Oppo Reno 12 Pro Review: Flagship AI Features, Mid-range Price

Oppo’s Reno telephones goal to ship flagship-level specs and options at mid-range worth factors, and with the Reno 12 collection, Oppo has set its sights firmly on AI.

Certainly, flagships from the likes of Samsung, Apple and Google are jam-packed with AI options in 2024, however in case you’re not seeking to spend the large bucks, your choices are much more restricted.

With the Reno 12 Professional, you get a number of the most fascinating AI options, like AI writing help, summarisation, picture modifying and picture technology – all for simply £499, a fraction of the price of most flagships.

It’s not all simply AI trickery, both. The cellphone has a novel, trendy design, nice show, huge battery, speedy charging and spectacular digicam specs. On paper, it looks as if an important deal, however what’s it prefer to stay with? I’ve been carrying it round for the previous few weeks to seek out out.

Design & Construct

• Glass again, proprietary alloy framework
• 181g, Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• IP65 rated

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional stands out from the group with its distinctive rear panel, that includes a design that appears like ripples in a pool of metallic liquid. A minimum of that’s the case with the Nebula Silver model that I’m testing, it’s additionally accessible in a much more refined matte darkish brown colourway with out the ripple impact.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

In the event you like consideration, the silver model is the way in which to go. It’s a very hanging design that has garnered plenty of questions from family and friends members. I like the faint purple gradient, and the cellphone appears wonderful when the sunshine catches the ripples within the design. 

Regardless of the way in which it appears, there are not any raised sections on the rear – it’s all one clean glass panel with a velvety really feel. It’s not too fingerprint susceptible, which I’m at all times completely satisfied to see, nevertheless it’s a little bit extra slippery than I’d like. And since there’s no case included within the field, you’ll must hold a agency grip on it always.

The body has a high-gloss mirror end with a slight purple tint. It seems to be produced from plastic, however Oppo says there’s a proprietary alloy framework inside that retains the cellphone protected against bending, dents and drops. It’s additionally IP65 rated to resist mud and splashes of water.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Across the entrance, the display screen is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and it has quad micro-curved edges which can be symmetrical on all sides. It jogs my memory of the show of the Xiaomi 14 Extremely, aiming to supply the most effective of each curved and flat shows.

The cameras are positioned in a Samsung-style site visitors mild orientation, and the lens protrusion is minimal by fashionable requirements. It’s a reasonably sizable cellphone, with a 6.7-inch show, nevertheless it feels snug within the hand, and it’s a contact slimmer and lighter than most flagships.

There’s no 3.5mm headphone socket, however you do get Micro-SD card help, which is one thing that’s changing into uncommon, even within the mid-range market. 

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

I discovered the haptic motors to be a little bit weak for my tastes, although. They do the job, however you don’t get the identical mechanical-feeling clunk on keypresses such as you do with pricier flagships.

It’s particularly noticeable while you kind shortly, as a scarcity of precision signifies that all of the vibrations merge into one. In fact, that solely issues in case you’re used to a flagship mannequin – the motors right here simply compete with similarly-priced telephones.

Display screen & Audio system

• 120Hz 6.7-inch OLED show
• 1200 nits, 1080 x 2412 decision
• Stereo audio system

The show of the Reno 12 Professional is a particular spotlight. A mixture of slim, largely symmetrical bezels, quad-curved edges and a excessive brightness output make it one among my favorite shows within the mid-range market.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The controversy round flat shows vs curved edges rages on, however Oppo thinks its quad micro-curves provide the most effective of each worlds. I haven’t been shy about my desire for flat shows, however my expertise with the Reno 12 Professional (and related designs just like the Xiaomi 14 Extremely and Huawei Pura 70 Extremely) has me consuming my phrases.

This design offers you a largely flat panel to work together with, and the curves are restricted to the very borders of the panel, which is principally stuffed with display screen bezels relatively than content material. This implies the reflections are avoided the necessary a part of the show, there’s no noticeable color shifting, and you continue to get a pleasant clean floor for gesture controls. I’m offered.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

As for the panel itself, it’s an OLED with a 120Hz refresh price and an FHD+ decision. As you’d anticipate, the distinction is superb, the colors are vibrant and actually pop, and the pixel density is excessive sufficient to make small textual content look sharp and legible.

The panel can increase to 1200 nits at peak brightness, which is sufficient to make sure that it’s seen on even vivid sunny days. It’s not fairly on the extent of top-tier flagships with regards to brightness, nevertheless it’s sufficient for most individuals’s wants, and I may at all times learn it clearly, regardless of the British sunshine making a uncommon look.

