In addition to having a fantastic zoom camera, quick charging, a long-lasting battery, and an attractive display, the Oppo Reno 12 Pro boasts various AI camera features that equal those of Google’s Pixel phones. It offers excellent value for the money as well. We can’t give it a flawless evaluation because of a few annoyances, such as the excessive amount of bloatware and the somewhat shoddy design.
Oppo Reno 12 Pro Review
Oppo appears to be targeting Google’s most recent low-cost camera phone, the Pixel 8a, with its newest mid-range Android phone, which has a comparable array of intelligent AI photographic features. With a few extra fun tools and some good magic eraser action, it’s a terrific attempt, but that’s only the beginning.
The newest model in Oppo’s middle-tier Reno smartphone line, which comes above the A line and below the high-end Find smartphones, is the Reno 12 Pro. Only the even-numbered alternatives are often released in the West, and the Reno family offers mobile phones with some amazing features at mediocre rates.
When the Oppo Reno 10 was released, less than a year before the 12 series, I reviewed it. The newest model in the line is really powerful because of its enhanced photo sensors and quicker charging. Oppo’s decision to forgo the curved-edge design of the Reno 10 series, which makes the phones considerably more comfortable to hold, is regrettable.
The Pro, which sits slightly above the Oppo Reno 12, stands out from both its sister and a lot of other mid-range smartphones thanks to a telephoto camera lens that allows for zoom shooting.
The Reno’s photographic capabilities are greatly enhanced by this camera hardware; the zoom camera allows you to capture better macro, portrait, and long-distance photos than any comparable competitor.
The Reno 12 Pro will be a godsend if you’re looking for a fantastic camera phone that isn’t as expensive as the iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S24, or OnePlus 12. A telephoto lens is absent from even the Pixel 8a.
Specs
The specifications of the Oppo Reno 12 Pro are about mid-range, and here is what we’re experimenting with:
- Details of the Oppo Reno 12 ProHeader Cell: First Column
- Weight: 180g; Measurements: 161.5 x 74.8 x 7.4 mm
- 6.7-inch 20:9 Full HD (1080×2412) 120Hz AMOLED screen
- Mediatek Dimensity 7300 chipset Energy Storage: 512GB; RAM: 12GB
- OS: ColorOS 14.1, Android 14.
- Primary camera: f/1.8, 50MP
- Camera telephoto: 50MP f/2.0 Two-time zoom
- 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera Front camera: 50MP, f/2.0, 112-degree
- Sound system: stereo speakers
- 5,000mAh battery
- Charging: wired 80W
- Space Brown, Sunset Gold, and Nebula Silver are the colors.
Design
Without knowing what it was, you might mistake the Oppo Reno 12 Pro for a Moto or Nokia phone because it has a low-end “feel.” The plastic frame and rear of the phone, which has a two-texture divider that looks a lot like a Google Pixel from the past, are primarily to blame for this.
With dimensions of 161.5 x 74.8 x 7.4 mm, it is wider than a Pixel but still manages to be thin enough to not be cumbersome like a large phone. Speaking of which, I was somewhat aback when I first took it up because I thought it would weigh more. It weighs 180g, which is not much for its size.
There is a USB-C port for all of your connectivity requirements in place of a 3.5mm headphone jack. Those with average-sized hands may easily reach the power button and volume rocker, which are located on the right edge of the device.
The camera hump on the back of the phone extends just enough from the panel to avoid getting stuck on the side of your pocket as you slide it in.
Although the under-display fingerprint reader on the screen functions reliably, it would strangely appear at a 90-degree angle to where it should if I had recently used the phone on an application that required a horizontal position, like a game.
Though not all selections may be accessible in your area, the phone comes in Space Brown (black), Sunset Gold (rose), or Nebula Silver (pinkish silver) colors. The reason I know it’s black and not brown is because I tested the former.
A phone with an IP65 rating is guaranteed to be safe from dust and other small particles, as well as against water splashes like rain or an unintentional garden hose impact. But don’t put it in, example, a bath because it won’t withstand submersion in water.
Oppo Reno 12 Display
With its 6.7-inch diagonal screen, the Oppo Reno 12 Pro is a good-sized phone that can be used for gaming or streaming Netflix in addition to being a hand-stretcher.
The 1080 x 2412, or FHD+, resolution is the same as that of practically all phones, with the exception of the most expensive or least expensive competitors. Since most apps produce at this resolution, you actually don’t need extra pixels.
The refresh rate of the display reaches 120 Hz, which is again rather typical for the majority of smartphones nowadays. When you scroll through the menu, it makes sure that the action feels beautiful and fluid. It also has the same impact on apps that support it.
AMOLED technology, HDR10+ compatibility, a color range of one billion hues, and a relatively high maximum brightness of 1,200 nits are some of the other specifications that ensure the screen shows rich colors.
Oppo Reno 12 Software
I had assumed that the bloatware problem on Chinese Android phones would be resolved, but the Oppo Reno 12 Pro comes loaded with a ton of pre-installed apps. There are well-known apps like Netflix, Facebook, and TikTok, games I’ve never heard of in a “Must Play” section, innumerable apps created by Oppo that don’t seem to have a clear purpose, and even apps with titles in Chinese that I don’t understand.
When you first start up a phone and see a screen like this, it’s difficult to feel like it’s “yours.”
