When we’re working with a limited budget, our choices tend to be limited as well. Thankfully, OPPO has stepped up to the plate with its latest A-Series phone – the OPPO A77s. It promises to deliver quality performance along with striking style.
If looks could kill
Adorned with a striking Sunset Orange back panel, the OPPO A77s immediately captures the eyes.
Hold it, and you might be taken aback by how the fiberglass-leather material feels. Premium.
It may cause you to think that it’s worth at least over PhP 20,000. Then you go to check the fine print to find that the phone retails at PhP 13,999.
That can’t be right. But it is.
You start to think about when you last held something that felt this good and cost only this much. You think of a few things here and there. But nothing quite like this.
With just its look and feel, the OPPO A77s already distinguishes itself from the pack. But there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Reliable utility
You check the fine print again. The OPPO A77s is promising on paper:
- Snapdragon 680 processor
- 8GB RAM, +8GB Extended RAM after system updates
- 128GB Internal Storage (expandable to 1TB via microSD)
In practice? Well, it’s as reliable as anything else that you’ll find in its price segment. Really, you just need a smartphone that can keep up with your dailies. Now, depending on what your days look like, the OPPO A77s should have no trouble keeping up.
For light users, you need not worry. Nothing you do will wear this phone out. The same is true for regular ones. Rummaging through socials, emails, and chats… that’s typical, right? The phone will breeze through it.
Now, if you’re a mobile gamer, there’s something called the Pro Gamer Mode. It dedicates the phone’s hardware to your game, taking your play session to the next level.
And ColorOS, which the phone comes with, is an underrated Android skin. It’s easily one of the better-looking and functioning ones out there.
Can do cameras
The OPPO A77s has a capable set of cameras. A 50MP main camera, a 2MP depth lens for support, and an 8MP selfie shooter.
And while cameras won’t wow you, they’re certainly reliable. Good enough for capturing quick life moments and sharing them for the world to see.
Here are some snaps.

Like most other phones, well lit areas look great.
Bang for your buck
The OPPO A77s is steady. And most of the time, that’s just what we need. Something steady, consistent, and delivers what we need daily. The fact that it looks a little fancy is the icing on the cake. It’s a phone you can rely on for whatever most people do on their phones, but one that catches attention through its looks, feel, and useability.
And at only PhP 13,999, it’s a package that’s worthy of your consideration, especially if you want to squeeze every last bit of your hard-earned money.
This feature is a collaboration between GadgetMatch and OPPO Philippines.
Hands-On
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Series Hands-on
And everything announced during Apple’s September 2026 Event
The latest Apple event isn’t just about the shiny new Apple Duo. There’s a lot to talk about!
In this video, we break down everything Apple has announced during their September 2026 keynote.
First, there’s the updated iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. That’s alongside their design and color changes, battery and performance improvements. Even that massive camera upgrade.
There’s even the ANC-infused AirPods 5 alongside the newer Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. Plus, the latest software updates coming to both these wearables.
So, are these worth the upgrade?
TV technology is changing in a way you can’t see. And it starts with how color itself is made.
Hisense’s new RGB MiniLED technology could change the way we see TVs.
Here’s our spotlight on their latest Hisense UR8 offering.
Check out the Hisense UR8 TV: https://bit.ly/4cxo6xl
Features
How did new CEO John Ternus do for his first Apple event?
Is a new golden age coming for Apple?
For a brief moment, I thought Tim Cook was refusing to step down as Apple’s CEO.
Apple’s “Surprise and shine” event, which heralded the coming of the foldable iPhone Duo, started bombastically with a montage of cinematic moments spanning different genres. The main point was: “what’s the best way to start an opening scene?”
After what felt like an age, the all-too-familiar voice of Tim Cook came on, perhaps for the very last time. But rather than overstaying his exit as the former CEO, he describes that the perfect opener should be classic, as a car that is, quite symbolically, riding off into the sunset. He then explains that he’s not the main character anymore.
“That’s your guy,” he said, before pointing to John Ternus, who steps into frame without an introduction or even a name card. It’s hard to image that this guy is the new face of Apple.
It’s the perfect end to Tim Cook’s tenure and as perfect a start for John Ternus’s.
