So we’ve just taken a look at the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom, and while we were very happy with the performance of that, we’ve seen reports that the Oppo Reno 2 is better. So, we got our hands on one. And yes, at first glance these two phones are similar, there is more happening under the hood than with the Reno 10X Zoom. But, before we jump into the specification, let’s take a look at the handset itself.
Design
Being a slightly newer phone to the 10X Zoom, you’d expect some changes, although it feels almost as if they’re in the same series of handsets. The rear of the device follows the favourable Oppo design, though while the 10X Zoom had a green matte finish, the Oppo Reno 2 has opted for a mirrored purple/blue two-tone design, which gradiates towards the stripe.
It still has the stripe which is now gloss black, and retains the bump to keep the camera lens off the table when you put the phone down. It’s classy, and looks very premium, and when the light catches the handset, it looks spectacular. It is a fingerprint magnet though, so carry a cleaning cloth with you, or keep it in the provided snap case. It’s technically Gorlla Glass 6, so you’ve got some protection from scratches if you store this in your bag or a pocket with your car key for example, but don’t expect to stay fresh for long if you’re a clumsy user. You’ll also find four cameras around the back, which are smaller in size than say an iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The unlock button can be found on the right, and is a perfect placement for my thumb, while the volume rocker can be found on the left hand side of the handset. The curcumference of the handset is covered in a matte metal finish to give it some extra protection from drops, and on the bottom you will find the speaker, a USB Type-C input for charging and a speaker, which unfortunately isn’t the best positioned, especially when watching content landscape. I found myself covereing the speaker with my hands, which in turn muffled the sound.
The phone itself is very comfortable to hold, even with one handed use, and the back has been covered in some kind of non-slip finish, which is always nice to see from larger handsets. And as phones are most commonly now covered in glass, a welcome addition. I didn’t once feel uneasy to use this phone outside of the supplied plastic snap case.
Display
The phone has a 6.6-inch Amoled display that hits a resolution of 1080 x 2400. This gives the Oppo Reno 2 a ratio of 20:9, which is slightly taller than the Reno 10X Zoom we reviewed before. The pixel density sits at 401ppi. For the most part, colours are decently accurate, and watching media through the likes of YouTube and Netflix was pretty good.
If it’s not up to scratch, then you can head into the display settings to change the colour temperature between cool and warm on a slider, though I liked it pretty much smack bang in the middle. There is also the option to change between using sRGB and P3 colour profiles. I stuck with P3 as colours appeared a lot more vivid and saturated. I found at times when I was using the sRGB mode, the colours seemed a little washed out, especially on skin tones. But this of course is definitely down to personal preference.
For the most part, the Oppo Reno 2 is super sharp and vivid, and even small text on web pages was easily read. The display again is quite serverely rounded at the corners., and there is no notch or holepunch hole for a selfie camera. Instead, Oppo are using their shark fin design, which pops out the top of the phone every time the selfie camera is activated. It will also retract if it senses the phone has been dropped.
Performance
The phone itself inside has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor along with 8GB RAM memory. There’s no 6GB or 12GB options here like there were with the Reno 10X Zoom. The Reno 2 also has two options for storage: a 128GB or 256GB hard drive.
The worst thing we found when reviewing the phone, is the fact that the processor isn’t in all honesty that great. the 730G is a mid-range processor, and running it through Geekbench 5, you can soo the results. We got a score of 1,548, while the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom scored an impressive 2,646. It’s a little odd, considering the Zoom is an older phone, and one that is definitely going to hinder Oppo in the future.
It was mostly noticable while gaming, and also running a 3DMark benchmark. As you can see the results above on the Oppo Reno 2 came out at 2,410, while the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom came out at 5,718. There is the inclusion again on the Reno 2 of the Game Space app, which is supposed to optimise gaming for the handset, but it didn’t do the best job, and higher processor needy games did stutter from time to time. It wasn’t the worst thing, but for a late 2019 flagship device from a manufacturer, this isn’t good.
The other downside is when it comes to hotswapping between all of your different open apps. If too many apps are open, then the phone can feel a little sluggish when opening new apps. This is also the case when you’re opening apps like the camera which need a little more processing power to run.
