Oppo Reno 8 Pro review: Slick design, but what else?

Oppo is best known for its Find X flagship devices, but with budgets squeezing, its mid-range Reno devices find themselves gathering interest.

Already launched in China and India, the Reno 8 isn't new (if you're a smartphone fan). The big news now is that the Reno 8 family has been launched globally, so it's available in the UK and Europe, expanding the range of choices available for those who want a little more for their money.

But Oppo's line isn't that this is a step down from the Find X: indeed, the Reno 8 Pro has some elements that might be better than the flagship device.

Design and build

• 161.2 x 74.2 x 7.3mm, 183g
• IP54 protection
• Gorilla Glass 5 unibody design

Long gone are the days when buying a mid-range phone meant putting up with a plastic body and a poor design. The Oppo Reno 8 Pro is bold, with quality construction and premium materials, that match what you'd expect from a flagship device.

Finished in Gorilla Glass 5 front and back, there's a flat display, with squared edges to the frame, which wraps into the camera bump with a neat chamfer: it looks like a fusion of the iPhone 13 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. We also noted that there is some design synergy with the OnePlus 10T and the OnePlus 10R models.

The result is a positive look, but there's no avoiding that this is a big phone, and gripping a big phone with squared edges can get a little uncomfortable over time.

There's also no avoiding the huge camera bump on the rear of the phone. It's so big, it's almost impossible to hold this phone without that camera bump falling under your fingers, so you can always feel it, which some might find a little awkward. However, we eventually got used to the design and found ourselves using our forefinger under the ridge to get a better grip on the phone.

You'll be needing this grip, too, as without a case this phone is extremely slippery. We put it on our desk and found it gliding off of its own accord more than once. We'd recommend looking into a case for added grip, but, on the plus side, the phone looks as good as new despite taking a few tumbles - so durability seems promising.

We like the fact it's integrated with a single piece of glass for the back so it has a quality seamless construction. Oppo boasts that the Reno 8 Pro has the slimmest bezels of any Reno device, while the IP54 rating means there's some water protection too.

Elsewhere, the phone offers only a USB-C port and SIM card tray, there's no expandable storage or headphone jack. There's no wireless charging either, which is par for the course when it comes to mid-range devices. 

Display and speakers

• 6.7in, 2412 x 1080 pixels, 394ppi
• 120Hz, OLED, HDR10+
• Dual stereo speakers

There's a 6.7-inch OLED display on the Reno 8 Pro, and as we said, this is a flat display with really slim bezels. It has a full HD+ resolution and offers a 120Hz refresh rate. This isn't adaptive, it's either 120 or 60Hz, allowing you to choose to suit your preferences.

The display is great in use: it's bright and vibrant, with plenty of options to customise it to your preference. These settings allow you to sharpen images or boost colours, thanks to a range of AI technologies. Though using this tech consumes battery life, so we kept it turned off the majority of the time. However, it does make a difference, and some users may find it useful.

It's HDR compatible, so it looks great with the latest streaming content. We tested it with some 4K HDR YouTube videos and it does an excellent job rendering the bright highlights. The colours pop and it's very sharp. This effect is amplified by the slim bezels and flat panel, it really does look impressive.

The speakers are also impressive and deliver a spacious sound thanks to their stereo placement. Of course, they're still tiny phone speakers, so they're no match for a dedicated Bluetooth speaker, but they can get very loud and deliver a full-bodied sound that we weren't expecting. The only thing to watch out for is the speaker next to the USB-C port, as it's quite easy to muffle with your hand.

Hardware and performance

• MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max, 8GB RAM
• 256GB storage
• 4500mAh, 80W SuperVOOC charging

Turning to the hardware and the use of the MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Max is rather rare for a European device. This hardware mirrors the India-focused OnePlus 10R, while most launching into Europe opt for Snapdragon hardware instead.

The 8100-Max, despite the big number, is a mid-range chipset based on a 5nm architecture, similar to something like the Snapdragon 870 in positioning. However, despite the mid-range chip, Oppo says this is the most powerful Reno device yet, and we believe it. 

