Oppo Reno 8 Pro Review - Flagship performance with a stellar camera set-up

• Oppo Reno 8 Pro was launched today at a price of ₹45,999.
• Oppo Reno 8 Pro is powered by Mediatek Dimensity 8100 Max 5G SoC.
• It features a 50MP triple rear camera with a Marisilicon NPU.

Oppo Reno is back again. It’s been five months since the Reno 7 Pro 5G launch, and we already have the Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G succeeding it, making it even easier to believe that mid-year updates are standard. Moreover, Oppo claims they have significantly improved the Reno 8 Pro, especially in the camera department. So does it fare well in the current market where the Indian customers are spoilt with choices? I will find that out for you in my review.

Price and Availability

Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G is available only in one configuration. The variant packs in 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, which is available at a price of ₹45,999 on Flipkart, Oppo online store and retail outlets.

Design & Build Quality
Holding Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G instantly makes one realize this is a premium product. I like devices that are blocky but are not necessarily heavy. Reno 8 Pro 5G hits the right spot with that. The flat edges and a glass sandwich design, all packed in at 183 grams, are genuinely astonishing. That said, it is a bit thicker than the competition, which might bother some customers looking for a lighter device. I wish the next iteration maintains the same form factor with a slimmer frame.


The smartphone is fairly big, with a 6.7-inch screen, making one-handed usage quite tricky. Especially if you have small hands, you will mostly use both hands.


I have the Glazed Green color variant, which looks subtle and is easy on the eyes. There is also a tiny Oppo branding on the bottom left which doesn't look out of place and goes well with this color. Reno 8 Pro 5G is also available in a Glazed Black color variant, but I found the Glazed Green more appealing.

The smartphone comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 back which visibly protects it from minor scratches. I have been using the device without the bundled TPU case, and so far, it has taken no damage. It does, however, register smudges I was wiping off more often than not. It is also very slippery and tends to slide down if you don’t have a conscious grip on the phone. These are some standard quirks when using a smartphone with a glass back. If you can be a bit careful, I suggest not putting on a case and enjoying using it all commando.

But if you are clumsy and not a risk taker for pleasure, please apply a case.

I find it a bit disappointing that we don’t get wireless charging on it. The hardware is all there, a compatible chipset, a solid design, and a glass back, yet it's missing. Wireless charging is now a quality of life feature that consumers do seek. In addition, we are seeing the competition providing it, most notably Nothing Phone(1). In the performance section, I will share my thoughts on charging and battery life, but it is essential to address this here.


Since we are speaking of the rear, it's important to address the elephant in the room. The camera bump on the Reno 8 Pro 5G is massive. To the point that the 1/4th of the TPU case has a cut-out denoting its presence. Housing three sensors and a Marisilicone set-up, the camera module is supposed to be chunky, but not to this extent. It can be compared to the bump we see on Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, but it has four cameras.

I strongly feel Oppo could have given a better treatment to the module, but this is what we have. However, credit where it’s due, Oppo does manage to keep the execution clean here, and the camera bump doesn't break the aesthetic and is part of the unibody design. While it does wobble a bit, applying a case solves this issue to a great extent.

Moving on to other characteristics, you will find the SIM card tray on the bottom. Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G supports 2 Nano SIMs. A USB Type-C charging port and speaker grill are next to it.

Reno 8 Pro also comes with IP54 water resistant rating, which means it fares well against minor water splashes.

Display
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G features a 6.7-inch punch-hole AMOLED display; the brand has also dubbed it ‘ultra clear’. But keeping the marketing lingo aside, the screen on offer is genuinely impressive with very thin bezels.


The panel has not missed a beat in my four days of usage. It is responsive as expected and doesn’t miss out on gestures. The touch sensitivity is top-notch; a light tap is enough to complete the job. The execution makes the experience wholesome, and you feel one with the device. The responsiveness also comes in handy when using features like floating windows. It’s easier to navigate when the display complements the process of switching between widgets.

We also get an in-display fingerprint scanner on the Reno 8 Pro 5G, which quickly registers and unlocks the phone. Lately, on devices, I have felt the need to consciously press my thumb against the display for it to unlock, like in the case of the OnePlus Nord 2T. But a light tap does the job with Reno 8 Pro 5G.

Coming to the display quality, the 6.7-inch panel has impressed me with its video quality to a great extent. The color reproduction is accurate, retaining great amounts of details. Since the panel also boasts HDR10+, the content in the supported format pops up.

The peak brightness is 950 Nits, which means the blacks on display are deep as they are supposed to be, and so far, I have not noticed any white patches spoiling the experience.

