After many years of the Reno series being present, now the latest generation OPPO Reno8 5G appears with a fresher design style coupled with super fast battery charging and two cameras.
This camera phone still carries the characteristics of the Reno series, which can present charming portrait photos. In addition, OPPO has also updated its camera capabilities, especially in low light conditions.
With a price that reaches US $536, the OPPO Reno 8 5G is slightly more expensive than its predecessor. Is this price increase worth what it has to offer? Check out the following review.
Summary
OPPO Reno8 5G is a mid-range smartphone that is capable of various purposes, whether it’s just to run various applications, play games with high graphics, to take photos at night. The design looks great and the battery lasts a long time with ultra-fast charging.
Pros
- Charming design
- Long battery life
- Super fast charging
- Rush performance
- Satisfying main camera
Cons
- Speaker mono
- No water resistance certification
Design
OPPO Reno8 5G appears with the back which has a curved camera protrusion area and blends with the phone body. Coupled with the flat sides and Shimmer Gold color, this phone looks stunning. My wife when she saw this cellphone was also immediately impressed by the design.
This Shimmer Gold color can look silver, golden, or a mix of different colors depending on the viewing angle and the light around it. When touched the back feels a bit rough on the fingers so it is not slippery. Plus this design also makes the cellphone not easily dirty by fingerprints.
Besides being attractive to look at, the Reno 8 5G also remains comfortable when held with the right size and weight. Although the sides carry a flat model, OPPO adds an angled area in each corner of the cellphone so that it doesn’t feel sharp when held in the hand.
On the left side there is a volume control button while the power button is placed on the right side of the cellphone. At the bottom there is a speaker hole, a USB Type-C port, and a dual SIM card slot.
The unfortunate thing is that the Reno8 5G does not have the IP rating certification that is usually found on other cellphones to show this cellphone’s resistance to dust and water.
Even though his younger brother, Reno8 4G, has an IPX4 certification.
Screen
The Reno8 5G sports a 6.4″ AMOLED screen that has a resolution of 2400 × 1080 pixels, 90Hz refresh rate, 95% DCI-P3, and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. On the upper left side of the screen there is a hole for the placement of the front camera from Reno8. 5G.
The refresh rate provided is not as high as 120Hz but the screen display still feels smoother which is combined with the optimal animation in ColorOS. This refresh rate can only be set in two modes, namely 60Hz and 90Hz mode without any dynamic refresh rate options.
The maximum screen brightness level presented by this cellphone screen reaches 800 nits, which is quite bright when I use it everyday, including when under the hot sun. The display produced by the screen also looks clear and sharp.
Performance
OPPO uses the MediaTek Dimensity 1300 chipset and 8GB LPDDR4x RAM for this one mobile phone. As a result, the performance of the cellphone feels quite rushed. Opening various applications that I use often feels smooth without any problems.
When used to play performance-hungry games like Genshin Impact, the Reno8 5G can still run smoothly at the highest graphics settings. Even if you use it for a long time, it doesn’t feel too hot, it’s still acceptable for the heat in my hands.
Benchmark Results
- AnTuTu: 602,598
- Geekbench Single-Core: 590
- Geekbench Multi-Core: 2.668
For the operating system, Reno8 5G uses ColorOS 12.1 which is based on Android 12. I myself like the look and animations in ColorOS 12.1, it looks simple and smooth. Apart from that, I didn’t find any annoying bloatware.
This cellphone does not provide a slot for a MicroSD card. However, this is not a problem because the internal storage capacity provided is very large, namely 256GB. This internal storage can also be used as additional virtual RAM up to 5GB to support the main RAM.
Regarding speakers, the Reno8 5G is only equipped with one speaker at the bottom of the cellphone. The sound is quite loud although actually it would be even better if it had stereo speakers.
Battery
For battery life is quite long with a battery capacity of 4500mAh. I was able to get almost 4.5 hours of screen on time from 100% battery to 10% for my regular use.
