This phone matches Realme GT Neo 3 and OnePlus 10R in many respects but has it also left the same shortcomings that are present in the rest of the rivals? I used the Reno 8 Pro for several weeks and here I am going to tell you everything you should know before buying this phone.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G price
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G Comes in single variant in India in which we get to see 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 it. Realme GT Neo 3 And OnePlus 10R 5G It comes in a lower starting price and offers similar specifications. But having a single variant in the Reno 8 Pro 5G means that it is only launched against premium smartphones.
Design of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
The design of Oppo Reno 8 Pro grabs attention at first glance. Compared to other smartphones in this price segment, it looks quite attractive. With 7.34mm, it is not very thin but cannot be called thick either. The phone weighs 183 grams which is surprisingly light considering that 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 show its design differently. The lens cutouts fit snugly with the camera module. Actually the camera module is an extension of its rear glass panel. There’s a slight slope to the bottom of the module that accommodates my index finger, and the phone felt comfortable to handle with one hand.
The phone’s display is flat but has a slight curve at the edges that blends in with the sharp corners of the frame. I have not seen such thin bezels at this price point. The display has very thin bezels on the top and bottom, but even thinner bezels have been given on the left and right sides, which are barely 1.48mm. Due to this, the phone looks very modern and sharp.
This time, Oppo has taken a more mature step by including a shark fin selfie camera instead of the fancy design of the Reno series and has included an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance on 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 packs the MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max SoC, along with MariSilicon X NPU which the company says is mainly used to aid video recording. MariSilicon X NPU is not new, it was first announced with the launch of Oppo Find X5 Pro, which was a premium smartphone but was not launched in India.
The Reno 8 Pro 5G doesn’t offer the option of expandable storage, but the phone has space for two Nano-SIM cards with dual 5G support. The phone supports dual standby as well as 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 the software, the company has reserved certain 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 pick up. Also, its unique font and Oppo’s O-Haptics (vibration system) are something I didn’t see on the OnePlus 10R 5G Endurance Edition or the Realme GT Neo 3 (150W).
The O-Haptics system on 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 3D ringtone feature of the phone. The 3D ringtone feature is also an OPPA exclusive. Oppo has also given a floating window feature that allows you to open multiple apps in small floating windows for sharing. The 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 new wallpaper or buy new Oppo smartphone. Smartphones priced above Rs 40,000 also 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. They were useful anyway but 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 the single and multi-core tests respectively. The software performance of the phone is also good. Dimensity 8100-Max SoC is available in it, which has LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The phone is very fast in multi tasking and launching multiple apps. Its 120Hz refresh rate display software makes the experience smoother. Going with a flexible AMOLED display worked to the company’s advantage, making it possible to make the bezels extremely thin.
Its 6.7-inch FullHD Plus display is quite bright. Colors are vibrant in it and 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 watching content on apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video a pleasure. The stereo speakers are quite loud and sound quite clear 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 too much emphasis is placed on it, it is easily recognized.
The gaming performance of the phone is quite good. Whether using the camera app or gaming, its graphite-based cooling system did not allow the phone to heat up. Call of Duty: Mobile ran smoothly even at the highest graphics settings. Asphalt: 9 Legends also ran very smooth but surprisingly it did not get 60fps mode enabled. The phone has a touch sampling rate of 360Hz, which supports fast-paced games quite well, but there is room for improvement.
The battery of the phone has not been upgraded. Like the Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G, it gets 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 25 minutes in our HD video loop test. In normal usage, the phone runs smoothly for a day and a half, which is a very good thing for a slim device. Wireless charging is not available here, which is easily available in other smartphones of this segment or below it.
Cameras 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 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 on the ellipsis button.
Photos captured in daylight from the main camera were quite sharp and clear, with good color reproduction. Results with the ultrawide angle camera were very average, dynamic range was limited, meaning there was less detail in shadowy areas. It felt like the macro camera was added just to fill 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. With its help, good dynamic range was found while taking still photos, especially in daylight.
Selfies were sharp and detail and dynamic range were good. Selfie portrait shots were also decent 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 the 32MP 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 raised grains on any surface. The texture with black spots was being found in the dark area. Here the phone was taking one to two seconds longer while capturing the photo and in night mode this time was going up to 3 seconds.
The camera proved 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 has been given more aggressive, as well as due to long exposure and lack of OIS, the photo is not as good as it could have been. Photos taken in 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 with which MariSilicon X NPU of Oppo has been given in support. Better dynamic range has been claimed with this system. However, in my experience, 1080p 30fps video was average and lacked details. 1080p 60fps video looked shaky, with stabilization lacking a lot. Video came out well 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 running with an unstable frame rate and the details were also reduced. Despite shooting in day-light, the texture remained soft in it and noise was also visible in the dark area. In low light, 4K video was recorded in the best quality when shot in regular mode. I would have preferred to keep AI Highlight off as it was only degrading the video quality.
our decision
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G obviously looks like a premium smartphone. It is light, fashionable and at a price of Rs 45,999 you will feel it premium. It is hard 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. Camera is not the best, as the price of this phone has been taken.
Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G Stands out as a solid option here that has better hardware and camera performance, along with a decent macro camera for 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 There is also the 5G which offers decent camera performance, is powered by the Snapdragon 888 SoC, sports a 120Hz OLED panel and comes for Rs 42,999. After that Motorola Edge 30 Pro It has Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, quality rear camera, 60MP selfie camera, IP52 rating and near stock Android software experience.
OnePlus 10R Endurance Edition And Realme GT Neo 3 (150W) also comes in the same price range but if fast charging is your first priority then you can look at them. in the end, Redmi K50i 5G Whose price is Rs 25,999. It is equipped with the same processor, 144Hz display, 5,080mAh battery, but the phone is built with an inclination towards gaming.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G will appeal to those who are fans of Oppo, want ultra attractive design, want IP rating and also want fast charging. The phone turns out to be a bit expensive in the end and is not the best value for money.