The Oppo A78 5G is coming to Malaysia soon, but with a major hardware downgrade

Back in June last year, Oppo had launched the Oppo A77 5G in Malaysia, a midrange smartphone that had a MediaTek Dimensity 810 processor in it, and a rather lacklustre HD+ screen. With its successor, the Oppo A78 5G, it seems that the Chinese giant is set to go a further step back with their A series lineup as it’s set to come with more downgrades than upgrades.

According to Oppo Malaysia’s Facebook page, the Oppo A78 5G will apparently be coming to Malaysia later this month, with them already teasing the device as a value-focused 5G smartphone. They’ll be having an event on 13 January where Oppo fans can come and try out their new device, where we can also expect more details on pricing and availability in Malaysia. Oppo will also be giving away five Oppo Watch Free fitness bands in conjunction with the imminent launch of the Oppo A78 5G, which you can find out more about on their Facebook page.

As for the Oppo A78 5G itself, while it might not be available just yet, its specs are already available via its product page on the Oppo website. It’s rather disappointing to say the least, as it’ll apparently come with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 under the hood, a processor that’s two years old now built on the 7nm process. In comparison, its predecessor the Oppo A77 5G came with the newer and better MediaTek Dimensity 810 system-on-chip instead, a 6nm processor that offers roughly 10% better performance over the Dimensity 700. The Oppo A78 5G is also expected to arrive with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

Elsewhere, there’s a 6.56-inch, HD+ LCD display that pushes a 90Hz refresh rate. It offers a peak brightness of 600nits, and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space. With even the likes of Samsung moving its entry level Galaxy A devices such as the Galaxy A14 5G towards a Full HD display as well as up to four years of security updates, the Oppo A78 5G will need to be priced much lower than the A77 5G’s RM1,199 to be deemed a solid purchase.

Other features of note include a dual rear camera setup with a main 50MP, f/1.8 camera flanked by a 2MP, f/2.4 black and white sensor while upfront you get an 8MP, f/2.0 camera for selfies. You’ll also find a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging that they say can fully charge the Oppo A78 5G in just 67 minutes, along with stereo speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack, IPX4 water resistance and support for WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC and 5G.