The Oppo Reno 10 5G is a mid-range flagship that offers a zoom camera lens and lightning-fast charging, making it an intriguing option. However, the question is whether it’s a worthwhile investment when compared to competitors like the Pixel 7a or Samsung Galaxy A54. In this Oppo Reno 10 5G review, we’ll delve into its design, display quality, gaming performance, battery life, and camera capabilities to help you make an informed decision.
What’s in the box?
Inside the box, you will find the Oppo Reno 10 5G smartphone itself. Alongside it, you’ll discover a sturdy 67-Watt SuperVOOC charger, which ensures rapid charging capabilities. There is also a Type-C USB cable included for charging and data transfer purposes. Additionally, you’ll find some user manuals and warranty documents to help you get started and ensure the device’s warranty coverage.
However, it’s important to note that the package does not include a protective case. If you’re concerned about safeguarding your Reno 10 from potential damage, you may want to consider purchasing a protective case separately. This will help protect your device and keep it in top condition.
Read Also: Samsung Galaxy A14 5G Review
Oppo Reno 10 Design and Build Quality
Having used the Reno 10 as my daily driver for a few days now, I’m happy to report that it’s still in one piece, which is a promising start. Considering its mid-range mobile, this smartphone boasts an impressively sleek design. It could easily be mistaken for a flagship device, featuring an eye-catching curved design both on the back and front. The display elegantly tapers off at the edges, giving it a premium feel. The curved finish not only looks good but also feels comfortable to hold, and it’s remarkably lightweight at just 185 grams.
The Oppo Reno 10 provides a choice of two colors: ice blue or silvery gray. Personally, I appreciate Oppo’s straightforward naming approach, avoiding flashy or gimmicky titles. The silvery gray model I have is quite appealing. While the frame is made of plastic, it boasts a shiny metallic appearance and maintains a slim profile. The camera bump on the back doesn’t protrude significantly, ensuring it doesn’t add much bulk. However, there’s still a slight wobble when the phone is placed flat on a desk.
The back of the phone is constructed from glass with a frosted matte finish, which prevents it from accumulating fingerprints and smudges even with regular handling. I haven’t had to wipe it down frequently. The front is protected by a pre-installed Gorilla Glass screen protector, offering peace of mind against scratches. Unfortunately, the Oppo Reno 10 5G doesn’t come with an official IP rating, so it’s not recommended to expose it to excessive moisture or water.
ColorOS 13 and Features
Transitioning to the software aspect, it’s no surprise that the Reno 10 runs on Android 13 with ColorOS layered on top. My experience with ColorOS 13 has been relatively smooth, as it doesn’t interfere too extensively with the stock Android experience. You’ll find familiar elements like the apps tray and the notifications drawer that can be pulled down.
Additionally, ColorOS introduces some extra features, including the Shelf, which essentially offers a page filled with widgets. Gesture support is robust, offering standard features like one-handed mode, along with some useful extras such as the ability to pull down all your desktop icons. This feature can be particularly handy if you have a cluttered home screen.
On the Oppo Reno 10, ColorOS also excels in terms of customization, offering various options for always-on displays, including quirky choices like the sad penguin and polar bear. The edge light notification feature is a sleek addition, adding a touch of flair to your notifications.
It’s worth noting that waking up the Reno 10 5G by pressing the power button may take a couple of seconds, but the face unlock feature provides a speedy alternative for unlocking the device. The optical in-display fingerprint sensor is generally reliable, as long as your fingers aren’t excessively wet or dry.
One standout feature of the Reno 10 is its ample storage capacity, boasting 256GB, which is quite generous, especially when compared to base models of competitors like the Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14 series, which typically start at 128GB. Additionally, you can expand the Reno 10’s storage using microSD memory cards, and this expandability is a boon for those who engage in heavy downloading or frequently capture photos and videos, providing ample room for all your digital needs.
Oppo Reno 10 Display Picture Quality
Much like its predecessor, the Reno 9, the Oppo Reno 10 boasts a splendid 6.7-inch AMOLED display that’s a real treat for the eyes. The Reno 10 features a full HD Plus panel with HDR 10+ support, making it ideal for streaming platforms like Netflix. The display delivers crisp contrast and beautifully natural-looking visuals. Colors pop with vibrancy, especially when enjoying animated content. The small selfie camera cutout near the top of the screen doesn’t significantly intrude on the viewing experience.
In terms of brightness, the Reno 10 can reach around 500 nits, ensuring it remains perfectly usable even when used outdoors in sunny conditions. Additionally, the display has the ability to automatically switch between 60Hz and 120Hz refresh rates for supported content, providing a smooth and fluid viewing experience. It’s worth noting that ColorOS may occasionally slow down the system a bit, but this doesn’t seem to affect responsiveness. Despite the curved screen, the Reno 10 5G offers a comfortable grip, allowing for smooth scrolling and swiping without any issues.
Speaker Audio Quality
The Oppo Reno 10 features a stereo speaker setup that delivers a satisfying audio experience. While the clarity at maximum volume may not be impeccable, it’s undeniably loud, ensuring you can hear content clearly even in noisy environments. What’s particularly noteworthy is that the audio output is well-balanced, avoiding a heavy bias towards the bottom speaker often seen in some stereo speaker setups. This balanced audio contributes to an overall enjoyable sound experience on the Reno 10.
