Oppo Reno 8 Pro: Budget Flagship Champ?

Oppo’s continued efforts into making premium Android handsets has resulted in some rather impressive hardware, with phones like the Oppo Find X5 Pro giving competing Android handsets a run for their money, albeit with a premium price tag. With that said, you might be after a more affordable option from Oppo, in which case you might want to go with the Oppo reno 8 Pro.

Priced at around the same cost as the Google Pixel 7, the Oppo reno 8 Pro comes with some compelling hardware and software features. But is it the right Oppo phone for you? Let’s take a look.

Oppo Reno 8 Specs:

• Display: 6.7-inch AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate
• Resolution: 1080×2412 pixels
• Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Max
• RAM: 8GB/12GB
• Storage: 256GB Storage
• Battery: 4500 mAh with 80W Charging Support
• Cameras: 50MP main sensor, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, 32MP front
• Software: Android 12 with Color OS

Design and Display

In terms of looks, the Oppo Reno 8 Pro takes some design elements from the more expensive Oppo Find X5 Pro. It has a very premium look to it, with Gorilla glass 5 on the front paired with an unspecified glass panel on the back, surrounded by an aluminum railing around the sides of the phone. The right side houses your power button, while the volume rocker is situated on the left-hand side of the phone. On the bottom you’ll find the USB-C charging port, SIM tray, and speaker grille.

One distinct design trait is the large camera bump on the rear panel, which seamlessly melts into the rest of the glass slab at the back of the phone, similar to the design on the Oppo Find X5 Pro. It seems that in 2022, one of the biggest design trends among smartphone manufacturers is the inclusion of large camera bumps on newer handsets, which will be a very subjective matter for some people. With that said, there’s no mention of an IP68 rating on the phone, so you’ll have to take extra care to keep it away from water damage and extremely dusty situations.

The Reno 8 Pro features a 6.7 inch AMOLED screen with a 120 Hertz refresh rate, with a 1080 by 2412 pixel resolution, with a peak brightness of 950 nits. It’s a rather vibrant display, and if screen quality is a major priority for you, then you’ll have a blast with this phone. There’s also an in-display fingerprint scanner which is nice and fluid, as well as a facial recognition for additional biometrics.

There’s a dual-speaker set-up on the phone, which produces a nice and clear sound even at maximum volume – check out this sample. Overall, I’m a fan of the way that the phone looks, and it does have a lightweight feel to it, making it pretty ideal for everyday handling. Oppo has managed to pull off a good-looking design on the Reno 8 Pro, and it definitely shows.

Internal Specs, Software and Usage

Powering the phone is a MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Max chipset, partnered with 256GB of internal storage, and a choice of either 8 or 12GB of RAM, the latter of which we have here with us.

In terms of raw power, the Reno 8 Pro will be able to keep up with high-performance tasks thanks to the powerful chipset. MediaTek’s Dimensity series chips have made tremendous leaps and bounds when it comes to demanding applications such as gaming and video-editing apps, for example.

The phone will be more than able to run most graphics-heavy games on the Play Store. For example, I was able to play XCOM 2 and GRID Autosport on the Reno 8 Pro, and the phone managed to keep up with the action on both games. There’s even a dedicated performance mode which will let you throw your phone’s resources into keeping your games running smooth. If you’re planning on using this phone for frequent gaming, then you’ll have little problem playing your favorite games on the 8 Pro.

For casual smartphone use like web browsing, video and music streaming, as well as social media apps, the Reno 8 Pro will be a solid performer, and moderate users will have a great time with this phone. Using the phone and navigating through the user interface is smooth without any lags or stutters.

Speaking of the UI, the Reno 8 Pro comes with Android 12 paired with Color OS, which is Oppo’s custom Android skin. This is the same kind of UI that you’ll see on other Oppo and certain OnePlus phones, and it comes with a ton of options for customizability and personalization. Everything from app icons, wallpapers, themes, and even status bar indicators can be tweaked on the Reno 8 Pro, which is something you won’t get on other smartphones.

With that said however, the phone comes with a lot of pre-installed software, a lot of which I didn’t really need or use. Of course you can always choose to uninstall these, but for folks who are after a more stock Android experience this will be something to take into consideration. If you’re used to a Google Pixel phone for example, you might be taken aback by the number of additional apps on the Reno 8 Pro.

Camera and Battery

Now, in terms of cameras, the Reno 8 Pro comes with a 50MP main camera, 8MP ultrawide lens, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 32MP front-facing camera, a set-up that you’ll see on a lot of smartphones nowadays. It’s also equipped with Oppo’s MariSilicon X, a hardware component which is designed to improve the imaging performance of the 8 Pro. With that said, I do think that the Reno 8 Pro’s cameras are quite capable, especially for casual mobile photography. Color reproduction is mostly accurate, although there are some times when the software processing tends to add a bit of contrast to images.

In general, shots on the main sensor look pretty good with a decent amount of detail and dynamic range, although I wasn’t too satisfied with the performance of the ultrawide lens, in which you can see some differences in color compared to the main sensor. Selfie shots were good as well, and photos on the 8 Pro will be more than enough for social media posts. With that said though, I wasn’t a fan of how portrait shots were processed sometimes, and I’d rather just use the default photo mode for selfies.

Now the phone also performs nicely in most low-light situations. I actually took some comparison night mode shots with the Pixel 7 and iPhone 14, and in this instance the Reno 8 Pro was able to hold its own, although I did notice that color reproduction in this example is a bit close to what the iPhone 14 was able to produce.

The phone can record a maximum of 4K resolution videos at 30 frames per second, which is pretty decent, although to be honest we’d have preferred an option to shoot in 60fps, given that it is available on the similarly-priced Pixel 7, for example. With that said, the Reno 8 Pro has decent video stabilization, and in general you’ll get good-looking video clips provided that you have enough lighting. We actually have an in-depth camera test here on Phandroid which you can check out, as that video has a lot of different photo and video samples in different lighting situations and backgrounds.

As for battery, the phone comes with a 4500 mAh battery, which is a decent size and should last most users about a day. Of course, if you use your phone with a high display brightness, constant data and GPS, as well as frequent gaming, then you’ll burn through the battery a lot faster.

This shouldn’t be too much of a problem though, as thankfully the Reno 8 Pro comes with 80W fast-charging support, which is insanely fast and can charge your phone to a hundred percent in around half an hour. One caveat unfortunately is that the phone lacks wireless charging, so if this is a feature that you use a lot, it will not be available with this device. With that said though, there are of course third-party solutions for this, if you really must have wireless charging.

Final Thoughts

For around 599 GBP or 470 Euros, it’s clearly meant to take on rivals like the Google Pixel 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, to name a few. At this price point, it comes with all the right ingredients that make up a competent budget flagship phone, like a vibrant display, premium design, capable cameras, and overall good performance.

On the other hand, it does come with a heavily-skinned version of Android, which may or may not be to your liking, and the lack of wireless charging might be an issue for some. But if you’re after one of the best mid-rangers that Oppo has in its line-up, then there’s little reservation when it comes to getting the Reno 8 Pro.