Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G hands-on review

Software and features

Although Oppo's ColorOS 11.1 is based on Android 11, the custom skin doesn't depart too far from its previous iteration. Sure, there are more customization options around the UI now, but the overall feel is similar. However, we did notice that Oppo has made room for Google's Phone and Messages apps.

More importantly, we wanted to see how the HRR display behaves and see if the software uses some kind of adaptive refresh rate.

Home screen, app drawer, notification shade, and settings menus

No matter the app or the sub-menu, the refresh rate drops to around 30 and even lower when you stop touching the screen, and that's true for the 60Hz mode as well. We are also happy to report that the display tones down to 60Hz when watching YouTube videos even though the 90Hz mode is active. According to us, that's the correct way to handle video players.

More settings and Game Space

The Reno5 Pro 5G is ready for some mobile gaming as well. The software lets you tinker with quite a bit of settings through the Game Space feature. It even lets you save on some power while gaming if you are low on battery.

Camera

Oppo emphasizes the video recording capabilities but has no support for 4k@60fps video recording. So the company hopes that the so-called AI Highlight Video feature will make up for that. The software analyzes the scene (much like the AI for stills) and enables Ultra Night Mode for low-light scenery or Live HDR for broader dynamic during the day. There's also an artistic Monochrome Video mode that has three filters - Crimson (read red), Forest Green (read green) and just Blue.

And here's an AI Highlight Live HDR video.

And a playlist of the monochrome mode.

Anyway, here are a couple of sample photos and will leave the assessment for the full review.

Camera samples: Main camera • Ultrawide • Main camera • Ultrawide • Main camera • Ultrawide

The software also offers the option to upsize your native 64MP photos to 108MP.

Extra HD (108MP) mode

We couldn't miss the selfies, too.

Selfies: Normal • Portrait • Normal • Portrait

Early verdict

Oppo might finally be onto something here. The company isn't famous for its mid-range phones mainly because of their relatively high prices. But the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G isn't too far from the competition. In fact, you can even make a case for it when compared to the OnePlus Nord or the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G. Oppo's contender slots in perfectly between the two in India, asking INR 35,000 (400 euro) in return.

The powerful Dimensity 1000+ chipset, the great display and the blazing-fast charging are pretty good reasons to get one.