Oppo's Reno 12 Pro only really earns its 'Pro' designation when you're checking out its camera skills but it doesn't drop the ball in any other areas. The processor is, technically, underpowered but you wouldn't think that using the phone. It'll stand up to its price point but unfortunately it's also possible to find something better for less.
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Design
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Performance
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Battery
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Camera
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Value
Oppo’s Reno handsets, now widely available in South Africa, tend to be decent performers for the price and the new Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G is no different. Right now you have a couple of choices when picking one up — a R750/m contract or you can buy it outright for R17,300 (down from the R18,500 launch price).
That’s uncomfortably close to the current price of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 and far above the Galaxy S23 FE. Is it worth paying close to twenty grand for Oppo’s mid-range handset when flagship and flagship adjacent phones are easily within reach? Let’s find out.
Call for back-up
The Reno 12 Pro doesn’t do anything revolutionary with its smartphone design. There’s glass on the front and plastic around the edge and rear that does a better-than-average job of impersonating a metallic surface. It’s only when you tap it with a fingernail that you see through the illusion. A large rectangular camera bump lives on the upper left side of the rear panel and it’s the panel itself that is the most remarkable thing about this phone.
Oppo has opted for another of its interesting coating methods around the back, creating a distinctive look that, in our review phone’s case, gave an almost 3D impression of raised metal ridges. Unfortunately, this is immediately wrecked if you pop on the included clear plastic case, the rear of which has taken inspiration from the average 1980s soap dish. The raised ridges might be grippy and thick enough to protect the Reno 12 Pro from most damage but it also completely spoils the distinct visuals.
Elsewhere, it’s business as usual. USB-C charging, speaker vents, physical keys, and even an IR blaster are spaced around the edges of the phone. In the box are a charging cable (USB-A to USB-C) and one of Oppo’s 80W SuperVOOC charge blocks. Here’s one area where you’re getting value for money.
Positive Energy
Perhaps the least exciting part of this Oppo, besides the soap-dish cover, is the chosen processor. The Dimensity 7300 Energy from MediaTek only lives in three phones — this one, Oppo’s Reno 12, and the Nothing CMF Phone 1. It’s capable enough but Nothing somehow manages to make its smartphone cost just R4,000 (that’s American pricing, calm down). Tempering expectations here is a plan, especially in light of the bloated ColourOS operating system. Seriously Oppo, you can leave most preinstalled apps and in-house app stores/cloud services off your products.
The Reno 12 Pro managed to pull off mostly smooth operation during our review. Our model featured 12GB of RAM (that’s standard for this model) and 512GB of storage (that’s not) so it’s probable that the RAM was doing much of the heavy lifting for us. It doesn’t matter how it does what it does, as long as it does it (unless you’re in the habit of measuring numbers over, you know, using your tech).
The 6.7in display hits all the right numbers for a semi-upper-mid-ranger. It’s a 120Hz AMOLED capable of 1200 nits of brightness and support for HDR10+. Those are just book specs, though. In practise, you’ll see effective performance but, coming from a Samsung display, Oppo’s colour palette seems washed out. We know that’s just a pesky little thing called ‘reality’ so most will be thrilled with the Reno 12 Pro’s panel.
Megapixels matter?
Checking out the Reno 12 Pro’s camera layout is where you’ll get the best idea of where the ‘Pro’ moniker comes from. There are three 50MP sensors in Oppo’s chassis and only two of them live around the back where you’d expect them to be. A 50MP main (f/1.8) is joined by a 50MP telephoto (2x, f/2.0) with only the 8MP ultrawide (f/2.2) letting the side down. A telephoto lens in any smartphone costing less than R20,000 is unusual enough that you should pay attention here.
Images are best when shot in excellent lighting but the Reno 12 Pro also does a decent job when the light is less in your favour. It’s not as consistent as we’d like but if you’re a camera obsessive, you’re probably snapping multiple shots of your target anyway. One of them is bound to be what you’re looking for. Oppo also bundles this phone with its own AI image assistant for removing unsightly photobombers and other background oddities. This works well enough on the whole but, as with most artificial intelligence systems, it’ll all depend on how difficult the task actually is.
Oppo’s third 50MP sensor resides, predictably, in the front of the phone. For high-resolution selfies, you’ll find yourself hard-pressed to find a similar feature in any smartphone that doesn’t make significant sacrifices elsewhere. That said, it’s not especially difficult to beat this camera setup but it’ll take at least a little effort. And more money than you’re spending here in most cases.
Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G verdict
Sh0uld you buy (or pick up on contract) the Oppo Reno 12 Pro? You certainly could. There’s enough to justify the price but it’s also worth remembering that you can do better in several important areas for less money. Oppo includes an IP65 rating, sheathes the phone in Corning’s Victus 2 glass, and has the standard 5,000mAh battery to go with it all. Oppo leans hard on its cameras so if you’re an aspiring social media snapper, this might be a good stepping stone to a higher follower count (you’ve got to supply the creativity, of course). The Reno 12 Pro is an all-in-one purchase, including everything you need except a set of wireless headphones. The 80W charge block is awesome, the clear case… isn’t, but it’s free, and you could probably do with a spare cable. But before you part with your money, check if you can get something better for less. We’re willing to bet you can.
