Oppo Reno8 review

Android 12 and ColorOS 12

This isn't the first time we see Oppo's ColorOS 12 in action, as the version of the OS debuted with the Find series on top of Android 12. And it looks very familiar. If you are a current or past Realme UI or ColorOS user, you will definitely find your way around.

And by familiar, we mean nearly identical looks to the ColorOS 12 that came with the Find N and the recently introduced Realme UI 3.0. We are talking style, iconography, quick toggles - pretty much everything. Most of the features are also translated into ColorOS 12.1. It's maybe part of BBK Electronic's approach to software development in an effort to make support and development much easier to handle for multiple brands of devices.

Home screen, recent apps, notification shade, app drawer

The Icon pull-down gesture is still here, and it makes it way easier to operate with one hand on an overcrowded home screen with plenty of app icons. Just swipe down alongside the edge of the display to bring down the icons close to your thumb and select an app to launch. The gesture is consistent and useful.

Icon pull-down gesture

Android 12's new privacy features are implemented. You get a summary of all the apps that use your data, location, camera, microphone, etc., all in one place. It's called Privacy Dashboard and is something like Digital Wellbeing but privacy-focused. And in case you don't want certain apps to have your exact location, you might want to give them approximate location instead.

Privacy dashboard

Most of the UI elements on ColorOS can be customized. We are talking about deep customization of app icons, accent colors, quick toggles and their shape, font, fingerprint reader animation, Edge lighting for incoming notifications, and, of course, the Always-on display.

Customization options

Oppo offers quite a bit of Always-on presets too, all of which are the same ones we saw in Realme UI.

Always-on display options

We also liked the granular notification customization. The system allows for advanced notification handling in the drop-down menu, such as instant replies or other suggested actions. Incoming notifications when the phone is in use will arrive with a quieter sound and milder vibration. Notification snoozing is another neat feature that lets you attend conversations or other apps later without having to keep them in the notification shade and clutter up.

Notification options and additional privacy features

For enhanced privacy, the system will hide the contents of the notification once the front-facing camera detects someone other than you. This requires the facial unlocking feature to be enabled and uses that data to match your face.

The OS is also certified by ISO, ePrivacy and TrustArc for advanced privacy and security. For instance, you can protect your recent app activity (it's supported by 800 apps at the moment), or you can set up a password when turning off the device.

The Special features tabs hold the familiar Smart Sidebar and Flexible windows functions. They are both tailored toward better multitasking. When turned on, the sidebar offers quick access to some of your favorite apps. The system allows you to adjust the position of the sidebar, which is crucial because it might interfere with the back gesture if you are using the standard Android gestures. Anyway, tap and hold on an app icon enters split-screen mode while a single tap opens up the app in a floating window or, as Oppo likes to call it, "Flexible window". The supported apps can be opened in small, draggable and size-adjustable windows.

Smart sidebar and Flexible windows.

The Quick launch function has been around on OnePlus' OxygenOS-powered phones for a while now, and it's nice to see it making its way to other brands under the BBK Electronics umbrella. Once enabled, you can set up to three apps that can launch as soon as the display is unlocked. Tap and hold on the fingerprint reader from a locked screen to open up the Quick launch menu.

Quick launch and other special features

The good old screen-off gestures that allow you to launch certain apps or the flashlight by drawing letters on a locked screen are here to stay.

The experimental features that Realme offers are nowhere to be found here. The fingerprint can't measure heart rate, nor can you stream sound to connected Bluetooth and wired headsets simultaneously. Those are hardly features to miss but are worth mentioning.

Synthetic benchmarks

The handset runs on a recent MediaTek Dimensity 1300 chipset, which is almost identical to the Dimensity 1200. In fact, for all intents and purposes, those chips are indeed identical. They have the same CPU configuration, and clock speeds (1x3.0 GHz Cortex-A78 & 3x2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55), the same Mali-G77 MC9 GPU and the SoC is based on TSMC's 6nm manufacturing process. So it's no surprise that the performance difference between the two silicons is negligible.

MediaTek does say that the improved HyperEngine 5.0 helps optimize sustained load, and gaming and boosts efficiency. And it's important to note that the Indian market gets the 8GB/128GB memory option while the global variant will be selling with 8GB/256GB memory.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  3487
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  3395
• Poco F4
  3190
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  3180
• iQOO Neo 6
  3076
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  2943
• Oppo Reno8
  2694
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  2694
• Realme 9 Pro+
  2335

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  810512
• iQOO Neo 6
  730223
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  726007
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  718351
• Poco F4
  698586
• Oppo Reno8
  619610
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  619610
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  528905
• Realme 9 Pro+
  416031

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  27
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  26
• Oppo Reno8
  22
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  22
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  22
• iQOO Neo 6
  22
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  13
• Realme 9 Pro+
  11

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  40
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  39
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  32
• iQOO Neo 6
  32
• Oppo Reno8
  31
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  31
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  19
• Realme 9 Pro+
  17

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  40
• Realme GT2
  38
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  34
• iQOO Neo 6
  34
• Oppo Reno8
  30
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  30
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  19
• Realme 9 Pro+
  16

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  30
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  26
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  24
• iQOO Neo 6
  24
• Oppo Reno8
  20
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  20
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  15
• Realme 9 Pro+
  10

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  68
• Poco F4
  59
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  59
• iQOO Neo 6
  58
• Oppo Reno8
  51
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  51
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  46
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  33
• Realme 9 Pro+
  27

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme GT2
  56
• iQOO Neo 6
  50
• Poco F4
  49
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  49
• Oppo Reno8 Pro
  44
• Oppo Reno8
  42
• MediaTek Dimensity 1300 reference
  42
• Xiaomi 12 Lite
  29
• Realme 9 Pro+
  23

As you can see, the Dimensity 1300 performs just as expected and to be fair, there's nothing inherently wrong with the chipset. In fact, judging by our past experience with the practically identical Dimensity 1200, the SoC is powerful and efficient. However, since the Reno8 has to compete against more powerful alternatives in the price bracket running Snapdragon 870 or even Snapdragon 888, it makes the Dimensity 1300 look bad.

Sustained performance

Oppo is really proud of the advanced cooling solution it has used for the Reno8. It has a 16.8% bigger cooling area than the previous generation. It consists of a graphene film and a big vapor chamber. Unfortunately, though, the CPU throttle test doesn't support those claims.

Even though the Dimensity 1200 isn't the most demanding chip around, the Reno8 struggled to maintain remotely decent performance over long periods of time. Even after just 5 minutes, the system's performance dipped to around 60% of the SoCs theoretical performance, and the situation didn't improve until the one-hour mark. The CPU throttled to 60% of its performance, which is quite underwhelming given that phones with flagship chipsets that are harder to cool off score better in that test.

CPU throttle test: 30 min • 60 min

At least the device itself didn't feel uncomfortably hot as plastic has poor heat conductivity.