Oppo Reno 8 Pro review: a good phone for nothing | Tech US News

The Oppo Reno series has been around for a few years and has previously broken new ground in the industry – Reno is the first phone in the UK with 5G. The latest is the Reno 8 Pro, and it’s not what you’d call an innovation this time around.

Instead, the Reno 8 Pro is a competitor to the OnePlus 10T, trying to strike the same balance between price, design, performance, and desirability. OnePlus got a lot wrong with that phone, so can Oppo (which, don’t forget, is OnePlus’ parent brand these days) get it right?

Oppo Reno 8 Pro: design

The Reno 8 Pro is a great looking phone and one that you will be happy to carry around. Oppo is known for the integrated camera look on its phones (and those from OnePlus now, too), and even the camera module on the back of the Reno 8 Pro is big, the gentle curve around it reduces its impact. He gave the phone to himself.

It’s good that the curves are there because, otherwise, the Reno 8 Pro is flat. The chassis has a flat side, the glass covering the screen is flat, and the rest of the back panel is flat as well. It’s easy to hold (the edges are a bit sharp), but the low 186-gram weight really helps to avoid much fatigue. While it’s all made of glass, it’s Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back. The phone has a basic IP54 waterproof rating for everyday protection.

The low weight and comfortable hand made the Reno 8 Pro comfortable to use. It has happily slipped into my pocket without fuss and has just the right style to attract attention when it is on display. The small bezels around the 6.7-inch AMOLED screen give it a modern look from the front.

There are two colors available: the standard Glazed Black and the Glazed Green shown in our photos. It is difficult to do the color justice, as the cool, minty green looks good in real life. It’s definitely one to get if you don’t mind a bit of flamboyance.

Oppo Reno 8 Pro: the camera

The Reno 8 Pro uses the same main camera as the Oppo Find X5 Pro, Sony IMX766 50MP. But instead of using two, it sits next to a standard 8MP wide-angle camera and a good 2MP camera. This makes it the same configuration found on the OnePlus Nord 2T and OnePlus 10T. On the front is a 32MP camera with autofocus, complete with some new wizardry allowing it to pull in 60% more light than previous Reno phones for a fun night selfie.

Oppo differentiates the rear camera of the Reno 8 Pro from the OnePlus model by adding its MariSilicon X image processing, which apparently improves the lighting in both still and video , and so on. The IMX766 main camera takes very good photos, with beautiful colors, great detail, and an interesting HDR effect in the right place.

The wide-angle suffers from the same problems as the camera of the OnePlus 10T. The low resolution means that the image has visible pixelation, there is noise visible in almost every image, and the contrast is not clear. It’s not very good at all. There is a 2x digital zoom shortcut, but use this at your own risk because it uses a lot of zoom, making the image look fake.

What about the selfie camera? It’s not bad at all. There’s a good detail, autofocus helps portrait mode with accurate, warm skin tones, and there’s a handy point-and-shoot feature as well. At night, which is where the MariSilicon X ISP should work its magic, the phone automatically uses the screen as a flashlight – making for amazing selfies even in the dark. If you use it without the screen full of light, the results are useless

Lowlight images, in general, are good. However, I have found it easy to introduce blur, even though the software only takes a few seconds to take a photo in the dark. You can see an example in the gallery above. The Reno 8 Pro camera is another similar to the OnePlus 10T’s, where the main camera shines by taking really interesting pictures, but the other cameras don’t stand out because of the Low resolution and no detail.

Oppo Reno 8 Pro: performance and software

The main camera is good, the front camera uses a beautiful lens, and the phone has a beautiful design, but it is the processor that I find interesting. The Reno 8 Pro has MediaTek’s Dimensity 8100+ chip with 8GB of RAM inside, and it performs very well. It seems to be good at sipping power when it is not working hard, so the battery life from the small 4,500mAh battery is suitable in general use. Play Asphalt 9: Legends no problem, even a long, chaotic race. During these intense games, there is almost no heat on the back of the phone at all.

