Design & Build Quality
When it comes to design, most premium smartphones these days follow a minimalist theme, and the Reno series is no different. You get an ultra-slim body which is just 7.3mm thick and weighs barely 183 grams. It features a square unibody design with smoothened edges and a plain back panel.
They have refined this look further by adding a glossy yet smudge-resistant glazed finish to the back panel, which features a unique micro-arc camera bump that blends into the rear panel at a 75° transition. The camera sensors themselves are almost recessed into the body with a binocular design that is reminiscent of old-school film cameras.
On the front, they have used a special flexible display which subtly wraps around the corners to give a near-borderless look to the 6.7-inch 120Hz FHD AMOLED panel. It is a bright and vibrant display that can read a peak brightness of up to 950nits and comes with support for HDR10+ and 100% coverage of both DCI P3 & sRGB colour gamuts. The whole setup is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, which also hides an in-display optical fingerprint sensor.
Performance
The phone is powered by the latest 5nm MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX processor, which is supported by Arm’s Mali-G610 MC6 GPU and Oppo’s very own MariSilicon X NPU. They can be paired up with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 Storage. This is enough raw processing power to handle all sorts of general computing and AI processing tasks for all sorts of everyday use cases.
To ensure that these components aren’t slowed down by thermal throttling, the phone also comes with a massive ultra-conductive graphite cooling system which measures 32928mm2. For reference, this is almost a 45% increased cooling capacity than the outgoing model.
Battery & Charging
The phone needs this level of cooling power to handle not only the processor heat but also the warmth generated during charging, which in itself can be considerable considering the phone comes with support for 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging. This level of fast charge is enough to power the 4500mAh battery from 0-50% in just 11 minutes.
To ensure that the battery remains healthy despite such intense levels of power delivery, the manufacturers have divided the battery pack into two smaller 2250mAh units that are packed in the same space as a general full-size battery unit. In fact, they have also included a proprietary Battery Health Engine to make sure that these units retain full battery health for up to 1600 charging cycles.
Camera Setup
The real highlight of the phone is still the camera setup, which has been chosen deliberately to ensure the best photography and videography experience possible. On the rear, you get a triple camera setup, which features the latest Sony sensors for optimal performance.
The main unit is the 50MP IMX766 sensor, which features all-pixel Omni-directional PDAF, dual native ISO, and up to 12-bit image capture. It is supported by a secondary 8MP ultra-wide IMX355 unit which comes with enhanced low-light performance. Finally, you have a 2MP OmniVision OV02B10 macro unit for capturing close-up shots.
There is also a small ring flash, which helps illuminate subjects in a soft and steady manner. The raw output from these sensors is further optimized with the help of the dedicated MariSilicon X NPU, which enables all sorts of AI photo and video modes. This includes all the existing Oppo camera modes from older models, as well as the 8 series exclusive 4K Ultra night video capture.
You get the 32MP Sony IMX709 camera on the front, which comes with a special open-loop focus motor for hardware-based autofocus. It is an ultra-wide unit with a 90° field of view for amazing group selfies. You can also enjoy various other unique shooting modes like portrait, time-lapse, and even dual-view video. Everything captured is processed through a special AI noise reduction algorithm to ensure you get the best output possible.
Conclusion
The fact that you get all this and more in such a slim and beautiful body is a testament to Oppo’s manufacturing prowess. The Reno 8 Pro is truly on par with the best Android smartphones out there, especially at a highly competitive starting price of around 2000 AED. While this firmly establishes it in the premium smartphone segment, it is still quite cheap compared to other flagship models from companies like Apple and Samsung, which can cost up to twice that amount or even more.