Oppo Reno 4 Pro Review: Incredibly Lightweight, Ridiculously Fast Charging

The smartphone market is congested with a variety of options, which is good for the users, but at the same time, it becomes difficult to choose the right one that fits your needs. And while making the right choice, the design and features play an important role. Coming to the sub-$500 price point, there are a bunch of interesting options from the Google Pixel 4a to OnePlus Nord and Oppo Reno 4 Pro to name a few. Each of these phones has different USPs, and in this review, I’m going to talk about some of the key features that make the Reno 4 Pro worth consideration.

Stunning Design

The Oppo Reno 4 Pro is a looker, and it easily stands out in front of the competition. It comes with a sleek and slim profile, and right when you hold it, you’ll also notice how incredibly lightweight it is.

Oppo did have to compromise for this in two ways – it went for a plastic frame with chrome finish, and a plastic back instead of glass. But despite these compromises, it does look and feel premium. Also, the frosted back finish ensures that the phone is not slippery as the glass back and does not attract fingerprints easily.

Curved Screen with 90Hz Refresh Rate

We have mostly seen dual-edge curved screens on flagship phones, and it is a welcome change to see the same on Oppo Reno 4 Pro that is priced under $500. It flaunts a 6.5-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz screen refresh rate and a touch sampling rate of 180Hz. Despite sporting a large screen, dual-curved edges mean it is still compact and easy to hold and use.

The high screen refresh rate makes all the transitions, animations, and scrolling experience smoother. So, whether you are scrolling through your Instagram or Facebook timeline or browsing through your favorite websites, you’ll find the motion smoother.

Even gaming is better on the Reno 4 Pro. I played games like Asphalt 9: Legends, PUBG Mobile, and Marvel Content of Champions to name a few, and the higher screen refresh rate made the experience a breeze. Though, the one thing that the screen misses out on is HDR10 support.

Insanely Fast Charging Battery

Battery life is always a major concern on smartphones, and there are times when you want a quick top-up within minutes. The 65W VOOC fast charging support, along with the charger bundled in the box makes it easier to quickly charge the device. The charging speed is insane for a 4,000mAh battery, where it can quickly reach 95% from the dead state in just 30 minutes.

Talking about the battery life, I was able to get over a day and a half worth of usage with average to moderate use. Even with intensive use, the battery still lasted for close to a full working day, which is good. Though the battery life will vary based on your usage.

Decent Cameras

Now, one area where I was disappointed was the camera. I had a lot of expectations from the quad-camera setup at the back, which includes a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.

The main camera captures good photos with decent details, but the ultra-wide photos take a hit due to weaker details. Though the camera supports up to 10X digital zoom, the quality is good till 2X, and decent till 5X, but then it loses details. The macro camera, on the other hand, does a decent job, but the AI boost colors way too much. And as the resolution is smaller, the details are not that crisp.

Low-light photos lack sharpness and look dull. There is a night mode, which does add some enhancements to brighten the image, but the overall quality is not as good as the more affordable OnePlus Nord.

Lastly, there is also a 32MP selfie snapper on the front which sits in a punch-hole cut-out. Again, the photo quality is decent where it retains colors from your clothes and background, but there is excessive buffing happening on the skin tone. Even after turning off the AI, it didn’t result in offering enough details.

Overall Experience

The Oppo Reno 4 Pro packs a Snapdragon 720G SoC paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It runs on Android 10 with ColorOS 7.2 skin on top. Overall, Oppo has optimized the software to take good advantage of the hardware, which translates into a smooth overall experience.

There are some interesting additions in ColorOS skin, which includes Dark Mode, Phone Manager app to clear cache and unnecessary files and apps, and much more. It also comes pre-installed with SoLoop video editor which is a nice addition. But the most interesting thing I liked is the Oppo Relax app. We have seen this in the Find X2 Pro before and now it is present in the Reno 4 Pro as well. It is an app that offers soothing music tracks to get lost in while meditating or just lying down. The app also offers guided breathing exercises.

Conclusion

The Oppo Reno 4 Pro is a decent smartphone with a stunning design, crazy fast charging capabilities, and a good overall performer. However, given the competition devices in its price range, it does not come with a solid camera which is a disappointment, and something that Oppo can work on for its successor.