It’s also unfortunate because ColorOS, Oppo’s own Android clone, is a respectable operating system beneath the layers of tacky software. Although Oppo has been silent on how many Android upgrades the phone will receive, the Reno 12 Pro comes with ColorOS 13.1 by default, which is layered over Android 14.
Numerous customization options are available for things like typeface, always-on display, the swipe-down fast settings menu layout, and the edge lighting that illuminates when you receive a notification.
Compared to most Android forks, this quick settings menu’s style is much easier to understand, making it simple to rapidly toggle any function you choose. The phone’s main menu pages appear reasonably clean by default because it also features an app drawer.
Is the Oppo Reno 12 camera good? Here is the Truth
Before immediately discontinuing the telephoto cameras from the series, Oppo dubbed one of its initial Reno phones the “Reno 10x Zoom.” However, zooming is back and better than ever on the Reno 12 Pro.
I’m getting ahead of myself, but the primary camera is a 50MP f/1.8 device with a few extra features like OIS (which corrects for your unsteady hands) and PDAF (for fast focusing).
The primary camera’s images are clear, bright, and bold. In darker regions, they may lose a bit more detail than I would like, but the color brilliance more than makes up for it. However, I felt that my focus was a little more erratic than usual when using PDAF, and I occasionally jumped into the Pro app to have more control. All things considered, though, this is a good camera that produces beautiful images suitable for social media.
Given how few mid-range mobile phones have zoom cameras at all, its 50MP companion, the f/2.0 telephoto lens, is a welcome change. It offers 2x optical zoom, which isn’t quite the 5x optical zoom.
They look fantastic and lack many of the telltale signs of other phone camera zooms, such as grain, washed-out colors, a lack of dynamic range, or a different color profile than the comparable 1x image. I had to keep consulting the metadata while I was analyzing my camera samples to write this section.
Although the optical maximum is 2x, you can increase it to 5x hybrid or 20x digital zoom, and images captured with the latter actually look respectable. I’m positive you could use some of my 20x photos on social media because I did.
The resolution is significantly reduced by the third rear camera. It’s an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a field of view of 112 degrees. As you might expect, the images are a bit lower resolution than those from the primary camera, so you’re losing some quality, and they’re also a bit less colorful. The majority of the time, this lens can be disregarded and used only in certain situations.
You may anticipate high-resolution selfies since we increase the f/2.0 front camera’s resolution back to 50MP.
Selfies are vivid and detailed, with color reproduction that is remarkably lifelike. When you switch to Portrait mode, the bokeh background blur is generally (though not always completely) accurate (I occasionally lost some hairs). I would advise experimenting a little with the default beautifying, though, as it is quite enthusiastic about smoothing over your skin.
In an obvious attempt to compete with Google’s Pixel phone offers, Oppo has been emphasizing the Reno 12 Pro’s AI photo capabilities in its marketing. The ad claims that it contains options to open closed eyes in selfies, preserve parts of a picture as stickers, and eliminate unattractive background elements from images.
In addition to the clever features, you receive the same features found in the majority of contemporary mobile phones: What you are accustomed to is completed by Pro, Portrait, Night, Full-Res, Slow-Mo, and Time-Lapse.
Regarding video, the front and back cameras can capture up to 4K at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60 frames per second; 8K recording is not possible here.
Performance and Audio
The MediaTek chipset that powers the Oppo Reno 12 Pro is called the Dimensity 7300 Energy, and it is focused on energy efficiency, as the name implies. This is the first phone to use the chipset, along with the non-Pro model.
The Reno’s average multi-core score in the Geekbench 6 benchmark tests was 2,005, which is the lower mid-range score you’d anticipate for a phone at this price level. It’s not exactly lightning-fast, but it’s sufficient for everyday chores.
The phone’s gaming performance reflects that score; it could manage the majority of common games, such as Call of Duty: Mobile and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, quite well, but there were sporadic instances of lagging or delayed loading that made it clear that this isn’t a high-end phone.
With 12GB of RAM, the phone can handle daily duties. I never had any lag whether using social networking apps, experimenting with the camera app, or navigating menus. 512GB of storage is included, which is a significant amount for a phone in this price range. Although there isn’t any extendable storage, you might not need it because you have 512GB available.
You’ll need to utilize the USB-C connector and an adapter for wired audio because there isn’t a 3.5mm headphone socket on the audio front. There are stereo speakers on the top and bottom of the phone, and you can pair headphones or earbuds wirelessly using Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity. I didn’t have to cover these when holding the smartphone landscape because they are positioned properly.
Oppo Reno 12 Battery Life
Although the 5,000mAh battery of the Oppo Reno 12 Pro seems large on paper, it is also rather typical for phones at this price; mid-range smartphones rarely have batteries of any other capacity.
However, the Oppo Reno 12’s enduring power caught me off guard in the field (i.e., during testing). The Reno is more likely than others to convert that “half” into something like “two thirds” with regular use, even though I’m used to phones like this having battery lives of about a day and a half.
More practically speaking, it meant that I could play games for extended periods of time without worrying about the battery dying too soon to use the phone for the remainder of the day.
At 80W, charging is quick as well, so you can quickly recharge. Although Oppo claims that the phone would fully charge in less than 50 minutes, I was able to use it for a full day after charging for approximately 30 minutes.
Additionally, the Oppo Reno 12 supports reverse wired charging, which allows you to charge your phone by first plugging a cable into its USB-C port and then into another device. Although it’s not quick, it’s a practical way to keep your headphones or smartwatch charged while you’re out and about.