I have so far streamed content on OTT platforms and Youtube, and the experience was satisfactory. The smartphone does support HD streaming for Netflix and HDR for Amazon Prime. So with a strong internet connection, you will consume content as it is supposed to be.

Even though viewing angles in a smartphone is not something to rave about, I would especially like to mention that Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G’s display looks gorgeous from all angles. The screen is also well-lit, and I have not faced any issues looking at it under direct sunlight.

Supporting the display is a stereo-speaker set-up. Loud and bassy, in most cases, I did not find the need to connect my TWS buds to watch content. However, there were also times when my brother and I watched an entire episode of Ms. Marvel together, and we didn’t have to connect to an external audio speaker.

The maximum refresh rate on the screen is 120Hz, the execution is smooth, and it adds a punch, especially when gaming or scrolling on the internet. Unfortunately, as the case is in most Android devices, we don’t get to see an adaptive refresh rate here. Instead, you have to select between either the standard 60Hz or 120Hz. In my previous reviews, including the OnePlus Nord 2T (hyperlink), I mentioned that the adaptive refresh rate utilizes the display's prowess more efficiently and gives us a customized experience.

You also get an always-on display with the Reno 8 Pro 5G, which at the expense of an iota of your battery, comes in handy in most situations.

UI & Software
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G runs Android 12 out of the box combined with Oppo’s Color OS skin. Coming straight from using the Nord 2T, I could see the similarity between Oxygen OS skin and Color OS. But that was mostly limited to app icon designs and animations; the differences appear once you interact with the device.

Regarding bloatware, the usual suspects are Josh, Phone Pe, and Oppo bundled apps. Fortunately, third-party apps can be uninstalled. I am not a big fan of these applications, but there might be consumers out there who seek them. So far, I am yet to witness any push notification or an ad.

This was my first interaction with the color OS, and the overall experience has been decent. It’s not wildly different from what we see on most devices these days. However, there are certain factors that I liked and some we can do away with. Let’s go with the ones I liked first.

Customisation is an undisputed arena where an Android device stands out, and a manufacturer only builds upon it. Here Oppo has done a fine job. I can tune every element of the skin to meet my creativity, from changing icon sizes to the color of the text, creating custom colors for the always-on display text, customizing widgets, and fusing them.

The 3D icons are another aesthetic feature I appreciate as they add a twist to rather basic app trays. In addition, 3D icons come with certain shadow elements and poppier animations—a breath of fresh air.

Another stand-out feature for me was something rather generic. The sidebar on the Reno 8 Pro 5G is surprisingly well put. I usually turn it off on other devices, but Color OS motivated me to use it more often than not. I eventually customized it to hold emails and Instagram. Easy access and extremely smooth animations made it my favorite.

Then there are things that I am not a big fan of. In addition to bloatware, another feature that, in theory, sounds fairly nice but fell behind in execution is air gestures. The play here is simple, you wave your hands to answer or cancel phone calls, but most of the time, it misses out on the commands. While it is safe to assume most people would never use it, I wish it worked properly.

Oppo is playing big on making the Reno 8 line-up a future-proof investment. Not only is the Reno 8 Pro 5G getting two years of Android updates, but Oppo is confident that a user will be able to use this device for at least five years without any hassle. While I can’t comment on the actual number, it is commendable when a brand claims with numbers, and even more interesting to follow up if it can achieve it.

Performance
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Max chipset. This is a brand new SOC yet to set its mark. Hence, I went in with minimal expectations, and the experience has been positive.

This can be attributed to the overall package Oppo is offering here. The smartphone comes with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and users can also expand it internally by using spare storage by 3, 5, and 7GB. But I didn’t find a use case where you would have to expand the RAM yet.

The performance on offer is fiery so let's start with a power-hungry task like gaming. I have been playing BGMI on the Reno Pro 5G daily during my testing for at least 2 hours. The settings are all maxed out with HDR graphics and Ultra frame rates. There has so far been no glitch or ugly frame drops.

The 6.7-inch massive display is great for finding and eliminating your enemies. It all works from the refresh rate bouncing into high frame rates. The only comparison I can draw for this experience is with the Realme GT 2 Pro, but the fluidity here felt better, primarily because of the SoC.

The phone does heat up after about 45 minutes of continuous gaming, but it only gets noticeable and slightly unbearable post the 1-hour mark. It also cools down quickly, and you can hop on to your games sooner than later.

The Reno 8 Pro 5G puts the RAM to good use as it holds on to the applications in the background for prolonged periods. This includes apps like Instagram or WhatsApp and heavier apps like BGMI for a specific time. So I could easily switch between the apps without any hassle, and the phone would pick up on the same frame I had bounced off.

