Samsung Galaxy A6 vs OPPO F7 vs Vivo V9 Comparative Review, Side by Side Specs Shootout

"How does the freshly launched PHP 16,490 Samsung Galaxy A6 compare against the very popular OPPO F7 and Vivo V9 Android smartphones, which are both priced at PHP 17,990, in terms of technical specifications?"

If you're one of the many who've sent me a similar inquiry, this blog post is for you.
Samsung Galaxy A6 vs OPPO F7 vs Vivo V9

Alright! Before I give you the complete TechPinas Specs Comparison Table featuring three above-mentioned models, allow me to provide a quick overview about each of them.

Samsung Galaxy A6 2018

Priced like a J-Series Galaxy smartphone, this model builds upon the success of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro to capture the fancy of mid-level mobile consumers who are already familiar and comfortable with the Samsung user interface for Android.

The Galaxy A6 features a real metal shell, a 5.6-inch HD+ SuperAMOLED display with 18.5:9 aspect ratio 16 MegaPixel f/1.7 rear camera with Phase Detection AutoFocus and LED flash, 16 MegaPixel f/1.9 front cam with Soft LED flash, Dual SIM Dual Standby capability, 4G LTE support, pre-installed Dolby Atmos audio enhancement software, and a non-removable 3,000 mAh Li-Ion battery pack.

Under the hood, it runs its heavily customized Android 8.0 Oreo operating system with a 14nm Octa-Core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 and Mali-T830 MP1 GPU based Exynos 7870 Octa Processor, has 3GB of RAM, and comes with 32GB of internal storage that can easily be expanded using the dedicated microSD card slot.

Samsung Galaxy A6 was officially launched in the Philippines on May 22, 2018, donning an official suggested retail price of PHP 16,490.

OPPO F7

OPPO F7 has just become the best-selling Android smartphone of OPPO Philippines to date -- and understandably so.

Beautiful on the outside and powerful in the inside, OPPO F7 has a stunning glass-sandwich design identity and is powered by the flagship-level MediaTek P60 processor that's known for power and energy-efficiency. This chipset is complemented by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of ROM, which - as a set - ensures smooth and enjoyable mobile experience.

On top of that, OPPO F7 has the highest resolution front-facing camera of any smartphone out in the market at a whopping 25 MegaPixels. This shooter is even powered by the company's AI Beauty technology that quite simply "captures the real you".

Other notable features of this handset include its 6.23-inch FullHD+ LTPS display with Notch, 16 MegaPixel f/1.8 rear camera with LED flash, Color OS 5.0 interface, Android 8.0 Oreo operating system, Dual SIM capability, 4G LTE-A Cat7 support, and large 3,400 mAh battery pack.

OPPO F7 was officially released in the Philippines on April 19, 2018 with price tag of PHP 17,990.

Vivo V9

The sleek and gorgeous Vivo V9 became a legitimate best-seller in the Philippines on the merit of its downright beautiful 6.3-inch FullHD+ IPS display - that looks great regardless of the viewing angle - and its ultra-high-res 24 MegaPixel Selfie camera that's powered by Vivo's own AI Beauty innovation that ensures that you still look like your self-portraits even after beautification.

On top of those, this handset also sports a Dual Rear Camera module made up of a 16 MegaPixel shooter plus a 5 MP secondary cam. Together, these two enable virtual bokeh effect, wherein the background of the subject is beautifully blurred. This kind of camera set-up is a real treat at this price point.

Additionally, Vivo V9 has a powerful set of internal hardware headlined by the 14nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage that's easily expandable using the dedicated microSD card slot. Yup, no need to sacrifice Dual SIM capability just to get more space for your content.

Launched in our country on April 6, 2018, Vivo V9 currently goes for PHP 17,990.

Samsung Galaxy A6 vs OPPO F7 vs Vivo V9 Specs Comparison

To make this specs shootout easier for all of us, I made this table. Give it a quick look first then, let's go through each category and I'll share my thoughts on which model has superiority there.

Samsung Galaxy A6 vs OPPO F7 vs Vivo V9 Specs

Dimensions - Samsung Galaxy A6 is the smallest and thinnest of the bunch, which is to be expected since it also has the smallest display. OPPO F7 is slightly bigger than the Vivo V9 albeit not by much.

Weight - Interestingly enough, at 161 grams, Samsung Galaxy A6 is the heaviest of the three, which is likely because of its aluminum shell. Flaunting a polycarbonate shell, Vivo V7 is the lightest at 150 grams.

Diplay - I've played with these three smartphones and I can confidently say that Vivo V9 is the winner here. Although its screen shares the same FullHD+ resolution with that of OPPO F7, Vivo V9's IPS panel is superior to the F7's LTPS display in terms of brightness -- especially under direct sunlight. Also, even if SuperAMOLED is deemed better than IPS when it comes to brilliance and energy efficiency, the Galaxy A6's screen is a lot smaller at just 5.6 inches across and only has HD+ resolution compared to what the other two handsets have.

