Realme 5 Pro vs OPPO A9 2020 Comparison – Is Bigger Battery Enough?

Realme 5 Pro continues to dominate the affordable mid-range market thanks to its great value offering. Its parent company, OPPO, may not be as active as it was earlier this year, but it still decided to release its newest A-Series, particularly the OPPO A9 2020. While it’s not a direct successor to the F11 Pro, it’s impressive to see nearly better spec phone for a less expensive price tag. But is it enough to dethrone the best mid-range phone right now? Let’s find out.

READ: OPPO A9 2020 Review – Almost a Great Mid-Range Phone

Design

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If you have small hands, don’t even think about single-handedly using either of this phone. You’ll most likely drop them accidentally and break the fake glass on the back. For the better part of the day, you’ll be needing two hands to comfortably use both phones. The A9 2020 is noticeably bigger and thicker in size, but Realme 5 Pro isn’t too far behind. It feels substantial in the hands and you will most likely feel the strain on your wrists after an extended period. 

Obviously, Realme 5 Pro is the flashier device. It will easily attract attention, but if you’re looking for a casual-looking phone, A9 2020 offers just that. Since both are using polycarbonate material to imitate glass, you won’t get that premium feel here. What you get instead is splash resistance, at least on the Realme 5 Pro. 

We would’ve given this a tie if not only for the added water protection. That said, Realme 5 Pro takes this one.

Display

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At 6.5″, A9 2020 sports a larger screen that makes content consumption even better. Well, that is if it’s using a 1080p resolution. Some might not be bothered by it, but for the trained eyes, it’s such a waste to stream videos at 720p, especially on a large screen. At 6.3″, Realme 5 Pro has better display quality. Even with the same IPS LCD, picture quality is sharper and just better. Put them side-by-side, Realme’s display is brighter and more capable in broad daylight.

Easily, Realme 5 Pro wins this round.

Camera

These two phones are using quad-camera setups — featuring 48MP Sony sensors, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP depth. The fourth sensor is different, with the A9 2020 using a monochrome type and a macro one for Realme 5 Pro. 

In daylight, there are times when photos look nearly identical. But in one landscape shot, Realme 5 Pro delivers sharper-looking images as seen from the grass. Color-wise, the A9 2020 produces slightly warmer images. It also tends to overexpose the images resulting in blown-out highlights. This means Realme 5 Pro is better when it comes to high dynamic range. As for the ultrawide, it’s fun to use and it’s best in daylight.

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In lowlight, Realme 5 Pro does a better job in all aspects. While there are times when A9 2020 outputs nearly the same low-light quality as Realme 5 Pro, you only get that 50 percent of the time.

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Moving to the selfie cameras, both are using a single 16MP sensor. On paper, you may have expected nearly the same quality as these phones come from the same parent brand running ColorOS. However, Realme 5 Pro crushes the competition. Just take a look at these photos.

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With a lopsided selfie camera and reliable main cameras, Realme 5 Pro takes this one.  

READ: Samsung Galaxy A50s vs OPPO A9 2020 – The Best Mid-Range Phone for $300?

Performance

On paper, the Snapdragon 712 chipset on the Realme 5 Pro is better than the Snapdragon 665 on the A9 2020. In the real world, that’s also true. We thought that the lower-resolution display would be able to compensate for the lack of processing power on the A9 2020, but apparently, it didn’t. You can still play games but don’t expect buttery-smooth frame rates. And the 8GB of RAM can’t help in that regard. 

Clearly, the Snapdragon 712 is the better and more capable chipset. You get better processing power that’s capable of playing games in medium to high settings. And since we’re comparing ColorOS 6-based phones, there’s really not much to say about it. As for their benchmarks, have a look for yourself. 

Realme 5 Pro wins the performance category.

Audio

Where A9 2020 shines is in speaker quality. OPPO is introducing two speakers on this phone — one coming from the bottom and another one near the notch. With that setup, dialogues are more recognizable and louder. Realme 5 Pro isn’t too bad, delivering your standard speaker setup in a mid-range phone. 

That said, A9 2020 finally wins one.  

Battery

Aside from the speaker quality, the battery is another thing that’s easy to compare in this comparison. Combining the massive 5000mAh battery and low-power 720p screen of A9 2020, you will need to play games for several hours just to drain the battery. You can also do reverse wired charging should you wish to do so. 

That’s not to say that Realme 5 Pro isn’t a one-day battery phone. While it won’t push numbers as high as the A9 2020, you do get 20W VOOC charging that lets you go 50% in just 30 minutes. 

It’s up to you whether you want a longer-lasting phone in a single charge or quick and easy top-ups. That said, we’re giving this one a tie. 

Verdict

The A9 2020 is priced at P15,990 while Realme 5 Pro starts at P11,990 and goes up to P13,990. If we’re looking at value, Realme’s mid-range phone totally crushes the game. OPPO had an opportunity to make the A9 2020 a competitive phone, in spite of having a higher price tag. If only there was an FHD screen, a better chipset, and any sort of fast charging, we feel like there are consumers that would love a big screen and a stereo speaker setup.

READ: Realme 5 Pro Review – One of the Best Mid-Range Smartphone Cameras