Moving from an age of crisis to a golden age
After a decade and a half of being the face of the brand, Tim Cook stepped down from his tenure as CEO. He leaves the company in a much better state than when he took over. Thanks to him, the iPhone is now a household item. It’s a ubiquitous phone that draws millions of fans every time a new one comes out every year.
But his tenure didn’t start on a bed of roses. When he took over in 2011, it was in response to Steve Jobs’s failing health, who passed away soon after. He inherited a company constantly threatened by competitors trying to eat into Apple’s slice of the pie.
Indeed, Cook’s tenure was peppered with crises. He had to navigate Trump’s first reign, destructive as it was towards relationships in China. He had to figure out survival during the tempestuous pandemic years. Finally, he had to carefully build a strategy for the dawn of AI.
Cook is, first and foremost, a businessman. While the Jobs era was typified by innovation after innovation, Cook built upwards, turning Apple into a trillion-dollar company. Although we didn’t see a lot of new exciting segments introduced, the company built on what it was already good at, delivering a premium and refined experience.
John Ternus comes at an opportune time. Though the brand will always have a healthy share of diehard fans, Apple must now find the next big thing and rediscover the spice of years past.
A time for AI?
After his nonchalant introduction, Ternus immediately goes on the offensive and describes his vision for Apple Intelligence. Rather than dwell on NPUs, TOPS, and other metrics that a regular user can’t make heads or tails of, he described Apple Intelligence and Siri AI as a personal assistant. Usage versus performance, in other words.
If you’re an AI enthusiast, the renewed push towards Apple Intelligence should give you hope that the iPhone won’t just be a receptacle for other AI software. Rather, it’s building its own. Wherever the AI industry is going, Apple looks like it can keep up.
Now, if you don’t like AI at all, that’s fine, too. Ternus isn’t there just for the AI.
Unlike Jobs or Cook, Ternus comes from a strictly engineering background. In today’s world, hardware complements AI. The software must use NPUs after all. But, when the AI bubble finally pops, Ternus isn’t out of a job. In fact, if his track record is any indication, it’s just getting started.
Or a time for new hardware?
This year is absolutely monumental for Apple. Earlier this year, the company launched the MacBook Neo, its first budget-friendly notebook built for everyone. If you were looking to get into the MacBook lifestyle, now is the perfect time to buy in. A lot of users felt a subtle changing of the guard.
From there, you can feel Ternus’s influence already seeping in. And if it wasn’t obvious back then, it’s more than apparent now.
In his first ever “One More Thing,” Ternus started his tenure strong with the introduction of the iPhone Duo. Almost twelve hours since the phone’s announcement, I’ve never seen a more visceral reaction to the launch of a new iPhone.
Whereas most of their annual releases reveled in more incremental improvements that primarily tickled already dedicated fan, the iPhone Duo is something new. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s gotten so crazy that even Samsung, often more nonchalant with its prodding, openly attacked the foldable after teasing the brand to go foldable last year.
Though it’s technically not a new segment, the iPhone Duo is patching up the mistakes of past foldables. Rather than just pasting two screens together, Apple’s take feels like a unified whole, emphasized by an interface that seamlessly changes from folded to unfolded.
Where Tim Cook failed to illicit more than a modest ripple with the Vision Pro, Ternus flew to new heights with the iPhone Duo’s announcement. And the phone isn’t even out yet.
Now, there’s still a chance that the Duo won’t be a hit with sales, especially because of the price. But this is still a strong opener for Ternus.
Who is the main character?
“That’s your guy,” Tim Cook pointed.
I don’t think he was pointing in the right direction. Though the camera cut to Ternus himself, his first outing clearly states that the main character is no longer whoever is handling the reins. His decision to skip an official introduction feels intentional. The main character, after all, is the hardware itself: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone Duo.
The entire event started with a bold declaration that everything was shot with an iPhone. It ended, in fact, with the same declaration. Channeling their inner Marshall McLuhan, Ternus’s Apple wants you to believe in the iPhone again.
Even as someone who doesn’t use Apple products mainly, I’m stoked to see what the new era will bring to the table. This is an exciting time for Apple. We might be in the first year of a new golden age.
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