Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G review: Best in design, camera performance average
This phone matches Realme GT Neo 3 and OnePlus 10R in many respects, but does it have the same shortcomings as other competitors? I used the Reno 8 Pro for several weeks and here I am going to tell you everything you need to know before buying this phone.
Price of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G It comes in a single variant in India in which we get 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The price of the phone is Rs 45,999. It comes in two finishes which include Glazed Green and Glazed Black. I had the glazed green unit of this. Realme GT Neo 3 And OnePlus 10R 5G These come with a lower starting price and offer similar specifications. But having a single variant in Reno 8 Pro 5G means that it has been launched only against premium smartphones.
Design of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
The design of Oppo Reno 8 Pro catches attention at first sight. It looks quite attractive compared to other smartphones in this price segment. With 7.34mm it is not very thin but cannot be called thick either. The phone weighs 183 grams which is surprisingly light considering its frame is made of aluminum alloy which not only looks good but also feels premium. There is a glossy glass panel at the back which has Gorilla Glass 5 protection and it does not allow fingerprints to fall easily on it.
Its cameras make its design stand out. The lens cutout fits perfectly with the camera module. Actually the camera module is an extension of its rear glass panel. There is a slight slope at the bottom of the module which allowed my index finger to settle under it, and handling the phone with one hand seemed quite easy.
The display of the phone is flat but has a slight curve at the edges which blends with the sharp corners of the frame. I haven’t seen such thin bezels at this price point. The display has very thin bezels on the top and bottom, but even thinner bezels are provided on the left and right sides, which are barely 1.48mm. Due to this the phone looks quite modern and sharp.
This time, instead of incorporating the fancy design of the Reno series like the shark fin selfie camera, Oppo has taken a mature step and included IP54 rating for dust and water resistance in the phone. Motorola Edge 30 Pro is the only smartphone in this segment that comes with almost the same IP52 rating.
Specifications and software of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G features a MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max SoC, along with a MariSilicon X NPU that the company says is primarily used to aid video recording. The MariSilicon
The Reno 8 Pro 5G doesn’t offer the option of expandable storage, but the phone does have space for two nano-SIM cards with dual 5G support. The phone supports dual standby and also supports stand alone and non stand alone 5G bands. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC. In the box you get a USB Type-C to Type-A cable, an 80W charger, and a transparent TPU case.
Talking about software, the company has reserved some special parts of Color OS for its own smartphones. The specialty of the phone’s customization is that it can also choose which color of the selected wallpaper to choose. Also, its unique font and Oppo’s O-Haptics (vibration system) are some things that I did not see in OnePlus 10R 5G Endurance Edition or even Realme GT Neo 3 (150W).
The O-Haptics system of the Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G uses an X axis linear motor that is very precise for feedback. It also works well when used for the phone’s 3D ringtone feature. The 3D ringtone feature is also an exclusive feature of Oppa. Oppo has also provided a floating window feature through which you can open multiple apps in small floating windows for sharing. Reno 8 Pro 5G runs on ColorOS 12.1 which is based on Android 12. The company promises two years of Android OS updates and four years of security updates, which is a good thing.
One thing I didn’t like about it was the daily notifications from its theme app. It kept asking me to download a new wallpaper or buy a new Oppo smartphone. Even smartphones priced above Rs 40 thousand had many pre-installed third party apps like Dailyhunt, Josh, Moj and PhonePe etc. But it was a good thing that many of these could be removed. Apart from this, Oppo also had many apps like Soloop Cut, O Relax, DocVault etc. Although these were useful, they could also be removed if needed.
Performance of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
In terms of benchmarks, the phone performed as expected. On AnTuTu, the phone scored 901 points and 3,532 points in single and multi-core tests respectively. The software performance of the phone is also good. It has Dimensity 8100-Max SoC which has LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The phone is quite fast in multi-tasking and launching multiple apps. Its 120Hz refresh rate display makes the software experience smoother. Going with a flexible AMOLED display was beneficial for the company, making it possible to make the bezels extremely thin.
Its 6.7 inch FullHD Plus display is quite bright. The colors are vibrant and the viewing angles are amazing. Compared to Realme GT Neo 3 (150W) and OnePlus 10R Endurance Edition, its display is much better. It comes with HDR10+ certification and makes it a pleasure to watch content on apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Its stereo speakers are quite loud and produce clear sound even at full volume. Their output is quite balanced.
I did not like the fingerprint scanner given in its display. For some reason it was not able to read my fingerprint. Then I found that if a little more emphasis is put on it, it becomes easily identified.
