Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G Review: Attractive Build And Decent Performance

Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G: Stylish Design

Oppo's Reno series is known for its unique and premium-looking smartphones. For the Reno7 Pro 5G, the company seems to have opted for a flat and sharp design and there are not many curved details on the device. What's more, it is lightweight and slim and features a polished metal frame. The Pro model weighs 180 grams and measures 7.45mm in thickness.

The rear panel appears to have a color-changing device and it appears to refrain from attracting fingerprint smudges. While the rear design is quite minimalistic, the camera module at the rear deviates from this trend. The bezels around the display are narrow and the punch-hole cutout offers a striking look to the device. The display is flat and there are curved edges. With such a design, the device brings a different feel when held and might not feel much comfortable for those who hold it for long, especially for those who are used to phones with curved backs. Also, the back is slippery to some extent and snapping a case could make it feel better. Especially, one-handed use feels tough and a good case is important.

While many brands position the selfie camera sensor at the top center of the screen, Oppo has placed it at the top left corner. I felt it could have opted for a more centered selfie camera alignment. Besides this, there is a ring around the camera sensor that emits a pulsating light on receiving a call or message or while charging the device. This is called Orbit Breathing Light and it can be turned off from the Settings menu. However, the color of the light cannot be changed.

When it comes to the arrangement of ports, there is a power button on the right edge of the smartphone. On the left edge, there is a volume rocker. Making it different from many other smartphones in the market, the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G features a SIM card tray at the bottom next to the USB Type-C charging port and speaker grills. Notably, this smartphone misses out on the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack and the ability to expand the storage space with a microSD card. Unlike its predecessor, the Reno7 Pro 5G misses out on an official IP certification.

Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G 90Hz, HDR+ Display

While the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G comes with an AMOLED display with a 6.55-inch dimension, the one downside it has is the 90Hz refresh rate. It does not come with a 120Hz refresh rate that many other smartphones in this price point have. The panel means delivers good colors and contrast. The FHD+ panel with a rate and 180Hz peak touch sampling rate alongside Corning Gorilla 5 to protect from scratches. A 120Hz refresh rate could have come up with a higher touch sampling rate and it would have brought substantial upgrades.

Furthermore, it supports HDR10+ content formats. The display works well under most conditions and offers a comfortable viewing experience outdoors but it is a little reflective under direct sunlight. I used the Reno7 Pro 5G to etch stream videos OTT apps and I enjoyed the experience. However, the audio quality delivered by the smartphone appears to be compromised a little. Though the left punch-hole cutout at the left does not feel like a major hindrance but it does come along the view at times.

Though a 120Hz display would have been great, the 90Hz panel offers a smooth UI navigation and scrolling experience. Also, the color reproduction is impressive and the graphics look immersive. I also enjoyed playing graphics-intensive games like BGMI.

Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G Offers Smooth UI

The Oppo smartphone boots on ColorOS 12 topped with Android 11 but it misses out on the latest iteration of the OS - Android 12. This is a downside as it is not uncommon to see devices running Android 12 out-of-the-box these days. It comes with the usual set of shortcuts and gestures and a slew of preinstalled apps similar to the other Oppo smartphones.

The good thing is that most third-party default apps can be uninstalled. Furthermore, there is a new Omoji feature similar to Memoji avatars on iPhones and it lets you create digital avatars of users' faces or choose from the existing ones.

To start with customization and visuals, you can tweak icons size and design, apply visually pleasing live wallpapers, change app layout and apply intuitive themes. The software also lets you change the text color scheme and look and feel of the notification drawer.

Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G: Capable Cameras With A Few Misses

The camera setup on the Reno7 Pro 5G has received a major update major from its predecessor. The device a triple-lens camera setup with a 50MP Sony IMX766 primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP macro camera. At the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera sensor within the punch-hole cutout. The new Sony IMX709 sensor has an RGBW pixel layout for better light sensitivity. It comes with support for DOL-HDR that misses out on autofocus.

Besides these camera sensors, Oppo has included features such as AI Highlight Video, Bokeh Flare Portrait filter as seen in the Reno6 series phones. Also, there are features such as Dual-Video mode and Movie mode that come in handy while creating videos and letting users add DSLR-like effects as well. There are other aspects such as expert, dual-video, slow-mo, etc.

The low-light performance of the camera is quite impressive as the primary lens captures a lot of details even in the dark. It is a great addition as it adds more light to the image than what exists in the frame. The results are also close to being accurate. In well-lit situations, the device performs much like any other premium smartphone out there in terms of imaging. The images are crisp and vibrant as well.

