Oppo’s next in its flagship series is making an early start to the year. The Reno 5 Pro has arrived dressed in an interesting subtly sparkly look that seems ready for a party. In ‘Astral Blue’ it has a clean smudge-free veneer that feels nice to the touch — textured and matte. The blue has a sheen as you move it about and let it catch the light. It’s an icy cool colour. The Starry Black version is said to be very attractive, but there hasn’t been an opportunity to see that.

This is an exceptionally light and slim phone and a relief to hold for hours compared to some of the hefty phones around me including some that have given me permanent pain in the preferred hand. In keeping with the trend these days, there’s just the camera set-up and the Oppo logo garnishing the back, which is made of glass with Gorilla Glass 5 protection, apparently. The frame, I’m told is plastic but I really like the glinting steely top edge that seems to be a design accent of its own. It says Designed for Reno there and looks really elegant.

Also read: OPPO to focus on developing 5G, IoT ecosystem this year

There are few interruptions on the sides, except the most essential buttons. No 3.5mm jack, no external fingerprint sensor, etc. The power button on this model is a green — another little accent that spells thought-out design.

Moving around to the front we see a really nice 6.5-inch AMOLED display. Bright, clean, crisp and vivid — which should be more than anyone wants. Except there’s more: This is a 90Hz refresh rate screen, so it feels nice and fluid and responsive. The display is one of the nicest features of this phone.

This smartphone is the first to come out with Mediatek’s Dimensity 1,000+, a 7 nanometer chip that is almost as powerful as the Snapdragon 865. Certainly, there’s no evidence of lag and stutter and the feeling that we’re dealing with a budget processor in any way. It’s fine for gaming and the photography that this device also focuses on without any undue heating up or struggle. There’s 8GB RAM and 128GB on board. Another capability the Reno 5 Pro Oppo is particularly proud to offer is that it’s 5G able, thanks to the chip. We’re seeing devices now all coming with readiness for future connectivity. This year, it’s unlikely that any phone above a certain price point will come without this.

Thankfully this phone runs on Android 11 (some new phones have still not caught up) and on ColorOS 11.1 which does have a handful of pre-loaded apps some of which you can offload, but nothing unreasonable. The interface is one that isn’t trying hard to get in your way but it is very full of customisations and features that would need a somewhat savvy user to explore and use. One particularly visible one is attractive clock faces for its always-on display.

Another among its bouquet of attractive features is 65W charging for its 4,350mAh battery. The Reno 5 Pro can charge fully in just over half an hour. There’s a nice fat charging adaptor in the box, along with extras like a case and even earphones, things which are fast disappearing in the boxes proudly packaged by the likes of Apple and Samsung and even Xiaomi.

Also read: Oppo launches Reno5 Pro 5G smartphone in India

The cameras are being specially highlighted by Oppo on this phone. The primary is a 64MP and accompanying it are an 8MP ultra wide, 2MP macro and 2MP mono lens. The front camera is a 32MP. This may not sound like it’s any different from most mid-range phones today, but what Oppo has done is to use a lot of software features to make the cameras more versatile and fun to use. The most prominent of these is AI Highlight which uses AI to figure out where in the image more highlight and HDR detail is needed and supply it on turning the feature on. It’s not easy to spot exactly but the cameras do a good job with photos in less than optimal light, making them clear and detailed. These are on the warm and vivid side. There are other interesting features such as highlighting a human subject in colour while keeping the rest of the picture in black and white — not flawless, but still fun when it works. There’s dual camera mode so vloggers can put themselves in the video they’re shooting. Overall, the cameras make for a very good package on the Reno 5 Pro. But this is a price segment that is heating up with more options — so this phone will no doubt have even more competition as we move into the year.

Price: ₹35,990

Pros: Special design play with glass and colour, very light and slim, fast 65W charging and good battery life, super screen with 90Hz refresh, powerful Dimensity 1000+ chip, 5G capable, nice camera and features

Cons: No OIS when camera is a highlight, no stereo speakers

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