Oppo Reno12 Pro review

Competition

The Oppo Reno12 Pro is a stylish and well-rounded smartphone with no glaring issues. In fact, it has a couple of premium features like AI-infused software, a nice display, fast charging and exceptional battery life. However, in a typical Oppo fashion, the device comes out a bit too expensive. Starting at around €600 for the base model, the Reno12 Pro isn't exactly affordable and even enters the "flagship killer" territory.

For instance, the Realme GT 6's early bird pricing is around that and it's without a doubt a more capable device in almost every aspect.

Other similarly priced alternatives are the Samsung Galaxy S24 (just a few bucks pricier), OnePlus 12R, the Poco F6 Pro and the Xiaomi 13T Pro. Moreover, the Galaxy S24 is a full-fledged flagship, while the rest are powerful flagship alternatives.

Xiaomi 13T Pro • Xiaomi Poco F6 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S24

The Galaxy S24 won't surprise you with long battery life or fast charging, but it houses a more powerful chipset, a nicer display, more competent camera hardware all-around and extended software support.

Motorola Edge 50 Pro • OnePlus 12R

The Xiaomi 13T Pro, on the other hand, is even cheaper than the Reno12 Pro and boasts better hardware too. It has a snappier chipset, offers better camera experience, charges faster and has a more capable display too. The Poco F6 is an analogous offering to the 13T Pro, but it takes the back seat when it comes to cameras. Both variants aren't particularly impressive in the battery department either.

The OnePlus 12R is probably the closest you can get to the Reno12 Pro in terms of overall user experience. The two handsets are very similar to each other, but the Reno12 Pro has the better cameras, including the selfie. On the other hand, the 12R matches the Reno's battery life, has a faster chipset, better LTPO display and charges a tad faster too.

Last, but not least, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro is perhaps the Reno12 Pro's brother from another mother. Both handsets are not particularly powerful but offer nice, lightweight designs, zoom cameras, and capable selfie cameras with autofocus and fast charging. You might want to get the Reno12 Pro if battery life is more important to you or the Edge 50 Pro for the more potent ultrawide and telephoto units.

Verdict

As we stated earlier, the Oppo Reno12 Pro is a stylish all-rounder with capable hardware for the most part. The display is good, has a dedicated zoom camera, although it can't record videos for some reason, potent main camera, excellent selfie unit, fast charging, dependable battery life, microSD card slot, IR blaster and fast enough charging.

However, for roughly the same price, you can get proper flagship killers, often with better camera setups, faster chipsets and sometimes even faster charging. Speaking of, the Reno12 Pro ships without a charger in most markets, which is a big issue given the proprietary nature of the charging standard.

It's not that we don't recommend the Reno12 Pro, but the handset clearly excels in some niche aspects, and the current pricing gets in the way.

Pros

• Thin and lightweight build, comfortable to hold and use.
• Good main and selfie camera performance.
• Excellent battery life.
• Fast charging solution, even with a PD 2.0 charger.
• MicroSD card slot, IR blaster.

Cons

• Pricey at launch.
• Most markets don't get a charger in the box.
• The ultrawide camera is not satisfactory.
• Poor video stabilization.
• You can't use the 2x zoom camera for video recording.
• Refresh rate control is all over the place.