Oppo A38 review: The A18 with faster 33 W charging — the slightly-better budget pick.
The A18, but it charges properly.
A38 is essentially the A18 with a 50 MP main and proper 33 W charging instead of 10 W — the small upgrades that make a budget phone livable day-to-day. The HD+ panel and slow chip are unchanged. For a little more money it is the obviously better of the pair.
01Display
56/10056/100 — right at the average for entry phones of 2023.
02Camera
52/10052/100 puts it above the 47-point average for entry phones of 2023.
03Performance
46/10046/100 puts it above the 43-point average for entry phones of 2023.
04Battery
80/10080/100 — right at the average for entry phones of 2023.
05Build
60/10060/100 puts it above the 58-point average for entry phones of 2023.
06Value
64/10064/100 — right at the average for entry phones of 2023.
- 33 W charging — far faster than the A18's 10 W.
- 50 MP main and 5,000 mAh.
- 90 Hz, splash resistance, jack + microSD.
- Cheap and tidy.
- HD+ resolution.
- Helio G85 + 4 GB are slow.
- Single speaker, 5 MP selfie.
- Minimal software support.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 20-phone cohort of entry devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .