Oppo Reno3 has just been officially launched in March, but it hasn’t made its way to India. The series include OPPO Reno3 and Reno3 Pro, with the latter going official in the Indian market in March. The price of the Reno3 in other markets is around Rs. 27,000.

Display: High-quality AMOLED display

Reno3 continues to use the same AMOLED panel as the previous Reno with a 6.4 inches in size, Full-HD+ resolution and 20:9 aspect ratio. The most noticeable difference is that this year's Reno3 screen has a notch, not the pop-up selfie camera and full-screen display design. Therefore, the screen-to-body ratio of this phone is slightly lower than that of Reno2 F as well as the Reno3 Pro version with a punch-hole screen.

In addition to these differences, the Reno3 screen retains all of the Reno and Reno2 F’s display characteristics. The color reproduction is a bit more vibrant than it is, but still natural. Wide screen viewing angle and high brightness, enough to see clearly when used outdoors. When taking pictures in the sun, you can clearly see the image displayed on the screen. At this point, Reno3 performed better than mid-range devices using LCD panels. Besides, this screen also supports HDR to display compatible content on YouTube more vivid and brighter.

4 rear cameras of Oppo Reno3: 48MP main camera, 13MP telephoto camera, 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, and 2MP depth camera.

The highlight of Reno3 is the 44MP selfie camera, the largest on smartphones today. The rear camera cluster has also been upgraded compared to last year's Reno2 F, most notably that the 48MP main camera now uses Sony's IMX586 sensor, which has better image quality than the 48MP camera using Samsung's ISOCELL sensor. Besides, Oppo has removed the macro camera on Reno3 to replace it with a 13MP telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom, 5X hybrid zoom, and up to 20X digital zoom. Two 8MP wide-angle cameras and 2MP secondary cameras continue to be retained.

First, we will talk about the selfie camera. Although it is a 44MP camera, the default photo from the selfie camera will have a resolution of 40MP. If you want to shoot 44MP, you must enable this option. Unsurprisingly, the difference between 40MP and 44MP images is very small. This is something we are familiar with since many high-resolution cameras like 48MP, 64MP, and 108MP have become popular.

Photos taken from both resolution modes of the selfie camera are very sharp. In particular, the skin color is naturally processed, bright but not really natural. Photos taken in low-light scenes are also clear, low level of noise, colors and fine details. Oppo also introduced selfie camera night mode to shoot in low light conditions. Night mode photos bring more detail in dark areas. However, night mode only really works in extremely low light conditions, but in most contexts, the normal mode brings more natural colors.

Next is the 48MP main camera using Sony's IMX586 sensor, which is considered an upgrade compared to the old Reno2 F that uses Samsung's 48MP sensor. By default, the rear main camera will take photos at 12MP resolution. You can also choose to shoot at 48MP or up to 108MP if you want more detailed photos. However, in fact, the default resolution of 12MP is the most optimal mode as it still offers detailed photos with a lower size and fast shutter speed.

Phones with IMX586 sensors often tend to reproduce natural colors and lots of detail. This continues to be the case for the Reno3 main camera. Sometimes when taking photos of plants and flowers, photos from the 48MP camera pushed the color up a bit more brightly but overall still close to the actual color. In day-light conditions, the camera also catches focus quickly, making it easy to capture moving moments.

Performance: I thought Helio P90 would be weak

The Reno3 uses an eight-core Helio P90 processor, which is the next-generation chip of the Helio P70 used on its predecessor Reno2 F with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal memory. At Reno3's price range, we can expect to see more powerful chips like Snapdragon 730, Snapdragon 765, or Helio G90T.

However, this chip also has the advantage of being energy efficient and because it has been around for a long time, the apps are optimized and stable. We can see this when playing games. Many heavy games do not play smoothly on devices using the more-powerful Snapdragon 720G but play very well, smoothly on Reno3.

As for PUBG Mobile, the device can achieve up to 40 fps with maximum frame stability if played in a smooth setting that prioritizes the fps. Meanwhile, the new game Call of Duty also is not an issue for the Reno3 as the game runs smoothly at up to 60 fps but the frame stability is slightly lower than its predecessor Reno3 Pro (75% compared to 85%).

With those results, it is clear that Oppo is reasonable to equip the old Helio P90 chip on the Reno3. Not only gaming, but the device also has the performance expected of a mid-range smartphone in everyday use.

Battery time: quite beefy, a full charge takes 85 minutes

Our battery test shows that Reno3 has a good battery life, slightly higher than the previous Reno2 F. In particular, battery life is very impressive, up to 11.5 hours. Apparently, the Helio P90 chip on the 12nm process has a very efficient power consumption.

In practical use, Reno3 usually only uses about 80% of the battery after a day at high intensity, Wi-Fi and 4G networks turn on continuously with a screen brightness (onscreen) of more than 6 hours. With the included 20 VOOC 3.0 charger, the device fully charges after about 85 minutes, of which 30 minutes is 50% charged.