OPPO Reno5 launched last month and we’ve been taking it through its paces – from our first impressions review, camera review, putting it against its older sibling in a comparison review with the OPPO Reno4 from last year and finally here’s our full review.
Design
First off the OPPO Reno5 boasts of an exquisite gradient and matte finish. It looks great outdoors with the colour shifting back and it’s also prevents fingerprint smudges.
The camera housing also doesn’t protrude that much from the back.
Upfront, the OPPO Reno5 has a hole-punch cutout that’s located in the top left of the display. The phone has thin bezels at the top, with the bottom bezel just that little bit thicker. There’s a grille above the screen that doubles as the secondary speaker to offer stereo sound for that immersive multimedia experience [Dolby Atmos is included]
You’ll find the power on the right and volume buttons on the left.
The USB-C charging port is at the bottom with the primary speaker, headphone jack and microphone.
We have an indisplay fingerprint sensor that is fast to authenticate and doesn’t have any issues.
The OPPO Reno5 also has a dual SIM card tray, and you can slot in two SIM cards and a MicroSD card for external storage.
The OPPO Reno5 is light, compact and feels great to hold and use thanks to the matte finish on the sides, and the buttons ideally positioned for where your thumbs naturally rest to access the phone.
Oppo’s fit and finish on the Reno5 is top-notch, the materials all come together perfectly and it feels pretty solid while still being less hefty.
Using this phone feels like the near-perfect balance of size, weight, and comfort. And even with a case on it doesn’t feel too thick.
Overall, this is one of the most attractive designs you’ll find in the mid-range segment today.
Display
OPPO Reno5 has a massive 6.4-inch AMOLED panel with a 90Hz dynamic refresh rate. The screen is full HD with a resolution of 2400 x 1800, and you get a layer of Gorilla Glass protection.
Colour vibrancy and that 90Hz refresh rate are huge features for the OPPO Reno5’s display.
I couldn’t find a single fault on this screen. It’s exceptional in brightness, colors, viewing angles, reflectivity and every other part of the display experience that matters – not only indoors but outdoors too.
The high refresh rate is perfect for social media, browsing, navigating the UI or gaming.
You obviously notice it the most when scrolling through feeds and lists, but it applies subconsciously to every bit of movement and every animation — opening apps, pulling down the notification shade, and everything else. It’s just pleasing to the eye, and you’re quickly spoiled by it in a way you don’t realize until you go back to a regular screen.
It’s also welcome that oppo included a massive battery and ultra-fast charging to offer you excellent battery life especially when if you switch to the 90hz mode.
OPPO Reno5 has stereo sound that makes it enjoyable to use the device for playing games or streaming videos
It’s worth noting that the OPPO Reno5 has Widevine L1 out of the box, giving you the ability to stream your favourite shows on Netflix, Prime Video, or other streaming services at 1080p.
Hardware
OPPO Reno5 comes powered by Snapdragon 720G processor with Adreno 618 GPU coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB memory.
This combination will serve most consumers perfectly.
I didn’t notice any issues when playing games or other day-to-day tasks on the OPPO Reno5. Apps open quickly, 8GB of RAM allows for excellent multitasking, and I rarely found myself waiting on the phone to do what I wanted.
There wasn’t a single moment of hesitation or even a suggestion of a slowdown in anything I did with the OPPO Reno5.
You can lock some apps into memory so they won’t be closed, but I didn’t even find this necessary considering how much memory is on tap and how fast apps re-open. You’re going to be able to throw anything at the OPPO Reno5.
Performance will never be an issue on this phone, regardless of what you need to do.
Now let’s talk about battery life
The OPPO Reno5 has a 4300mAh battery with 50W USB PD fast charging, and OPPO includes a 50W charger in the box.
Charging back up is a quick endeavour even with this giant battery. The phone goes from zero to 100% in just 40 minutes, delivering up to a 65% charge in just 20 minutes.
The OPPO Reno5 lasts over a day without any issues, and I had no problems whatsoever in this particular area. The phone ticks all the right boxes when it comes to the hardware.
Software
Android 11 and ColorOS 11 deliver much-needed changes and a cohesive UI that makes it look modern.
