HUAWEI MatePad 12 X (2026) Review
Budget phones these days are becoming increasingly well-packaged. If you don’t believe me, check out the budget to mid-range smartphones we’ve reviewed in the past month. Most, if not all of them, offer a lot for their price.
With manufacturers stepping up their game, OPPO is the next to introduce their challenger – the A6 Pro 5G. Similar to its competitor in the segment, it has impressive specs on paper – a 6.57-inch AMOLED display, a Mediatek Dimensity 6300 chipset, and a large 6500mAh battery pack.
But perhaps the most impressive is the fact that it features an IP69 rating for dust and water resistance and even military grade shock resistance. All these features seem impressive for its affordable price point. But as we always say, amazing specs on paper don’t always translate well to a great experience in real life.
So without further ado, let’s check out the new OPPO A6 Pro 5G.
The design of OPPO A6 Pro 5G looks great, especially in the Coral Pink colorway. It features a floral motif on the back panel that pops up depending how the light hits it. From the press photos we’ve seen, it seems only the Coral Pink variant features this cool flower motif versus the others.
Aside from the floral motif, the back panel features a minimalist design with just the camera island on the upper left corner and the OPPO logo at the bottom. I like how the back panel feels, even if it’s just made out of plastic. It’s smooth, and more importantly, it’s very smudge-resistant.
Just like the back panel, the frame is also made out of plastic. Similarly, it feels quite premium. At first, I thought it was made out of metal but was surprised to find out that it uses a plastic construction.
In terms of ergonomics, everything is easily reachable with my finger. The volume rocker and power button are on the right side. At the bottom, there’s the USB-C port, the dual-sim card slot/microSD slot, and one of the loudspeakers. Meanwhile, the left side of the phone remains clean.
The A6 Pro 5G isn’t that big, which I personally like. It’s only 6.23-inches long, but it’s not the thinnest, measuring 8mm thick. If you add the rubber case, it becomes even thicker and bulkier in your pants.
But now, let’s talk about the biggest feature of the OPPO A6 Pro 5G – the IP69 rating and its military grade shock resistance.
With the IP69 rating, you don’t have to worry about submerging it underwater. From water jets to fine dust, the A6 Pro 5G can take it all. There’s no need to worry about bringing it wherever you go. But of course, salt water is a different issue.
As for the military grade shock resistance, you can keep dropping it and you’ll be fine. Honestly, I don’t see the point in having the rubber case anymore, considering how sturdy this phone is. Sure it protects the phone from scratches, but hey battle scars tell stories.
With that, there’s no need to question that the OPPO A6 Pro 5G is one sturdy phone. I mean of course, you need to remember that this isn’t indestructible. It’s military-rated not military equipment.
Moving on to the display, the OPPO A6 Pro 5G features a 6.57-inch screen. It uses an AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1400 nits of peak brightness. The borders aren’t that thin, but they are even all around.
This being an AMOLED display, you do get nice vibrant colors. It’s more than adequate for binge watching videos. However, I’m sure some of you might find the 6.57-inch screen a bit small for watching series.
With the 120Hz refresh rate, you’ll be able to enjoy smooth animations too. But this is more prominent when you’re playing games, which we’ll talk more about later.
Thankfully, the display of the A6 Pro 5G has good viewing angles. So even if you’re watching in a group, they’ll be able to see everything happening on screen. What is a bit lacking is the peak brightness.
When you’re indoors, the screen brightness is more than enough. But when you’re outside, you might find it a bit hard to see what’s on screen, especially when it’s bright or sunny. There’s also no coating that helps with glare too.
Interestingly, the screen uses a different protective coating; it’s not Gorilla Glass. Instead, it uses AGC DT-Star D+. It’s quite sturdy and scratch-resistant, considering all the tests we did with this phone. There are no visible scratches on the screen.
As for the speakers, the A6 Pro 5G features dual speakers. Despite being stereo speakers, the quality is average. There are barely any bass, and the mids aren’t that clear. However, they are loud so at least you’re sure everyone will hear.
For biometrics, you get an underscreen fingerprint scanner. There’s also face biometrics, if you want to add an additional layer of security, or if you’re too lazy to use your fingers. Both systems work rather fast, with no issues.
Perhaps the weakest link of the OPPO A6 Pro 5G are the cameras. The rear cameras only feature a 50MP main shooter paired with a 2 MP depth sensor. As for the front camera, it features a 16MP selfie shooter.
If you plan on capturing images, I highly recommend using 1x or 2x zoom at most to be able to retain the best quality. At 3x zoom, it’s still usable, but anything more and the drop in quality is very obvious. Everything becomes pixelated even when it’s bright out. Not to mention there’s no ultrawide either.
When you keep to 1x or 2x zoom, you can capture great images though. The colors are vibrant, but still retains a natural look especially in well-lit environments. There’s a good balance between the highlights and shadows, even without having to edit the images in post.
Honestly, I was surprised by how the photos turned out. They’re a lot better than expected, but you will need to be in a well-lit spot to capture better images. At night or in low-light, the drop in quality is quite obvious. Even without zooming in, it becomes decent at best. Even when you do long exposure, it’s not that great.
With that, you have to set your expectations when it comes to the photos of the OPPO A6 Pro 5G. It’s a similar story when it comes to video.
The camera can only record up to 1080P@60FPS max. The output is similar to what you’ll see in the images – great in the day, but just average in low light. There’s no stabilization either. With that, you’ll need steady hands to take decent video.
Check out the gallery below to see what we mean.
In terms of software, the OPPO A6 Pro 5G runs on ColorOS 15, based on Android 15. It’s smooth and there are a bunch of customization options to help users personalize the phone to their liking.