Talking about color reproduction, it is quite rich and accurate. The lenses capture ample details that let users zoom an image without much loss in the details. Even the secondary lens captures decent photos but it looks like the low-light performance needs improvement. When it comes to the macro lens, the performance did stand up to the expectations. You can take a look at the shots we have shared in the sample samples to know its overall performance.

Even the front camera performance is quite impressive and the selfies are captured with ample details but there is too much post-processing that makes the already bright selfies even brighter. However, in most cases, the phone delivers good selfie shots.

Besides, there are plenty of interesting and useful camera modes and filters that will keep you busy all day long. If you like experimenting with smartphone photography, the Reno6 Pro is a good investment. Cameras on the Reno7 Pro do not over-saturate or animate colors, provided that you haven't enabled the AI mode or have applied any filter.

Moreover, the biggest disappointment is the lack of optical image stabilization on the main camera. Since Oppo is projecting the Reno7 Pro as a video recording device, the lack of stabilization is a big miss. It wasn't there on the Reno6 Pro and still hasn't been offered on the successor. You have to rely on software-coded stability in third-party apps if you plan to shoot vlogs on the handset.

Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G Performance Could Have Improved

The Oppo smartphone gets the power from an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1200 Max SoC teamed up with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space. This is an upgrade from the Dimensity 1200 SoC used by the Reno6 Pro. The 5G-enabled SoC has one Cortex-A78 core clocked at 3GHz, three Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 3GHz respectively and four Cortex A55 cores at 2GHz. The graphics performance is handled by the ARM G77 MC9 GPU.

The Max processor is customized exclusively by Oppo and provides more enhanced performance in most aspects. The new chipset comes with a promise of 22% performance improvements and is also said to be 25% more power-efficient than the Dimensity 1000 SoC.

While the display and design offered satisfactory features, there are some complaints in terms of performance. When it comes to benchmark scores, the Reno7 Pro 5G performed well in benchmark platforms in various tests. In AnTuTu, the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G scored 595,686 points while some rivals have scored better. In the Geekbench multi-core test, the smartphone scored 2738 points. Likewise, the device scored 8807 points in the PCMark 3.0 test.

The powerful internals, fluid 90Hz display, and well-optimized software ensure smooth performance all day long. The Reno7 Pro feels blazing fast and executes all tasks without any performance issues. I did not come across any lag or performance drops even while running the most demanding apps and games. Importantly, the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 Max SoC enables some complex camera features including the real-time cinematic bokeh flare portrait effect while shooting videos.

Moving on, heat-dissipation is effective and the most widely used apps such as camera do not stop working if the device's core temperature rises with prolonged usage. There is not much heat felt at the rear of the smartphone on using it for long hours.

To start with customization and visuals, you can tweak icons size and design, apply visually pleasing live wallpapers, change app layout and apply intuitive themes. The software also lets you change the text color scheme and look and feel of the notification drawer.

Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G Battery Performance

The Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G ships with a similar battery as its predecessor. A 4500mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging tech. This battery can last a whole day for normal users while avid gamers and those who stream videos on the loop might have to charge it at the end of the day. Thankfully, the company has provided a 65W fast charger with the box that refuels the battery up to 50% in just 15 mins and completely within 35 mins. On the whole, it is a sleek device combination of a sleek device with a decent battery coupled with a super-fast charger.

Verdict

The Reno7 Pro is a considerable upgrade to the Reno6 Pro with the enhanced MediaTek Dimensity 1200 Max chipset. The SoC brings improvements to the core performance and also adds useful camera upgrades. The handset ensures smooth performance all day long no matter how far you push it with heavy apps or games.

The camera might lack those fancy hardware features such as 8K video recording but the AI-enabled features and plethora of modes and filters can come in handy useful for avid photographers and content creators.

The premium design and the crisp 90Hz AMOLED display are excellent but a more durable build with an IP rating and a 120Hz panel would have made things better from a price perspective and given the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G a competitive edge over its rivals. Though the battery life isn't the best in its class, the presence of a 65W fast charger comes to the rescue.

Despite some of these shortcomings, the Reno7 Pro is a decent package in the sub-40K price bracket if your priority is a lightweight and good-looking handset with a decent camera performance. If you are looking for similarly priced devices with relatively better performance, then we would recommend considering the Xiaomi 11T Pro and OnePlus 9RT.