OPPO Reno8 5G Review Philippines: Proper Successor?

Review Verdict: The OPPO Reno8 5G is a capable mid-range phone, especially if you’re looking for a smartphone in the Philippines with a good processor, long-lasting battery, and capable front and rear cameras. It is also well-designed, hence it manages to look and feel more expensive than it actually is.

Pros

A good processor of choice
Great battery life
Upgraded main and selfie cameras

Cons

Still has the same display since Reno5

OPPO Reno8 Review Philippines Specs

Dimensity 1300 processor
8GB LPDDR4x RAM
256GB UFS 3.1 storage
6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 90hz refresh rate
50-megapixel IMX766 f/1.7 main camera with PDAF, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera
32-megapixel IMX709 selfie camera
4G, LTE, 5G
WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, in-display fingerprint scanner
4500mAh battery
80w fast charging
Android 12, ColorOS 12

OPPO updates the Reno series in the Philippines with the introduction of the Reno8 Z and the Reno8. These new phones are sure to spice up the ever-competitive mid-range smartphone market. In this review, we’ll focus on the latter and we’ll see if it has what it takes to topple its competitors in the segment.

Design

The OPPO Reno 8 5G has a straightforward design–yet it is elegant from every angle. Some might not like the hump at the rear for the camera module, although it’s nicely executed especially with its unibody design. Also making the phone premium are the flat sides of the frame as they make the phone easy to hold and comfortable to use even single-handedly.

You get a familiar 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a punch-hole on the top-left corner for the selfie camera. It has thin bezels making the screen look even bigger, though we’re underwhelmed that the chin is rather thick.

OPPO Reno8 5G Review Philippines: Proper Successor?

For the port and button layout, you have the volume rocker on the left side, while the right side only has the power button highlighted by a visible green line. Below the phone is the SIM card tray, loudspeaker, and USB-C port.

Display

The OPPO Reno8 features a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a Full-HD+ resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, and 180Hz touch-sampling rate. The display might ring a bell, as OPPO has been using the same panel since the Reno5. Despite being a rather dated panel at this point, it is notably bright, vibrant, and crisp thanks to being an AMOLED variety.

Scrolling through the screen felt smooth with its 90Hz refresh rate, though we wished that OPPO updated the panel to support 120hz. Take note that the panel is set to 90Hz by default but you have the option to switch to 60Hz anytime. There is no support for dynamic refresh rate though. For this review, the display was set at 90Hz all throughout.

Sadly, the Reno8 only has a single bottom-firing speaker. A pair of speakers could have complemented the great display in this phone and added more value to it. Thankfully, the single speaker is loud enough, and watching your favorite content online is still a very positive experience. Being a familiar display, you also get an in-display fingerprint scanner.

Cameras

Thankfully, OPPO gave serious upgrades to the Reno8’s cameras–specifically the main rear camera and the selfie snapper. The former is a 50-megapixel IMX766 that’s paired with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor, while the selfie camera is a 32-megapixel IMX709.

We’re very familiar with the performance of the IMX766, as it is the sensor of choice for a number of upper mid-range and flagship devices. Based on our time with it, the Reno8’s main rear camera performed very well. The selfie camera also uses a new sensor in the form of the IMX709, and it does perform as great as the main rear camera.

Video recording still tops out at 4K30 for the rear camera and Full HD for the selfie camera. Should you need extra stabilization, the Reno8 does have EIS on board–though that limits video recording to Full HD.

Internals and Battery Life

OPPO gave the Reno8 a notable processor upgrade with the Dimensity 1300, and the variant coming to the Philippines comes with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

As an improved version of the Dimensity 1200, the Reno8’s Dimensity 1300 is a very capable processor for its price, being an ace for handling multiple apps at the same time. It’s also a decent processor for gaming, and you can play Genshin Impact at the highest possible settings (highest graphics, 60FPS) while consistently hitting close to 50FPS in most scenarios.

The Reno8 still has the same 4500mAh battery found on its predecessor, though you get a faster 80w wired charging solution. We got a very good battery life score with PCMark’s battery benchmark test at 19 hours and 31 minutes, which is an hour and a half longer than what we got on the Reno7. This shows that MediaTek’s Dimensity processors are doing a great job in balancing out performance and battery efficiency. As our daily driver, the Reno8 lasted for more than a day on medium use, which corroborates with the results we got on PCMark.

Charging speeds are also great on the Reno8, as its 80w charging solution was able to top up the battery from flat to 84% in 30 minutes and to 100% in just under 40 minutes.

Wrap-up and Conclusions

Despite losing the ultra-wide-angle camera and still stuck with the same AMOLED panel used since the Reno5, the Reno8 does have substantial upgrades compared to its predecessor thanks to significantly better rear and selfie cameras, along with a more capable processor and faster charging speeds. Completing the makeover is a sleeker unibody design that makes the Reno8 stylish for an upper mid-range phone.