Oppo Reno4 Pro review

ColorOS is at 7.2 on the Reno4 Pro

The Reno4 Pro runs ColorOS 7.2, that's 0.1 more than what we've been getting from recent Oppos, and it comes with its set of (minor) changes. The custom overlay is on top of Android 10, the latest Google has for end users for the time being.

You get to choose between the simplified approach with all the apps arranged on the home screens (the out of the box state) or a standard app drawer. The UI basics are entirely ordinary.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App Drawer • Quick toggles and notifications • Task switcher

The app icons themselves are super customizable. You can set up a custom shape and adjust the corner rounding. Of course, applying third-party icon packs is also possible.

Homescreen settings • Homescreen mode • Swipe down options • Theme store • Icon settings

Navigation options are aplenty too. We've already grown used to and prefer the standard Android 10 navigation (Swipe Gestures from Both Sides it's called here), which employs the side edges for going Back while upward swipes from the bottom take you Home.

Color OS has a gesture for quick switch between the last two apps if you swipe in for Back, but hold for a brief instant. That's optional and it can work in addition to the default side swiping on the bottom of the screen.

A classic three-button navigation bar is available if you're old school like that, and it lets you choose between two layouts. There's also a More option, which will take you to the Swipe-up gestures alternative - the middle option between the nav bar and real gestures.

The Smart Sidebar feature we've seen on other ColorOS builds is here too. A swipe in from the side opens a toolbar with actions and shortcuts. You can customize them and also adjust the bat's position and opacity.

Navigation options • Smart sidebar

The Reno4 Pro display supports a 90Hz refresh rate, and you get a three-way setting between 90Hz, 60Hz, and Auto. As we detailed on the previous page, the refresh rate is only ever set in stone if you have it at the 60Hz position, with the other two modes adjusting it to optimize the experience.

There's a system-wide dark mode, and it can be engaged permanently or according to a schedule. It'll invoke supported apps' dark themes too, but you can also enforce dark mode on third-party apps which don't have it built-in.

Always-on Display is available too, and is now finally called that, instead of the "Screen-Off Clock" name on previous builds. It gives you a choice between different clock styles and can be set to be on all the time or according to a schedule (but not follow sunset and sunrise patterns). Edge lighting (formerly Screen Light Effect) is like the edge notification lighting on Samsung phones minus the high customizeability.

Display settings

Picking up the phone lights up the fingerprint reader area for a quick while but doesn't work with a tap when the phone is lying flat on the table. You will have to gently push the phone because we noticed that the FP area is triggered by the accelerometer. A double-tap-to-wake is always an option but this will light up the whole screen. If you have AoD enabled, the fingerprint reader is effectively always on too.

The overall fingerprint reader experience is hard to fault. Recognition is super fast, accurate and responsive. Also, the area is big enough so you don't have to be that precise when placing your finger on top.

Basic face recognition is available too. It uses just the selfie cam (so no fancy 3D scanning) and isn't as secure as the fingerprint reader, but it's fast and convenient. The phone can be set to require at least one open eye for added security.

Fingerprint, Face & Password settings

Drawing letters on a turned off screen is still a feature with ColorOS 7.2 and you can launch a bunch of apps with the available letters. As usual, the torch and the camera app are probably the most useful assignments. The camera app can now be set to launch with a double press on either of the volume buttons though, and that seems a lot more useful.

Gesture shortcuts

The multimedia apps such as Gallery, Music, and Videos are provided by Oppo and a basic FM radio is also on board. There's a File Manager, a Phone Manager, and a few other tools pre-installed, including a custom calculator and a voice recorder. A recent development we saw on Realme phones, the replacement of the in-house Phone and Messages apps for Google's own, has made its way to the Oppo Reno4 Pro too.

Gallery • Videos • FM Radio • File Manager • Phone Manager • Phone by Google

Synthetic benchmarks

The Reno4 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 720G chipset, arguably the one area where it's trailing its competitors, a lot pf them adopting the Snapdragon 765G. The 720G is built on an 8nm process and features an octa-core CPU in a 2x2.3GHz Kryo 465 Gold & 6x1.8GHz Kryo 465 Silver configuration (customized 2xCortex-A76+6xCortex-A55). The 765G, in contrast, is manufactured on a 7nm process and has a 1x2.4GHz Kryo 475 Prime & 1x2.2GHz Kryo 475 Gold & 6x1.8GHz Kryo 475 Silver CPU setup (or a not-very-different A76+A76+6xA55 arrangement).

There's more of a difference between the two when it comes to GPU performance and the Adreno 620 in the 765G has been known to deliver tangibly better results than the ones expected from the 720G's Adreno 618.

