OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G review: Expensive, but worthy camera-centric smartphone

The OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G is touted to be a camera-centric smartphone. How does it fare on other key parameters like design, display, performance and on-battery time? Let's find out

From smartphones with a full-path colour management system to a rollable screen and flexible form factor, OPPO has some big things planned for this year. The Chinese smartphone maker is starting the year 2021 with the Reno 5 Pro 5G, a premium midrange smartphone with industry-first imaging-related enhancements for an improved videography experience.

A successor to the OPPO Reno 4 Pro (review), the OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G is touted to be a camera-centric smartphone. But how does it fare on other key parameters like design, display, performance and on-battery time? Let’s find out:

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G: Design

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” That seems to have been Oppo’s motto while designing the Reno 5 Pro 5G. The smartphone looks similar to its predecessor: Two-side curved screen on the front and a gradient design with matte finish on the back. While the phone’s front looks identical to the Reno 4 Pro, its back cover has got some minor but relevant upgrades. Instead of plastic, the Reno 5 Pro 5G has glass covering its back; it is not a regular glass but the Panda glass, said to provide protection against minor scratches. In real life, the Panda glass (review unit: Astral Blue colour) seems resilient against scratches and the gradient design with matte finish protects the glass from unwanted fingerprint marks.

But unfortunately, like the predecessor, this phone’s frame is made of plastic and it is covered by a glossy paint which may wither away after prolonged usage. However, even if the OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G does not have an original design, that should not be a cause for concern, as OPPO has indeed brought upgrades wherever necessary. Also, the phone has a thin (7.6mm), compact and lightweight (173g) construction that feels natural while holding and comfortable when operating.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G: Display

Like the design, not much has changed in the display of the OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G. It is still a two-side curved super AMOLED screen of a 90Hz refresh rate with support for HDR10 and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats. Accentuating the display are the new fingerprint unlock animations and colour profiles that come as part of the Android 11 operating system-based ColorOS 11 user interface. Except for these minor but visually apparent changes, the display in this phone is similar to that of the Reno 4 Pro.

Its two-side curved profile eliminates the side bezels and feels natural to use, especially with gesture-based navigation controls. Moreover, the display’s 90Hz refresh rate brings user interface transitions to life and makes on-screen content lively. As for output, the display is bright, vivid and responsive. It is set to render natural colours by default; you can tune it from display settings to use vivid colours.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G: Camera

This is an area where the Reno 5 Pro 5G has brought the most upgrades. It has a quad camera array on the back, featuring a 64-megapixel primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor, a 2MP macro sensor and a 2MP mono sensor. On the front, the phone has a 32MP sensor, accommodated on the top-left side in a display punch hole.

Details aside, the Reno 5 Pro 5G’s camera performance is great. The primary sensor works well across light conditions. It captures frames with a good detail, and without any visible noise or distortion. In good light conditions, the primary sensor does a good job composing otherwise difficult details like dynamic range, highlights and shadows.

The ultra-wide sensor is a good performer, too. The ultra-wide shots lack detailing — especially the colour accuracy — that the primary sensor manages to capture. But it works well without this. The sensor straightens the barrel effect and the images it takes look uniform and free from any visible distortion.

The macro sensor is nothing to write home about. It lacks the clarity and struggles to capture details even in good light conditions.

The Reno 5 Pro 5G’s front camera is good for selfies but it is not best suited for group selfies because of its narrow field-of-view (FoV). The front camera supports the night mode for lowlight selfies, but it requires stable hands to capture decent images free from motion blurs.

The performance is complemented by several value-added features available for both still photography and videography. For still imaging, there is auto AI scene detection, colour filters, and extra HD. The auto AI scene detection is accurate in detecting the scenes. It, however, does not always pick the right settings to make the photos stand out. The colour filters have been part of other OPPO smartphones but the Reno 5 Pro has an additional neon filter for portrait shots that enhances the background blur if the frame has visible bright lights in the background. Interestingly, this filter works best in low-light shot. The extra HD captures shot with enhanced details but it works well only in good light conditions.

For videos, the Reno 5 Pro 5G has a new AI highlight video feature. It is touted to improve the dynamic range, colour depth and range, and contrast to deliver enhanced video experience irrespective of light conditions. In real life, the feature improves video recording, but not always. In lowlight conditions, the feature brightens the scene if there is some light source, howsoever dim. It daylight condition, the feature enables HDR, based on the scene requirement, to capture details that otherwise go missing. Overall, it is a good value-added feature. It could have been a lot better if complemented by good audio recording capability for videos.

Aside from the AI highlight video feature, the Reno 5 Pro 5G boasts dual-view video, AI colour portrait, monochrome video, and ultra-steady video. The dual-view video feature lets you use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously to record videos. The AI colour portrait feature works only on humans. It applies black and white filters on the frame background while keeping the colours on the subject. The ultra-steady video uses electronic image stabilisation technology to record videos free from motion blur and shakes.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G: Performance

Powering the Reno 5 Pro 5G is a MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ system-on-chip, paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB on-board storage. The phone boots Android 11 operating system-based ColorOS 11.1 user interface. The performance is good for most parts but there are some inconsistencies on the software side. For example, the phone shows ‘unable to open camera’ message randomly even when it is not the case. Similarly, the phone abruptly adjusts screen refresh rate which results in an abysmal experience while using apps like the Chrome browser and Twitter. The issue might be with other apps, too, but it is most apparent in the ones mentioned above. Except for these minor issues, there is nothing to complain about in the phone’s performance. It works fine as a daily driver for most tasks and handles processor- and-graphic-intensive jobs well. There are no thermal issues but the phone gets a little warm when made to handle heavy-duty operations. Complementing the performance is the user experience.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G: Battery

The Reno 5 Pro 5G is powered by a 4,350mAh battery, which keeps it going for around a day on normal usage. Processor- and graphic-intensive apps drain the battery quickly, but with disciplined use of such apps and tasks you get a full day’s on-battery time. Thankfully, the phone comes with a 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 charger, which takes 35-40 minutes to charge a completely drained battery to full.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G review: Verdict

At Rs 35,990, the OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G is an expensive midrange smartphone. It, however, brings meaningful upgrades that make it better than predecessor and peers. The Reno 5 Pro 5G is a complete package with a practical design, premium two-side curved AMOLED screen of 90Hz refresh rate, competent cameras and industry-leading fast-charge solution. There is no reason to not like the Reno 5 Pro 5G. However, you might like to compare it with the Xiaomi Mi 10i (review) and OnePlus Nord (review) before finalising the pick.