Chinese smartphone vendor Oppo unveiled its latest middle-range smartphone A3 Pro series, in its latest push to popularize 5G handsets with appealing technologies at affordable costs.

The move came as smartphone recovery continues progressing with market optimism slowly building among the top brands.

A3 Pro, which Oppo said can withstand high-pressure water jets, steam cleaning, and water submersions for half an hour, is its latest offering to the mass public market.

In the first quarter of 2024, global smartphone shipments increased 7.8 percent year over year to 289.4 million units, according to data from market research company International Data Corp.

While the industry is not out of the woods completely, as macroeconomic challenges remain in many markets, this marks the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth, a strong indicator that a recovery is well underway, IDC said.

"As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands," said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.