Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G review

Proper triple camera

Much like the last generation, the Reno4 Pro 5G comes with a very different camera setup than the 4G version. This one has a real three focal length configuration next to the non-5G's 2+2 setup where two of the modules were 2MP - one each for close-ups and depth detection.

The primary cam uses the super popular 48MP 1/2" Quad Bayer sensor with a 26mm equivalent lens with an f/1.7 aperture. Unlike on the 4G version, the lens is stabilized like on the Reno3 5G. What neither of these has is laser autofocus, a new addition on the Reno4 Pro 5G.

The ultra-wide brings yet more improvements. It's a 13MP unit instead of the 8MP ones on the other two phones, and it uses a Sony IMX708 sensor that's 1/2.43" big and has 1.4µm pixels. Best of all, it has autofocusing capability and can focus very close, rendering a dedicated 'macro' cam entirely useless.

There's a telephoto too, with a 2x zoom lens at around 52mm equivalent focal length. A 13MP 1/3.4" sensor with 1.0µm pixels captures the images. This one appears lifted straight off the Reno3 Pro 5G and is a crucial advantage over the tele-less Reno4 Pro.

For selfies, the Reno4 Pro 5G is equipped with a 32MP Quad Bayer module with an f/2.4 aperture lens.

The camera app is the same one you'd find across all Oppos and Realmes. Most of the modes are on the main rolodex with side swipes in the viewfinder switching between them, one at a time. You can slide on the mode 'dial' to flip through multiple modes at a time too. Modes deemed less important can be found in an additional 'More' pane at the far right. A Dazzle Color toggle in the middle of the icon array in the viewfinder engages a color boost, a rather excessive one, we might add.

There's an Expert mode where you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-64000 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-32s range), white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being a close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments). These expert controls are available for all three cams, which are switched from the tree icon on the viewfinder's far end.

Camera UI

Image quality

Daylight photos out of the Reno4 Pro 5G's main cam have a very appealing, user-friendly look. That's to say they have punchy colors (overly saturated, some will say) and a nicely wide dynamic range.

Zooming to 1:1 magnification, we see good detail levels, and it's rendered in natural way - without excessive sharpening. A bit anachronistic is the amount of grain in these images - we're used to noise-free daylight photos these days. It's not a dealbreaker by any stretch, but if noise bugs you, so will the Reno's main cam photos.

Camera samples, main camera

We did say that color saturation is a bit much in regular photo mode, but you can bump it further by engaging Dazzle Color mode. That'll get you livelier greens and deeper blue skies in scenes where the phone finds one of these to dominate, yet it wasn't as trigger happy in the yellow-orange fall scene in the final sample. In any case, we see no real reason to shoot with the Dazzle Color toggle engaged.

Camera samples, main camera, Dazzle Color on

We wouldn't say that shooting in 48MP on this particular phone will bring any practical benefits. We're not seeing more detail in these images, while noise is made even more prominent with the freckles now 4 times as big.

Camera samples, main camera, 48MP

The telephoto camera on the Reno4 Pro 5G does not disappoint in good light. While yes, the images are again quite noisy, they are also very sharp and detailed. Colors and dynamic range are a nice match for the main cam's performance too.

Camera samples, tele camera, 2x zoom

There's also a 5x position in the zoom selector. Its output is not spectacular at the pixel level, but you couldn't tell in fit to screen consumption.

Camera samples, tele camera, 5x zoom

The Reno4 Pro 5G's ultra-wide uses a 16:9 aspect sensor, but we shot its stills in 4:3. We'll say that we did that so that the images are comparable to the majority of rivals that shoot in 4:3. Another explanation is that we overlooked the ratio bit when shooting the samples, and by the time we realized that it was too late to redo them.

That minor mishap aside, the Reno4 Pro 5G's ultra-wide camera images are very good. Dynamic range is excellent, and colors continue along the saturated path outlined by the main cam. Sharpness and detail fall a little short of the main cam's output, but as ultra wides do, this is easily among the better ones.

Camera samples, ultra wide angle camera

The Reno4 Pro 5G's main camera generally handled our low-light test scenes well. We'd have appreciated brighter exposures most of the time, but even as it is, the photos are sharp and detailed where there's at least some light to illuminate the scene. Noise is also present, but since it was already there in broad daylight, we expected nothing else from the night scenes, and it's really a non-issue under the circumstances.

Dynamic range is fairly wide too, and note that the yellow postal service building in the first samples was unusually challenging due to some of the floodlights being out of order. The point being, the Reno did well. Colors remain accurate unless there are warm light sources in the frame, which often result in a strong orange cast, and this phone is a particularly bad offender in this respect.

Low-light samples, main camera, Photo mode

That gets further intensified in Night mode, making for a very orange rendition of these warmly-lit subjects. However, it does bring benefits in shadow development where you now get entire previously unseen portions of the image lifted out of the dark. Highlights, too, get toned down, though the recovered areas are susceptible to the orange cast. Additionally, some slight detail loss is also observed through a common trade-off in Night modes as the phones align and process the multiple exposures. The flipside is the reduced noise when shooting in Night mode.

Low-light samples, main camera, Night mode

The ultra-wide cam is struggling for light in the dark and will turn in soft and mushy shadows. Zoom out to fit to screen level, and the images look okay with decent if not impressive dynamic range and better handling of warm light sources.