The Reno 12 Professional helps HDR10+ playback and it appears very good on YouTube, particularly in case you toggle the “vivid HDR video mode” on within the settings menu. Sadly, although, I couldn’t get Netflix engaged on my pre-release software program. It’s an odd subject that wasn’t resolved by reinstalling the app, however I’m positive Oppo can have that ironed out quickly sufficient.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional has twin stereo audio system positioned on the highest and backside of the system, permitting for a pleasant stereo impact when held in panorama mode. There’s little bit of bass response and loads of readability, and so they can get pretty loud, too. Simply be careful in case you push the quantity previous 100% and into “extremely quantity mode”, which may introduce some distortion.

Total, I’d say they’re a lower above most audio system on this worth bracket, although.

Specs & Efficiency

• MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Vitality
• 12GB RAM
• 512GB storage

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional runs on a brand new model of MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 SoC developed in collaboration with Oppo, known as the Dimensity 7300 Vitality.

Because the identify suggests, this one’s all about effectivity, and Oppo says you possibly can anticipate a forty five% discount in GPU energy consumption in comparison with the Reno 10. This energy-efficient configuration could be nice for battery life, nevertheless it’s not the most effective information for players. 

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The chip is paired with a wholesome 12GB of RAM and a beneficiant 512GB of storage. That’s greater than sufficient storage for most individuals, however in case you want extra, you possibly can at all times pop in an Micro-SD card. 

Usually use, the cellphone feels responsive and nimble. Swiping across the working system was largely clean, although I did discover the occasional animation stutter throughout heavy multitasking, and when the cellphone was first powered up. That mentioned, it’s greater than fast sufficient for informal customers.

Nevertheless, with regards to gaming, it’s not essentially the most spectacular displaying.

Much less graphically intensive video games are not any subject, however once I tried to play Genshin Affect, I needed to follow the bottom preset to attain a steady 30fps. You may push it larger, however anticipate some jitters and slowdowns in case you do. On the plus facet, it by no means will get too scorching underneath load.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

There’s a built-in recreation overlay that may be accessed by swiping from the left facet of the show whereas a recreation is working. Switching to Professional Gamer mode will permit you to squeeze a number of extra frames per second from the chipset, nevertheless it’s not game-changing. There are another helpful options in right here, although, together with fast entry to messaging apps and media playback controls.

Oppo Reno 12 Professional benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp fundamental sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 50Mp 2x telephoto
• 50Mp selfie digicam

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional has a three-lens setup on the rear, comprised of a 50Mp 26mm equal fundamental digicam, a 50Mp 2x telephoto and an 8Mp 16mm equal ultrawide. Across the entrance, you get a selfie snapper with a formidable 50Mp decision, a large FOV and autofocus.

As common, the principle digicam has the biggest sensor of the bunch and delivers essentially the most spectacular outcomes. It’s nonetheless solely a 1/1.95-inch sensor, although, which suggests it’s not essentially the most spectacular in low-light situations and has to depend on night time mode extra typically than a few of its photography-focused mid-range competitors.

Within the daylight, fundamental lens photographs look sharp and detailed, with vibrant colors that actually pop.

The identical is true for the 2x telephoto, which offers matching colors and an identical degree of element. You may get usable pictures at as much as 5x zoom, however pushing past that leads to a really messy picture stuffed with artefacts.

The 8Mp ultrawide is much less spectacular. There’s a noticeable color shift when utilizing this lens and pictures look muddy and lack element, particularly when considered on a bigger show. There’s additionally no autofocus, so you possibly can’t use it for any close-up pictures.

The cellphone isn’t nice at capturing movement, regardless of which lens you employ. I seen fairly a little bit of blur on fast-moving topics, even in good lighting, and the shutter lag makes it exhausting to get your timing proper. 

At night time, you’ll need to follow the principle lens wherever doable, because the bigger sensor leads to much less noise and faster publicity instances. The opposite lenses are usable, aided by night time mode, however there’s a a lot larger threat of movement blur. The ultrawide is especially unhealthy at the hours of darkness, delivering some very grainy outcomes.

The selfie digicam is superb within the daylight. It captures sharp element and good pores and skin tones, whereas the extensive FOV and autofocus make it nice for group pictures. At night time, this lens additionally struggles with movement blur, however in case you can hold a gradual sufficient hand, it’s able to good outcomes. 

For video taking pictures, the Reno 12 Professional provides as much as 4K 30fps seize on all cameras excluding the ultrawide, which maxes out at 1080p 30fps. You may shoot at 60fps on the principle, telephoto and selfie digicam however solely in 1080p. 

The video high quality is nice, with respectable stabilisation that may be enhanced additional by choosing ‘Extremely Regular Mode’. Autofocus is fast and dependable, however you possibly can’t swap between lenses whereas recording, which is one thing I at all times discover irritating.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000 mAh battery
• 80W wired charging
• No charger included

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional packs in a 5000mAh battery. Mixed with its environment friendly chipset, I had excessive hopes for the battery life. 

In actuality, it’s barely above common, nevertheless it’s nothing astonishing. It’ll simply see you thru a day of heavy use with a bit to spare, however you’re not more likely to get two days from a cost. Nonetheless, that’s greater than sufficient juice for most individuals, and with speedy charging help, topping it up is barely an inconvenience. 

