It was a few days after the launch of OPPO A73 that it started differentiating itself with a fairly straightforward design. Looking for something a bit different in a phone? The OPPO A73 is exactly that-the phone most likely to hold true to the slogan that OPPO conveys “I am different”.
Well in the first introduction for design most probably you’d say the same with us when you see this phone. A73 phone high-quality faux leather back matched with a square mouse gray frame gave it unequivocally a nice and sophisticated design, thus making the product a thinner one. Along with that is the OPPO logo, which is machined by the prominent laser engraving method.
The great thing about this back is that, besides being matte, it actually prevents fingerprints. Moreover, the rough surface helps keep it in the palm more of the time.
Opposed to competitors, OPPO A73’s camera cluster should also be a point that adds to the luxury aspect. A cluster of 4 cameras is arranged in a pretty square form; OPPO arranges these four cameras in the 2 x 2 format, derived from the highend watch face inspiration. For the main camera itself, we will have 16MP, 8MP of wide native sensors, and two 2MP monochrome sensors.
However, we can still see this flagship square instead of rounded corners on most smartphones today-these kinds of frame body edge designs are being square. The button arrangement is quite different too because the right side only has the screen on/off buttons while the left incorporates the volume rocker with sim and memory card slots.
This includes a Type-C charging port, external speakers, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the lower edge. OPPO A73 supports 30W fast charging with VOOC 4.0. Reality is that with the provided charger as well as third-party fast charging compatible chargers, the time the battery for this device is completely charged from 20% is only about an hour to become completely charged (100%).
On the front, we have a 6.44-inch display. This is neither too big nor too small in size, making it very comfortable and easy to use with just one hand. The display panel on the A73 is an FHD + AMOLED panel with approximately 90% display surface coverage against the bodies. Above that is a 12MP selfie camera fitted into a water drop design.
Also, the most interesting point is that the fingerprint sensor has been put under the screen of the A73. The fingerprint recognition speed of this sensor is rated as quite average – fairly quiet.
OPPO A73 is blessed with an internal octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC embedded in most mid-range, popular phones. With the inclusion of 6GB LPPDDR4x ROM memory and 128GB storage memory, this machine supports storage expansion with microSD cards; its SoC, Snapdragon 662, offers good performance for most typical everyday tasks. It minimizes freezes when opening/loading a great many applications with its large memory capacity. The A73 performs very well for multimedia tasks such as editing photos or for short clips relatively well.
Cramps are generally less in terms of megapixels as compared to some other mobiles. But upto a certain extent, you can say that it works even faster than some others in the same segment. The A73 produced, then, very excellent full-light and slightly low-light results. But nightlife will be highly disappointing as far as photography is concerned. In even quite complex environments, it captured images quite satisfactorily. In terms of video recording, OPPO A73 allows recording video at 1080p resolution and in 30fps. The quality of video recording is also very nice, more than enough for making short videos and sharing them on trendy social networks like Facebook, TikTok…
Battery Life
The OPPO A73 comes with a normal 4,015mAh battery, kind of the usual thing you see in this price segment. The way the Snapdragon 662 handles power, plus the AMOLED screen, makes the overall battery life feel really great—enough for a full day for most users with day to day use.
Great day usage included normal browsing, social net surfing, video watching, photo shooting, etc. OPPO A73 can comfortably keep going from dawn until dusk with some spare battery. In fact, for a lighter user, this may even last into the second day on a single charge. Heavy users such as those who play games, do extensive video recording or use GPS almost throughout the day might need to recharge by evening.
The model OPPO A73 also has support for 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0, which is a great advantage in this price range. Just for information, with this kind of fast-charging technology, it can charge nearly from 0% to 50% in 30 min. That’s extremely comfortable in quick top-ups during the day. To charge it from 0% to 100% takes just over an hour, which is impressive and reduces the time one spends tethered to a charger.
Except for that, the OPPO A73 is not a phone built for wireless charging, which is its own criticism of not flaunting the high price of the device. Wireless charging itself isn’t premium these days, though it’s important to note about those who are after these conveniences.
Overall, the battery of OPPO A73 ranks under one of its best features, bringing lasting endurance to most users, together with the benefit ofpeedily being charged.
Software Experience
The OPPO A73 runs on Color OS 7.2, and that’s built on top of Android 10. So what you actually get is this custom skin on Android, aka Color OS from OPPO. Because of that, it kind of feels a little different from stock Android, more into tweaking and additional handy functions, not just the bare basics.