The phone also features a 4,000mAh battery which pretty much lasted me a day. I’m a heavy smartphone user, which means I’m constantly on my device for work. This saw me reaching for a charger by the evening. There was no way I was getting through another day on this handset, which is pretty much expected as this device has such a large screen and high max brightness.
The phone also has something called VOOC 3.0 which can see the phone go from empty to 50% battery life in around 30 minutes. Not bad if you’re looking for a quick power boost to get you through your commute home. It also has a 20W fast charging capability included which is becoming more of a norm on modern day handsets.
The phone is using Android 9.0 as its operating system, although again it’s using the Colour OS6 overlay which offers tasteful changes to stock Android. Nothing real has changed here from the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom, so head over to there if you want to know the run down on what the overlay offers. It does however come with a video editing suite called Soloop. It’s basic sure, but it’s nice to have if you’re a budding mobile videographer wanting to put together some edits for social media. Speaking of apps, bloatware is kept to a minimum which is fantastic. There wasn’t really anything in terms of apps that I didn’t recognise.
Camera
The Oppo Reno 2 has four cameras in total on the rear, which is one more than what we found on the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom. There is a difference between them, so do bare with me. Let’s talk about the Reno 2 first.
The first camera isa 48MP main camera with a f/1.7 aperture, while the others target specialised areas, like the 13 megapixel telephoto lens with an f/3.0 aperture, an 8 megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide lens and finally a 2 megapixel monochrome sensor that’s supposed to help with subject separation in portrait shots. Although really, doesn’t do too much in my opinion over the Reno 10X Zoom’s portrait mode. The ultrawide lens according to Oppo also doubles as a macro lens.
The first thing I did notice with the Oppo Reno 2 is the fact photos looked a lot more saturated compared to the Reno 10X Zoom. This is down to Oppo’s superior image processing inside the Reno 2. The other main differene is the zoom. I mean of course the Oppo Reno 2 isn’t going to be known for that. Instead of the 60x whopper we’ve seen before, you’re only getting a 20x zoom here, and it’s mostly digital, so expect some grainy images towards the top end. In fact, Oppo only give you a 2x optical zoom, and a 5x hybrid zoom which is a mixture of both optical and digital zooms.
There’s now the inclusion of an Ultra Dark Mode which improves the quality in low-light photos. It doesn’t quite match up to the night mode quality of my Google Pixel 3 I have sitting next to me, but it still does a decent job of retaining detail in the shadows.
Portraits too come out pretty clear, and the separation is decent between subject and background. I’m not sure if this is totally down to the monochrome portrait camera, as there was no real difference between the Reno 10X Zoom and Reno 2 portraits, but still, it’s nice to know the Oppo Reno 2 can keep up in this area. I do like a decent portrait shot with some decent bokeh.
Lastly, it has the same features found on the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom like the dazzle colour to improve saturation, a HDR toggle, and colour filters. It even has a panorama, slo-mo, timelapse and all that jazz going on. Standard features of cameras on newer handsets, but still decent they retain it here.
For video, you can hit as high as 4K resolution, but the framerate is locked at 30fps, compared to the choice of 30 or 60fps when shooting at 1080p and 720p. I kept to 4K footage though, and it looked pretty decent. Video stablilisation worked a treat, though it would definitely help if you paired it with a gimbal like the Benro 3XS Lite we reviewed a while back. It’s not as good as the more modern handsets out there.
Verdict
There’s a lot to like about the Oppo Reno 2 mobile. However, I feel it drops the ball a bit when it comes it specification. I would have liked to have seen a faster processor inside, when you’ve got the likes of the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom beating it in raw power, and it almost feels as if the Oppo Reno 2 should be positioning itself as the Oppo flagship.
But it’s not, and it suffers for that. It does however have a fantastic design. I love what Oppo are doing with the rear of their phones, especially now this one is shiny and purple and blue and two-toned. It’s real nice. The screen too is fantastic, and I really like the bigger real estate. For more information on the Oppo Reno 2, head over to the Oppo website.
