Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G is quite a mouthful, but when the phone comes with as many features as the name has syllables, it’s not a bad thing.
While not the latest phone on the market, the Reno 5 Pro is still a compelling phone to get your hands on.
Design and Build
The Reno5 Pro is a standard slab style phone, but it has its own unique design elements.
The top and bottom of the phones are flat, which means you can stand the phone up without it falling over. These flat surfaces also have an interesting glossy sheen to them.
The camera layout is pretty standard with a front-facing hole punch camera. The rear facing cameras have a massive bump, which I’m not a fan of, but overall it’s not something out of the ordinary these days.
The model we got was the beautiful galactic silver. A shimmery look that has a different colour depending on the angle you view the phone from. The phone has an interesting texture as well, which feels almost like a cross between brush and matte. Which means it feels great and the look doesn’t get ruined by yucky fingerprints.
Another addition I like is the power button has this extra design element to it, making it easy to identify by touch and a quick look.
Reno5 Pro Camera:
As is expected on most phones nowdays, the Reno5 Pro comes with 5 cameras.
- Main: 64 MP, f/1.7
- Ultrawide: 8 MP, f/2.2
- Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4
- Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4
- Front-facing: 32 MP, f/2.4
The photos you can get from the Oppo Reno5 Pro are excellent. The main lens is absolutely the show stopper here. The Ultrawide lens is capable, as long as it is a well lit environment.
The Front-Facing camera was also pretty great.
You definitely get a lot of camera for the money you spend.
Video is a place where Android phones in general have not been the best, especially when compared to the Apple phones. The Reno5 Pro actually comes very close and in some cases even exceeded what you would expect.
The video capabilities are great in almost all kinds of lighting and the ultrasteady mode makes you feel like the phone is connected to a Gimbal.
Display
The Reno 5 Pro has a stellar display. The screen is 6.55” Super AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10+ display. It has a 1080 x 2400 resolution which gives it a pixel density of 401 ppi.
While it isn’t 120Hz, that 90Hz display is quite stunning. Surprisingly I am not someone who wants ultra high refresh rates on a phone display. I would rather save that processing for multi-tasking and grunt work. Pushing more frames for general tasks isn’t really a concern of mine.
That’s actually why I love the 90Hz display. It is a good balance, giving buttery smooth animations while also not demanding too much performance and battery life. Good choice!
The hole-punch is a good option as it’s hidden away to one side and small enough to not hinder the camera while also maximising viewing options.
If you haven’t guessed it, the Oppo Reno 5 Pro has a great screen all around.
Battery for the Oppo Reno Pro 5G
The Reno5 Pro has a 4,350mAh battery, which is commendable for how compact this phone feels.
The battery size means this phone is surprisingly capable, giving me enough juice to last the whole day. While I could kill the battery with extremely heavy usage, the super fast charging can be a life saver in a pinch.
Thankfully you get the 65W charger in the box. OPPO calls this Super VOOC 2.0. Watching this battery charge from a single digit number is such a fun experience. You can truly feel the speed. I mean see it through their graphics and the number rising, but it looks cool and is quite a rush. It’s the little things.
We give this battery system an A+, i.e. the battery life + fast charging.
My only concern would be the actual longevity of the battery health. No way we can test such a thing in a short time, but hopefully it’s a cheap replacement when it does go kaput.
Features, Specs and Performance
The OPPO Reno5 Pro 5G is not just a mouth full to say, it also has the performance to boot.
The specs of the phone are:
- Processor:
- Mediatek MT6889Z Dimensity 1000+
- 7nm
- Octa-core
- 4×2.6 GHz Cortex-A77
- 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55
- GPU: Mali-G77 MC9
- UFS 2.1 Fast Storage:
- Config 1: 128GB Storage, 8GB RAM
- Config 1: 256GB Storage, 12GB RAM
- Cellular: 5G and all those before
Right, so it turns out the processor has more letters than the english language, but it is quite a beast.
From what we can see, the Mediatek MT6889Z Dimensity 1000+ is similar to the Snapdragon 865 (Which this phone also comes in, but not for this region).
The model we got had 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. Which means we got the full beans.
You also get the under-display fingerprint reader, which is quite good. A momentary hesitation at times, but it’s fast enough to not bother you. Works really well, you will not be disappointed.
You get a USB-C 3.1 charging port and the phone is also Dual SIM.
Here are the benchmarks results:
Software, Speakers and Others
With OPPO phones you get the ColorOS. Previously I never used to like these custom OS’, but it seems that I’ve come around and don’t mind all the cool things happening. The only issue is the extra apps. While yes all phones have it, Oppo’s apps are minimal.
ColorOS gives you a lot of customization options. E.g. icon shapes, the charging and fingerprint animation, certain other colour schemes (including the level of darkness in dark mode), the notifications effects. Some of the these are gimmicky but some are brilliant and really help make the phone feel special just for you.
Overall while the OS is not a minor departure from stock Android, most of what OPPO has done is good.
The speakers on the Reno5 Pro are quite good for the overall package. Nothing to write home about but not disappointing either.
Oppo generously includes a case in the box, while it is clear and does a commendable job of showcasing the look it still takes away from it. If you want the protection, this is a very good option.
Final Thoughts on the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
This phone is actually a brilliant all rounder. It is very hard to find something bad about it. We can nitpick and probably find something, but honestly it is just a stellar phone.
Even though it’s a few months old at this point, if you can get a good deal, this is a safe bet even today. Don’t settle for the lower spec, get the higher spec and run this phone for as long as you can.