Color OS 7.2 is honestly pretty easy to live with, it has an interface that feels clean but still modern, and navigation stays simple. You notice rounded icons, a bright color palette, plus those smooth transitions and animations that make everything feel more fluid. Also a major strength here is the amount of personalization you can do, so your phone ends up feeling more “yours” than it would on stock Android. You can change the theme , mess around with the icons, move things around on the home screen, and choose wallpapers plus fonts from different options.
Another big talking point of the ColorOS 7.2 platform is Smart Sidebar. Basically it’s a menu that slides out so you can reach your most used apps and quick tools fast. This multitasking setup makes it possible to open apps in a floating window , or use split-screen, without needing to fully exit whatever you’re working on.
There’s also dark mode across the whole system, which is nicer on your eyes in low light, and can be softer for the battery on an AMOLED panel. If you want, you can set it so dark mode turns on and off automatically using a schedule, like by certain hours and such.
For the gaming experience, Game Space is another up-to-date tool for making gaming enjoyable. It serves as a hub where you can get all the controls of what you want your gaming experience to be like, including blocking notifications or adjusting performance settings, and for monitoring resource systems during game play. It’s a good feature for a casual gamer making his or her experience even better on the OPPO A73.
Basically, with ColorOS 7.2, privacy and security come into play. These features include App Lock, Private Safe, and Personal Information Protection. The App Lock feature allows you to lock certain applications with a password or fingerprint to access them, whereas Private Safe is a personal folder within which sensitive files may be stored. Personal Information Protection, unlike the others, prohibits applications from having access to personal data without the permission of the owner.
The only thing that needs improvement in ColorOS is its notification handling. The notification shade and quick settings panel appear quite crowded, and as such managing notifications is not easy unlike the stock Android experience. ColorOS is buttery smooth and very responsive, but it preinstalls a lot of apps that are not useful to everybody. At least, almost all of these can be uninstalled or disabled.
Further, OPPO also makes sure that the software updates are provided on its devices but the frequency and duration of updates might not be as great for midrange devices, for example, A73, as the flagship models. At the launch time, A73 was featured on Android 10 and at least a major update shall be expected regarding Android version during its lifetime along with regular security patches.
Connectivity and Audio
OPPO A73 has pretty solid connectivity features that can cover the usual needs of most people. If someone has two phone lines, they can just use the two SIM cards with the device, no fuss. And then the OPPO A73 also backs 4G LTE, plus Wi‑Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0 , along with GPS and NFC, so it should work with lots of network and wireless add-ons.
In day to day calls, the OPPO A73 sounds good, both sides of the conversation come through clear. On top of that, it supports VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and VoWiFi (Voice over Wi‑Fi) calling too, so call quality and reliability stay better even when the cellular signal is a bit weak.
There is a single downward-firing speaker for audio on the OPPO A73, which is located at the bottom of the device. The speaker will serve fine for all casual listening situations, though it boasts nice clarity and just enough volume for streaming videos or playing games. Being a single speaker setup however, it will lack depth and bass, in addition, audio can be easily muffled when holding the phone in landscape position.
The 3.5mm jack is a great addition to the phone, especially for those who like wired headsets or have a good quality wired audio setup. The audio output through the headphone jack is good: decent and has clear and balanced sound for music and calls. In addition, the OPPO A73 is equipped with all decent audio enhancements available today, for instance Dirac audio tuning, which can be set up according to your needs.
For the wireless audio part, OPPO A73 supports Bluetooth version 5.0, which serves the connection with Bluetooth speakers or headphones pretty well. It even supports audio codecs with high definition such as AAc to ensure quality delivery in streaming music and videos wirelessly.
Storage and Expandability
The OPPO A73 gives you a max imum of 128GB internal storage, which for most people is pretty much enough. Like seriously, it should cover apps, photographs, videos, and heaps of other stuff before you even start worrying about running out of space. It also keeps things flexible because the phone supports micro SD cards up to 512GB, so if you end up needing more room, it has a lot of capacity waiting.
The microSD card slot sits inside the SIM tray , so yes you can pop in both SIM cards and a micro SD card at the same time. That’s a pretty handy arrangement for folks who want to extend their storage , while still using two SIMs without doing any juggling.
Epilogue:
It can be said OPPO A73 is a remarkable phone which has everything you need. Well-designed understated sophistication, great performance, and very good picture quality from the camera are the features of the phone. If you are looking for a phone to bridge the gap between old and new with an affordable price tag, then OPPO A73 is the Ultimate phone we would recommend.
OPPO A73 5G Dual-SIM 128GB (GSM Only | No CDMA) Factory Unlocked Android Smartphone (Navy Black) – International Version: Buy it now
OPPO A73 5G Dual-SIM 128GB (GSM Only | No CDMA) Factory Unlocked Android Smartphone (Neon) – International Version: Buy it now
Related Posts
Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.