Introduction
The Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G is the second-best smartphone from the lineup after the Reno5 Pro+ 5G. Being second-best doesn't mean there anything to scoff at, and everyone looking for an affordable flagship experience should definitely 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 Dimensity 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.
Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G specs at a glance:
- Body: 159.7x73.2x7.6mm, 173g; Glass front, glass back, aluminum 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 (4x2.6 GHz Cortex-A77 & 4x2.0 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.
The good news is that this time around, Oppo seems to have priced this device reasonably.
But before we make any preliminary conclusions, let's take the Reno5 Pro 5G for a spin and see why we think the Reno5 Pro 5G has its spot in the market and what makes it stand out from the crowd.
Unboxing the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
The handset comes in a standard box with the appropriate charger and cable. There's also a transparent silicone case as a bonus and a pair of USB-C headphones, but no USB-C to 3.5mm dongle.
Design and ergonomics
While the design and handling are almost identical to the Reno4 Pro, there's one big difference that Oppo doesn't want you to miss, and that's the Reno Glow glass on the back. According to the company, that's no ordinary 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 specific glow we are talking about. It really does look amazing in person, and as Oppo suggests, fingerprints are hard to stick. However, the surface makes the phone a bit more slippery than usual.
Aside from the color, 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 rather thin 7.6mm profile, so using it for long periods isn't 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, accurate and responsive. On the other hand, bezels seem a bit thick, but the curved front glass gives the impression of a much thinner design.
Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G from the sides
While the handset is made of premium materials like glass and aluminum for the frame, there's no word on Gorilla Glass, so we assume there's no additional protection for the front panel.
Hardware and performance
As we already stated at the beginning of the hands-on review, the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G checks quite a few boxes and the specs sheet starts with an impressive 6.55-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate at 1080 x 2400px resolution and also has HDR10+ support.
Oppo says that it can peak at 800 nits, too, and even if we still haven't measured it yet, we tend to believe it as it offers great outdoor visibility. Interestingly, the Pro and the Pro+ from the Reno5 lineup both share the same OLED panel, so no compromises here with the vanilla version.
The biggest difference comes with the SoC. The standard Pro model, which we have here, sports a MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ chipset supporting 5G connectivity and is paired with either 8GB/128GB or 12GB/256GB memory. The storage is UFS 2.1 as opposed to the much faster UFS 3.1 on the Pro+.
Another big difference between the Pro and the Pro+ is the camera setup. The Pro+ employs a more versatile and advanced camera setup mostly because it has a 13MP telephoto camera. Anyway, the one here sports a 64MP main camera with f/1.7 aperture while the ultrawide is 8MP with f/2.2 aperture. Sadly, the specs sheet reads a 115-degree field of view, which, to be frank, isn't very wide, to begin with. The other two cameras are for depth sensing and macro shots, both with 2MP resolution. Lastly, we have a 32MP f/2.4 camera on the front for selfies.
Now, when it comes to battery endurance, our initial tests suggest that it won't be record-breaking by any means. We had about 4 hours of Screen-On time at 90Hz by mostly browsing. The 4,350 mAh battery, though, can charge really fast using the provided 65W adapter in the box. It can go from 0 to 100% in under 30 minutes, while a 15-minute charge gets you 61% of the juice back.
Performance
We ran some of the benchmarks we usually run to see how the Dimensity 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, but it does have 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.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
3296 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
3091 - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
2196 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
2009 - OnePlus Nord
1953 - Realme 7 5G
1794
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
906 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
712 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
661 - OnePlus Nord
610 - Realme 7 5G
598 - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
522
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
543986 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
435166 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
318882 - Realme 7 5G
318535 - OnePlus Nord
312794 - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
295562
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
52 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
43 - OnePlus Nord
21 - Realme 7 5G
20 - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
20 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
19
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
45 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
36 - OnePlus Nord
19 - Realme 7 5G
17 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
16 - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
16
3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
7215 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
6436 - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
3308 - OnePlus Nord
3285 - Realme 7 5G
3163 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
2789
It's probably important to note that we felt the phone getting a bit warmer than usual even without gaming. The usual browsing and the occasional video ramped up the temps on the back of the phone, but we still need to conduct more tests to see if this poses any real issue.
Software and features
Although Oppo's ColorOS 11.1 is based on Android 11, the custom skin doesn't 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 some kind of adaptive refresh rate.
Home screen, app drawer, notification shade, and settings menus
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.
More settings and Game Space
The Reno5 Pro 5G is ready for some mobile gaming as well. The software lets you tinker with quite a bit of settings through the Game Space feature. It even lets you 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 that has three filters - Crimson (read red), Forest Green (read green) and just Blue.
And here's an AI Highlight Live HDR video.
And a playlist of the monochrome mode.
Anyway, here are a couple of sample photos and will leave the assessment for the full review.
Camera samples: Main camera • Ultrawide • Main camera • Ultrawide • Main camera • Ultrawide
The software also offers the option to upsize your native 64MP photos to 108MP.
Extra HD (108MP) mode
We couldn't miss the selfies, too.
Selfies: Normal • Portrait • Normal • Portrait
Early verdict
Oppo might finally be onto something here. The company isn't famous for its mid-range phones mainly because of their relatively high prices. But the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G isn't too far from the competition. In fact, you can even make a case for it when compared to the OnePlus Nord or the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G. Oppo's contender slots in perfectly between the two in India, asking INR 35,000 (400 euro) in return.
The powerful Dimensity 1000+ chipset, the great display and the blazing-fast charging are pretty good reasons to get one.
0 Response to "Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G hands-on review"
Post a Comment