Unlike its name might suggest, the Oppo Reno 2 falls between the original Reno and the Reno 10x Zoom.
Slightly confusing as it may be, the Reno 2 is crammed with multiple lenses and lots of camera smarts. Oh, it’s also got a bold screen, fast-charging and a pop-out front-facing camera.
But does this swanky new smartphone deserve a home in your pocket?
The Reno 2 really does have a striking design, not least the Ocean Blue model —which really does shimmer in the sunlight. That back isn’t just there to look pretty, either. It’s slathered in Gorilla Glass 6, making it both incredibly tough and ridiculously smooth.
A quick look at the front of the phone will reveal there’s no notch there, and on the back, the camera sensors fit absolutely flush to the back of the phone. There is a clever little ceramic dot on the back, dubbed the O-Dot. This raises the phone slightly off surfaces, protecting the precious camera lenses from getting scratched.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Oppo Reno 2 packs an under-the-screen class-leading fingerprint scanner. It works so well, we’re surprised why none of the competition has really embraced in-display tech like this.
Without a notch up top, the Reno 2 certainly makes the most of that gorgeous 6.5-inch AMOLED screen (that’s the best kind) with a whopping 2400 x 1080 resolution. While technically, there are a few smartphones that are slightly sharper you’d have to really look to see any sort of difference.
For gaming, reading and movies, it’s pretty much perfect. And that screen is both rich and bold, with deep blacks. And you can always further tweak your display settings if need be.
Down the bottom of the smartphone, you get the obligatory USB-C charging plug, as well as – shock, horror! – An honest to goodness 3.5mm headphone jack. That means audiophiles won’t need to upgrade to a fancy wireless pair of headphones to enjoy the built-in Dolby Atmos equalizer settings.
The Reno 2 boasts not one, not two, not three, not four but five cameras. At the rear, you get a 48MP, 8MP, 13MP and 2MP sensor, that all serve different purposes, and at the front that iconic 16MP shark-fin camera.
The main sensor is the big one, capable of snapping big impressive images, while the others help churn out 2x and 5x zoom shots, along with a wide-angle lens. You also get a front-facing camera that automatically slides out the top of the phone.
In daylight, there’s almost nothing better than the Reno 2 in the photographic department. The main sensor works with Oppo’s built-in imaging AI which will automatically recognise the scene, and optimise the details. There’s also a clever Night mode, which will take multiple shots at various exposures to bring out images you never thought possible in dimly-lit situations.
On the video front, you get up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p Full HD at 60fps. The stabilisation here is the real star, letting you capture some great images on the move.
Under the hood, you get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor, along with a generous 8GB of RAM. In practice, that means the Reno 2 can handle just about everything you throw at it, be it games, movies, music and multitasking.
You also get a whopping 4,000mAh battery that is good for an entire day’s worth of proper use (not just messaging and web browsing, we’re talking full-on gaming and video streaming). The Oppo also boasts fast-charging tech that will go from 0-100 percent in under 1.5-hours.
Ultimately, the Reno 2 is an eye-catching handset brimming with top-notch tech. The slide-out selfie camera, along with those four backwards-facing cameras take a decent shot no matter the situation, and there’s enough power under the hood to handle just about everything you can throw at it.