Notch - Some people like it, some people don't. In the case of OPPO F7 and Vivo V9, it's what allowed them to have a larger screen without getting a bigger footprint. If you can't stand this feature, you'd be glad to know that Samsung Galaxy A6 doesn't have it.

Samsung Galaxy A6 vs OPPO F7 vs Vivo V9

Screen to Body Ratio - OPPO F7 and Vivo V9 are neck to neck in this department but Vivo wins by just 2.7%. In simple terms, this means that there's more screen and less bezels on the face of Vivo V9 compared to the other two phones.

Screen Protection - All three supposedly have scratch-resistant glass panels but OPPO is the only one to clearly state that its handset features Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Front Selfie Camera - A mere 1MP separate the OPPO F7 and Vivo V9 in terms of the ultra-high resolution front facing shooter. Given this, I'd say it's a virtual tie between the two. However, we all should give extra points to Samsung for giving its selfie-snapper a Soft LED flash for dim conditions.

Samsung Galaxy A6 vs OPPO F7 vs Vivo V9

Creative Side-by-Side Rendering of Samsung Galaxy A6, OPPO F7, and Vivo V9; Not 1 is to 1.

Rear Camera - I know. Only a camera shootout would do this part justice. But let's stick to specs for now. All three have the same resolution for the primary shooter but Galaxy A6 has the widest aperture at f/1.7 followed by OPPO F7 at f/1.8. Wide aperture comes in handy when shooting photos in settings where there's little ambient light.

Though its primary 16MP rear cam only has an f/2.0 aperture, Vivo V9 nonetheless has a secondary 5MP shooter at the back that enables Portrait Mode, which mimics shallow depth of field or bokeh effect to make photos of solo products and people more interesting.

User Interface - This one's subjective. I mean, we all have different preferences when it comes to our device's interface. OPPO F7's Color OS 5.0 looks like a cross between iOS and Android while Vivo V9's FunTouch OS 4.0 leans more towards iOS. At this point, Samsung Experience is most familiar to users but it also has the most bloatware.

Operating System Right Out of The Box - They're all pretty even in this regard with Vivo V9 having a bit of an edge as it runs Android 8.1 Oreo versus just 8.0. At the end of the day, planned firmware upgrades are what truly matters and so far, all three companies have yet to confirm if these models will get them.

Chipset - Based on Antutu Benchmarks Scores, OPPO F7's MediaTek Helio P60 processor is the winner here by a clear mile. So if you are a power user and you love playing specs-intensive games on the go, OPPO F7 would be most ideal for you.

However, we can't disregard the fact that Exynos 7870 is made by Samsung itself so it might be more tuned or more fit to run a Galaxy smartphone resulting in smoother perforance. Also, Vivo V9's Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 chip is renowned for its low energy consumption, resulting in extended uptime, so that's something that should also be considered.

RAM and ROM - I'd say they're clearly even here as all have 4GB of RAM and 64GB of ROM.

microSD card slot - All are dedicated so it's a tie for me. No need to sacrifice Dual SIM capability to get more space for content all three phones.

Battery - OPPO F7 has the highest capacity battery pack at 3,400 mAh. So in terms of size alone, it's the winner. That said, we should keep in mind that battery size isn't the only thing that determines a phone's daily uptime as it is also affected by user activity, screen size, energy efficiency of the processor, among others.

Connectivity - All of them have WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2 but only OPPO F7 and Vivo V9 support 4G LTE Cat7 -- while Samsung Galaxy A6 2018 only supports 4G LTE Cat6.

Privacy and Security - Samsung Galaxy A6, OPPO F7, and Vivo V9 have a rear-mounted Fingerprint Scanner and Facial Recognition integrated into the front-facing camera.

Design and Build - The Galaxy A6 flaunts a rather hefty real metal shell with U-shaped antenna bands at the back. OPPO F7 features a luxurious glass-sandwich design language and is available in Solar Red and Diamond Black. Vivo V9 has a thin and lightweight unibody polycarbonate shell with metallic finish. Which one looks best? You tell me.

So which of the three is the best?

Well, it sounds corny but the truth is, all of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, although the Galaxy A6 has the smallest and least pixel-dense display, it nonetheless has a real metal frame, a main camera with the widest aperture of the bunch, and the most affordable price tag. Also, while OPPO F7 and Vivo V9 have the same SRPs, it's a mixed bag between those two when it comes to size of the display, screen type, rear camera set-up, main material used for their exterior, and even processing power.

At the end of the day, all I can say is, you can't go wrong choosing any of these three stellar midrange Android smartphones. Each of them has something amazing to offer and frankly, given their price tags, I'd say they all deliver great value for money.

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