OPPO Reno hands-on: seizing the mid-range
OPPO continues its path of innovation through Reno, its new brand announced a few months ago, adding a sliding mechanism with a strange "shark fin" design on top of which houses the front camera and LED flash.
A highly competitive price
OPPO Reno will be available for purchase across Europe from 10 May at a suggested retail price of 499 euros, making it one of the most competitive mid-range smartphones of the first half of 2019.
Modern in every respect
Like most of the top devices, the Reno is a sandwich made up of two layers of glass and a metal frame that surrounds the entire device. The feeling in the hand is high quality, but the glass used in the back is slightly slippery, which is why we recommend the use of the cover included in the sales package.
In contrast to its older brother, the Reno in the standard version has an audio jack at the bottom, next to the USB-C port and the system speaker. The real surprise is in the upper part, where you can see a new pop-up mechanism with a very strange "shark fin" shape (Pivot Rising Camera) that contains inside the front camera and the front and rear LED flash. This ploy has allowed the manufacturer to get a display free of notches or holes and a screen-body ratio of 93.1%.
The new mechanism is very similar to the one proposed last year by the same company with the Find X, but what makes the Reno better than the previous flagship model of the manufacturer is the fingerprint reader integrated in the display. This allows you to unlock your smartphone without lifting the fin, although the mechanical system has been tested as many as 200 thousand times without showing any problems. OPPO also stated that the mechanism has a protection system in case of accidental fall if it slipped from the hands.
OPPO Reno will initially be available in two beautiful colors, Ocean Green and Jet Black, but what is most disappointing is the absence of an IP68 certification: be careful not to immerse it in water.
A beautiful display without notch or hole
The 6.4-inch OLED display offers FHD+ resolution and is well calibrated, showing rather natural colors. Compared to my Huawei P30 and Samsung Galaxy S10+, the display of the Reno does not seem surprising, but you have to keep in mind that this smartphone costs almost half of their competitors.
OPPO claims a screen-body ratio of 93% due to the presence of minimal frames and the absence of notches or holes. As we are accustomed to these times, even the lower frame of the Reno is more pronounced than the upper one and the sides, but you will soon notice after using it for some time.
This screen is also equipped with a mode that OPPO calls Night Shield that would be able to reduce blue light emissions without compromising the colors reproduced. It's the same mode you've seen on the Galaxy S10 and it works pretty well.
ColorOS updates
The software on board is Android 9 Pie, customized by the manufacturer's proprietary interface, the ColorOS, which differs greatly from Android stock, which is why you need to spend a lot of time in his company before getting used to it. Apart from that, the operating system seems to run fast and fluid and showed no problems during the short test.
Fast and snappy
Despite being positioned as a mid-range device, OPPO Reno looks extremely fast and snappy. It is powered by the SoC Snapdragon 710 with 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of internal memory. In contrast to its older brother, the Reno in the "standard" version does not offer the possibility of memory expansion via microSD cards.
Although we were able to spend very little time with this device, the first impressions from the hardware point of view were positive and we didn't notice any kind of slowdown. However, as always, we look forward to receiving our test unit to offer you a more thorough testing of the device.
Here comes Ultra Night Mode 2.0
Although OPPO Reno 10x Zoom stole all the attention during the conference with its 10x hybrid zoom, the main sensor in the standard version is the same as in the more powerful version. This is the Sony IMX586 48MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture, also equipped with an Ultra Night Mode 2.0 mode that takes advantage of AI, HDR for greater noise reduction in the worst light conditions.
This should help to avoid dark, noisy photos in low light conditions. However, unlike Huawei's new P30 Pro, OPPO's approach to night photography is not to artificially illuminate the image, but to keep the illumination closer to what the human eye can see. The second sensor supporting the main one is a 5MP lens used especially for depth of field detection.
Recharging VOOC 3.0
OPPO Reno contains a 3765 mAh battery, reasonable size for its price range and which should allow this smartphone to withstand a whole day without any kind of problem. In addition, this model is also compatible with VOOC 3.0 charging, a technology almost equal to the Super VOOC that we could see on OPPO Find X.
What's missing, however, is the wireless charging cradle, despite the glass back.
OPPO Reno technical specifications
Early Verdict
Mid-range smartphones continue to become more powerful every year. OPPO, as well as Xiaomi and other manufacturers, has decided to follow this trend by providing a device with excellent performance and a software rich in customizations at a price more suited to the budget of most users.
The first look at the OPPO Reno is very positive and we are looking forward to further exploring every aspect of this device in our full review that will come in the coming days.
You had me all excited for this device until -
ColorOS
Popup Camera
No micro SD card
Not available in North America shops
I'm not playing roulette ordering thru Amazon (or anywhere else online)