ColorOS 11 brings a lot of visual polish, and you get meaningful privacy and security features, fun new animations throughout the interface and exciting backgrounds.
OPPO has defaulted to Google’s apps such as Android Messages, Duo, Files, Lens, and the changes to ColorOS 11 make it a delight to use.
We have three-finger nifty gesture for instant translations, gamer mode, floating windows for better multitasking, mindfulness with OPPO Relax 2.0, customizable dark mode, customizable always-on display, wallpapers and ringtones, new Super Power Saving Mode, Battery Guard feature that prolongs battery life of your phone. When you plug in your phone at night, the battery is charged to 80% and then the rest of the 20% is charged just before you wake up, new in-display fingerprint sensor animations, multiple alert tones for successive notifications, and a host of new customization options that make the UI more palatable to OPPO’s global audience, while maintaining its parity with Google and still pushing its own visual aesthetic.
Android 11 brings new privacy and security features including improved handling of app permissions for the camera, microphone, and location, scoped storage, and auto-reset permissions for apps you haven’t used in a while, Nearby Share, ability to pin apps in share menu and scheduled dark mode, powerful media controls, seamless updates, Multitasking pane, improved autofill, suggested apps, biometric authentication, among a host of other useful features.
Navigating with the ColorOS UI and Android 11 was a pleasant experience and I’m pretty sure you are going to love it too.
Cameras
Reno5 features a 64MP camera at the back along with an 8MP wide-angle lens, 2MP macro module, and 2MP mono lens.
There is a 44MP camera at the front. With the reno5, OPPO continues highlighting a lot of video-focused innovations, including an AI-assisted mode with night video algorithms and HDR video and better video stabilization.
The AI-based features make a lot of difference when shooting video. At night, the video engine automatically selects the right highlights and color vibrancy, and ensures that objects in focus are correctly exposed.
The monochrome camera has a few interesting effects for both video and photos.
The daylight shots have good dynamic range, sharp detail and vibrant colors.
In terms of camera performance, you are getting your money’s worth with the OPPO Reno5.
The improved ultrawide camera maintains colours similar to the main lens.
OPPO Reno5 Camera Performance Review: More is Better
The bigger main lens captures relatively more light even on challenging scenarios which makes the OPPO Reno5 take better and brighter photos than its predecessor.
Night mode comes through but the OPPO Reno5 already takes really good lowlight shots with a decent amount of colour, details and brightness.
The 64MP gets you great natural bokeh, excellent colors, dynamic range and detail. The selfie camera is indeed much improved. You’ll be oversharing on Insta-Stories, Snapchat and even Twitter’s Fleets.
Videos get shot at 4K at 30FPS; 1080P and 720p at either 30fps of 60fps for both. Slo-mo video at either 1080p or 720p.
The videos are super-stable and sharp. You can also switch to the ultrasteady mode for shooting moving objects.
If you are a content creator, shutterbug or budding photographer, then the OPPO Reno5 is the smartphone to pick.
OPPO Reno5’s cameras are reliably consistent for the most part. You’ll be incredibly proud of every photo and video you take with the smartphone and you won’t second guess whether to share on social media – because it’s perfect.
Here’s why you should get the Reno5:
The OPPO Reno5 is undeniably better than its predecessor. The OPPO Reno5 has a gorgeous gradient design with starry black and fantastic silver, an impressive 64MP quad-camera set-up, robust hardware in the form of the Snapdragon 720G chip, 90Hz AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage, stereo sound, 50W ultra-fast charging and excellent battery life.
It runs Android 11 and ColorOS 11 out of the box. All these offer incredible killer value.
if you’re looking for a mid-range smartphone that does everything pretty well, this should be your first choice. It’s still early in 2021, but we don’t see another smartphone coming along anytime soon to unseat the OPPO Reno5 in the midrange category.
OPPO finally nailed the hardware and software, and this synergy makes the Reno5 a truly standout choice this year.
Pricing and Availability:
OPPO Reno5 is available for Ksh 41,999 at OPPO’s retail stores countrywide and in online retail stores including Jumia, Kilimall and Masoko.
