Friends+Design
- Beautiful design - looks classy and captivating with the dual-tone gradient back
- Good build quality
- The fingerprint sensor on the back is fast and unlocks the phone quickly
Display
- Good, 6.53inch IPS display with a nearly all-screen front (with a water-drop notch), which is a joy to use for binge-watching and gaming - the display exhibits lively colors and good brightness - additionally, the viewing angles are great as well
Software
- ColorOS is now more streamlined than before, and also packs a bunch of nifty features like Game Space, as well as a useful shortcuts and gestures
- It is of course not quite as simple and clean as stock Android though, and does come with plenty of bloatware installed (though, thankfully it can be uninstalled)
Performance
- Good performance with a Helio P70 at the core (similar to Snapdragon 660) - everything from daily use to games is smooth (it's not the most powerful phone of the price bracket though, as there are phones available with Snapdragon 675, and Snapdragon 710 in the same price range)
Camera
- Pretty good dual rear camera setup (16MP+2MP)
- Good overall image quality in daylight, and fairly decent quality in low-light as well - close-ups, portraits are strong points
- Decent video recording performance - there is video stabilisation, and the Oppo A9 does a good job at reducing shakes in the output
- Pretty good selfies too, from the 16MP front camera
- While the camera performance is good for the price bracket - it's not quite as good as the best mid-range camera phones (which would include the Realme X, Oppo K3, Redmi Note 7 Pro, and Realme 3 Pro)
Connectivity
- Dated micro USB port, instead of the modern USB-C port
Battery
- Impressive battery life with a large 4020mAh battery - you will comfortably get a day and a half of use
- Fast charging support
Verdict
- While the Oppo A9 is a pretty decent all-round choice, it's up against some very tough competition - including it's own cousin Oppo K3 (and the very similar Realme X) - which, at a very similar price, offer a more powerful SoC, full-screen experience, pop up camera, and in-display fingerprint sensor
