Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G hands-on review

Software

The Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G comes equipped with the latest ColorOS 12, which in this case, sits squarely atop the now-aging Android 11 and the December security patch. Oppo hasn't given a timeline for an Android 12 update to the Reno7 Pro 5G just yet.

Nevertheless, the Reno7 Pro 5G gets access to all of ColorOS features and UI tweaks and enhancements. Oppo calls the design 'inclusive,' and it features the new 3D icon graphics and a 'visually tactile' mode of operating. Interacting with most UI elements is accompanied by a subtle vibration from the X-Axis Linear Motor. Adjusting the volume, using the app switcher, or changing a camera mode is greeted by vibration.

ColorOS 12 on top of Android 11

ColorOS 12 comes with new 3D Omoji. Using Oppo's Face Capture algorithm, Omoji can mirror your expression. There are more than 200 accessories to customize your Omoji, and you can set it as a profile picture, or add it to the Always-On display.

Omoji

We tested the two refresh rate modes on the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G. When set to standard, the UI was set to a constant 60fps. When set to High, the UI would idle at 60fps and ramp up to 90fps when scrolling or browsing. YouTube's UI ran at 90fps until we launched a video in fullscreen when the fps dropped to 60. Interestingly, none of our standard set of testing games ran at 90fps.

Screen refresh rate and system navigation options

ColorOS is very customizable. You can change the look and size of the icons - making them rounder, flatter, bigger, or 3D, you can also pick an accent color of your liking, adjust how the Quick Settings look, rearrange them, and pick out of a number of curated high-quality wallpapers and themes.

The Always-on display is also customizable, as is the fingerprint scanner animation.

Customization

The Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G adds the battery usage graph, giving you a breakdown of each app's battery percent and time running.

Battery settings menu

Camera

The Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G is equipped with a 50MP main camera with the Sony IMX766 sensor, flanked by an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro cameras, while on the front, there's a 32MP Sony IMX709 RGBW sensor.

The 50MP and 32MP snappers use Oppo's Quadra Binning algorithm, which means they combine 4 pixels into 1 for 12MP and 8MP images, respectively.

Both cameras also include DOL-HDR (Digital Overlap HDR), so they capture multiple images and combine them into a multi-frame final exposure with lower noise, higher resolution, and wide dynamic range.

Camera UI

There are a few modes to choose from. The Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G is set to AutoHDR by default. You can choose to enable AI Scene Enhancement, which will detect a scene and enhance the image accordingly. Extra HD mode will scale up the 50MP main camera images to 108MP. There's portrait mode on both the main and selfie camera with 25 levels of adjustable blur.

Here are some photo and video samples from the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G. The images from the default camera mode have very good per-pixel detail, although there is some noise when you zoom all the way in. Dynamic range is good with both well-preserved highlights and well-exposed highlights, although there's a slight halo at the point where the light falls off, around the edges of the buildings and the trees.

AI Scene Enhancement mode has a better, more colorful output, and it doesn't take away from the dynamic range, so we'd leave it on.

There's a big color and white balance disparity between the wide and ultrawide cameras. It's quite noticeable.

Wide and ultrawide - HDR

Wide and ultrawide - AI Scene Enhancement

Wide - Extra HD 108MP

Selfie camera - cropped and wide mode

First impressions

We like the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G. It's a nice phone to look at and touch, thanks to its unique design and finish. It's also nicely compact and light, hitting a sweet spot between small and large.

It's also well-equipped with a quality 90Hz AMOLED display, capable main and selfie cameras, and a promise of good battery endurance with lightning-fast charging.

Oppo has priced the Reno7 Pro 5G reasonably, as well, making it a solid choice in the segment.

However, the Reno7 Pro 5G isn't without rivals. There are a few competitors from Samsung and Xiaomi, and Oppo's stablemate vivo that could pose a challenge at lower prices. Realme's upcoming 9 Pro series is also looking like a strong choice.

Is the Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G's design enough to overcome those challengers? We're not sure. Only time will tell.