Oppo’s ColorOS 12.1 based on Android 12 is installed, and it’s the same experience you get on the Oppo Find X5 Pro, which you can read more about in our full Find X5 Pro review. It is also similar to the software of OnePlus 10 Pro. While fast and reliable, ColorOS tends to deal with a lot of system notifications and can be strict with power management, meaning many things like the always-on screen are turned off. by default and must be configured before use.

The 6.7-inch AMOLED screen has many colors and strong contrast, so it is always easy to see, and there is no color boost enhancer mode to switch on. Dig into the site, and there are plenty of ways to tone it down if you don’t like the vibrant look. Watching movies is enhanced by the best speakers, which may not have much bass but make it pretty clear.

It’s been a hassle-free time with the Reno 8 Pro, and that’s what I want from an everyday, jack-of-all-trades phone. The software still interacts for the first few days, and it irritates me with its constant “this app is using energy” warning until I tell it to stop. But fortunately, some of these will be fixed with Android 13-based ColorOS 13, which is scheduled to arrive on the Reno 8 Pro in September.

Oppo Reno 8 Pro: battery and charging

After using social media, messages, several apps, and notifications, in addition to taking pictures and connecting to the smartwatch, the battery in the Reno 8 Pro easily lasted two days before it should was paid back. Work on the phone is hard, and you will not reach this. Expect around 10% of the battery to drain after 30 minutes of play.

The phone uses Oppo’s 80-watt SuperVOOC fast charging system, and in just 11 minutes, the battery reaches 50%. In 30 minutes, it’s all over. More than the camera or design is the main reason to buy – they are very good, but not special in the world of mid-range phones today – performance, fuel Light life, and fast charging is very useful and relevant when used every day. The results are in line with Oppo’s claims, which is great. The lack of wireless charging is not good, however.

Even if you reach the limit of the battery, the fast system means that – if you are close to the socket and have electrical equipment and cable – the phone will not don’t stop at nothing in the end. busy day. Charging the phone in 30 minutes also means saying goodbye to overnight charging. If you haven’t tried a phone with fast charging like this before, it could change your life.

Oppo Reno 8 Pro: price and availability

Oppo Reno 8 Pro is available in the UK starting September 1 for 599 pounds, which is around $702. You can buy it from Oppo’s own online store or various retailers, including Amazon , Argos, and Currys, plus networks such as EE, O2, and Vodafone.

If you are tempted, then it is worth buying before September 28, as Oppo will send you a tablet Oppo Pad Air (worth 239 pounds) for free with your Reno 8 Pro purchase, making the phone available Very useful.

Oppo doesn’t sell its smartphones in the US, so you’ll have to import the Reno 8 Pro if you really want to own one.

This, or the OnePlus 10T?

The Oppo Reno 8 Pro costs less than the OnePlus 10T, and the difference between them is that the OnePlus phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and charges a little faster. While the Snapdragon chip in the OnePlus is undeniably great, I’ve had no problem with the MediaTek 8100+ here, and unless you’re planning on playing heavy games for hours, I don’t believe that most will see a lot of difference from day to day.

If you choose only between the Reno 8 Pro and the OnePlus 10T, then the Oppo phone is the one to buy. It is a little cheaper, the data is better, the design is more beautiful, it charges almost immediately, and the software is the same. The difference is the processor, and considering the rest of the OnePlus 10T is not as desirable as the Reno 8 Pro, it is not really necessary.

Expand your options, and even cheaper Nothing Phone 1 should be included with the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G. In the US, the new Motorola Edge (2022) is a good price and has a MediaTek processor with mmWave 5G connectivity for a long life. Another phone to consider, if you are in a place where it is available to buy, is the iQoo 9T, which manages to be better than the OnePlus 10T. and The Reno 8 Pro.

I have enjoyed using the Reno 8 Pro. It is an attractive, capable, nothing smartphone. The price isn’t crazy, but the phone manages to feel more expensive than it actually is. That’s where the OnePlus 10T gets it wrong, as it manages to be the opposite.

Recommendations of the Editors