OPPO has quickly established itself as one of the top phone brands in New Zealand. This is not by chance as their smartphones are well designed, expertly crafted and bring a good set of features.
The new OPPO Reno8 5G is no different. At the top of the line, it brings lots of features that will satisfy consumers. The streamlined unibody design, to start, is very appealing – even though it does have a camera bump that protrudes a bit. The body, which is 7.67 mm thick and weighs only 180g fits and balances really nicely on your hand.
The material used for the phone is also nice to touch and, in my case, the Shimmer Black option doesn’t seem to attract fingerprints like other phones.
It is also an especially fast phone, thanks to its eight-core MediaTek Dimensity 1300 CPU, with a maximum speed of 3 GHz, and an ARM G-77 3D Graphics GPU running at 866 MHz. Add to this a 8 GB RAM and 256 GB ROM and you have plenty of power for your day-to-day use or gaming.
Despite these specs, the batteries (yes, two of them) give you a total 4400 mAh reserve and in case you need it, charging is really fast with support to the 80W SUPERVOOC specs that OPPO is famous for.
The AMOLED-based panel, 8-bit (16.7 million colours) 6.4 inches screen supports 2400 x 1080 pixels with 409 pixels per inch (PPI) but is limited to a 90 MHz refresh rate – while some top-of-line competitors clock at 120 MHz or more these days.
But don’t feel this is a big deal, as the picture is pretty good – amazing actually. The big deal here is that this display is both Netflix and Prime Video HD certified, so you know you get great entertainment value.
Streaming is supported by powerful wireless standards. In this case support for Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 5 (802.ac) and 802.11a/b/g/n. This includes connectivity in the 2.4 GHz, 5.1 GHz and the newer 5.8 GHz bands.
With support for Bluetooth 5.3 and multiple audio codecs (SBC, AAC, aptX HD and LDAC) you can get your HD headphones to work at max if you have the right audio source for it.
Most important here is support for 5G, which works well in New Zealand. Thanks to its support for multiple frequency bands and the telcos constantly expanding 4G and 5G coverage you are guaranteed to have a phone that can be used for years to come. And it’s dual SIM, so you can use it in many different ways to support your communication needs.
The operating system ColorOS 12.1 has come a long way. Based on Android 12, OPPO has already mentioned an update coming for Android 13, sometime in 2023. It’s fresh, easy to use and run all the apps you are used to, from the Google Play Store.
But the big deal here is really photography. With three rear cameras based on Sony IMX766, the main one with a 50 megapixel sensor and the front one a 32 megapixels Sony IMX709, you get really nice pictures, with the highlight being night photography. Photos are really crisp and processed very quickly, giving you consistently satisfying results.
The rear camera also supports 4K video records at 30 frames per second (FPS), 1080p (HD) at 60 FPS and slow-motion 1080p (HD) videos at 120 FPS. The front camera supports 1080p (HD) videos at 30 FPS, including stabilisation but does not support zoom or slow motion.
There is an under-the-screen fingerprint sensor, which works well, although I am not a big fan of this position as I much prefer something on the back or power button.
Overall, the OPPO Reno8 5G is worth considering if you are in the market for a new Android device.