Despite being a relatively budget phone, you do get some of the AI features found on higher-end models. There’s AI GameBoost and AI LinkBoost. But perhaps the feature we used the most is the AI Editor wherein you can use AI Eraser, enhance the photos, and more.
This being Android 15, you also get Gemini features including circle to search and even the AI functions in the notepad.
Unfortunately, you still get a lot of bloatware the moment you boot up your phone. There’s a lot, and they’re not all neatly located in one folder. This means you will have to delete them one by one.
You also get unwanted notifications for apps that you don’t use, which is very irritating. You can turn them off, but it’s still an extra step for something we never wanted.
Still, I can’t wait to see what ColorOS 16 has to offer, assuming this phone gets the update immediately.
Under the hood, the OPPO A6 Pro 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset. Our review unit comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For reference, this is the top spec variant available for the Philippine market.
It’s not exactly the most powerful chipset for its price point, but it’s more than adequate for getting your day-to-day work done. You can leave multiple apps running in the background, and it can easily switch between these apps with ease. There’s no long wait time before these apps start to run.
But for gaming, it’s not exactly the best. When playing Genshin Impact, it runs the game smoothly at 60FPS with most of the graphics settings on low. But if you start to change things to medium, you’ll immediately notice framerate drops even when you’re just looking around the area.
Even with the help of game boost, it doesn’t really do much. However, if you play lighter titles like Mobile Legends, you can max out the graphics and still have decent framerates all together. With that, just pick the games you’ll be playing, and as always set your expectations with regards to the performance.
If you plan on downloading a lot of apps and games, there is a microSD card slot, should you find 256GB lacking.
As for the benchmarks, you can check them out below.
| Device: | OPPO A6 Pro 5G |
|---|---|
| Chipset: | MediaTek Dimensity 6300 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Antutu v11.0.3 | 628,991 |
| Antutu Storage Test V11 | 66,733 |
| Seq. Read | 539.3 MB/s |
| Seq. Write | 545.3 MB/s |
| Geekbench Single-Core | 780 |
| Geekbench Multi-Core | 2,084 |
| Geekbench OpenCL | 1,474 |
| Geekbench Vulkan | 1,479 |
| 3D Mark Wild Life | 1,383 (8.28 Avg fps) |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 10,055 |
The battery of the OPPO A6 Pro 5G is one of the bigger ones in the market. Our unit packs a 6,500mAh unit, but there is also a variant which features a larger 7,000mAh unit.
The battery lasts a very long time. I used it for an entire day while in Clark, starting at 81%, and I still had roughly 50% battery life by the time I went to bed. When I left it a day on my desk without using it, the battery only dropped by 2%. The benchmark showed similar results too. Using our video loop test, the phone lasted 38 hours and 52 minutes. For reference, this test was done in airplane mode, zero volume, and 50 brightness.
So when you go out, there’s really no need to worry about the battery draining really fast. When you do need to charge the phone, it won’t take a long time either. It features 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging, which, according to OPPO, juices up the phone from 1% to 50% in just 26 minutes.
In terms of connectivity, the OPPO A6 Pro 5G comes with Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.4, dual-SIM (no eSIM), NFC, GPS, and 5G. It also features screencast, which makes it easy to cast the phone screen to a TV or other displays.
Overall, the OPPO A6 Pro 5G shows a lot of potential. It’s perfect for those who have butter fingers and drop their phones often. Alternatively, it’s great if you need a phone to use for your business, such as a kiosk or even a stand.
The long battery life and the sturdy construction ensure you will be able to use it continuously, no matter the condition you’re in. Still, I do wish OPPO fitted a more powerful chipset and cameras to make it a better all-around phone.
At its price though, I can’t really complain much. The OPPO A6 Pro 5G in the same 8+256GB configuration as ours retails for PHP 18,999. There is a more affordable variant in the 6+128GB configuration for just PHP 13,999. If you don’t mind not having 5G, the OPPO A6 Pro 4G in 8+256GB variant retails for PHP 15,999.
For its price, it’s possibly one of the toughest in the price segment. But, you do sacrifice the performance and cameras. Whatever the case, what do you think of the OPPO A6 Pro 5G?
Is it a phone you’d pick for yourself or your business, or would you choose something else? Whatever the case, share your thoughts in the comments below.
What we liked:
What we didn’t like:
OPPO A6 Pro 5G specs:
6.57-inch FHD+ (2372 x 1080) AMOLED display, ~397 ppi
120Hz refresh rate, 1,400 nits (peak)
Crystal Shield glass protection
MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (2.5GHz)
Mali-G57 MC2 GPU
6GB, 8GB RAM
128GB, 256GB internal storage
50MP main camera (f/1.8, OIS)
2MP depth
LED flash
16MP front camera
Stereo speakers
Dual SIM
5G
Wi-Fi 6 (dual-band)
Bluetooth 5.4
GPS, GNS, GALILEO, QZSS, BDS
NFC
USB Type-C
ColorOS 15 (Android 15)
Fingerprint sensor (in-display, optical)
Face unlock
6,500mAh battery
80W SUPERVOOC fast charging
IP68, IP69 ratings
MIL-STD-810H
158.2 x 75 x 8mm (dimensions)
190 grams (weight)
Coral Pink, Stellar Blue (colors)
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Art Garcia says:
🌱 Noobs🏆2
at least Oppo is consistent with their mid-range pricing. still overpriced. 😅
+1
Art Garcia says:
🌱 Noobs🏆2
no word on how many OS updates?
still reviewing phones like a noob. tsk, tsk.