The gaming performance of the phone is quite good. Be it using the camera app or gaming, its graphite based cooling system did not let the phone heat up. Call of Duty: Mobile ran smooth even at the highest graphics settings. Asphalt:9 Legends also ran very smooth but surprisingly, 60fps mode was not enabled in it. The phone has a touch sampling rate of 360Hz which works well in fast paced games but there is scope for improvement.
The phone’s battery has not been upgraded. Like Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G, it has a 4,500mAh battery and 80W fast charging is also provided. With the help of this charger, the phone gets charged from 0 to 52 percent in 15 minutes and gets fully charged in 34 minutes. The phone lasted 18 hours and 25 minutes in our HD video loop test. In normal usage, the phone lasts comfortably for one and a half day, which is very good for a slim device. Wireless charging is not available here, which is easily available in other smartphones of this segment or below it.
Camera of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
Triple rear camera setup is available in Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G. It has a 50-megapixel primary camera with Sony IMX766 sensor but there is no OIS support. The second camera is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and the third is a 2-megapixel macro camera. There is a 32-megapixel front camera for selfies and comes with autofocus. Oppo’s camera interface will feel familiar to OnePlus and Realme users. The interface is very simple but for some modes, advanced options can be accessed by tapping the ellipsis button.
The pictures taken in daylight from the main camera were quite sharp and clear with good color reproduction. Results with the ultrawide angle camera were very average, with limited dynamic range, meaning there was less detail in shadowy areas. It felt like the macro camera was added just to fill out the spec sheet, as it wasn’t very easy to take photos with, and the focus was fixed. The true difference of AI scene enhancement is visible in this phone. While taking still photos, it provided good dynamic range, especially in daylight.
Selfies were sharp and detail and dynamic range were quite good. Selfie portrait shots were also good but the phone was not able to expose the background very well. Images looked good in low-light, provided there was a light source nearby. I was expecting better from a 32-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus.
When photos were taken in auto mode with the primary camera in low-light, the details were good. The lack of OIS was felt here as the camera was not able to capture the details of the grains raised on any surface well. A texture with black spots was visible in the dark area. Here, while capturing photos, the phone was taking one to two seconds more time and in night mode this time was going up to 3 seconds.
The camera appeared to be very capable of capturing details in night mode as it captured details that I could not even see with my eyes. The noise reduction algorithm is more aggressive, and due to long exposure and lack of OIS, the photo does not look as good as it could have. Photos taken under many street lights came out sharp but the texture was somewhat flat here too.
The primary camera of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G uses hardware level DOL HDR video recording, which is supported by Oppo’s MariSilicon X NPU. Better dynamic range is claimed to be provided with this system. However, in my experience, 1080p 30fps video remained average and lacked details. 1080p 60fps video looked quite shaky, stabilization was severely lacking. Video came out good at 4K 30fps. There were plenty of details and the dynamic range was also good.
After turning on the AI Highlight feature, the video started playing with unstable frame rates and details also got reduced. Despite shooting in daylight, the texture remained soft and noise was also visible in dark areas. 4K video in low light was recorded in best quality when shot in regular mode. I found it better to keep AI Highlight off as it was only deteriorating the video quality.
our decision
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G obviously looks like a premium smartphone. It is lightweight, fashionable and will feel premium to you even at a price of Rs 45,999. It is difficult to find another smartphone with such design and build quality at this price point. Unfortunately, your expectations start to wane when it comes to the camera department. The camera is not the best, considering the price of this phone.
Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G Comes out as a solid option here that has better hardware and camera performance, with a good macro camera at a lower price. It misses a bit in design but offers great value for money at a starting price of Rs 37,999.
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G phone has gone far ahead of its older model, so now it stands shoulder to shoulder with OnePlus and Motorola. over here OnePlus 9RT 5G is also available which offers good camera performance, is powered by Snapdragon 888 SoC, has a 120Hz OLED panel and comes at Rs 42,999. After that Motorola Edge 30 Pro It has Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, quality rear camera, 60 megapixel selfie camera, IP52 rating and gives near stock Android software experience.
OnePlus 10R Endurance Edition And Realme GT Neo 3 (150W) also comes in the same price but if fast charging is your first priority then you can check them out. At last, Redmi K50i 5G Which is priced at Rs 25,999. It’s equipped with the same processor, 144Hz display, 5,080mAh battery, but the phone is built with a bias towards gaming.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G will be liked by those who are fans of Oppo, want very attractive design, want IP rating and also want fast charging. The phone ultimately proves to be a bit expensive and not the best value for money.