The Reno4 Pro comes with 8GB of RAM and two storage options are available - 128GB and 256GB (our review unit).

Here's some GeekBench scores to marvel at for starters. In single-core testing, the S765G bunch (OP Nord, Reno3 Pro 5G, Mi 10 Lite 5G) has a small advantage over the Reno4 Pro - to the tune of 7%. That grows to 9% in multi-core, if you compare the Reno4 Pro to the Nord and Mi 10 Lite 5G, though Oppo's own Reno3 Pro 5G doesn't perform as well. The Reno4 Pro is a step up from the global Reno3 Pro and its Helio P95 chip in CPU tasks - the Helio's 'big' cores are the A75s and it shows.

It's important to point out here that for less than Reno4 Pro money you can still get the Redmi K20 Pro (a.k.a. Mi 9T Pro) and that comes with last year's flagship Snapdragon 855 and that's a noticeably longer bar in the charts below.

GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  744
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  616
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  609
• OnePlus Nord
  607
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  569
• vivo X50
  552
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  548
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  542
• Motorola One Fusion+
  542
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  521
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  398

GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  2732
• OnePlus Nord
  1953
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  1927
• vivo X50
  1827
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  1815
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  1781
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  1733
• Motorola One Fusion+
  1705
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  1694
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  1692
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  1517

The advantage of the Snapdragon 855 devices gets even more pronounced in Antutu, where the GPUs also come into play and we all know flagship chipsets (even last year's) have substantially more potent GPUs than midrange ones. The 765G-equipped Mi 10 Lite 5G and Reno3 Pro 5G too have a noticeable lead in front of the 720G Reno4 Pro with the minor CPU advantage and a more meaningful GPU performance difference adding up to about a 20% score gap.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Realme X2 Pro
  467653
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  437823
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  318117
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  308231
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  272229
• Motorola One Fusion+
  267980
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  263396
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  261359
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  253271
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  227810

In GFXBench the Reno4 Pro does manifest the Snapdragon 720 GPU's deficiencies compared to the 765's. The framerate advantage ranges between some 35% in the lighter Manhattan 3.0 test to a less striking 20% in the more demanding Car scene 3.1.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X2 Pro
  108
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  101
• OnePlus Nord
  56
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  56
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  55
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  42
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  42
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  41
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  41
• vivo X50
  38
• Motorola One Fusion+
  38

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  60
• Realme X2 Pro
  60
• OnePlus Nord
  50
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  48
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  48
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  37
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  37
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  36
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  36
• vivo X50
  35
• Motorola One Fusion+
  34

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X2 Pro
  78
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  71
• OnePlus Nord
  38
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  38
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  38
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  31
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  30
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  30
• vivo X50
  27
• Motorola One Fusion+
  27
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  20

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  57
• Realme X2 Pro
  57
• OnePlus Nord
  34
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  32
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  32
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  27
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  27
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  26
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  26
• Motorola One Fusion+
  25
• vivo X50
  24
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  17

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X2 Pro
  47
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  42
• OnePlus Nord
  21
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  21
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  21
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  18
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  17
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  17
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  17
• vivo X50
  16
• Motorola One Fusion+
  16
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  7.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X2 Pro
  37
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  36
• OnePlus Nord
  19
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  18
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  17
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  15
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  15
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  15
• vivo X50
  14
• Motorola One Fusion+
  14
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  7.4

A 25-33% difference between S765G devices and S720G/S730 ones is observed in 3DMark as well - the Reno4 Pro's GPU is simply not on the same level as the one in the Nord, for example.

3DMark SSE OpenGL ES 3.1 1440p

Higher is better

• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  5733
• Realme X2 Pro
  4726
• OnePlus Nord
  3319
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  3294
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  3214
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  2512
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2467
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2467
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  2464
• vivo X50
  2263
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  1243

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1440p

Higher is better

• Realme X2 Pro
  5337
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  5000
• OnePlus Nord
  3103
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  3080
• Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G
  2995
• Oppo Reno4 Pro
  2377
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  2253
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2248
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2244
• vivo X50
  2082
• Oppo Reno3 Pro
  1551

To sum up the Reno4 Pro's performance, we'll say that it's perfectly adequate but the phone can't do miracles with the hardware that it's got. The Snapdragon 720G is simply not as powerful as the S765G that you can find in some competing smartphones like the OnePlus Nord. On the other hand, another key rival, the Galaxy A71, delivers the exact same performance as the Reno.

An even bigger leap in numbers and a more significant improvement in real life can be obtained by going for a smartphone with last year's Snapdragon 855 - the Realme X2 Pro can be had for Reno4 Pro money in some regions, while the Redmi K20 Pro (Mi 9T Pro) is even cheaper.