Oppo Reno 10x Zoom Review

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom is the luxury version of the normal Oppo Reno. The device not only has faster hardware but also comes with extensive camera options. The Chinese manufacturer also wants to slowly conquer Europe with the release of the Reno series, just like Huawei did a few years ago. How do you like Oppo's latest flagship? We tell you in this review of the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom.

Oppo Reno 10x Zoom Main Features

The Oppo Reno has an AMOLED screen of 6.6 inches in a resolution of 2,340 x 1,080 pixels. The device is equipped with a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 8 GB working memory and 256 GB storage memory. The battery has a capacity of 4,065 mAh. The device has three cameras on the back. The main camera ( Sony IMX586 ) of 48 megapixels, an ultra-wide-angle lens of 8-megapixel and a telephoto lens of 13-megapixel. The selfie camera of 16-megapixels can be found in the 'shark fin'. Through a push of a button, an oblique pop-up camera appears at the top. The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom is available for 799 euros.

Design

The design was a big plus for the normal Oppo Reno. It is therefore good news that the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom has the same design. No notches, holes in the display or large screen edges. The front of this device consists almost entirely of the display. The screen-to-body ratio is therefore 93.1 percent. The front camera comes up at the top from the housing. Oppo does this differently than its competitors because the pop-up camera comes up obliquely here and is therefore also called 'shark fin'. The pop-up camera also has fall protection, because as soon as you accidentally drop the device, the camera quickly collapses.

The O-dot can also be found on the 10x Zoom edition of this device. This is a small ceramic ring on the back of the device and protrudes somewhat. This protects the cameras, which are completely concealed in the housing, and also ensures that the device stays on your desk better. The glass back is, therefore, a feast for the eyes without further protruding parts. It is one smooth and glossy surface, with the colors Jet Black and Ocean Green showing different colors black and green, depending on how the light shines on the device.

We can also see that we are dealing with a high-quality design from the packaging and the many extras that you will receive immediately. For example, a screen protector is already glued to the display as standard and you get a luxury case included. You also get a 20W fast charger and pretty good earbuds with the same color tones as the smartphone included. The only drawback to the design is that the device is just a bit bigger than the normal version. With a weight of 215 grams, the device can be called quite heavy, so that operation with one hand will cause fatigue over time.

Display

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom has a large 6.6-inch AMOLED screen. The resolution is 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, which counts to 387 pixels per inch. That is the low side compared to other devices in this flagships. For such a large 6.6-inch display, the resolution is just a bit too low. That does not mean that the AMOLED screen is bad. If you hold the phone at a normal distance from your eyes, you will certainly not be able to count the pixels. You can see from close up that it is slightly less sharp than you might expect. The quality of the images shown is good but does not match the display of the flagships of Huawei or Samsung. The AMOLED screen ensures bright colors and because you have no notch or screen edges.

Connectivity

All modern connectivity options are available. Wifi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC, and USB-C. Also known sensors such as a speedometer, gyroscope and light sensor can be found on the device. Below the screen, we find a fingerprint sensor and this is one of the fastest in-display fingerprint scanners on the market today. A 3.5mm headphone jack is missing but can be solved with an adapter so that you can still use your normal earbuds. There is also room for a micro SD card to increase the storage memory.

Speakers

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom has two speakers on board. In addition to the normal speaker at the bottom of the device, the ear speaker can also serve as a speaker. This is incorporated in the pop-up camera. This way you get sound from two sides. The disadvantage is that the ear speaker in terms of quality is much less good compared to the lower speaker. This way you get little crooked proportions. The sound that comes out of the lower speaker is reasonable but is not an outlier. However, the sound from the ear speaker is not good and sounds tinny. That's no problem for me because I don't use a smartphone to listen to music from the speakers of a device. If you think speakers on a smartphone are important, then this is something to be reckoned with.

While calling, the pop-up camera with the ear speaker is simply in the device, but that does not matter for the quality. Telephone conversations may not be as clear as with comparable devices, but your conversation partner will always be heard clearly.

