Oppo Reno10 5G review: Playing it safe

I have been using the Oppo Reno10 5G for nearly 2 months now. That’s a long enough time to know the device like the back of my hand – or so I believe. It is also long enough to be able to use it and put it side by side with some competing devices I have also been using during that time and reviewing.

Right off the bat, the Reno10 5G feels like what I’d describe as a “safe smartphone release”. You see, over the last few months, we have seen the brand go from the Reno8 5G to the Reno8 T 5G to this device. In that grand scheme of things, the Reno10 5G feels like what you’d expect as a natural progression from the Reno8 series. On that front, especially with regard to where we last left off with that series with its T model, it polishes up most of the defects (like the misgivings I had with the Reno8 T 5G’s camera which was “just there”).

Its design profile has barely changed from the T model with the same nice curve adorning the display, a small cutout for the selfie camera still existing at the top and rounded corners making it easy to handle at any time, case or no case. What’s different, however is the camera bump at the back. It’s a different design and unlike anything we have seen from the brand in recent devices. It is, perhaps, the most radical difference between the Reno10 series and its predecessors.

The display is nice, smooth (its a 120Hz panel, after all), crisp and clear. There’s not much in the way of vibrancy that you would associate with an AMOLED panel like this one and you do need to have the Video Colour Boost feature turned on in the settings for a little pop in the videos. Other than that, the most you’ll get to enjoy it is with the deeper blacks. Especially on wallpapers.

The back camera is a definite upgrade from our experience using the Reno8 T 5G in terms of the dynamic range but, in low light conditions, the images become softer and less to your liking very fast. It is in sufficient lighting that they really pop. The one camera that impresses 9 out of 10 times is the selfie camera. It does its job very well. Being labelled the “Portrait Expert” by its maker means that the device is expected to have a better portrait experience out of the box and, in this case, it really does. Save for the occasional missed hair here and there when it struggles to make you out when your background is very bright.

Performance-wise, the Oppo Reno10 5G is no slouch. It handles everything better. Facial recognition and the under-display fingerprint sensor are fast. The automatic recognition of resource-intensive activities like games means that the device gives you the extra boost you need to blur any hint of sluggishness you’d probably encounter elsewhere and, given that I have been far too eager to use it on 5G networks, it is surprisingly able to meet all my expectations with no fuss.

All of that is a great combination of adequate system resources. From a capable Dimensity 7050 chipset from MediaTek to drive the 5G agenda as well as everything else about the device to the adequate 256GB fast-write storage and the 8GB RAM to the very well-optimized software.

Talking about the software, ColorOS, as has always been our case, is such a pleasurable experience. Sure, you get a bunch of pre-installed apps like Bolt, Netflix and even, surprise, the Phoenix browser app (which we associate with the Transsion Group, an Oppo competitor) but they don’t stand in the way of the overall experience, anyway. And, where they are a bother, you can just get rid of them.

My favourite part of the software has something to do with a hardware component: the infrared (IR) blaster located on the top of the device. Oppo has included a very nice app that is simple to use that allows users of the Reno10 5G to take advantage of the IR blaster. This was a surprising and pleasant addition to the device that we really hope Oppo can keep around for a while. We have variably seen the feature pop up and disappear from Android smartphones over the years. One time with Samsung. A couple of times with Huawei and, a lot more regularly with Xiaomi. Oppo has now joined the fray.

Of course, is it really an Oppo review if we don’t talk about SuperVOOC fast charging? Oppo still includes complete chargers in the box as we saw in the unboxing of this device and for a very obvious reason: so that you can take full advantage of that 67W fast charging. That takes the device from a flat 0% to about a third of the juice in just 10 minutes. An included battery health engine, Oppo says, guarantees that the battery will hold up its end of the bargain for at least 4 years. Impressive.

A dual stereo speaker setup ensures that the device stays in touch with the overall industry trends, as we can see from its competitors while making up for one of the better “other” features on the device.

The lowdown

The Oppo Reno10 5G is the smartphone equivalent of a “safe pair of hands”. At just 185 grams, it is very light, at just 8mm, it is also keeping the slim profile of its predecessors thereby making for a comfortable overall design, easy handling and, when factoring in the colour options, something that is easy on the eye. For today’s smartphone buyer where aesthetics are almost everything, it nails it without showing off much. Look at other aspects like the performance and the overall software experience and you have what you’d call a keeper.

The big question, however, is whether all of that is just enough to ward off the competition which is ferociously knocking on its doors. Can it keep up?