OPPO RENO 3 PRO REVIEW-A STUNNING YET FALLIBLE PHONE

OPPO has been consistently bringing one model after another in the Indian Smartphone industry, and that’s not even counting its sub-brand like Realme. Oppo makes great hardware, but the company’s software often leaves a lot to be desired. When the Chinese brand “Oppo” introduced the Reno series, it was clear about one thing an exquisite device with a spectacular camera and impressive performance. Oppo has launched the Reno 3 Pro in India after a few months later it was introduced in China .It’s not that difficult to get lost in a sea of similar-sounding names but attaching a “Pro” to it does get you to at least take a second look.

Oppo’s Indian version of the Reno 3 Pro lacks 5G, but is the first smartphone to use the Mediatek Helio P95 SoC. In fact, this SoC was launched just ahead of the smartphone. That’s not all, the Reno 3 Pro also packs a 44-megapixel dual punch-hole selfie camera i.e. front depth sensor embedded into the display. With prices starting at Rs. 29,990 at Amazon.in, this phone goes up against the likes of the Realme X2 Pro. Should you buy the Oppo Reno 3 Pro? See the OPPO Reno 3 Pro Review to find out.

Design and Display

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Oppo is popular for giving great designs and some interesting patterns on its smartphones across ranges. When the Reno series was introduced in India, it took the market like a rapid fire, in terms of sales but also from the perspective of the design. Reno 3 Pro carries the legacy forward and I think it is one of the stylish & beautiful phones I have seen so far.

The OPPO Reno 3 Pro is available in three colors: Auroral Blue, Midnight Black, and Sky White. The choice of colors is patterned on the “beauty of the changing light of sky.” A phone should look good and stand out from the crowd something that Reno 3 Pro has done very well. The smartphone has a dual-tone gradient on the glass back that just radiates different shades of the two colours when held at various angles against a light source. Oppo has crafted the rear on the Reno 3 Pro with an eye-catching finish. But it is not glass. Oppo has used polycarbonate material with a glossy touch to mimic glass on the Reno 3 Pro and that’s what makes the phone so light.Oppo Reno 3 Pro allows good grip as it has curved edges at the back,reducing the chances of it sliding off your hand or off slippery surfaces. The back of the smartphone has a rectangular quad camera that is just bulging out. It is so outward that the camera might get scratches when kept on a flat surface. However ,the camera island, has a short wall around it for protection against scuffs,but its better to buy a good case/cover for Reno 3 Pro.

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro launched in China has a curved-edge display and a single centred hole-punch camera similar to Samsung’s designs. However, the Oppo Reno 3 Pro priced at Rs 29,990 at Amazon.in launched in India features a flat panel with a dual hole-punch for the selfie cameras in the top left corner. It has thin bezels on three sides of the screen while the chin is thicker. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner, something we would expect from a smartphone at this price.

OPPO Reno 3 Pro features a 6.4 inches (16.26 cm) Super AMOLED display that gets a punch-hole in its display. The screen bears a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels along with a density of 411ppi, which adds sharpness to the visuals. The display is bright, and, according to Oppo, it has a maximum brightness of 800 nits. It also has Full Care Display Certification from TÜV Rheinland, which implies that it is kind to your eyes. It has a power button on the left and the volume rocker on the right. The SIM card tray is also on the left, right above the volume control buttons. The bottom of the Reno 3 Pro has a USB-C port surrounded by a speaker grille and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The speaker, however, is inconveniently located and is blocked by the palm when holding the phone sideways. Both top and bottom ends have microphones each on the Reno 3 Pro.

Also see the Best 5 Protective and Stylish back covers for OPPO Reno 3 Pro from here.

Specifications and Performance

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro is an upper mid-range phone due to its price, and that is why it is expected to perform well, if not the best. It has the new Mediatek Helio P95 SoC, an octa-core processor clocked at 2.2GHz, paired with 8GB of RAM. It is a slightly powerful variant of the MediaTek Helio P90 SoC .The Oppo Reno 3 Pro scored 215229 in the AnTuTu benchmarking test, which is good.It doesn’t faces any lags while surfing through different apps while high end graphics games are running in background.However sometimes,when too many apps are running in the background,camers lags a bit on opening.Otherwise the camera opens smoothly and quickly.
The smartphone is available in two storage variants, 128GB and 256GB. You do have the option to expand storage using a microSD card. The base variant is priced at Rs. 29,990 at Amazon.in while the higher variant is priced at Rs. 32,990. Oppo currently only has the base variant on sale in India and is expected to bring the 256GB variant here later.Connectivity options on the Oppo Reno 3 Pro include Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi, and five navigation systems. The Oppo Reno 3 Pro has two Nano-SIM slots with support for 4G as well as VoLTE. The phone also packs in a 4025mAh battery and supports VOOC Flash Charge 4.0.

