Oppo Reno8 Pro – a look under the hood

How many of us go out and buy the most expensive smartphone on the market, just to avoid buyer’s remorse because we chose a device that we later found lacking. Every one of us wants the best phone there is – I might not need the best but I want it. None of us want to make a purchase that we’ll regret later, when it “can’t” do something.

With the Oppo Reno8 Pro and its MediaTek chipset, you are getting a great phone that could be more than you’ll ever need.

The latest in OPPO’s premium range, the Reno8 Pro 5G gives modern users everything they have come to expect from a phone and more, with particular emphasis on charging, battery life, image processing power and exquisite design. 

Processor

For those that don’t know, the processor is the head/brain of your smartphone. Small but powerful, everything you manage to put your phone through is thanks to that processor. Its performance has a direct impact on every application you use while billions of calculations are performed per second in the background, without you even knowing.

The Oppo Reno8 Pro runs on an octa-core 2.65GHz MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX chipset with 8GB of RAM. I tested a beta version of Android based Licence Plate Recognition software with the phone (thanks to SpyGlass Technologies and Dark Horse Distribution) and the results are impressive. The Oppo Reno8 Pro handled itself so well. This is a cutting-edge piece of software and the local supplier of the software was blown away by the performance of the Oppo Reno8 Pro. (Keep an eye on my IG for more.)

The MediaTek Dimensity 8100 is manufactured using TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing) N5 (5nm-class) technology. All we really need to know is that you and I, thanks to the TSMC N5 get great power efficiency and longer battery life.

The MediaTek 5nm Dimensity 8100-MAX SOC, ensures super smooth processing.

According to MediaTek, this processor delivers extreme performance with incredible power- efficiency for intense high frame rate gaming sessions that just keep going.

Battery life

Last week I went from a movie premier to a full day conference the next day and a store opening on that night without a single charge of the Oppo Reno8 Pro. The battery wasn’t even close to depleted at the time – that’s impressive battery life!

The long-lasting 4500mAH battery is a game changer. The device comes with an 80W SUPERVOOC charger that can charge the Oppo Reno8 to 50% in 11 minutes. According to Oppo, they developed the Battery Health Engine which allows for over 1600 charging cycles, approximately four years of optimal battery health.

Video and photos

In most cases, it seems a phone camera is a phone camera is a phone camera but where you can really tell them apart is low light photography and videography. (Check out my IG here.)

According to MediaTek, the powerful 14-bit HDR-ISP (High Dynamic Range Image Signal Processing) gives the fastest, clearest HDR photos and video capture. This allows for two cameras to record at the same time with three exposures per frame. I was not disappointed. Some of my night shots were pretty amazing!

With its first-ever dedicated image neural processing unit (NPU) – the MariSilicon X, Oppo has made a significant leap in smartphone imaging.

Firstly, NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is integrated into the mobile processor to take advantage of advanced neural networks and provide new levels of visual intelligence, basically, it aids in the enhancement of your camera’s AI features.

The AI features in your camera on your phone have been limited by the capabilities of your processor. This cutting-edge imaging NPU, however, will give you the best photography capabilities, both in terms of lens technology and the use of Sony IMX766 lenses and software. The MariSilicon X chipset is solely responsible for camera function and process management.

The OPPO Reno8 Pro 5G is available in two colours namely Glazed Green and Glazed Black. It retails from R16 999 for the OPPO Reno8 5G and R19 999 for the OPPO Reno8 Pro 5G.