In day-to-day use, the phone is a snappy performer and we never found that it slowed down, even with lots of apps running in parallel. The 8GB RAM helps here, and there's the option to virtually expand this, should you feel the need. Though, we can't imagine most people would require more.

Both the face unlock and fingerprint scanning are rapid and reliable. We did feel that the fingerprint scanner is located a little on the low side, though, you really have to reach quite far down to get to it.

If you like a bit of gaming, the Reno 8 Pro performs well and was able to run Call of Duty Mobile at a solid 60fps on very high settings, barely heating up in the process. There are some handy gaming settings built into the operating system too, allowing you to bump performance, keep an eye on your frame rate or block incoming notifications.

There's a 4500mAh battery with support for 80W SuperVOOC charging, with the charger in the box. We were very impressed with the battery life, easily giving us a day and a half of moderate usage on a single charge. Plus, when you do need to top-up, it's done in a flash, with a flat-to-full charge taking just over half an hour.

Cameras

• Triple rear camera:
  • Main: 50MP, Sony IMX776, 1/1.56in, f/1.8
  • Ultrawide: 8MP, Sony IMX355, 1/4in, f/2.2
  • Macro: 2MP, OV02B10, 1/5in, f/2.4
• Front: 32MP, Sony IMX709 RGBW, 1/2.74in, f/2.4 AF

We've mentioned the big camera bulge on the rear of the Oppo Reno 8 Pro, which inspires some confidence in the camera system, but we dove deeper to see if there's any substance to this.

The front camera, surprisingly, is where Oppo is putting a lot of the focus. This has been driven by the fact that a lot of mid-range phone buyers use the front camera a lot more, because they tend to be a younger, more social, buyer.

There's a Sony IMX709 sensor in the punch hole of this phone, designed with Sony. It has an RGBW configuration, offers 32-megapixels of resolution and also features autofocus, which is rare outside of flagship phones. In fact, this is the same selfie camera found in the brand's flagship Find X5 Pro.

In our testing, it delivered excellent results, surpassing the quality of most other phones in this price bracket. Oppo's portrait mode is decent, too, with fairly reliable subject isolation and a blur that's not too overzealous. 

The main rear camera is the Sony IMX776 with its 50-megapixel sensor, which we've tested on numerous other mid-range devices. It's a reliable sensor that provides good results, and things were no different here.

One thing we noticed is that the colours tend towards the natural and are less saturated than images from something like a Samsung phone, for example. There's a slight shift towards the magenta tones, too, but it looks pleasing most of the time. The only real negative to the primary sensor is that it seems very prone to lens flares, moreso than we've seen on other models that use the same sensor.

Something unique to this device is that you also benefit from Oppo's MariSilicon X hardware - which separates the camera experience on the Pro from that on the regular Reno 8. The addition of that MariSilicon hardware means there's more power, so there can be more processing to deliver better overall results in areas like low-light photography, videography and portraiture. The main thing you'll notice in the real world is more detailed night mode shots and brighter night-time videos.

The main camera is supported by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro, if you're keeping up with this year's mid-rangers, you'll no doubt be familiar with the configuration. It's the same set-up that we've seen on devices such as the Realme GT Neo 3, Vivo V25 Pro and a variety of gaming phones. In short, the 8MP ultrawide has its uses, but it's not up to the standard of the main sensor, while the 2MP macro is too low res to be of much use to anyone.

Software

• Android 12 with ColorOS 12.1
• 2 Android OS updates, 3-years security update

The Oppo Reno 8 Pro launched on Android 12 with ColorOS 12.1. This is a customised Android skin but it's pretty clean and doesn't wander too far from the stock Android experience. Some of the additions are genuinely useful, like the ability to shift home screen apps about in bulk and quick-launch options.

In our opinion, it's one of the better Android skins, but it's a shame that Android 13 hasn't been incorporated yet - that's supposed to be coming around the end of the year, or in early 2023.

Unfortunately, the device comes with plenty of duplication and bloatware. Apps like Facebook and TikTok come pre-installed, as do some games, along with Oppo's own music app, photo gallery and a wide range of tools. You can remove the stuff you don't want fairly easily, and other brands are certainly worse offenders, but it does detract from the out-of-box experience.