OPPO Reno3 Pro Review: Great All-Around Phone With A Few Compromises

Along with the rapid progress of technology, the boundary between the mid-range and high-end flagship segments is becoming blurred than ever. The features such as multi-lens camera clusters, bezel-less design, Super AMOLED screen that supports HDR or super-fast charging, once a dream, have now become much more accessible in the mid-range segment. 

Oppo Reno3 Pro is one of the names I want to talk about. Officially launched in India in March 2020, along with the vanilla Reno3, Reno3 Pro owns all these features, and most notably, the 44MP dual selfie camera setup.

OPPO Reno3 Pro Review: Price in India

The OPPO Reno 3 Pro price in India starts at Rs. 24,990 for the 8GB + 128GB option and rises to Rs. 27,990 for the 8GB + 256GB option.

OPPO Reno3 Pro Review: Display

Reno3 Pro features a 6.4-inch Full HD + screen, Oppo's Sunlight Super AMOLED panel, which will help improve outdoor visibility. Personally, Reno3 Pro has a high-quality display with high brightness - Oppo said the device can reach a maximum brightness of up to 1200 nit - in the process of using almost I never have to set brightness over 80%.

Besides, the screen panel of Reno3 Pro also has up to 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, supports HDR so colors are very vivid and accurate, especially when watching content on Netflix and Youtube. It also does not have HDR display errors like Realme 6 Pro and Redmi Note 9s and the punch-hole is not annoying when viewed in full screen. In terms of display quality, I can say that Reno3 Pro is on par with today's flagship phones.

However, the Reno3 Pro's display does not have a high 90Hz refresh rate like the Chinese version, a trend that is increasingly popular. A high refresh rate offers smoother scrolling experiences, in exchange for a slight sacrifice of battery life.

OPPO Reno3 Pro Review: Performance

The Reno3 Pro is powered by Mediatek's Helio P95 chip, a slight upgrade version of the Helio P90 on the Reno3. In this price range, I would expect the Reno3 Pro to have a more powerful chip, like the Snapdragon 765 of the Chinese version, but the Helio P95 also has its own advantage of a very good battery life, which I will discuss in more depth later.

Testing with familiar titles through GameBench software, playing PUBG Mobile, Reno3 Pro was locked at 30fps with HD setting and 40fps with a high-graphics setting. Prioritizing fps, I tested at a low-graphics setting and the Reno3 Pro reached an average of 40 fps, with no frame drop in fire or gun scenes.

COD Mobile is a very popular game today, and I decided to experiment with Reno3 Pro. The game automatically sets the average graphics level, and Reno3 Pro maintains at 60 fps for most of the playing time, except in the lobby and when downloading the map, the game limits itself to 30 fps to save battery.

During actual use, I didn't complain much about the performance of Reno3 Pro, partly because my needs were not too high. Surfing the web, watching movies, playing PUBG Mobile, the Reno3 Pro’s Helio P95 is sufficient, and 8GB of RAM is enough for multitasking.

OPPO Reno3 Pro Review: Cameras

Camera quality has always been something Oppo has been praised for, especially selfie cameras, and the Reno3 Pro did not disappoint me. In terms of hardware, Reno3 Pro features a total of 6 cameras, 4 at the back, and 2 on the front. The rear camera cluster includes a 64MP main camera, the ISOCELL GW01 sensor we have seen on Realme 6 Pro or Samsung Galaxy M31, along with a 13MP telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom, 8MP wide-angle camera, and a 2MP black-and-white and depth sensor. Meanwhile, the front camera cluster is in the punched section including the 44MP main camera and 2MP secondary camera that supports portrait mode. In low light, Reno3 Pro still produces good photos and bright colors. It has Night Mode and Ultra Dark Mode - this mode will automatically activate when it detects that there is too little light in the scene. 

Reno3 Pro has a lot of options when you are photographing distant subjects. Besides 64MP mode, Oppo also integrated the "upscale" software to produce 108MP photos - only in professional mode - then you can crop the area you want. With a closer subject, 2X optical zoom, 5X hybrid zoom, or 20X digital zoom may be a more reasonable choice.

While other brands are competing in the resolution race on the main camera, Oppo has started a new competition with the 44MP selfie camera on the Reno3 Pro. After spending some time on it, this camera setup has shown that the high resolution is not only for show off but it also offers high quality in almost every aspect from color, detail, white balance.

OPPO Reno3 Pro Review: Battery

Equipped with a 4,025 mAh battery, I did not expect much from the Reno3 Pro at first, as 5,000 mAh is gradually becoming the new standard. However, retaining the advantage of the previous Reno, the Reno3 Pro with Helio P95 chip delivers a very good battery, both in our battery test and practical use. Compared to Reno2, the battery life when playing games and surfing the web of Reno3 Pro are significantly improved.

The battery life of the Reno3 Pro is enough to last a working day, with Wi-Fi, 4G, and Bluetooth always on. By the end of the day, I still had about 20-25% of the battery. Charging time is also not a problem with Reno3 Pro when the device supports 30W VOOC 4.0 fast-charging capacity. According to my measurements, 20 minutes of charging gets it to 50% and it takes 52 minutes to reach a full 100%.

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