A38 — Oppo

In a smartphone market increasingly dominated by 5G and 120Hz displays, the OPPO A38 (released in late 2023) feels like a deliberate step back to fundamentals. It’s not designed for tech enthusiasts or spec-sheet warriors. Instead, it’s a phone built for a specific, massive demographic: first-time smartphone users, elderly users, and budget-conscious buyers in emerging markets who prioritize reliability, battery life, and service center access over raw performance.

It’s a phone of compromises, but the compromises are intelligently chosen: sacrifice screen resolution and camera quality to deliver best-in-class charging and battery. For its target user, that’s the right trade-off. For anyone else, it’s a hard pass.