Oppo Reno4 Z 5G review

Design

The Reno4 Z 5G has one of the more distinct rear camera assemblies around - four modules arranged in a raised up square is nothing new, but the diagonal bump that joins two of those is something unique to this Reno (and to its A92s alter-ego, of course).

That design accent has its roots in the hardware, as only these two diagonally opposed cameras are actual cameras with any thickness requirements - the other two are small 2MP units with limited practical application. They do make for a nice symmetrical design; we'll give them that.

Less appealing is the page of text written on the opposite end of the back panel - a simple Oppo logo would have been easier on the eyes. To be fair, we're not entirely sure what part of those are mandated by which regulatory body where, so Oppo may not have had all that much of a choice.

While it's anything but a cheap phone with its price tag of around €300, the Reno4 Z 5G sits at the lower end of the company's portfolio. Befitting its position then, it gets a rear panel made of plastic. Come to think of it, only the twice as expensive Reno4 Pro 5G gets glass on its back out of all the Reno4s, so the Z 5G isn't treated unfairly.

Our review unit is in the Dew White colorway but white it very rarely is. Most of the time the pearlescent back returns some hue of pink or pale blue at you, depending on how light hits it. Look at it closely, and you'll see layers of very fine striped patterns interweaving below the surface.

The surface itself is frosted, so it's not the smudge magnet that glossy backs can be. On the flipside, it's remarkably slippery so if you're the clumsier type, snap on the included case to gain some extra grip.

There's one more color scheme called Ink Black. We don't know how it looks in person, but the photos we've seen don't present it overly inky.

The frame, too, is made of plastic but is finished to a high-gloss shine with the slightest hint of rose gold. It's rounded and slippery in its own way, so picking up the Reno off a table isn't the easiest of tasks.

The phone relies on a side-mounted capacitive fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. A fairly standard choice for LCD-equipped phones as of late, it's embedded in the power button, placed in a chiseled area on the right side of the handset. It is located a little bit above the midpoint, it's easily reachable with both a right thumb and left index finger and works equally well with either, so it's not discriminatory against smartphone-lefties.

On the opposite side is a pair of volume buttons, discrete ones, that have very positive click action. Further up, towards the top of the left side, is the card slot. The Reno will take one or two nano SIMs in its card tray and zero microSD cards - its storage is non-expandable.

Fingerprint sensor on the right • Volume rocker and card slot on the left

The bottom of the phone is home to the USB-C port, loudspeaker, primary mic, and headphone jack - a classic bottom-of-a-phone arrangement. Up top, a single pinhole hints of a secondary mic.

All the usual stuff on the bottom • A lone mic up top

The 6.57-inch display lights up the front (spoiler, not very brightly). The chin is ever so slightly bigger than what we've grown accustomed to lately - LCD controllers used to be blamed for this when the bezelless craze began, and this is an LCD, after all. The top black border is a bit thicker than the sides, and this is one of those inconsequential details that typically only us reviewers spot on our never-ending quest to find something to whine about.

You can't really miss the pill-shaped cutout for the selfie cameras, however. You look at it and think, 'oh, nice, there's probably an ultra wide camera there'. There isn't, though - joining the real 16MP camera is a 2MP depth sensor, and we're not sure one of those is worth taking up space from the display.

The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3+, and that's a good thing. Less so is its tendency to accumulate grease. Whatever oleophobic coating the Reno might have, it's not working spectacularly, and having a cloth handy is a good idea if you want a clean screen. In fact, if you keep the factory pre-applied screen protector, this aspect is much better.

The Reno4 Z 5G measures 163.8x75.5x8.1mm making it 0.8mm taller and as much wider than the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. Meanwhile, the Mi 10T Lite 5G is 1.6mm taller and 1.3mm wider. So you could say the Reno has an average footprint for its class. It is tangibly thinner, though - both other handsets above stand at 9mm at their waistlines.

At 184g, the Oppo phone is on the light end of the spectrum, too - the Nord N10 is marginally heavier (190g), but the Xiaomi's a lot heftier at 214g.