Low-light samples, ultra wide angle camera, Photo mode

Orange is back in Night mode, though not to the extent we saw on the main cam. Tonal development is indeed very much improved, and these are quite nice shots unless you pixel peep. Do that, and you'll see that detail isn't great, and there's a prominent pixelation effect.

Low-light samples, ultra wide angle camera, Night mode

When shooting at 2x zoom level, it's about a 50-50 chance that the Reno4 Pro 5G will use its telephoto camera. The first three scenes in the set below are, indeed, captured on the zoom module, and for the other three, the phone resorted to a zoomed-in view from the main cam.

Neither approach produces excellent shots, though we wouldn't call them unusable either. Noise is a common theme in any case, and detail is... let's call it acceptable. Again, these could use a bump in exposure.

Low-light samples, tele camera, Photo mode

There's Night mode for that. The choice of camera remains consistent - the scenes captured by the main module in Photo mode get the main module Night mode. The off white balance marks a return, and by now, it's fairly obvious that orange is Oppo's way of dealing with challenging light. The tonal extremes get their expected improvements, and if you can live with the color cast, these shots do look okay at fit to screen.

Low-light samples, tele camera, Night mode

Portraits

The Reno4 Pro 5G takes portraits with its main cam only, and there is no zoom action in this mode. The effect only kicks in if you're reasonably close to your subject, so that might be a little uncomfortable with some people, though you could take portraits of yourself with the primary cam that way - it works particularly well for isolated reviewers, too.

Subject separation is mostly excellent, with no issues around clothing and facial features, though the occasional odd rendition of stray hair against a contrasting background is inevitable. The background blur looks natural, and there's fully functional HDR processing, so backlit shots look great.

Portrait samples

We had less success with Portrait mode on non-human subjects. The phone's required distance to subject for the effect to kick in was often too short, and we ended up with just plain photos instead of portrait mode photos.

Portrait samples, non-human subjects: Yes • Yes • No • No

Close-ups

One of the more notable upgrades that the Reno4 Pro 5G brings over the 4G and the Reno3 5G is the autofocusing ultra-wide camera, which can now double as a 'macro' camera. While the ultra-wide isn't ultra sharp, to begin with, the Reno does capture some pretty nice and detailed shots at close range.

Close-up samples

Selfie camera

The Reno4 Pro 5G captures selfies in the nominal 32MP resolution, and there's no 8MP mode, so you'd be getting big files. You can count on very well detailed images, particularly in well-balanced light. There's plenty of noise too, however, if you're unwise enough to be looking at 32MP selfies at 1:1.

Despite the seemingly identical hardware, the Reno4 Pro 5G's selfies have a notably wider dynamic range than the ones we got out of the 4G version. It's probably a matter of the S765's ISP being 5units better than the S720's (Spectra 355 vs. 350) since the Reno3 Pro 5G was also strong on HDR.

Selfie samples, 32MP

DR is not as great in Portrait mode, where the ISP has other things on its plate. Subject detection is decent, though there can be halos of sharpness around the border between the subject and background. The background blur looks convincing.

Selfie portrait samples

Video

The Reno4 Pro 5G records video at up to 4K resolution at 30fps with its main cam. It also does 2x zoom for video. In 1080p30fps, it's the tele camera that shoots that, but for 2x zoomed videos in 4K and 1080p60fps, the phone falls back to the main cam instead. The ultra-wide camera tops out at 1080p30fps. You get to choose between the h.264 and h.265 codecs with the older and less efficient but more widely compatible h.264 the default option.

4K footage (50Mbps bit rate) out of the Reno4 Pro 5G looks okay. It's quite contrasty, and that could leave your highlights blown out under the wrong circumstances, but our walk in the park stabilization video proves that not to be an issue in everyday scenes. The detail is quite good, though not class-leading, and there's a fair bit of noise too. Color rendition is lively as in stills, and in videos, a bit more saturation than in real life can't hurt.

4K videos at 2x zoom, coming from the main cam, are nowhere as sharp as what you could get from a native 2x camera. Looking from up close, they suffer from the combined effects of upscaling and oversharpening and aren't too pretty.

The ultra wide-angle cam takes decent 1080p videos, but nothing overly special. The detail is good for an ultra-wide, but 4K would have made it better, you know. Dynamic range is on the narrow side too.

Much like on previous Oppos, electronic stabilization on the Reno4 Pro 5G is always on, on all cams in all modes. You can expect very stable 4K footage from the main cam, with walking shake virtually ironed out, no abrupt motion when panning, and no jello effect.

1080p is similarly stable, though we did see some jello-ing in the middle of the frame, which was all the more pronounced on the ultra-wide camera. If you're not walking, that shouldn't be an issue, though. The tele delivers remarkably steady footage, too.

The Ultra Steady mode (non-Pro) uses the main cam and records in 1080p at sort of 60fps, but more like 50-ish fps in our experience. We found that to produce slightly shakier footage than the regular video mode's 1080p 60fps footage, which was also steady 60fps.

The Ultra Steady Pro mode switches to the ultra-wide cam and records in 1080p at 60fps (or 55fps for our sample). It's stable, that much is true, but can be glitchy with some areas in the middle of the frame seemingly floating on top of the image, something we observed on the Reno4 Pro non-5G as well.