Oppo A5i and A5i Pro: Budget Phones with Mixed Features and Outdated Chipsets

Oppo has quietly launched the A5i and A5i Pro smartphones, two devices that aren’t entirely new in terms of design, but still offer a few interesting features. Both models are powered by the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1 chipset, a rebrand of the Snapdragon 662, which had already been used in the Oppo A5 Pro 4G. It seems that Oppo is reusing this old chip for its new releases, despite the fact that it’s now outdated by 2025 standards.

Both the A5i and A5i Pro come with 6.67-inch LCD displays that offer HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. These displays can reach 1,000 nits of brightness, and the anti-glare coating enhances outdoor visibility. The Pro model upgrades to a higher quality IPS panel for slightly better color accuracy. The front and back of both devices are protected by China Southern Glass and Panda Glass, claiming twice the reinforcement and passing MIL-STD-810H testing for durability. The Pro model also features a higher ingress protection with an IP65 rating, making it slightly more water-resistant than the A5i, which only offers an IP54 rating.

In terms of battery life, the A5i is equipped with a 5,100mAh battery that promises to retain at least 80% of its capacity after four years of use, supporting 45W fast charging. If you’re looking for a bit more power, the Pro model comes with a larger 6,000mAh Si/C battery, also with 45W fast charging. The Pro’s battery bump adds a bit of thickness and weight, making it 7.99mm thick and 193g heavy compared to the 7.68mm thickness and 186g weight of the standard A5i.

As for cameras, the A5i has an 8MP rear camera, while the Pro model steps up to a 50MP camera with a wider aperture of f/1.85 compared to the A5i’s f/2.0. Both phones have a 5MP front camera, and video recording is capped at 1080p at 30fps. The Pro model includes a secondary camera, which is likely a depth sensor, though Oppo has not explicitly listed its function.

On the performance side, the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1 chipset isn’t particularly impressive in 2025, featuring outdated Cortex-A73 and A53 cores along with an Adreno 610 GPU. The A5i comes with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of eMMC storage, while the Pro offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of faster UFS 2.1 storage. While both models support 4G LTE, the Pro is a more capable device with NFC and an IR blaster, whereas the A5i is limited to basic connectivity options like dual-band Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth.

At a price of PHP 9,000 (about $160), the Oppo A5i Pro is available exclusively in the Philippines through Shopee, with additional availability coming through Oppo’s TikTok shop and Lazada starting June 20. While the A5i hasn’t yet hit stores, the Pro model is certainly the more enticing of the two. Despite being marketed as ‘Pro,’ it’s hard to ignore the fact that both phones rely on an aging chipset, making them feel a bit outdated.