When tested using the PC Mark application at a screen brightness setting of 50%, a refresh rate of 60Hz, and a battery of 100%, this phone got a battery life score of 14 hours 32 minutes. The same test at 90Hz refresh rate results in 13 hours 35 minutes. This score is above the average of other mobile phones that have been tested by the Gadgetren team.
In addition to its satisfactory battery life, the Reno8 5G is also equipped with 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging. Fortunately OPPO still provides a built-in charger that matches this charging technology. When charging the battery from 5% level to 100%, it only takes 32 minutes which is quite fast.
Camera
In the photography sector, Reno8 5G uses a triple rear camera configuration consisting of a 50MP IMX766 main camera, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro. As for the front camera, it uses a 32MP IMX709 camera.
The main camera of the Reno8 5G is capable of producing satisfying photos both during the day and at night. The resulting color looks quite accurate as the original.
At night, the photos look sharp and clear. In certain situations, the camera application can automatically use night mode so that the photos are even clearer.
One of the advantages of Reno cellphone cameras, including the Reno8 5G, lies in its portrait feature. The camera can produce a neat bokeh effect and there are several attractive portrait modes such as AI Color Portrait and Bokeh Flare Portrait so that the photos look different.
The ultrawide camera on the Reno8 5G is capable of taking photos with a wider viewing angle. The photo quality presented is not as good as the main camera but it is quite satisfying for an ultrawide camera. Unfortunately in low light conditions, noise is more visible, especially on the sides of the photo.
The last rear camera is a macro camera which to be honest seems more to make the camera look a lot. Indeed, you can’t expect more from a 2MP macro camera.
For the front camera on the Reno8 5G, it can produce photos with detailed faces that are recorded well. Like OPPO cellphones, there are various features available to change the face to make it look smoother to change the shape of the face as desired. The Bokeh Flare Portrait and AI Color Portrait features are back for this front camera.
Regarding video recording, the Reno8 5G main camera can produce videos that are quite good both during the day and at night. The Bokeh Flare Portrait and AI Color Portrait features are also available again for video recording mode, although the results are not as good as in photo mode.
Unfortunately for the video from the front camera in a fairly bright situation, somehow the background becomes too bright even after the AI feature has been turned off. But when I move to a shady area under the trees, the video quality becomes noticeably better.
Conclusion
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OPPO Reno8 5G is a mid-range smartphone that is capable of various purposes, whether it’s just to run various applications, play games with high graphics, to take photos at night.
The design also looks charming thanks to the flat sides and Shimmer Gold color. In addition, the battery is durable with very fast charging which fortunately is still provided by a charger by OPPO.
Unfortunately this cellphone only provides mono speakers and does not support water resistance certification which is now commonly found in various cellphones on the market.
OPPO Reno8 5G Price and Specifications
| Dimensions & Weight | 73,4 x 160 x 7,67mm, 179g |
| Color | Shimmer Black, Shimmer Gold |
| Screen | AMOLED 6,4″ 2400 x 1080 pixels, refresh rate 90Hz, 95% DCI-P3, 800 nits |
| Operating system | Android 12 (ColorOS 12.1) |
| Memory | 8GB LPPDR4x RAM, 256GB internal storage |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 1300 |
| Rear Camera | 50MP wide-angle IMX766, f/1.8, 1/1.56″, FOV 86° 8MP ulrawide-angle, f/2.2, FOV 112° 2MP makro |
| Front camera | 32MP IMX709, f/2.4, 1/2.74″, FOV 85° |
| Battery | 4,500mAh, 80W SUPERVOOC |
| Network | 4G, 5G |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth v5.3 |
| Connector | USB Type-C |
| Sensor | Geomagnetic sensor, light sensor, proximity sensor, optical sensor, accelerometer, gravity sensor, gyroscope |
| GPS | GPS, A-GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| Speaker | Speaker mono |
| Price | US $536 |
