I usually roll my eyes when smartphone brands describe a mid-range handset as a “flagship-like” device because there’s traditionally been a very clear delineation between flagship and mid-range. In the case of the OPPO Reno10 Pro+ 5G, I may be wrong.
Succesor to the Reno8 series, this is a device that’s far more flagship than it is mid-range, which is a great thing for South Africa where OPPO’s Find X series isn’t available.
I’ve been using the 16GB RAM +256GB storage variant of the Reno10 Pro+ 5G for almost two weeks and here are my thoughts about the device.
Design
The Reno10 series consists of three devices – the Reno10 5G, Reno10 Pro 5G, and Reno10 Pro+ 5G – all of which share the same overall design aesthetic with a dual-curved display, gently curved back and a camera bump reminiscent of an airplane window.
It’s a classy design that some would say leans towards being feminine, I just think it looks nice and feels great in the hand.
While the back of the handset is glossy glass, the rails are plastic. This isn’t something that bothers me and I like that not only do you not know that the rails are plastic until someone tells you, but also that it keeps the overall weight down.
In South Africa, the Reno10 Pro+ 5G is available in either lavender (Glossy Purple) or dark silver grey (Silvery Grey).
In the box, you’ll find the phone, a USB-C to USB-A charging cable, 100W SuperVOOC charging brick, a SIM ejector tool, and a clear TPU case.
Camera
The Reno10 Pro+ 5G sports a triple camera setup comprising a 50MP, f/1.8, 1/156-inch sensor, a 64MP periscope telephoto sensor, and 8MP ultra-wide sensor. Up front, you’ll find a 32MP selfie camera.
Powering the cameras is OPPO’s Marisilicon X neural processing unit (NPU) elevating the camera experience to the range of what you’d expect in the Find X6 Pro.
The Reno10 Pro+ 5G’s camera is simply breathtaking. There’s no other way to describe it.
It excels at portraits, lowlight, nighttime, and just regular, run-of-the-mill smartphone photography. Portraits in particular look great and OPPO hasn’t restricted portrait mode to people, which is great.
Like Huawei’s P60 Pro, you’ll notice the image software processing takes place after you’ve taken the picture.
While the Reno10 series focuses on photography, its video capabilities aren’t anything to be dismissed.
When asked why OPPO wasn’t focusing on video for the Reno10 series, the head of the Reno division said that photography was easier to improve while video is a lot more complicated and that when they do make big moves in that space, they want it to be industry-leading improvements opposed to incremental changes.
While the Reno10 series doesn’t sport all the video features you’ll find on Samsung’s latest flagship lineup, what it does offer will deliver videos that you’ll be happy to show off.
Display
The dual-curved 6.74-inch OLED display sports a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, and reaches 1400 nits’ peak brightness.
Other than suffering from the slight discolouration found on all curved displays when viewing it at extreme angles, the Reno10 Pro+ display is bright, vibrant, and wonderful to watch videos or look at your photos on.
Under the hood
Powering the Reno10 Pro+ 5G is the Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 CPU and a 4700mAh battery (with 100W SuperVOOC charging resulting in the phone charging from 0-100% in under 30 minutes).
While the Snapdragon chipset might be last year’s chipset, it’s a smart move for OPPO to opt for this CPU instead of the 8 Gen 2. Not only does it help keep costs down, but it’s also an arguably more stable, more efficient chipset than its successor.
The Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 can also be found in Huawei’s P60 Pro (albeit a custom 4G version) as well as Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4.
Overview
The Reno10 Pro+ 5G is more than the sum of its parts and the result of some incredibly intelligent designs made by OPPO.
It weighs less than 200g and has a camera system that’s able to rival that of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (the Reno10 Pro+ 5G has 120x zoom) and that of the Huawei P60 Pro. In fact, the only real competition for the device appears to come from OPPO itself in the form of the Find X6 Pro. This is further substantiated by the fact that OPPO is promising 3 OS updates and 4 years of security updates.
Despite not having an official IP rating, the Reno10 Pro+ 5G should survive a quick splash of water or even a brief dive to the bottom of the pool. I say this having seen first hand the durability tests OPPO put the device through prior to launch.
The Reno10 series, in particular the Reno10 Pro+ 5G, appears to be a near-perfect device for OPPO, however, I’d love to see a 2X option for Portrait photography as well as wireless charging and an official IP rating in the next Reno series as well as a bigger focus on video. We also need more cases and accessories for OPPO products and more of the OPPO ecosystem to come to South Africa.
