This year has been witness to truly spectacular releases: the OPPO R17 Pro, together with the Samsung Galaxy A9, are among the highly anticipated phones out there. Both donning multiple camera setups and competitive specs, the two really are comparable. Read on to see what sets them apart and which one will win today’s showdown.
Design & Construction
The Galaxy A9 made waves when it was first announced because of its quadruple rear camera setup that easily trumps out the competition when it comes to numbers. So far, it comes in three color variants: Caviar Black, Lemonade Blue, and Bubblegum Pink. The A9 also has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and proudly rocks a notch-less display.
The R17 Pro, on the other hand, has established itself as one of the most stylish phones in the market right now. When it comes to aesthetics, OPPO has always been brave enough to cover their phones in bold gradients. Its fingerprint sensor is placed within the display, but the device itself has a very reliable face recognition feature that almost eliminates the need for unlocking the phone with your fingerprints.
Display
If not for the slight size difference in display area because of the A9’s lack of a notch, it would’ve been a tougher match. The R17 Pro gets a point because of its 6.4-inch display and higher pixel density of 402ppi, while the A9 has 6.3 inches and 392ppi. Both are using AMOLED capacitive touchscreens which can produce bolder colors and rich blacks compared to LCD screens.
OPPO R17 Pro’s Triple Rear Camera
Camera
The A9’s main shooter consists of a 24MP lens, an 8MP ultrawide lens, a 10MP telephoto lens, and a 5MP depth sensor. Meanwhile, the R17 Pro’s triple rear camera consists of a 12MP wide lens, a 20MP main lens, and a TOF 3D stereo camera. While the A9 has a much more impressive setup due to the number of lenses it has, the R17 Pro can take 3D photos when paired with the right app. It also bears repeating that the R17 Pro fulfills its promise of improved camera performance in low-light conditions.
Performance
The R17 Pro dominates this round with its Snapdragon 710 chipset paired with an Adreno 616 GPU. The A9’s Snapdragon 660 processor and Adreno 512 GPU is already good on its own but doesn’t hold up well when pitted against the R17 Pro’s. As for memory, both the R17 Pro and A9 comes in two variants: 6GB and 8GB RAM, with 128GB of internal storage. They also have microSD slots to further expand storage.
| OPPO R17 Pro | Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Snapdragon 710 | Snapdragon 660 |
| Memory | 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB Storage | 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB Storage |
| Display | 6.4 inches AMOLED, 2340 x 1080 screen resolution, 402 ppi | 6.3 inches AMOLED, 2220 x 1080 screen resolution, 392 ppi |
| Front Camera | 25MP | 24MP |
| Rear Camera | 12MP, 20MP, TOF 3D Stereo Camera | 24MP, 8MP (Ultrawide), 10MP (Telephoto), 5MP (depth sensor) |
| Batttery | Non-removable Li-ion 3,700mAh | Non-removable Li-ion 3,800mAh |
| OS | Android 8.1 | Android 8.0 |
| Sensors | Fingerprint (in-display), accelerometer, proximity, compass | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Network | GSM, HSPA, LTE | GSM, CDMA, HSPA, LTE |
| Colors | Radiant Mist | Caviar Black, Lemonade Blue, Bubblegum Pink |
Overall, the R17 Pro has much more impressive specs compared to the A9 but in terms of camera performance, there’s still some reservations as to which phone can take better pictures. For its price of Php 32,990, the Samsung Galaxy A9 is a preferable alternative but if you can shell out Php 6k more, I’d say the OPPO R17 Pro is definitely worth your money at Php 38,990.
