OPPO A40 4G – A great alternative to 3G smartphones (mini review)

OPPO A40 4G is a perfect replacement for your old 3G phone. Its main features are appearance, durability and low price.

Inserting a low-cost prepaid SIM (made by Boost, Wolies, Aldi or Coles) gives you the most cost-effective smartphone functionality in a long-distance device.

This is a mini review for a budget cell phone. That is, we do all the tests, but only report the significant results. Here you can check your battery life and whether your phone signal reception is good.

Australian Review OPPO A40 4G

Use Fail, Pass, or Exceed for many of the items below. In some cases, we may give you a pass (fair) rating that is not as good as it should be, or we may give you a pass ‘+’ rating that is good but not above. Click on most images to enlarge.

We will also strengthen grading. For example, from now on, “passing” means meeting the expectations of that price point. A passing score of 70+/100 will be considered, and additional points will be awarded for outstanding results that lead the class. For reviews before 2023, 10 points will be deducted for reasonable parity.

Screen – Pass

6.67-inch 1604 x 720, 1000 nit HBM, 60/90Hz IPS LCD – A decent, colorful screen that’s bright enough to read in direct sunlight.

Processor – Path

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen1 SoC (rebadged SD662) is good for the purpose, although it can lag if you have multiple apps open. It doesn’t have full-fledged AI capabilities, which is unexpected.

Adreno 160 GPU has no gaming capabilities.

In terms of power, it is above the SD4X series and closest to the MediaTek Helio G70 or UNISOC T610.

OPPO says it has 36 months of Fluency Protection. This means optimizing software, hardware, and other comprehensive technologies to keep your phone working “like new.” However, it is not completely without delays.

RAM/Storage – Path

6GB LPDDR4X, 128GB eMMC 5.1 (85GB free), and a dedicated micro-SD slot are fine. You can add up to an additional 6 GB of virtual RAM using slower eMMC flash storage.

Wi-Fi – Pass

Wi-Fi 5 AC 2.4/5GHz maximum speed is 433Mbps up to 10M.

BT 5.0 – Pass

Equipped with SBC, AAC, aptX codecs

NFC – Pass

I’m glad to see it in this price range.

GPS – Path

Dual frequency is suitable for accuracy below 5m.

4G – Pass

Dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots. Australian band 1/3/5/7/8/20/28/38/40/41.

Unusually for a Qualcomm Snapdragon, we only find one tower, albeit with decent picowatt speeds. This is only for cities and suburbs with good band 28 coverage.

Battery – Passed, but charger not included

It takes 1 hour and 34 minutes at 9V/3A/27W. You can also use a lower wattage charger, but the charging time will be significantly longer. You can use any PD charger. OPPO SUPERVOOC 45W costs $45.

The 5100mAh battery can withstand 1600 charge cycles (most budget phones have 300-500) and still has 80% usable capacity.

Battery life is 2 days for casual users and 10-15 hours for heavy users.

Sound – Average

• Dedicated mono speakers (earpiece and bottom speaker) for clear audio (not music)
• Single microphone for hands-free (no noise reduction).
• 3.5mm jack for wired earphones provides great stereo sound.

Build – MIL-STD – Exceed

• 165.77×76.08×7.68mm×186g
• It has MIL-STD 801H certification and IP54 (rainproof).
• Sparkle black and starlight white
• The plastic frame and PMMA back may show signs of wear.
• The screen uses panda (double reinforced)
• The case back uses China Southern Glass (double reinforced)
• 2 year warranty

It’s rare to find a MIL-STD cell phone at this price.

Android – Pass+

Android 14 comes with two Android upgrades and three years of security patches.

The power button is equipped with a fingerprint sensor and 2D facial recognition. This is perfect for Google Pay.

Camera – Path

• 50MP autofocus camera (12.5MP from the bin) and 2MP depth sensor – autofocus even in daylight or office light
• 5MP Fixed Focus Selfie – Supports single and dual selfies
• 1080p@30fps video

Camera shooting is for daytime and office light only. AI is not enough to bring about significant change. There are no portrait or macro settings. A slight pinkish tint was found in all shots.

CyberShack’s take – OPPO A40 4G ticks most of the boxes

At $259, it’s one of the most feature-rich Android smartphones around, is MIL-STD 810H certified, and is built to last. Add OPPO’s 5100mAh 1600 battery cycles and 36-month fluency warranty. That’s a keeper.

OPPO A40 4G evaluation (70/100 is a passing score)

• Features: 80 – Earn extra points when you add extended battery recharge, MIL-STD, and fluency.
• Value: 80 – There are cheaper 4G phones, but these have 64 GB of storage and many run 32-bit Android on entry-level UniSoc or MediaTek SoCs. Its closest competitor is the $229 Moto G24.
• Performance – 80 – Qualcomm is faster than the 4 series. Add up to 6GB of virtual RAM on top of 6GB to suit your purposes.
• Ease of use: 80 – ColorOS 14 is a light overlay on top of Android 14 and is easy to use without a steep learning curve. Add a 2-year warranty and reasonable OS and patch upgrades.
• Design: 80 – Another glass slab with MIL-STD build.