The Reno 12 Professional can cost at as much as 80W, which Oppo says is quick sufficient to get you from flat to full in 46 minutes. Sadly, there’s no charger within the field, and as common, you’ll want Oppo’s official charger to get the utmost velocity. 

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

What’s extra attention-grabbing although, is that Oppo has added help for 55W PD charging, so that you’ll nonetheless get a speedy cost from third-party wall adapters and energy banks. I used my Ugreen Nexode 300W multi-charger, which was capable of ship a 51% cost in simply half-hour.

There’s no help for wi-fi charging, which isn’t uncommon within the worth bracket, however would’ve been good to see. The likes of Google and Nothing are managing to incorporate wi-fi charging on equally priced units, so hopefully it’ll turn into extra widespread sooner or later.

Software program & Apps

• ColorOS 14.1, primarily based on Android 14
• A number of AI options
• Some bloatware

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional runs ColorOS 14.1, which is a skinned model of Android 14.

There are a number of stylistic modifications, however on the entire, it doesn’t stray too removed from the inventory Android expertise. Every little thing is the place you anticipate it to be: there’s an app drawer and Google Uncover tab, and it’s very straightforward to navigate. Having spent plenty of time with telephones from sister corporations OnePlus and Vivo, I felt instantly at house.

What’s totally different with this cellphone is the addition of quite a few AI-powered instruments, related to people who you’ll discover on Samsung’s newest flagships. Two of my favorite options stay within the good sidebar and could be accessed by swiping from the upper-right facet of the show. They’re each instruments that assist with studying articles, and are wonderful in case you’re quick on time or attempting to multitask.

AI Converse reads out any article you’ve open in your browser in a natural-sounding voice. It’s very helpful if you wish to learn an article however you aren’t capable of stare at your display screen, like while you’re commuting.

The draw back is that it reads out all web page content material, and can embody issues like menus every now and then. AI Abstract will learn the displayed article and spit out a collection of concise bullet factors, so you will get the important thing data with out having to learn the entire thing.

There’s an identical function built-in to the recorder app. You may file conferences, conversations or voice memos, and the AI will transcribe the audio and also can create a abstract. There’s additionally an AI writing assistant that may allow you to craft tweets, Instagram descriptions and emails – it’ll even auto-generate emojis and hashtags.

On the picture modifying facet of issues, AI instruments permit you to create generative AI illustrations primarily based in your photographs, clear up blurry faces in group selfies, erase undesirable objects and other people out of your photographs.

Quickly, you’ll additionally be capable to swap faces in group photographs, similar to Google Pixel’s Finest Take function. That final one is promised as a future software program replace, whereas a full AI chatbot is supposedly on the way in which, too.

Value & Availability

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional is accessible now within the UK and Europe with a retail worth of £499/€549.

On the time of writing, it solely appears to be accessible via Oppo’s web site with no contract offers, so in case you resolve to choose one up, our information to the most effective SIM-only offers or select one thing that you just just like the look of under.

There’s just one configuration accessible within the European market, providing 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

The Reno 12 Professional’s pricing places it in direct competitors with mid-range heavy hitters just like the Google Pixel 8a (from £499), OnePlus Nord 4 (from £429), Redmi Be aware 13 Professional+ (£449) and Poco F6 Professional (from £499.90). If you wish to see the way it compares, you possibly can learn our full information to the most effective mid-range telephones.

Must you purchase the Oppo Reno 12 Professional?

The Oppo Reno 12 Professional has been a delight to stay with. The display screen is superb, the design is exclusive and attention-grabbing, the software program is straightforward to make use of and the AI options are available in fairly helpful.

The cameras are good within the daylight, and I used to be significantly impressed with the selfie digicam. Nevertheless, in low mild and with fast-moving topics, they depart a little bit to be desired. The gaming efficiency is barely missing, too – it will get the job completed, however isn’t more likely to wow you.

Whether or not this cellphone is best for you all relies on your priorities. In the event you’re eager on AI-powered productiveness, it’s among the best choices in its worth bracket.

Nevertheless, in case you’re an avid photographer, the Pixel 8a typically delivers higher outcomes, and if gaming is a excessive precedence, I’d suggest trying on the Poco F6 Professional as an alternative.

Specs

• ColorOS 14.1, primarily based on Android 14
• 6.7-inch, 2412×1080, OLED, 120Hz
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Vitality
• 12GB RAM
• 512GB storage
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp fundamental sensor
  • 8Mp ultrawide
  • 50Mp 2x telephoto
  • 50Mp selfie digicam
  • As much as 4K @ 30fps rear video
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• MicroSD card slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
• Bluetooth 5.4
• 5000mAh battery
• 80W charging
• 161.5 x 74.8 x 7.4 mm
• IP65 licensed
• 181g
• Colors: Area Brown, Nebula Silver