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro runs ColorOS 7 on top of Android 10.The UI is clean and easy to use, with several useful features . Smart driving and riding modes can help reduce distraction by blocking notifications and incoming calls. You can adjust the driving mode so that calls from specific people are automatically answered and set to the loudspeaker. Digital Well being helps you monitor the time you spend on the device, and includes wind-down and focus mode. To protect personal information, Oppo can show dummy information to apps that ask for access to your contacts and messages. Oppo also pre installs its Soloop Video Editor on the Reno 3 Pro, which makes it convenient to edit videos for social media platforms. Game Space lets you block notifications while gaming and use both mobile data as well as Wi-Fi to improve online games. Last, ColorOS 7 has a Dark Mode, to take full advantage of the AMOLED display.
However,Reno 3 Pro still has a fair amount of bloatware. Some apps push spammy notifications when launched, and we would recommend disabling the ones you don’t find useful.

Camera

Oppo smartphones are known for their camera performance, and this premium smartphone Oppo Reno 3 Pro is up to our expectations. It packs in a quad-camera setup at the back consisting of a 64-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, a 13-megapixel telephoto camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view, and a 2-megapixel mono camera. The rear camera setup is capable of 5x hybrid zoom and 20x digital zoom. At the front, this phone has a 44-megapixel selfie shooter along with a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Oppo has been heavily advertising this as a “44-megapixel dual camera setup” on the Reno 3 Pro and brags as “The World’s First 44MP Camera with dual punch-hole.”

The camera app on the Oppo Reno 3 Pro has Night, Portrait, Time-Lapse, Pano and Slo-Mo modes. It has quick toggles for HDR and Dazzle Colour (which bumps up contrast) and shortcuts for different filters that you can apply before taking a shot. AI Scene recognition is on by default and it is quick to detect what you shoot. You can also take macros using the ultra-wide-angle camera as it has autofocus. 20x digital zoom with the 13-megapixel sensor, the zooming capability of the Reno 3 Pro is fabulous. It can take steady shots of things afar. The shots lack details but it is not much of an issue.

SAMPLE IMAGES

 It’s a good thing that the Ultra Night mode works well with all the sensors in this phone. The Ultra Night mode works fairly well. It does tend to wash off the colours though.

There is also an Expert mode that enables the XHD resolution for photos. It is essentially a photo shot with 108-megapixel resolution. As expected, the photos clicked using the mode are more detailed and preserve every fine elements in the scene. You can zoom in up to 20x using the mode as well. The HDR on the cameras also works quite well. The mono sensor is the one that, I feel, should have been better. It struggles to identify edges to be able to produce the bokeh. The result is patchy blur across the photo.

Battery

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro has a good 4025mAh battery.The Reno 3 Pro is one of the best smartphones that are known for their battery life. The battery on the Reno 3 Pro lasts for more than a day on a single charge, with normal usage and using heavy apps and games.The screen-on time on the Reno 3 Pro is about eight hours, which is impressive. But the device consumes more battery when it is running a heavy game, but that is no problem since there is fast charging on the phone.

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro comes with 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 technology, which charges the battery from zero to full in around an hour.

Verdict

Oppo Reno 3 Pro has great features at Rs 29,990 and in terms of Camera,Design & Battery,it is highly appreciated.But this price segment is very competitive with value-for-money options such as the Realme X2 Pro which not only packs a powerful Snapdragon 855+ but also has a 90Hz panel at Rs 29,483 at Amazon.in.

OPPO Reno 3 Pro lacks in performance from the other device but if you are not a Game Geek who plays high graphics games,it is suitable for you. It has a decent camera which will help you in capturing beautiful moments.Also its battery backup is highly impressive. And the attractive eye catching design is really worth the buy.

Buy OPPO Reno 3 Pro at Amazon.in at an offer price of Rs 29,990 from here.

Also buy Realme X2 Pro at Amazon.in at an offer price of Rs 29,483 from here.

Also see the Best 5 Protective and Stylish back covers for OPPO Reno 3 Pro from here.

Also See: Xiaomi Mi 10 Review & Price in India