Cameras

Of course, the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom is all about the cameras. The 10x Zoom option is finally reflected in the name of this smartphone. Oppo is fully committed to the camera capabilities of this device. The shark fin on the front has a camera of sixteen megapixels. On the back, we find three cameras. For example, there is the main camera of 48 megapixels. This is the Sony IMX586 sensor (f / 1.7) that we also find in devices such as the Honor View 20, Xiaomi Mi 9, Asus ZenFone 6 and the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro. An excellent bright camera that conjures up good images on the screen. You can shoot photos in 48 megapixels, but you can also have four pixels combined into one sharp photograph of twelve megapixels. It is not without reason that this camera sensor is often chosen at the moment, but it also depends on the software how the hardware is used as optimally as possible. And Oppo has achieved that quite well with this sensor.

Also, an ultra-wide-angle lens of 8-megapixels (f / 2.2) is present. This camera has a bit more trouble with low-light situations. The photos in daylight are fine, but eight megapixels is just not enough for really beautiful photos. The high point in terms of cameras is the telephoto lens of t13-megapixels (f / 3.0). This allows you to zoom in up to 5x optically without quality loss, up to 10x hybrid zooming with a mix of optical and digital and ultimately up to no less than 60x digital zooming. It is a strange choice that the Oppo camera app skips the 5x zoom. The automatic steps go from an ultra-wide-angle, 1x, 2x, 6x to 10x zoom. And that while optical zooming is 5x zoom. Fortunately, you can adjust this yourself via a slider in the camera app. You can even zoom in completely up to 60x zoom.

What are the photos of the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom? Generally, you shoot pretty nice photos with this device. The problem with the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom, however, is that there is also a Huawei P30 Pro exists. Although that device sometimes goes a bit too far with the help of artificial intelligence, which makes photos look unnatural, the quality of those cameras is generally slightly better than that on the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom. The photo quality is certainly not bad, on the contrary, this device is together with the Huawei P30 Pro equipped with the most versatile camera options of the moment. Where the photos on the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom in daylight may look just a little more natural, the device puts it just behind the Huawei device in low-light situations, the ultra-wide-angle lens, and the telephoto lens. However, we compare the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom with the OnePlus 7 Pro, then the Oppo device comes out as the winner in the area of ​​cameras. However, that device has a much better display. The cameras of the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom are very good, but not the best that is available on the market today.

Incidentally, the pop-up camera on the Reno 10x Zoom has the same problems as on the regular version. Here you will soon find dust and dirt along the edges. It also ensures that this device is not waterproof. The pop-up camera takes decent photos, with the supporting AI sometimes pulling the face just a little too tightly. You can make a video on the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom in 4k. Images are generally good, but the stabilization leaves something to be desired. The quality with moving images in 4k is therefore just short of.

Battery life

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom has a battery with a capacity of 4,065 mAh. And with daily use, this is an excellent battery that you not only spend the day with ease but can also survive the second day without recharging. The device has Oppo's VOOC fast charging technology. This allows you to fully charge the device in about an hour and a half. Oppo also has Super VOOC technology, which we encountered earlier on the Find X and the RX 17 Pro. This allows you to fully charge these devices in approximately 45 minutes. However, this super-fast loading technology is missing on the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom. You will receive a 20W fast charger and will, therefore, have to wait a little longer before your device is fully charged again than with previous Oppo devices.

Oppo Reno 10x Zoom software

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom runs on Android 9.0 Pie with Oppo's software ColorOS 6.0. Earlier versions of ColorOS were very focused on the Chinese market and many people thought it was one of the least fine software of Android. However, ColorOS 6.0 does a lot of good. The name says it all. ColorOS brings a lot of colors. The quick settings menu has large icons and the entire 'feel' of ColorOS is more reminiscent of Apple's iOS than of Android.

