions. They cannot disguise the fact that the quality of the cameras is only average or even below average.
The main camera – the 48 megapixel main camera – is fortunately good enough for shooting photos for social media. But don’t expect impressive pictures from the 8 megapixel wide-angle camera (photos don’t look realistic) and 2 megapixel macro camera (blurred pictures). The 2 megapixel black-and-white camera simply adds little.
Software and Update Policy
The Oppo A74 5G has Android 11 installed at its release, the latest version. Oppo promises updates to versions 12 and 13 – in line with many competitors and good enough considering the price. Security updates will be available regularly until the spring of 2024, or for three years. That is also in line with similarly priced smartphones. So the update policy gets a big pass.
Oppo’s ColorOS shell over Android 11 you should lie. The software visually looks a bit different and adds several functions that are not standard in Android. Think gesture control and an advanced battery saving mode. Oppo also installs some apps from itself and partners. I don’t think they add much. Fortunately, you can uninstall some apps. Furthermore, after a day of getting used to it, it is possible to work well with ColorOS and it can be said that the software shell is tidier and more logical than, say, two years ago.
Conclusion: Buy Oppo A74 5G?
The Oppo A74 5G is – in view of the competitive selling price – an excellent smartphone with complete specifications. It has a nice screen, is fast enough, lasts a long time on a battery charge and gets three years of updates. Oppo has of course had to make concessions to arrive at the friendly price. For example, the plastic housing quickly looks dirty, the A74 5G is not the fastest smartphone in its price range and the cameras are (below) average. More subjective is ColorOS peel; it may take some getting used to.
All in all, the Oppo A74 5G is a decent choice in this price segment, with the Poco X3 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A32 4G and Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro as formidable competitors.
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