In our review of OPPO Reno8 Pro we lauded the exquisite visual design and its feeling of premium. After an extended period with the device as a daily driver, Reno8 Pro proves itself to be more than a pretty face. Look a little deeper and you’ll find a chipset that eats up your everyday tasks and isn’t afraid of some of the tougher stuff. A display that excels at almost every type of content. Charging times that genuinely alter your habits.
Still Looking Well
With such a stunning device, wrapping it in a silicone sock or more substantial case seemed like a waste. So, our review Reno8 Pro has faced the rigours of being removed from a pocket and jangled around a bag for many weeks already.
There are some faint hairline scratches around the curve that separates the lens island from the rest of the rear. But these only reveal themselves on the closest of inspections and I found the resistance to scratches to be impressive.
Read more: OPPO ColorOS 13 Launches with Rollout Plan for 60+ Devices
The aluminium frame remains as new. There is substance to go with the flagship-topping looks of OPPO Reno8 Pro.
Smooth Runner
The MT Dimensity 8100-Max chipset found in OPPO Reno8 Pro covers everyday tasks flawlessly. For work or play, apps open smoothly and plenty of tabs can be left open. The device is surprisingly spry when it comes to gaming, hitting a slick 60fps for most of the leading 3D games.
Our review model runs the 8GB RAM chipset with OPPO allowing the user to allot up to 5GB from the 256GB of storage. That’s up to 13 gigs of RAM so you can put away the abacus.
8GB is adequate for a rich, ‘no compromise’ experience for the vast majority of users but the potential for additional RAM is a nice safety net for memory hogs.
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AI management of apps and the memory pool undoubtedly helps OPPO Reno8 Pro with maintaining an impressive composure throughout the work and play day. ColorOS 12.1 does an excellent job of communicating when it has made a fix. A quick message to tell you an app has been put to sleep to free up memory here, closing an app to save battery there.
To the average flagship user, OPPO Reno8 Pro’s performance would be practically indistinguishable from the more expensive handsets they are used to.
Display of Colour and Contrast
OPPO Reno8 Pro can beam 1 billion colours using its 10-bit colour mode. The display’s ‘Vivid’ mode shows a vibrant and saturated colour space that shows off the billion hues.
The more accurate ‘Natural’ mode is there for those who want a more natural and more accurate image. It’s slightly cold by default but can be adjusted by the user to suit.
The colour pops all the more with the display capable of searing brightness. The display outputs at over 500 nits at 100% in manual mode and tops 800 nits in auto mode. In practice, the display is faultless while outdoors.
The depth of AMOLED black adds a beautiful contrast underneath the vibrant colour and the brightness
The 6.7″ AMOLED screen offers three refresh-rate modes, at 60, 90 and 120Hz. LTPO tech with its more incrementally adjustable refresh rate is about the only feature missing from the otherwise premium display.
The glass sandwich form factor of the front of the device means content near the edges of the screen is easier to drag-and-drop. A small bezel surrounds the display that aids in one-handed use.
The little benefits of a flat front are refreshing after years of overflows and active-screen bevelled edges.
Camera in Common
Reno8 Pro features a Sony IMX766 sensor and OPPO’s inhouse MariSilicon X AI image enhancement, both common to the well-received Find X5 Series. OPPO Reno8 Pro carries over some of OPPO Find X5 Pro’s capture finery.
For example, Reno8 Pro boasts excellent low-light imaging capabilities like OPPO Find X5 Pro. Similarly, the AI does an excellent job of scene selection adjustment in a wide range of scenarios just like the premium line.
Reno8 Pro snaps the most common scenes perfectly with one shot from its main 50MP sensor. Day light shots are bright, balanced and detailed; colours are life-like.
That said, the highest contrast shots push the dynamic range of the lenses and is one of the few areas where you might notice a gap between the Reno8 Pro and a true flagship device.
The lack of a dedicated telephoto lens is still a little disappointing but the 2x digital zoom does practically match its optical counterpart. This dedicated 2x digital zoom is one of three scene modes available by default along with the 1x and 0.6x ultra options. The digital zoom stretches to 20x, but 10x is about as high as is useful.
The stills camera suite overall offers a nice balance between depth and a streamlined experience. Most of the harder options are tucked away in a Pro mode which resides under the ‘More’ tab of the camera carousel. Here you’ll also find a flawless panorama mode and the 108MP ‘Extra HD’ mode which offers extended image detail through stacking.
