Oppo Reno7/F21 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

The Reno7 we have for review took us a couple of years back, reminding us of the Find X2 Pro. In this Sunset Orange colorway, the Reno sports a faux leather back complimented by a gold-looking frame and while the shapes and hues are off, the Find reference is there.

'Fiberglass leather' Oppo calls it, and they've done a lab test for denim friction resistance for 200,000... rubs against jeans? Admittedly a weird metric, but in any case, the rear panel is comfortable to hold and it won't pick up fingerprints.

We haven't seen the Cosmic Black version in person, but it's looking like it has that glitter effect when exposed to bright light - we like that too.

Sunset or Cosmic, the Reno7 is IPX4-rated. The X means it has no rating for dust resistance, so maybe don't keep it on the table while you're kneading that pizza dough, but the 4 signifies it should be good in case of a water splash.

The camera island has a rather distinct design, the two-tone color look accentuating the actually usable cameras. It's quite a significant bump too, but it's not too prone to wobbling - not while using the keyboard at least.

A unique feature on the Reno7 which is sort of a byproduct of its camera setup is the ring light around the microscope camera. Not only will it light up your subject when shooting in close quarters, but it can be used for notifications and as a status light when charging.

The frame of the Reno7 may be giving us Find vibes, but it's objectively very different, in fact. For one, it's plastic, but that's of little consequence for handling - it doesn't feel cheap. More importantly, it's flat so it offers plenty of gripping surface and you can easily pick up the handset from a table, thin as the Reno may be as a whole.

And it's pretty thin, yes - Oppo quotes 7.54mm for the Sunset version and 7.49mm for the Cosmic one. Measuring 159.9x73.2mm, the Reno7 has a reasonably compact footprint and it's not too heavy either at 175g. The size, shape and materials make it very enjoyable to handle, an achievement not all midrangers can claim.

Oppo maintains the left-right separation in its controls placement too - the volume buttons (two discrete ones, as opposed to a rocker) are on the left, while the power button is on the right. All three have nicely positive click feedback.

Also on the left is the card slot and Reno7 has the best of implementations - you get to have two nano SIMs and a microSD card all in at the same time.

Power button on the right • Volume rocker and card slot on the left • Triple-card tray

Another welcome sight is the 3.5mm jack on the bottom. Keeping it company are the usual bits - mic, USB-C port, and loudspeaker.

At the very opposite end of the phone there's another mic too.

3.5mm jack and the usual stuff on the bottom • Secondary mic up top

The front of the Reno7 sees the 6.43-inch OLED display surrounded by a 'midrange-grade' black frame, if you'll allow that distinction. It's not minimal, per se, and the chin is thicker than the rest of it, but it's not in any way a disturbing amount of bezel.

A cutout in the top left corner of the display is where the selfie camera peeks through, while the earpiece is behind a grille above the display. The panel itself is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, which should be pretty sturdy on its own, but Oppo's also applied a plastic screen protector for extra peace of mind.

The Reno7 is equipped with an optical underdisplay fingerprint sensor that's located relatively low on the phone. The thicker chin and reasonable overall dimensions do make its less-than-ideal position less of an issue, and after a short getting to know each other phase, using it becomes second nature.

Overall, the Reno7 is both easy on the eyes and trouble-free to use. The Sunset Orange colorway with its synthetic leather back handles well and wards off fingerprints, looking good in the process. Size and weight are also on the low end of the spectrum, which we see as an advantage in a world of too big phones.