Yet ColorOS 6.0 is not that bad at all. You can set many things yourself with this latest version of the software, such as an app drawer. Annoying is that there are some pre-installed apps on it such as Facebook, Yandex, and Aquamail. Fortunately, you can simply delete this. However, ColorOS 6.0 is fast and I have not encountered delays. The menu for the settings is well-arranged and functions are easy to find. It is a matter of taste whether you will like ColorOS 6.0 because it is different from the software of Samsung or Huawei. It is no longer disturbing with this latest version, although there are still some flaws in the field of translation to be found in a few deeper menus.

Oppo and software always remain a thing. The earlier devices from the Chinese manufacturer failed in the field of software. You had to wait a long time for the latest Android version and the security updates sometimes took a long time. Oppo did not clarify the updated policy for the Reno series and so we had to wait and see how often and when the updates would appear. However, to date users have nothing to complain about. Up to now, Oppo has faithfully released the latest security updates for the device every month, while the ColorOS 6.0 software is also regularly updated. Hopefully, Oppo will continue this approach in the coming months.

Oppo Reno - in use

The most important thing about a smartphone is, of course, its use. How do you like the smartphone during your daily activities? I used the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom as a daily phone for a few weeks. And for the most part, that was excellent. The device looks great and is super fast thanks to the hardware. The display is fine, but not the best in this price category. The angled pop-up camera gives the device a unique appearance.

After a few days of getting used to it, I did not experience ColorOS 6.0 as a major problem. Until now, the device receives the latest updates every month and the software over Android 9.0 Pie works quite intuitively. The weight of the device is a small problem. The weight of 215 grams seems little, but partly due to the large dimensions, your hand will get tired over time. Unlocking works super fast with the fingerprint sensor in the display and is possibly the fastest in-display fingerprint sensor of the moment.

The versatile camera options make this device a real camera monster. The cameras conjure up natural colors on the screen and perform well in daylight. During night photography, this device makes it to the Huawei P30 Pro and it is also unfortunate that the ultra-wide-angle lens has only eight megapixels. 60x digital zoom seems nice but delivers one large pixel slurry, just like the Huawei P30 Pro also had with 50x digital zoom. However, the performance is generally good at 10x zoom.

Huawei P30 Pro and the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom

The problem with this device is the price. In China, the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom costs around 500 euros and in India around 530 euros, while the Huawei P30 Pro is many times more expensive there. In Europe, you buy the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom and the Huawei P30 Pro for about the same amount, namely 799 euros. If you then buy a smartphone in particular for the camera performance, why would you choose a smartphone with a lower camera performance for the same amount? With a price of 599 euros, the device would do better, because then you take the slightly lesser camera performance for granted compared to a better alternative that is a few hundred euros more expensive.
Performance

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom uses the latest hardware and it shows. The device is incredibly fast with more than enough RAM and large storage options of 256 GB. Whatever you let this device do, from playing the latest games to watching your favorite series, you won't encounter any kind of delay. The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom is a super-fast device that can handle all tasks with ease.

Oppo Reno 10x Zoom - Conclusion

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom does many things well. The device looks fantastic, has fast specifications, great battery life and a full screen without holes or notch. Oppo puts the device on the market as a real camera monster, we can see that in the 10x Zoom in the name of this device. It is, therefore, a shame that the display is slightly less than that of the direct competitors and in terms of cameras, the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom has to beat the net against the Huawei P30 Pro. Because of this, the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom has been put on the market just a little too expensive, but the fact remains that it is a very good and versatile device.

If you do not buy a smartphone because of the best camera performance, then with the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom you have a super fast and beautiful smartphone that you will enjoy in the coming years. With the Reno 10x Zoom, Oppo delivers a great device to conquer the Western market and is, in our opinion, a keeper in Europe.

Negatives

• High price
• Not waterproof
• The display is not a hit
• Angled pop-up camera attracts dust
• The device is quite heavy

Pros

• Unique design
• Very fast hardware
• Versatile cameras
• Lots of storage memory as standard
• Complete package with case, earbuds and screen protector