It was released along with the A54 5G in April and has a few advantages over that model, with the additional cost being $50. There is double the amount of storage, 2GB more of memory and it charges much faster.
Qualcomm announced earlier this year that it would be bringing 5G to its 480 series, and forecast that this would 5G smartphones drop in price. OPPO is among the first to release models based on this SoC.
In good conditions, the OPPO A74 produces excellent pictures.
The A74 supports both standalone and non-standalone 5G networks. Like the A54, it has a 5000mAh battery and both 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rates. The phone takes a couple of hours to fully charge when down to zero.
The only downside of a 5G smartphone in Australia these days is the exorbitant price one has to pay to connect to a network. Optus is the cheaper of the two, but recently raised its cheapest plan from $39 to $45 per month.
By contrast, this picture, taken indoors on a gloomy day, does not look that good.
Telstra is much higher, charging $65 per month for its basic plan. Neither telco has yet chosen to offer coverage in Doncaster, the suburb in which I live, and so the speed measurement was done in the adjoining suburb.
These prices probably account for the fact that many people are picking up 5G phones but continuing to use them with 4G plans. The ban on Chinese telco supplier Huawei has added to the price burden for mobile users, but that isn't going away.
The A74 has four cameras in its rear setup (48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP) but the photographs one gets range from excellent to poor as can be seen from the embedded images. And the latter happens when the light isn't that good; outside, either in daylight or else when it is sunny, the pictures are excellent.
Loads of detail in this shot.
But this is similar to what one gets with other models in the same price range. And for $449, the A74 offers much better value than similar models like the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G.
As the A74 has only a mono speaker, it is advisable to use the supplied headphones when listening to audio or watching a video. The device comes with a plastic case.
The A74 has been on sale since 13 April and can be bought from either JB Hi-Fi or Officeworks.
SPECS
Device A74 5G
Model Code CPH2197
Colour Fluid Black / Space Silver
Chipset (make/ model) Qualcomm SDM480
Baseband Chipset Qualcomm SM4350
RF Platform Vendor and Model Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System
GPU Adreno 619
Dimensions 162.9x74.7x8.4mm
Weight 190g
Operating System/ ColorOS Android 11 / ColorOS 11
Display
Screen Size (inches)/ Pixels 6.5" 2400*1080, FHD+, LTPS-LCD
Screen Refresh Rate 60Hz/90Hz
PPI 405
Aspect Ratio 20:9
Max Brightness Normal: 480cd/m2 HBM: 550cd/m2
Screen Contrast 1500:1
Touch Panel Type in cell
Touch Points 10
Gesture Control Yes
Display Durability Panda Glass MN228 (TBC)
Memory
System Memory (RAM) 6GB
Internal Storage (ROM) 128GB
External Memory up to 256GB microSD
Flash Chipset Type UFS2.2
Camera
Rear Camera Setup 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP
Rear Camera Sensor 48MP CMOS/ OV48B2Q + 8MP CMOS/Hi-846 + 2MP CMOS/GC02M1B + 2MP CMOS/OV02B10"
Rear Camera Sensor Size 48MP(1/2") + 8MP(1/4") + 2MP(1/5'') + 2MP(1/5")
Rear Camera Field of View 48MP(79.8°)+8MP(119.9°)+2MP(88.8°)+2MP(88.8°)
Rear Camera Video Mode 1080p @ 30fps
The speed on a 5G network beats the NBN by a huge margin.
Front Camera Setup 16MP(f/2.0)
Front Camera Type Punchole
Front Camera Sensor CMOS/IMX471
Front Camera Field of View 16MP(79.3°)
Front Primary Camera Video Mode 1080P/720P@30FPS>
Flash LED
GPS
GPS / GLONASS / BDS
E-compass Yes
Gyrometer Yes
Barometer Sensor No
Light and Proximity Sensor Yes
Side Key Yes
Vibration Yes
Audio Jack Yes (NAHJ)
USB Type/ Version Type-C / USB 2.0
Fingerprint Sensor Side-mounted
Fingerprint Sensor Type Capacitive
OTG Yes
Noise cancelling microphone YES
Speaker Quantity (mono/ stereo) 1,mono
Audio Recorder Yes
The silver OPPO A74 model. Supplied
Audio Format (PLAYBACK) 3GP/MP4/M4A/AAC/TS/FLAC/GSM/MID/XMF/MXMF/RTTTL/RTX/OTA/IMY/MP3/MKV/WAV/OGG/
Video Format (PLAYBACK) 3GP/MP4/WEBM
Audio Codec AAC LC/HE-AACv1 (AAC+)/HE-AACv2 (enhanced AAC+)/AAC ELD (enhanced low delay AAC)/AMR-NB/AMR-WB/FLAC/GSM/MIDI/MP3/Opus/PCM/WAVE/Vorbis
Video Codec H.263/H.264 AVC
Baseline Profile (BP)
Main Profile (MP)/H.265 HEVC/MPEG-4 SP/VP8/VP9
Network
GPRS Class12, Speed up to 85.6Kbps
EDGE Class12, Speed up to 236.8Kbps
HSDPA Category CAT24
HSUPA Category CAT6
2G Bands/ Frequencies 850/900/1800/1900
3G Bands/ Frequencies 1/2/4/5/6/8/19
4G Bands/ Frequencies 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/26/28/66 38/39/40/41
5G Bands/ Frequencies n1/3/5/7/8/20/28 n38/40/41 n1/3/7/28
n41 No
Maximum CA support 4CA/DL & 2CA/UL
VoLTE/ ViLTE/ VoWiFi Yes Yes Yes
Power Class PC3 PC3
Simultaneous PDP Yes
Multiple RAB Support Yes
GSM Release Rel99
WCDMA Release Rel9
RCS Yes (Android Message)
EVS Yes
WB-AMR Yes Yes
Connectivity
NFC Yes
IrDa (infrared) No
Bluetooth BT5.1
BT Hotspot Yes
Wi-Fi (bands, *a/b/g/n/ac/ax) 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Wi-Fi Hotspot Yes
VPN Yes
Wi-Fi Direct Yes
Wi-Fi Display Yes
DLNA Yes
WPS Yes
SIM Lock Yes
Dual SIM No
SIM Card Type Nano-SIM
Power Management
Battery Size/ Type 5000mAh
Charger details 9V/2A @18W
VOOC No
Super VOOC No
Wireless Charging No
Inside the box
Wall Charger Yes
Data Cable Yes
Headphones Yes
Case Yes
Screen Protector Yes
User Manual Yes
Warranty Card Yes
Mobile Muster Card Yes
