Introduction
OPPO Reno10 is an interesting phone with many nice things to say. It is speedy, handles multitasking well, has nice stereo speakers, and the screen refreshes at 120 Hz. The cameras are amazing, too – for the price – and I have come to love ColorOS because it is functional and has many features to keep you busy for days. However, it does not have an IP rating, meaning there is a high chance that water can sneak in if you drop it in water or get rained on. However, I found some seals on the SIM card tray, which means there is some form of ingress protection for the Reno10, yet OPPO is not ready to discuss this. I guess that future releases will include this feature, bearing in mind that the competition has them already.
And in a nutshell, that is all the Reno10 is all about. However, I will not leave it here, so hang on for the next couple of paragraphs.
The Reno10 is built well.
I need to take you back to a few features that make the Reno10 a lovely smartphone from the design point of view. First, the display is curved this time – not excessively, but subtle enough to make the Reno10 feel more premium – for the price. The camera island has been redesigned, too, and it looks unique from anything in the market. Anyone can tell that you are rocking the Reno10 because of the camera, which is usually a good feeling.
While the headphone jack is gone now, both ends (top and bottom) look much cleaner. The bottom part houses one of the speakers, a SIM card slot for dual cards, and a Type-C charging port. The top part has some mics and an IR blaster (which is handy if you lose your TV remote). The second speaker also doubles up as the mouthpiece.
The display is clean, with a punched-in selfie snapper in the top middle. All the buttons are on the right-hand side. The back feels smooth and well crafted, and to keep it pristine, OPPO, as always, has included a silicon case so you don’t have to buy one.
These design choices make the Reno10 feel like any other high-end phone out there, although I am certain that future releases will be tuned with more subtle improvements to make them better. For now, I like what OPPO has done here, and these changes are perhaps what people like me actually wanted.
The screen is immersive.
This is not a surprise because OPPO has been thinning bezels on its phones in the recent past. The bezels are much cleaner and generally uniform, although more work can be done on the same.
Perhaps the most interesting feature about the display is that it refreshes at 120 Hz, meaning scrolling and overall interaction with content is fluid, or smooth – for lack of better words. It is also bright (800 nits), meaning you will not have any viewing issues in brightly lit areas, such as outdoors.
As mentioned, the screen is also curved, making the Reno10 appear thinner than it is (it is actually 8mm), which is a good thing in my books.
There is no Gorilla Glass or Victus protection here, but you get a factory plastic screen protector, which you should always keep on.
Oh, the screen also supports HDR10+.
Performance is more than enough.
Reno phones have never really been slow. In part, processors have improved greatly over the years, and even entry-level phones have no problem processing complex tasks, which was not the case a few years ago. Chip makers such as MediaTek have also upped their game and have processors that compete with Qualcomm’s. The Reno10, in this case, rocks the Dimensity 7050 (Dimensity chips are equipped with 5G radios). This is not the most powerful chipset from MTK, but it gets the job done. Tasks such as scrolling through the UI are a breeze, and snapping photos is quick unless you do so in night mode, for which the processing takes a second or two, but so do other phones.
You will never have any performance issues with the Reno10 because – let’s face it – it is a pricey device at around KES 55,000, and no one expects their smartphone to perform dismally at that price.
Camera
Well, in a line, they are above average, which means very good. See for yourself:
Battery performance
If a feature makes OPPO phones more attractive, it is their huge batteries and charging technology. SuperVOOC has been around for years and remains one of the quickest charging tech – but that is commonplace for devices made in China. Getting this phone full will take under 50 minutes with the included 67W charging brick (no, it ships with a charger, unlike other manufacturers). This is a big enough feature to make some people buy the phone. Also, the cell is big at 5000 mAh, and in my testing, it can last for the whole day with mixed usage. It can then go further if you activate power-saving features, but you don’t need to unless you are traveling or in a place with no power/power socket. What’s to love here?
Things that could be improved
While the display refreshes at 120 Hz, it showcases some choppiness. I am not sure what’s the reason for the case, but similarly priced phones from rival companies have ‘smoother’ 120 Hz screens. Similarly, a more popular screen protection technology, preferably from the Gorilla team, will be appreciated.
Secondly, the dual speakers need some sprucing up. They are stereo speakers but don’t have the punch in terms of bass. We hope this will be addressed next time.
ColorOS 13.1 also needs some improvements. My point here is that you can’t tell the difference between an OPPO that costs KES 20,000 and one that goes for KES 70,000 (OPPO Reno10 Pro) in terms of software, and features. The interface is also becoming a bit stale, and we hope some changes will be made here.
Verdict
Circling back to the introduction, the Reno10 does everything right. From an objective point of view, there is nothing wrong with it. The design is attractive, the display looks gorgeous, charging speeds are rapid, and the camera snaps great photos. It only needs to fix the tiny issues mentioned above, and only then will I say it is nearing perfection.