Other Lenses
The ultrawide 8MP cam offers good colour, excellent low-light imaging and strong scene selection. But it tends to be far softer than its main cam counterpart. There is sometimes a noticeably less pleasing contrast while snapping in ultrawide mode.
A dedicated 2MP macro lens is a bit of a waste. The images produced, both in auto and in the ‘Macro’ mode found under the ‘More’ tab, don’t seem worth the effort of including the sensor.
Images need a lot more light than you would expect, and the fixed focus has a shallow sweet spot. It’s generally more hassle than it’s worth to get the best from it.
Video Options
Like its still, OPPO Reno8 Pro offers detailed and bright video across its formats. The lack of 4K video at 60 frames per second is worth mentioning. Also worth, mentioning is that 1080p video can be captured at up to 120fps.
OPPO Reno8 Pro’s MariSilicon X NPU offers an excellent 4K Ultra night video mode which can deliver surprisingly clear and toned video. The base video suite offers a live bokeh mode that works really well despite the lack of dedicated depth sensor.
Like its stills sibling suite, the device offers a competent and suitably granular pro video mode, dubbed ‘Film’, under the ‘More’ tab. This allows users to adjust white balance, use manual focus, change ISO etc. Image stabilisation is available in ‘Film mode.
A Slo-Mo mode can also be found here. OPPO Reno8 Pro can shoot at 960 frames per second for ultra-slow-motion capture and also offers time-lapse video.
Selfie Motivation
OPPO Reno8 Pro again offers much of the Find X5 series’ selfie experience. The device leverages a large front-facing 32MP Sony IMX709 RGBW sensor and some AI trickery to deliver superb front-facing video and stills performance.
Imaging software and AI do an excellent job of streamlining selfie capture. Reno8 Pro automatically adjusts settings for the number of participants, even differentiating between male and female subjects. Different beautification levels and styles can then be automatically applied to each.
Across a range of scenes and settings, the selfie suite offers excellent first-time results. Night-time selfies, in particular, are detailed and well-toned. Even when the surprisingly bright screenflash is pitching in, it manages to wrangle the white balance and contrast to wring usable shots.
OPPO Reno8 Pro Battery and Charging
The device’s 4,500mAh battery will last the majority of moderate users a full day with a few percent to spare by bedtime. Power users may need the charger by the early evening, but this is standard in Android territory.
What isn’t standard is OPPO’s own SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging system. The in-box 80W charger will bring the device from flat to 50% in about 13 minutes. A full charge from 0-100% takes around 40 minutes.
In practice, this offers flexibility and peace of mind. With that spare few percent of your battery left by bedtime, you can sleep with the device off the charger and charge it in the morning. You just don’t have to worry about it when your phone takes less time to get ready to leave the house than you do.
Specifications – OPPO Reno8 Pro
| OPPO Reno8 Pro | |
| Chipset: | MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max (5 nm) CPU: Octa-core -4×2.85 GHz Cortex-A78 -4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) GPU: Mali-G610 MC6 |
| RAM: | 8GB, 12GB |
| Storage: | 128GB, 256GB |
| Display: | 6.7 inches, 1080 x 2412 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+ |
| Camera: | – 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF – 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚ (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm – 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) |
| Video: | 4K@30fps, 1080p up to 240fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie Cam: | 32MP, f/2.4, 22mm (wide), 1/2.74″, 0.8µm, AF |
| OS: | Android 12, Colour OS 12.1 |
| Battery: | – 4,500mAh Li-Po – Battery Health Engine; 80% capacity after 1,600 cycles |
| Charging: | Wired – 80W SuperVOOC |
| Dimensions: | 161.2 x 74.2 x 7.34 mm |
| Weight: | 183g |
| Colours: | Glazed Black, Glazed Green |
Mid-Range Mastery
OPPO Reno8 Pro catches the eye with its flagship-level design and feels just as good with its premium materials and craftsmanship. These qualities are immediately obvious. But after a couple of months with the device, the more substantial qualities of OPPO Reno8 Pro emerge.
Read More: OPPO Find X5 Pro long-term review – Strengths that Still Stand Out
A MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max chipset that delivers a flawless experience all the way up to the toughest of tasks. A liberating charging solution that comes straight from the flagship shelf. A display that’s slick, colourful and bright enough to make any content shine.
OPPO Reno 8 Pro is available in Glazed Black from €49 upfront once you switch to Eir Mobile billpay. Reno 8 Pro is available on Eir Mobile prepay at €679.99.
Review unit provided by OPPO