This performance also translates to everyday use, and general users will not find any issues using it. The Reno 8 Pro 5G specs and its real-life performance are overkill for a basic user who does not want to push limits or game.

We get 256GB of internal storage on the device, out of which the system takes around 25GB. The remaining 225GB of storage is more than enough for most consumers. If you still want more, you can buy added storage on the cloud since the Reno 8 Pro doesn’t support external SD cards.

Before closing this section, it's important to touch upon the battery performance of the Reno 8 Pro 5G. We get a 4500 mAh cell in the device, which is very difficult to kill, especially if you are a light user.

The numbers are on its side for this one. I was getting an average screen time of 8 hours for casual to heavy usage. It involves gaming sessions, video calls, and Youtube.

The mileage goes even higher for a light user, and I am confident it will easily last a bit over a work day for them.

It supports 80W SuperVooc charging, just like what we see on the Nord 2T. It takes about 35 minutes to charge from 0-100% with the bundled 80W charger, which is decent.

I also charged it with a 65W SuperVooc charger that I have at my home from OnePlus, which went from 0-100% in about 50 minutes. Reno 8 Pro even identified the charger as SuperVooc. So I thought it was essential to place this easter egg here.

Camera

Oppo smartphones have always been marketed as camera-centric, and the case is no different here. Especially on the Reno series. The Reno 8 Pro 5G features a triple rear camera.


The main sensor is a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor, the same unit we saw on the Reno 7 Pro, the OnePlus Nord 2T, and the OnePlus 10R. This sensor is becoming a favorite among OEMs mainly because it adapts itself to the SoC. However, what differentiates it is the MariSilicon Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which processes the images in real time. The results? Stunning.




The image results were crisp and detailed. I was thoroughly impressed, given the same sensor performed differently in the Nord 2T. The image processing by the MariSilicon does show up in the results.



The colors are generally accurate, and low light performance is also stellar. The photos in the dark showed minimal to no noise, and the grains were also under control. Color saturation is close to natural, and we mostly see what is in front of us. The dynamic range is very impressive in well-lit scenarios, especially in sunlight.

The video performance from the primary camera was impressive, and I would rarely recommend a mid-tier flagship for content creation. But here, I would. The 4K footage files are a bit heavy, but they are well-detailed and easy to work with in editing softwares as well.


Even though Oppo doesn’t provide optical image stabilization, I was stunned by the speed at which the sensor changes its focus. This is something that will surprise you for sure. The video feed takes a fraction of a second to register and put them in or out of focus. The audio recording from the microphone is decent, but if you are a professional, it’s essential to get a mic.

The 8MP ultrawide sensor adds a lot of room to the frame, but the quality takes a dip. Be it going wide or zooming in, details tend to lose out.

The camera gets back on its performance streak with portrait shots. Again, edge detection is top-notch, especially in natural lighting conditions. As a result, the pictures can easily pass on your social media feed. Unfortunately, the portrait mode's performance falters indoors, and the camera struggles to determine the proper distance for clicking the pictures. But otherwise, it's solid.

The 2MP macro sensor is the weakest link so far. After the performance of the primary sensors, I expected crisper and quicker results. It does deliver but struggles to get the details right. You eventually get to your desired shot, but only after several trials.


A special mention for the Dual-LED flash on the Reno 8 Pro. It is bright, but moreover, the LEDs are placed parallel to each other in a circular shape. This does add a miniaturized ring light which also makes up for a very bright torch.

The selfie camera is a 32 MP sensor, which could have been better. The situation is simple, the primary camera performance bowls you over, which undermines the rest of the sensors by a long mile.

Anyway, the selfies have a milky tint, especially if the AI filter is turned on. Just like other devices, OPPO provides AI modifications for your face. From cheeks to skin tone, you can tweak everything you want to. That is, of course, if you are into those features.


You can also vlog with the selfie camera, but I suggest switching it to the primary lens for better results.

Verdict
Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G turns out to be a great device for the performance and the overall package it offers. Usually, I have to box up my verdict and pin the product to a certain consumer group for which it suit’s the best. However, this is not the case here. This device works well for both dynamic and linear users.

Still, if you want a cleaner OS experience, you can go for the OnePlus 10R with practically the same spec sheet. Or, if you want a more dynamic performance, you can go for the Realme GT 2 Pro. I would have counted Nothing Phone(1) in the list as well, but I am yet to use it personally, so don’t consider me an outdated reviewer.