Oppo A93 versus the Umidigi A9 Pro

You can check out my full review of the Oppo A93 here and the Umidigi A9 Pro here

Two phones from two different worlds. While you can attempt to group the Oppo A93 and the Umidigi A9 Pro in the budget Android category, they are two very different phones on closer inspection. Nowhere is that difference more apparent than in the price department. The Oppo A93 costs approx. $260, and the Umidigi A9 Pro retails for just under $159. What I’ll focus on in this buying guide is determining if that difference in price leads to a wide difference in quality.

Performance – winner Oppo A93

Oppo A93 featured Image
The Oppo A93 has all it takes to run even the most performance intensive applications
Image showing the Umidigi A9 Pro running a game
The Umidigi A9 is well-specked but might stutter with some high end performance apps

The Oppo A93 is the clear winner and by a longshot too. Onboard it, you’ll find an Helio P95 processor mated to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, compared to the 6GB/128GB storage config on my A9 Pro. Note, however, that there’s an 8GB/128GB version of the A9 Pro.

The extra processing power of the Helio P95 and the additional 2GB  of RAM on the A93 really makes a difference. It was smoother to operate, faster in use and more well suited to handling performance intensive apps.

On my A9 Pro, I noticed some lag when running PUBG at high definition settings. This performance drop was essentially absent on the Oppo A93. Also, because of the higher RAM allocation, the A93 was better at multitasking. I could conveniently switch through up to 15 mid-powered apps on the phone without it losing memory or closing background apps. The Umidigi A9 Pro was a bit sluggish after about ten apps were launched in the background.

Display quality – winner Oppo A93

Oppo A93 AMOLED screen
While the Specs don’s scream top-tier the display of the Oppo A93 looks gorgeous
Image showing front design and build of the Umidigi A9 Pro
The A9 Pro houses a full-HD display that looks good from all angles

There’s really no contest here – the display on the Oppo A93 is light years ahead of what’s on the A9 Pro. To break it down:

The A93 has a 6.4 inch AMOLED display with a pixel density of 409 PPI and max brightness output of 800 nits. The Umidigi A9 Pro ships with a Full HD IPS panel with a pixel density of 406 PPI. Both have a screen refresh rate of 60Hz.

In real-world use, the Oppo A93 produces more vivid colors. Images come out more vibrant too. There’s a bit of white hue with the A9 Pro screen, but it’s not anything major. I think the pill-shaped notch on the A93 is sexier than the teardrop notch on the A9 Pro, but then again, that’s just my personal preference.

Camera quality – winner Oppo A93

Oppo A93 sample camera shots with bokeh
The Oppo A93 gets in enough light to produce some very decent bokeh
Image of test photo taken by the Umidigi A9 Pro
Photos from the A9’s back camera were also superb in well lit condition with enough clarity, sharpness and color depth

Images produced by the A93 are sharper with more depth and vibrance than the A9 Pro. Bokeh and background separation are noticeably better too. At the front, the dual selfie cameras on the A93 does a better job capturing the selfies with clarity; the bokeh mode with the front camera is also way cooler than the A9 Pro.

If you like to get down and dirty with the numbers, both phones host a quad-camera setup at the back, with the A93 being a 48MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP depth, 2MP macro config. The A9 Pro’s back camera setup is a 48MP main, 16MP ultrawide, 5MP macro, and 5MP depth config – To be clear, it doesn’t take bad pictures, just not better than the Oppo A93.

Build quality and design – winner Oppo A93

Image showing minimalist build of the Oppo A93
The A93 is a very thin and handy phone with sleek curves and an overall portable feel
Picture of the build quality of the Umidigi A9 Pro
Umidigi’s signature glass sandwich build looks really cool on the A9 Pro

Despite having what’s considered a cheaper build config – a plastic back – the A93 still feels more well built and more premium than the A9 Pro. The phone feels solid to hold, and its plastic edges are posher and more befitting of a premium smartphone than the A9 Pro. I especially love the two-tone matte finish of the back cover. It works to gives this phone an added air of sophistication. The A93 is also lighter – way lighter than the Umidigi A9 Pro.

On its part, the Umdiigi A9 Pro spots a glass sandwich build that’s actually gorgeous on the first impression. However, the phone feels heavy, and the plastic rims give off this cheap vibe. It’s also thicker, fatter and less sleek than the A93. Overall, if I were to score both phones for design and build quality, the A93 scores a healthy 8/10 while the A9 Pro checks out at 7/10.

Battery performance – winner Oppo A93

Although both phones spot similar numbers in the battery department, I’ve found that the A93 lasts longer on average than the Umidigi A9 Pro. Whether that’s down to better optimization or the energy-efficient AMOLED display, I’m not quite sure. What’s more, the Oppo A93 ships with a fast charger in the box compared to the 10W charger that comes with the Umidigi A9 Pro. Consequently, it takes just about an hour to get the A93’s battery from 0-100%. The Umidigi A9 Pro requires well over 2 hours to complete a full 0-100% charge.

Miscellaneous – winner Oppo A93

What's in the box of the Oppo A93
The Oppo A93 comes with an 18W charger, a USB C cable, a clear TPU case, a SIM ejector tool and an operations manual
Image showing camera bump and contactless thermometer on the Umidigi A9 Pro
The contactless thermometer on the A9 Pro allows you to measure the temperatures of people and objects on the Umidigi A9 Pro
Image of the extra customizable button on the Umidigi A9 Pro
The extra customizable button can be mapped to a variety of smartphone functions

In addition to the fast charger, the Oppo A93 also comes with an earphone and a clear TPU case in-box. The Umidigi A9 Pro, on the other hand, only comes with a TPU case and the 10W charger. No earphones.

The A93 also comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor which I feel is cooler and easier to use than the back-mounted sensor on the A9 Pro. Both worked flawlessly when I tested them anyway.

On the A93, you get Oppo’s Colour OS skin atop stock android. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m really impressed. Everything looks nice and in place. With the A9 Pro, it’s stock Android, and although that means less bloatware, I did find the UI a tad bit bland.

It worth mentioning that the A9 Pro has two tricks up its sleeves in the form of a contactless thermometer and an extra customizable button. Both are really nice features that tempted me to crown the A9 Pro winner of this category. However, I feel the combination of an in-display sensor, a fast charger in the box and an intuitive UI on the A93 checkout to be more practical miscellaneous features than the contactless thermometer – extra button duo.  

Verdict – The Oppo A93 obviously

The Oppo A93 is such a clear winner over the Umidigi A9 Pro that you’re probably wondering why even bother with the comparison. Well, here’s the deal; for the most part, the A9 Pro is not lagging that far behind the Oppo A93 in all the areas I tested. There’s an 8GB RAM version of the phone. It has 128GB of storage (same as the A93), a good camera and a build that’s all too shabby. More importantly, it costs about $100 less than the A93.

So yeah, while the difference in quality is indeed as wide as the price difference, If you’re on a budget, the A9 Pro is a slice of the A93 – it’s not as flawless as the A93, but it’ll certainly give you a dose of what you’d get on the A93.