Oppo Reno11 F 5G review: More for (relatively) less

F for fun?

To be honest, I don’t know but, it’s been a fun device to have and to use.

You see, it’s very easy to misplace the Oppo Reno11 F from Oppo’s Reno11 lineup. The device, after all, comes after we have seen the standard Reno11 and the Reno11 Pro, superior devices to it with the Pro being the cherry on top of the line.

So, why does it exist if we’ve already had two other Reno11 devices?

Well, that’s tricky to decipher. Without an official explanation from Oppo, we can only use the facts available to speculate, right? Speculate we will.

You see, the Reno11 series as initially announced and launched in the Kenyan market, remains out of the reach of many. I mean, the standard model cost Kshs 68,000 while the Pro model went overboard at a whopping Kshs 86,000. While there’s definitely a clientele for devices at such price points, there’s always a need to attract even more people. In Kenya, we are as price-sensitive as they come. And, working with the pricing of Oppo smartphones, specifically the Reno range, in the past, the Kshs 50,000 territory the Reno11 F finds itself in is very familiar ground.

See now where we are going with this? The Reno11 F, at its very least, exists as an alternative to those interested in getting one of the latest Oppo experiences in the market but without stretching a tad too far.

To get there, however, some corners have been cut. Some compromises here and there. Right?

While the said compromises exist, they are not “in your face” and, you barely notice them, anyway.

For starters, you get the same display panel you get on the Reno11 and Reno11 Pro – a 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED unit with a peak refresh rate of 120Hz. You also get the same chipset that powers the Reno11 – MediaTek’s Dimensity 7050. This is also the same chipset from the Reno10 that we looked at last year so we went into the review period knowing exactly what its capabilities are. Heck, there’s even the 67W SuperVOOC fast charging that we have come to expect and love from Oppo.

Where things change is in the amount of RAM available (8GB on the Reno11 F compared to 12GB on the other Reno11 devices) and, of course, in the camera department. There, this newer member of the series misses out on the telephoto lens that its superiors have and, more notably, lacks the optical image stabilization (OIS) they also have. That’s pretty much it, really.

Of course, looks, which are subjective, do vary but you get the drift, right? Almost the same device but at a reduced cost and keeping pretty much the same features and rocking the same capabilities.

Something can be said about the curved display that you get on the other Reno11 variants but, personally, that’s not something I missed during my interaction with the Reno11 F. It’s nice to have, definitely but a deal breaker? Not by a long shot. If anything, a flat display reduces reflections and the colour shifting that you’d associate with curved displays.

Personally, I would have more kind words for a different body construction to the plastic design applied on the Reno11 F but, nothing you can’t live with.

ColorOS 14, the name of Oppo’s custom overlay, based on Android 14 which, at the time of writing this remains the latest version of Android that’s accessible in the market, remains a likeable experience. Everything is in place and, for the most part, you can turn off and/or get rid of anything you don’t like with relative ease. With a promised 2-year update cycle, things should stay fresh at least until 2026.

While the cameras are impressive and I was able to get some gems like this panoramic view of the Ruwenzori mountains stitched by Google Photos, I found less need for the secondary lenses at the back. They are a letdown given what the main lenses at both the front (32-megapixels) and back (64-megapixels) are able to achieve. Shots are detailed and vibrant in sufficient lighting and can be a bit grainy in low-light conditions. The telephoto lens on the Reno11 and Reno11 Pro does make a huge difference and it’s missed here.

Much as there’s no stabilization on the device, I did have a good time shooting various sequences for documenting my epic road trip across Uganda with friends weeks ago. There’s barely any shake in the videos. You can now imagine the results with OIS in place.

These are photo samples from the Reno11 F. They have been scaled down to save on space and improve site load times.

There are some other nice touches to the device as well. Like the IP65 water and dust resistance rating, something that not even the Infinix Note 40 Pro that we were reviewing at the same time has and, of course, the generous 256GB onboard storage. Even better, you can expand that with the microSD card slot.

The mono speaker down there doesn’t do the device any favours but, well, this is what you get on the budget device of a smartphone range. The performance is also so-so. It won’t top any benchmark tests but it should be able to get you through most use cases. I am not sure how it would hold up if pushed to the very extreme ends as I didn’t get to that, unfortunately.

Call clarity has been good as is data coverage on both 4G and 5G.

The battery life on the device easily stands out and, I’d wager, should be better than the other devices in the series.

The choice of colour options for the device is also a curious one. While I’ve had the Ocean Blue option for review – whose photos you can see in this article – there exists another Palm Green option. It’s less shouty than the Ocean Blue option and keeps things subtle. Another Coral Purple option does exist but I have not seen it in the real world beyond press renders and is not available for purchase in the country.