Following on from the very likeable A72, which placed high on our list of best-value phones, the Oppo A74 5G is another strong offering from Oppo.
There are no big surprises, although we are pleased to see the excellent body shape of the Reno 5 replicated here. We’re also delighted with the SuperVOOC fastcharging system first seen on the Reno5. It works exceptionally well, even when you’re not using the special charger and cable that ships in the box. Together with the sizeable 5000 mAh battery, it makes for a compelling user experience; I never came anywhere close to running out of juice. Otherwise, the processing power and 6 GB of RAM is typical of a good mid-range phone and the 6.5-inch screen refreshes at a cool 90 Hz for smoother scrolling, something that’s also increasingly popular in mid-level phones.
While the camera on the original A72 was truly impressive, we found the camera set-up on the A74 to be less exciting, possibly because all budget phone cameras have improved in leaps and bounds. The 48 MP main camera still shoots great 12 MP shots, but struggled to keep realistic colour balance in our test shots but you can switch off the smart pixel binning to get full 48 MP photos. The 8 MP wide-angle lens showed a noticeable drop in picture quality compared to the main shooter, although that is not unusual for mid-range phones. The 2 MP macro lens and 2 MP depth sensor add little to the camera experience.
The A74 5G is a solid phone and a safe buy, but it doesn’t shine bright enough to overshadow some of its competitors in this price range.
6.5” 90Hz screen, 6 GB RAM, 16 MP front / 48 MP + 8 MP wide + 2 MP macro + 2 MP depth rear cameras, 128 GB storage, 5000 mAh battery, R7 500