Oppo Reno 10 Performance and Gaming Test
Unlike its predecessor, the Reno 9, which relied on the dependable Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chipset, Oppo has chosen to go with MediaTek for the Reno 10. Inside, you’ll find the Dimensity 7050 chipset, paired with eight gigabytes of RAM. In my experience over the past few days, the Reno 10 5G has generally been well-behaved, although there have been a couple of quirks.
The Reno 10 occasionally takes a few seconds to wake up, and there was one instance where I urgently needed to use the camera, but it seemed to take several taps to open the camera app. Once opened, tapping the shutter button didn’t respond as swiftly as I’d hoped, which can be frustrating in those critical moments. These performance hiccups, while not frequent, are worth noting when considering the device’s overall performance.
For gamers, the Reno 10 offers reliable performance, capable of handling any game title from the Play Store. The device includes dedicated gaming tools that can be accessed mid-game, allowing you to block notifications, adjust screen sensitivity, and even capture gameplay for sharing.
Demanding titles like Genshin Impact run smoothly on lower graphics settings, but if you opt for higher visual quality, you’ll need to utilize the performance booster and toolbar within the game. Even then, don’t expect an entirely smooth experience, but it remains playable. It’s worth noting that the Reno 10 may heat up a bit during extended gaming sessions, though this doesn’t seem to significantly impact performance, at least in my testing. Overall, it provides a decent gaming experience for mobile gamers.
Oppo Reno 10 Battery Life
Oppo has managed to fit a substantial 5,000 milliampere-hour battery into the sleek chassis of the Reno 10, and the battery life is nothing short of exceptional. You can expect a full day’s worth of use on a single charge, from dawn until dusk, even with significant screen-on time. As a rather heavy smartphone user, often spending five to six hours a day on my device, I still found that I could only bring the battery down to around 35% to 40% on a particularly intensive day, involving lots of camera use, video streaming, and background podcast streaming. This means that with more conservative use, you could comfortably stretch the battery to last for two days between charges.
Even if you find yourself running low on battery, there’s no need to worry, thanks to the inclusion of the 67-watt SuperVOOC fast charging. Plug it in for just a few minutes, and you’ll witness a significant boost in the battery level. However, it’s important to note that the Reno 10 does not support wireless charging, which is still a relatively uncommon feature in this price range.
Oppo Reno 10 Camera Test
The Oppo Reno 10 features a triple-lens configuration on the rear, and interestingly, none of these lenses are wasted on a subpar macro or depth sensor. The primary shooter boasts a 64-megapixel sensor with pixel binning capabilities, allowing you to capture at the full 64-megapixel resolution if desired.
In favorable lighting conditions, the primary camera delivers sharp, detailed photos with vibrant colors. However, when you transition indoors, you may notice an increase in graininess, reduced color vibrancy, and potential blurriness with any movement. Low-light situations can also pose challenges, but the built-in night mode helps brighten up shots, making subjects more discernible. Overall, the camera performance is solid, especially in good lighting conditions.
The second lens on the Oppo Reno 10 is a 32-megapixel portrait shooter equipped with a two-times optical zoom, allowing you to get closer to your subject without physically invading their personal space. This lens achieves the classic bokeh effect by blurring the background. If the two-times zoom feels excessive, you can switch back to the primary shooter. Like the main camera, the portrait shooter excels in well-lit outdoor settings, but indoor shots may appear somewhat flat with increased grain.
The third lens is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle shooter, perfect for fitting more into your frame. It’s a reliable addition for expanding your photography horizons and capturing wider scenes. This trio of lenses offers versatility for various photography scenarios, from portraits to landscapes, giving you options to get creative with your shots.
The Reno 10 offers a variety of additional camera modes, including a Pro mode for those who want to tinker with settings like ISO, shutter speed, and white balance. It can also record video in up to 4K resolution, with the option to switch to the portrait lens for closer shots without disturbing your subject. Video quality is decent, with acceptable stabilization even when utilizing the zoom lens.
On the front, there’s a 32-megapixel selfie camera that performs similarly to the rear camera. It works well in favorable lighting conditions and can capture portrait mode shots to achieve that desirable background blur effect. The selfie camera is suitable for video chatting applications like Skype and Zoom, with clear audio pickup. For vloggers and content creators, the front camera can record videos in up to full HD resolution, providing a reliable option for creating content on the go.
Final Thought
So the Oppo Reno 10 5G may not represent a massive leap from its predecessors, but it offers a sleek design, exceptional battery life, and a few Color OS software quirks. While it may not match the performance of some other mid-range phones and lacks wireless charging, it shines with its two-times optical zoom lens, perfect for capturing distant subjects without intruding on the action. However, its camera performance in indoor and low-light conditions falls short of excellence, with the Pixel 7a outperforming in these scenarios.
The Oppo Reno 10 5G may not represent a massive leap from its predecessors, but it offers a sleek design, exceptional battery life, and a few Color OS software quirks. While it may not match the performance of some other mid-range phones and lacks wireless charging.
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Design9
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Software8
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Display8.5
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Audio7.5
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Performance8.5
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Battery Life8.5
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Camera7.5
