Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G Review: Pretty Decent For A Midrange Phone

We weren’t all that impressed by the Oppo Reno4 Pro back when it came out because the specs didn’t justify the S$899 asking price. Well, Oppo has launched their Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G for the same price, but this time, it’s worth the money.

Let’s talk about the design first. Oppo has moved away from the matte plastic back that they used in the Reno4 Pro, and now there’s a nice, glossy Corning Gorilla Glass 5 back that feels great in the hand. The phone itself is pretty slim and very lightweight, which might feel a little less premium due to the lack of heft. 

There’s a quad-camera array on the back, with a 64MP main camera, 8MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP macro and 2MP mono lens. Photo quality is generally pretty good, and photos taken using the Night mode are actually brightened considerably while still maintaining detail in dark shadowed areas.

Something we don’t quite like about the front-facing 32MP selfie camera is that it’s off to the side. It’s discreet, yes, but it also means that it’s harder to frame yourself directly in the centre of the shot. We guess we’ll just have to wait till those under-display cameras finally come to market!

Inside, you get the Dimensity 1000+ chipset that provides 5G capability, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of non-expandable storage. Phone performance is great, the 12GB of RAM means that the phone is snappy and fast, and the new processor makes the Reno 5 Pro 5G an upgrade over the Reno 4 Pro, especially since they cost the same at S$899.

The screen is a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. Colours are vibrant, browsing content is fluid and responsive and all in all, it’s a great display.

There’s a 4,350mAh battery in this, which is quite small when you consider most phones coming out these days tend to have around a 5,000mAh capacity. There is 65W fast charging with a compatible charger included in the box, so you can plug the phone in for quick top-ups during the day, but it would have been nice to have wireless charging for those who like the convenience of going wireless. 

The battery does last for slightly under a day, because 5G does drain a phone’s battery quite quickly. It has nothing to do with the Reno5 Pro 5G though, it’s just the nature of the beast with 5G right now. You’ll most likely have to give the phone a top-up midway through the day if you’re planning on using 5G. 

So is this phone worth the money? Well, yes, in some ways. In others, you might find that it could be better to just top up that extra few hundred dollars to get the base version of a flagship phone. Those might not come with a charger though, much less a 65W fast charger, just something to think about.

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Content by Timothy Go