OPPO Reno 5 pro 5G Hands-On Review

The Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G is the second-best smartphone from the entrants after the Reno5 Pro+ 5G. Being second-best does not mean there anything to scoff at, and everyone looking for an affordable flagship experience should check out the Reno5 Pro and Reno5 Pro+.

The subject of our hands-on review is the Reno5 Pro 5G, and it employs MediaTek’s top-tier SoC for 2020 – the Density 1000+. And aside from the camera setup, the Reno5 Pro 5G checks all the right boxes. It has an HRR OLED panel, a sizeable battery, blazing-fast charging, premium build. This article will see OPPO Reno 5 pro 5G hands-on review, which will help you learn more about this OPPO Reno 5 pro phone.

 

Highlights:

Body: 159.7×73.2×7.6mm, 173g; Glass front, glass back, aluminium frame.

Display: 6.55″ Super AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1100 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 402ppi.

Chipset: Mediatek MT6889Z Dimensity 1000+ (7nm): Octa-core (4×2.6 GHz Cortex-A77 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G77 MC9.

Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 2.1.

OS/Software: Android 11, ColorOS 11.1.

Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, 1/1.73″, 0.8µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 115˚, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.

Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.4, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm.

Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps; gyro-EIS, HDR; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.

Battery: 4350mAh; Fast charging 65W, Reverse charging, SuperVOOC 2.0.

Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical), NFC (market dependant), no 3.5mm audio jack.

 

Design and ergonomics

While the design and handling are nearly identical to the Reno4 Pro, there is one big difference that Oppo does not want you to miss, and that is the Reno Glow glass on the back of the phone. According to the company, that is no common frosted glass. It uses the right amount of magnesium and potassium to grow microscopic pyramid crystals. This way, the back can catch more light and refract more of it, too, making that particular glow we are talking about. It does look amazing in person, and as Oppo suggests, fingerprints are hard to attach. However, the surface makes the phone a bit more slippery than usual. Aside from the colour, the camera bump makes the phone stand out just as much. The camera bump is layered as the camera lenses stick out even further, just like the iPhone 11 and 12-series.

It does feel pretty light, though, tipping the scale at just 173g and having a relatively thin 7.6mm profile, so using it for increased periods is not an issue at all. The curved glass panel to the sides helps with the overall feel in hand.

Buttons are well-positioned, provide nice and clicky feedback, and the fingerprint reader is fast, reliable and responsive. On the other hand, bezels seem a bit thick, but the curved front glass gives the opinion of a much thinner design.

While the handset is made of premium materials like glass and aluminium for the frame, there’s no word on Gorilla Glass, so we assume there is no additional protection for the front panel.

 

Performance

We ran some of the benchmarks we usually run to see how the Density 1000+ stacks against the competition. And as expected, MediaTek’s SoC is still falling behind the Snapdragon 865 from last year by a significant margin. It has a substantial lead over the rest of the Snapdragon family, including the Snapdragon 765G and 750G. We think it fits perfectly in the upper mid-range price category.

 

Battery Life

The Reno 5 Pro 5G’s 4,350mAh battery lasted 16 hours and 34 minutes in our HD video loop test, which is very good considering the powerful SoC. It was quickly able to average about a day and a half on one charge with regular use. The battery charges incredibly too rapidly when using the bundled 65W charger. I was able to get roughly a 98 per cent charge in just half an hour.

Software and features

Although Oppo’s ColorOS 11.1 is based on Android 11, the custom skin does not depart too far from its previous iteration. Sure, there are more customization options around the UI now, but the overall feel is similar. However, we did notice that Oppo has made room for Google’s Phone and Messages apps.

More importantly, we wanted to see how the HRR display behaves and see if the software uses an adaptive refresh rate. No matter the app or the sub-menu, the refresh rate drops to around 30 and even lower when you stop touching the screen, and that’s true for the 60Hz mode as well. We are also happy to report that the display tones down to 60Hz when watching YouTube videos even though the 90Hz mode is active. According to us, that’s the correct way to handle video players.

The Reno5 Pro 5G is ready for some mobile gaming as well. The software lets you tinker with quite a bit of setting through the Game Space feature. It even enables you to save on some power while gaming if you are low on battery.

 

Camera

Oppo emphasizes the video recording capabilities but has no support for 4k@60fps video recording. So the company hopes that the so-called AI Highlight Video feature will make up for that. The software analyzes the scene (much like the AI for stills) and enables Ultra Night Mode for low-light scenery or Live HDR for broader dynamic during the day. There’s also an artistic Monochrome Video mode with three filters – Crimson (read red), Forest Green (read green) and just Blue. And here is an AI Highlight Live HDR video. And a playlist of the monochrome mode.

 

Early verdict

Oppo might finally be onto something here. The company is not famous for its mid-range phones, mainly because of its comparatively high prices. But the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G is not too far from the race. You can even make a case for it connected to the OnePlus Nord or the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G. Oppo’s contender slots in absolutely between the two in India, asking INR 35,000 (400 euro) in return.

 

 

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