Oppo Reno 6 Pro comes with a sandstone-like finish at the back.
Oppo Reno series has always been targeted towards people looking for value for money not only from the hardware inside but also from the design and build quality. Like the earlier Reno series phones, Oppo has given their newest Reno 6 Pro the same treatment of great hardware combined with a lightweight body and premium materials.
But, at Rs. 39,999, is the Oppo Reno 6 Pro a great deal or a bust? Let’s find out.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro Review: Specifications
Oppo Reno 6 Pro sports a 6.5-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 20:9 and a refresh rate of 90Hz. It is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 processor paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. The storage is non-expandable. It runs on Android 11 based ColorOS 11.3 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 4,500mAh battery.
On the optics front, the Reno 6 Pro features a quad rear camera setup including a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro sensor and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor. Upfront, there is a 32-megapixel selfie snapper.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro Review: Design and Display
Oppo Reno 6 Pro packs a rather simple design, but an interesting look. The design of the Oppo Reno 6 Pro feels in line with the other smartphones with a rectangle camera bump on the top left, a 6.5-inch edge to edge display with a display cutout on the top left and many other similarities. The main eye-catcher is the look of the smartphone, more importantly, the back panel. Oppo calls it their Reno Glow patented technology. It is a shimmering looking, not rough nor smooth feeling back panel. It looks like the sandstone finish but feels like really smooth sandstone. Especially on our Stellar Black review unit, the light touching the smartphone at an angle makes the smartphone shimmer a bit. The look is certainly an eye turner.
As for the placements, the Reno 6 Pro sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge surrounded by the dual sim card tray, speaker grille and the primary microphone. The right edge houses the power button which is not textured but has a small green strip of paint, which stands out. On the left edge, there are volume buttons. The top edge of the phone is mostly left clean with the exception of the secondary microphone. Also, all the edges are curved on the side a bit like most modern smartphones, however, the top edge is flattened. Only one flattened edge is certainly a design choice.
Just like most premium smartphones these days, this one also lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.5-inch Fluid AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 90Hz and HDR 10+ support. This display makes a great option for your on the go binge-watching. The addition of a 90Hz refresh rate means the display feels super smooth, may it be gaming or scrolling Instagram. Overall, the display is good for the segment, however, a 120Hz panel would be a cherry on the top.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro Review: Performance, Software and UI
Oppo Reno 6 Pro is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 processor paired with 12GB of RAM. The company has a RAM boost technology, which they claim can add extra ram by occupying some storage to work as a RAM. The concept is not new, however, this might be the first time seen on a phone. The added 5G capability is a plus which would be helpful when 5G starts to roll out completely. During the review period, the combination of gaming, internet browsing and music playback didn’t cause the phone to sweat even a bit. The 12GB of RAM without any RAM boost worked perfectly, so we weren’t able to figure out how useful that additional RAM would be.
The 90Hz refresh rate is a good to have feature.
The Reno 6 Pro runs on Android 11 based ColorOS 11.3 out of the box. The user interface feels super smooth. It does bring in a host of features including a system-wide dark mode, an always-on display, accent colour customization and much more. The company has worked hard on making the software more subtle and a ton of more customization to help you make the device your own. One thing I didn't like about the OS was the amount of bloatware and the notifications shown by those said bloatware. Almost all except the Oppo bloatware apps could be removed.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro Review: Cameras
There is a quad-camera setup at the back.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro sports a quad-camera setup at the back. The setup comprises a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel macro sensor and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor. The 2-megapixel monochrome sensor and the 2-megapixel macro sensor feels like quite a waste on otherwise good specced camera modules. I would prefer to remove those 2 modules, and maybe add a 120Hz display, but that’s just me.
The camera app is straightforward and offers a good amount of features. The smartphone does not auto switch to macro mode when you come in real close instead says to move further away. After you manually switch to the macro sensor, the 2-megapixel macro sensor provides images that are unusable.
During our tests, the Reno 6 Pro managed to click some decent shots. Under good lighting conditions, the phone managed to lock focus quickly offering nice saturation with good contrast but a bit boosted colours. The details are great. The wide-angle lens is also good, however, the lack of details in wide-angle compared to the normal sensor can be seen. During low light conditions, usage of a wide-angle lens is not advisable as it makes the images look more milky and grainy. With a normal sensor in low light using the nightscape mode, the photos turn out to be good, although a little movement of the hand will blur the images.
On the front camera, even after turning all beauty mode to zero and filters to natural, you can still see the still smoothening and still tone enhancement in play. Facial details are lost due to skin smoothing. Rest is good.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro Review: Battery
The battery of 4500mAh is not really that impressive nowadays. However, what’s impressive is the 65W charging capability. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got me around a day and a half of usage. I am sure the battery life will take a hit when 5G becomes available in India and we start using it.
With companies skimping on fast charging and removing chargers from the box, I am happy to see that the Oppo Reno 6 Pro comes with a charger in the box. The Oppo Reno 6 Pro takes around 30 minutes to charge from zero to a hundred which is pretty good especially if you are someone who is almost always on the move.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro Review: Verdict
It features a punch-hole selfie camera.
Oppo Reno 6 Pro costs Rs. 39,999 for the 12GB RAM 256GB storage variant. With that price and spec sheet, it feels like a direct competition to the OnePlus 9R. However, looking at the phone in the present smartphone market, you have got a great looking handset with lightweight construction, ample performance for the money, great battery and charging capabilities and much more. Oppo did make compromises to keep the price down, like no IP-rating and wireless charging.
Overall, the smartphone is not the best when it comes to performance per rupee, but when the great looks, the lightweight design and the crazy fast charging comes into the play, the Oppo Reno 6 Pro is the perfect affordable premium smartphone and you will not be upset with it.
