The OPPO Reno2 is OPPO’s update to the Reno series which came out earlier this year. And it’s pretty much outdated, considering the fact that OPPO have already released the Reno3 lineup. While it isn’t indicative of the Reno2 itself, it sure does speak to the way OPPO thinks about innovation, or rather, the longevity of their devices. But let’s skip all that, and get to how the Reno2 performs, so sit back, relax, and let’s get to the review of OPPO’s Reno2!
Design & Aesthetics
In terms of design, it’s more or less similar to what the original Reno and Reno 10x Zoom looked like, including the ‘shark-fin’ pop up camera. It isn’t the greatest looking in the world, but it is most certainly unique. Besides that, my variant of the Reno2 came in Ocean Blue, which admittedly, looks pretty snazzy. My only complaint really was the fact that the phone looked too similar to the Reno, and Reno 10x Zoom. There really isn’t much differentiating the Reno2 from the rest, and that kind of puts a damper in the review. Well then again, the colour scheme looks pretty much similar to every smartphone out there. And that makes it less so appealing.
But besides that, it comes with a 6.5″ AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 6, making it quite resistant to scratches/breaking. It comes in at 160 x 74.3 x 9.5 mm dimensions, and weighs 189g, so it’s not that hefty, but is definitely a noticeable form factor. The back is also very slippery, so we highly advise you get a case to go with the phone. But external aesthetics and design isn’t the only thing we look at, as the Reno2 comes packaged with OPPO’s ColorOS 6.1 based on Android 9. And internally, I just can’t like the phone at all.
The icons as well as quick settings icons don’t feel that fleshed out to me. It honestly, just feels cheap and makes the phone a harder sell. While OS doesn’t really matter to many people out there, I just couldn’t with the ColorOS Android skin. It just made the device a worse phone to use.
Performance
While I was bashing the phone on the basis of similarities to previous Reno series phones, and the OS, it performed well. There was nothing I could really distinguish between its performance and that of other smartphone in this price segment. The Reno2 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 (SDM7150) chip, so it’s not the best out there. But to counteract this, they packed in quite a bit of RAM, as the Reno2 comes with 8GB of RAM to make the device snappy, and operate smoothly.
In terms of battery, the Reno2 comes with a 4000mAh battery, which really gives the phone an overall more appealing package. It’s actually quite a great battery, and gave us a solid day of usage with music, video streaming, messaging, and emails. At this point, if the phone can get me through the day without me having to worry about it, it’s good enough. They do claim that the phone is capable of 8 hours of continuous gaming or 13 hours of continuous video playback, but I’m calling bullsh*t on that one. I don’t think any device right now can do that, without any caveats that is.
Cameras
Now comes the main attraction of the OPPO Reno2, the cameras. On the back, the Reno2 comes with a quad camera setup, which has a 48MP main shooter, 13MP telephoto lens, 8MP Ultra Wide angle lens and a 2MP Mono lens. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t have the 10x zoom that the very aptly named Reno 10x Zoom has. Instead, it comes with a 5x hybrid zoom, but honestly, it was good enough. If you think about it rationally, how often are you zooming into things anyway? You have to consider the more practical aspects of phones, and not be wowed by the flashy words companies are using to sell you their product.
But anyway, photo quality from the Reno2 was great. Pictures were sharp, colours were accurate and not at all washed out or blown out of proportions. It can lag a bit when you’re switching camera modes, but overall, it shouldn’t hinder you too much in getting the perfect shot. It does its job, and well.
On the front of the device, you’ve got the now iconic Reno series pop shark-fin camera. I don’t think they actually call it that, but that’s what it looks like to me. The camera placement gives the phone the ability to have a full screen with no notch. And that’s a big plus for the Reno2. The front facing camera is a 16MP shooter, and it does what it has to. Take selfies. The pictures are pretty good quality, nothing to complain about, but the beautifying features are a bit off putting but luckily, you can edit those features out.
Final Thoughts
The OPPO Reno2 is a solid performer and overall deal when you take into consideration what it brings to the table. The only thing you might not like about it, is it’s similarities to past Reno devices, and basically any other device. The one thing making the phone unique is the fact that the selfie camera pops out in a different way. But other than that, the specs are on par with other smartphones out there. But the display, speed, and cameras are great on this phone, don’t get me wrong. It just doesn’t differentiate itself among the rest as much as it should’ve. But maybe we’ve reached a point where all smartphones are basically the same thing, just differently branded.
