The Oppo A37 is an entry-level smartphone that's packed to the gills with features Review ( 1 )

Oppo has announced an entry-level smartphone that’s seemingly big on features, and they’ve called it the A37.

The highlight of the phone is claimed to be its camera system. The front and rear cameras are 5MP and 8MP sensors respectively, but Oppo claims that they’re based on 1.4μm technology. What this means is that the individual pixels are larger, leading to brighter, less noisy images. In theory anyway.

The sensors also feature OmniBSI+ technology which, ignoring the marketing jargon, means that the sensors use backside illumination for better low-light performance. On the software front, the camera app apparently supports multiple scene mode, a range of filters, shooting modes and more.

You also get Beautify 4.0, which is supposed to “beautify” your selfies using intelligent algorithms derived from the analysis of millions of selfies. The software also features two modes for different skin tones. Also included is a palm shutter mode that lets you start a countdown timer by waving your hands in front of the camera.

The display is a 5 inch one and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It’s also 2.5D glass. The frame itself is made of Magnesium alloy and the entire phone weighs in at 136g. In terms of hardware, you get 2GB of RAM and a “quad-core 64-bit Snapdragon processor.” Onboard storage is only 16GB, but you can expand it by 128GB using the microSD card slot. The phone is also a dual-SIM device.

The OS on the A37 is called ColorOS 3.0 and has apparently been tweaked, optimized and generally made leaner. Oppo claims ColorOS 3.0 is now 20 percent faster than its predecessors.

The OS also incorporates a privacy mode that lets you hide things like contacts, apps and even files before sharing the phone with anyone.

Of note is the fact that Oppo has tied up with Dirac to offer Dirac HD audio. To those not in the know, Dirac HD takes audio profiles of speakers and headphones and creates an equalizer profile that can take full advantage of your respective audio device.

The phone will be available in gold, rose gold and grey. It’s been launched in Singapore and Indonesia for $199 (around Rs 13,500) and is expected to launch soon in other countries.