This phone matches the Realme GT Neo 3 and OnePlus 10R in many respects but does it leave the same shortcomings as the rest of the rivals? I used Reno 8 Pro for several weeks and here I am going to tell everything you need to know before buying this phone.
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Price of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G Comes in a 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 its glazed green unit. Realme GT Neo 3 And OnePlus 10R 5G Comes at a lower starting price than this and offers similar specifications. But having a single variant in Reno 8 Pro 5G means that it has been launched only against premium smartphones.
Design of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
The design of Oppo Reno 8 Pro grabs attention at first sight. It looks quite attractive compared to other smartphones in this price segment. With 7.34mm it is not very thin but cannot be called thick either. The phone weighs in at 183 grams which is surprisingly light as 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 is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and does not allow fingerprints to fall on it easily.
Its cameras make its design stand out. The lens cutout fits perfectly with the camera module. Actually the camera module is an extension of its rear glass panel. The module has a slight slope below which the first finger of my hand used to set, and the phone felt quite easy to handle with one hand.
The display of the phone is flat but there is a slight curve on the edges which blends with the sharp corners of the frame. I haven’t 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 in look.
This time around, Oppo has taken a mature step instead of including the fancy designs of the Reno series like shark fin selfie camera and IP54 rating for dust and water resistance on the phone. Motorola Edge 30 Pro is the only smartphone in this segment to come with almost the same IP52 rating.
Specifications and Software of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G packs a MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max SoC, along with a MariSilicon X NPU, which the company says is primarily used to aid video recording. MariSilicon X NPU is not new, it was first announced along with the launch of Oppo Find X5 Pro, a premium smartphone but not launched in India.
The Reno 8 Pro 5G doesn’t offer an expandable storage option, but the phone has space for two nano-SIM cards with dual 5G support. The phone supports dual standby and also 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 some of the things that I didn’t see in OnePlus 10R 5G Endurance Edition or Realme GT Neo 3 (150W).
The O-Haptics system of 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 phone’s 3D ringtone feature. The 3D ringtone feature is also an exclusive feature of Oppa. Oppo has also provided a floating window feature that lets you open multiple apps in small floating windows for sharing. 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 a new wallpaper or buy a new Oppo smartphone. Smartphones priced above Rs 40 thousand 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. These were useful though, but they could also be removed if needed.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G performance
In terms of benchmarks, the phone performed as expected. On AnTuTu, the phone scored 901 points and 3,532 points in single and multi-core tests respectively. The software performance of the phone is also good. It gets Dimensity 8100-Max SoC with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The phone is very fast in multitasking and launching multiple apps. Its display with 120Hz refresh rate makes the software experience more smooth. Going with a flexible AMOLED display was beneficial for the company, which made it possible to make the bezels extremely thin.
Its 6.7-inch FullHD+ display is quite bright. The colors are vibrant and the 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 it a pleasure to watch content in apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Its stereo speakers are quite loud and make a very clear sound even when the volume is raised to full. 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 fingerprints. Then I found that if a little more emphasis is put on it, then it is easily recognized.
The gaming performance of the phone is quite good. Be it using the camera app or gaming, its graphite-based cooling system did not allow the phone to overheat. Call of Duty: Mobile ran smooth 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 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 along with 80W fast charging. With the help of this charger, the phone gets charged from 0 to 52 percent in 15 minutes and gets a full charge in 34 minutes. The phone lasted 18 hours and 25 minutes in our HD video loop test. In normal usage, the phone runs smoothly for a day and a half, which is a great thing for a slim device. Wireless charging is not available here, which is easily available in other smartphones of this segment or below segment.
Cameras of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
Triple rear camera setup is available in Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G. There is a 50-megapixel primary camera with Sony IMX766 sensor but there is 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 advanced options for some modes can be accessed by tapping on the ellipsis button.
Photos taken with the main camera in daylight were sharp and clear with good color reproduction. Results with the ultrawide angle camera were very average, with limited dynamic range, meaning there was less detail in shadowy areas. It felt like the macro camera was just edited to fill in the spec sheet, as it wasn’t very easy to take a photo with, and the focus was fixed. The true difference of AI scene enhancement is visible in this phone. It gave good dynamic range when taking still photos, especially in daylight.
Selfies were sharp and detail and dynamic range were good. Selfie portrait shots were also good 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 to do better with the 32-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus.
When the photo was 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 well. Texture with black spots was being found in the dark area. While capturing the photo here, the phone was taking more than one to two seconds and in night mode this time was going up to 3 seconds.
The camera was very capable of capturing details in Night Mode as it also captured details that I could not even see with my eyes. The noise reduction algorithm has been given a more aggressive one, with the long exposure and lack of OIS, the photo does not come out as good as it could have been. The photos taken in many street lights came out sharp but the texture was a bit flat here too.
The primary camera of Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G uses hardware level DOL HDR video recording, with which Oppo’s MariSilicon X NPU has been given in support. Better dynamic range has been claimed with this system. However, in my experience, 1080p 30fps video was average and details were lacking. 1080p 60fps video was quite shaky, stabilization was a major issue. Video came out well at 4K 30fps. It had a lot of details and dynamic range was also good.
After turning on the AI ​​Highlight feature, the video started playing unstable frame rates and the details were also reduced. Despite shooting in daylight, the texture remained soft and noise was also visible in dark areas. 4K video in low light was recorded in the best quality when shot in regular mode. I found it better to keep AI Highlight off, as it was degrading the video quality.
our decision
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G obviously looks like a premium smartphone. It is lightweight, trendy and looks premium even at Rs 45,999. It is difficult to find any other smartphone with such design and build quality at this price point. Unfortunately, your hopes start waning when it comes to the camera department. The camera is not the best, as the price of this phone has been taken.
Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G It comes across as a solid option with better hardware and camera performance, along with a good macro camera at a lower price point. It misses out a bit in the design but offers tremendous value for money at a starting price of Rs 37,999.
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G phone has gone a long way from its old model, so now it stands shoulder to shoulder with OnePlus and Motorola. over here OnePlus 9RT 5G It also offers decent camera performance, is equipped with Snapdragon 888 SoC, 120Hz OLED panel and comes for Rs 42,999. afterwards Motorola Edge 30 Pro It has Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, quality rear camera, 60 megapixel selfie camera, IP52 rating and near stock Android software experience.
OnePlus 10R Endurance Edition And the Realme GT Neo 3 (150W) also comes in the same price but if fast charging is your first priority then you can check them out. in the end, Redmi K50i 5G Which is priced at 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.
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G will be liked by those who are Oppo fans, want a very 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.
