Oppo A17k review: water protection at a price of less than 7 thousand rubles

Positioning
Specifications
Appearance and materials
Screen
Performance and capabilities
Camera
Battery
Conclusion

Positioning

Oppo A17k is an interesting smartphone in the segment under 10,000 rubles. This is a smartphone for those who are looking for an affordable yet reliable device that will last a long time.

The main selling points are:

Durability (smartphone passed numerous internal tests, including 1 meter drop test)
Battery 5000 mAh
Large screen (6.56 inches) bright 600 nits
Separate microSD slot up to 1 TB, 3.5 mm jack
WiFi 5
Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy supporting aptX HD codec
Fingerprint scanner built into the power button
Water resistant IPX4
Android 12 + ColorOS shell + promised update to Android 13

Miscellaneous

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Specifications

CPU: Mediatek Helio G35 (12 nm), Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53), PowerVR GE8320 graphics
operating system: Android 12, ColorOS 12.1 shell
Memory: 3 GB / 64 GB eMMC 5.1, separate microSD slot
Screen: 6.56 inches, IPS LCD, 1612 x 720 dots, 600 nits brightness, Panda Glass protective glass, protective film pasted on the screen
Battery: Li-Po 5000 mAh, adapter 10 W
Main camera: 8 MP, f/2.0, (wide angle), autofocus
Front camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, (wide angle)
SIM card: 2 Nano SIM
Network and data transfer: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.3 LE (aptX HD codec), microUSB 2.0
Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
Sensors: fingerprint scanner (side), accelerometer, proximity, compass
Other: no NFC, 3.5mm jack available, IPX4 certified
materials: front glass, plastic body
Dimensions: 164.2 x 75.6 x 8.3mm, weight 189g
Price: 6,999 rubles in DNS

The smartphone has a modest package:only microUSB cable and 10W adapter. The box contains a paper envelope and quite a lot of waste paper. The envelope hints that in some markets a case may well be attached to the smartphone. Along the way, this prompted the thought: could it not be possible to put a cover instead of paper? It is unlikely that a transparent case costs more in the purchase than 2 brochures on good coated paper, a cardboard clip for the SIM tray and a black thick envelope in which it all lies.

Appearance and materials

Here's to something, but to the design of Oppo smartphones II can't complain. It can be seen that engineers and designers spend time and effort trying to make devices visually appealing. By the way, along the way, I draw attention to the fact that Oppo's efforts have a beneficial effect on the appearance of realme smartphones (both brands belong to BBK Electronics Corp).

So the Oppo A17k is a veryaesthetic smartphone. Well-chosen colors, pleasant body materials - the device pleases the eye. In the hand, however, because of the flat edges lies not so well. My subjective impression is that the smartphone is slightly slippery. In principle, this applies to all devices with flat edges. Within a few days you get used to it and no longer pay attention, but at first you need to be careful not to accidentally drop your smartphone.

However, the manufacturer says that the smartphone has passed exceptional tests, withstanding numerous tests, including a fall from a height of 1 meter.

Another interesting point related todurability, it's IPX4 certified, meaning the smartphone easily resists water jets from all angles. On the official website, there is even a picture made in the laboratory:

Oppo A17k at a price of 6,990 rubles is a consumableworkhorse. I know an entrepreneur who buys a dozen cheap smartphones for his workers every month. He says that he sees no reason to overpay, since the devices, as they say, “burn” - they get lost, fall from a height, etc. Oppo A17k is just perfect for such purposes.

The body is made of matte plastic, which does not leave fingerprints.

IPS LCD screen with a diagonal of 6.56 inches.

A factory film is pasted on the screen from the box.

Microphone, speaker, 3.5 mm jack. MicroUSD charging is a bit frustrating, of course. But these are trifles.

The smartphone has only one main camera 8 MP. And this is the right decision. No need to spend money on useless 2 MP or 0.3 MP AI cameras.

On the right side is a fingerprint scanner, slightly recessed into the body. There are no questions about the operation of the scanner.

On the left side is a slot for 2 SIM cards and a separate slot for a microSD card.

There is nothing on the top end.

The smartphone has flat edges.And the bezels around the screen are rather big, so I would assume that the smartphone will be comfortable to use for people with large hands. Be that as it may, I recommend supporting the smartphone in your hands before buying.

MicroUSB port supports OTG.However, my smartphone did not notice my universal flash drive. The fact is that the OTG option is enabled by a separate item at the address "Settings - System settings - Enable OTG for 10 minutes (then auto-off)". On the one hand, it's the right thing to do. No intruder will secretly stick a flash drive. On the other hand, this item must still be found in the menu.

Screen

The smartphone has a 6.56-inch IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels.

The panel is really good.Firstly, the color gamut here is much higher than the standard 100% sRGB. Secondly, good color accuracy, delta E does not exceed 3.8 for individual colors. This is an excellent result.

The viewing angle, in general, is quite good.And given the price of the device, there can be no nitpicking about the screen at all. If the smartphone cost around 15 thousand rubles, then I would have said that at an obtuse angle the image seems to be slightly dark. But these are the little things that are not worth attention.

It is stated that the brightness of the screen in automaticmode is 600 nits. I couldn’t knock out more than 460 nits, although I shone a flashlight into the light sensor with all my might. I guess I'm more likely to be wrong. Still, I do not conduct tests in laboratory conditions, and modern smartphones are becoming more and more cunning.

The screen of the smartphone remains perfectly readable during the day on the street.

Summing up this section, I would saythat you can’t find fault with the smartphone screen. Here, a more expensive panel is clearly installed than the apparatus is supposed to be cheaper than 7 thousand rubles. In principle, I won’t be surprised if this turns out to be one of the best screens in the segment up to 7 thousand.

Well, to be fair, it should be noted thatthe situation in the segment up to 10 thousand rubles is generally changing for the better. Last year, for example, we had a couple of reviews of Infinix smartphones, which also had surprisingly good and bright screens.

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Performance and capabilities

Chipset Responsible for Smartphone PerformanceMediatek Helio G35 (12 nm), 64 GB eMMC 5.1 drive and 3 GB of RAM. Judging by the characteristics on the official website, another 1 GB of RAM is allocated as virtual memory from the drive. But I could not find any mention of it in the system.

The smartphone does not require high performance. Oppo A17k should make calls, go online, allow you to communicate via video calls and instant messengers, and listen to music.

For these tasks, the smartphone is ideal.Especially, by the way, about music. For example, the smartphone uses the latest version of Bluetooth 5.3 with support for AptX HD codecs. That is, given the good battery life, for someone Oppo A17k can serve as an advanced audio player.

Another quite logical (consideringpositioning), but an unusual moment for this price category is the presence of a magnetometer sensor, or, more simply, a compass. A compass is needed to show on the map the direction in which the smartphone is turned. A necessary function when it is important to quickly navigate the terrain or you want to use your smartphone as a navigator in the car. Usually, this function saves not only in smartphones up to 10, but also up to 15 thousand rubles.

The smartphone works surprisingly stable.Of course, the device is unhurried, but 100% working. Applications open, do not lag and do not close by themselves. Excessively, of course, you should not strain the device. But the basic "casual" games such as balls are played great.

Another interesting point is the update fromsecurity patch for December, which arrived sometime in mid-January. The event, in general, is unique for this price category, in which smartphones usually live on the software that was installed at the factory.

It is extremely curious whether the smartphone will still receiveupdates. If yes, then this is a significant bonus. Late last year, Oppo officially confirmed that its flagships will now receive 4 Android version updates. But that Samsung and Oppo are actively ready to talk about flagships, and what about budget models is in question.

Oppo itself said that the smartphone will receive an update to Android 13. And this is quite consistent with the positioning of the smartphone (it should last a long time!).

Camera

So, yes, the smartphone has an 8 MP main camera and a 5 MP front camera.

Firstly, I’ll say right away that the cameras are not fake. Really work. They can take photos, blur portraits and record videos.

Secondly... that's enough!

Look at sample pictures. In my opinion, very good value for your money. For video communication and even more optimally suited.

Original photos (zip, 36 MB)

Battery

The smartphone has a 5000 mAh battery, and comes with a 10 W adapter, which takes 2.5 hours to charge the smartphone to 100%.

Given the economical hardware and low screen resolution, the smartphone shows a good battery life. In general, 1.5-2 days depending on the intensity.

Conclusion

At the stated price, the Oppo A17k is an example of a good budget smartphone that will reliably serve its owner for a long time.

Competitors in this segment are a dime a dozen. Read, for example, our review of the Infinix Smart 6 Plus. Now the device is sold for 6,900 rubles.

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It turned out good material about what a smartphone is for 8 thousand rubles. Sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised!

Also pay attention to smartphones from POCO andTECNO. An important point to be understood. Oppo tried to make its device with unique features, such as Bluetooth 5.3, water resistance, and a screen with increased brightness. And in this regard, the Oppo A17k is good. But if you need bare performance from a smartphone to play games, then pay attention to the realme C30. This smartphone is now sold for 500 rubles more, but it seems to be the most powerful device (more than 200 thousand points in AnTuTu).