OPPO Reno 10X Zoom Review: The New Standard To Beat For Smartphone Photography Enthusiasts?

Written by Cheryl Tan

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Huawei’s P30 Pro established itself as one of the best camera-focused smartphones when it was launched, with a 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom. But the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom takes it up a notch with 60x digital zoom. We had the oppotunity to test out the OPPO Reno and the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, so let’s take a look at the whole Reno series.

First, I have to say that I absolutely love the design of the OPPO Reno series. Externally, the 10x Zoom version looks almost identical to its little brother, the OPPO Reno, with just an additional periscope-style telephoto camera, a slightly bigger screen (6.6 inches vs 6.4 inches) and slight increments in the overall physical footprint. The Ocean Green model is beautiful, with a matte sheen on the back that’s mesmerising. The phones fit perfectly in the hand thanks to the curved back that makes them very comfortable for long periods of use.

But the best part is the fact that there’s no camera bump. The cameras are completely flush with the rear cover, meaning you’ll never have to deal with the phone rocking back and forth on a flat surface if you use it without a case. Major plus points here.

Rocking a 93.1% screen-to-body ratio, I dare say the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom and Oppo Reno outdo most of the phones on the market in terms of screen-to-body ratio at the moment. Even the Huawei P30 Pro (88.41%) and the Vivo V15 Pro (91.64%) are just about edged out. This means even more immersive content viewing thanks to the lack of notches for the front camera and speaker.

With the 10x Zoom version running Snapdragon 855 and Adreno 640, the phone runs buttery smooth with no lag at all. The Oppo Reno runs a Snapdragon 710 and Adreno 616, so while still smooth, there were occasional jitters while playing PUBG Mobile. The Oppo Game Space is a good add-on, since it automatically activates Do Not Disturb mode while in gameplay. No more pesky notifications popping up to distract me in the middle of a match!

The selfie camera is contained inside a popup module at the top, as per the norm now for phones using popup front cameras. But again, OPPO has differentiated themselves from other competitors by making it a side-raising module that resembles a shark’s fin instead of a piece that slides straight up. While it looks great aesthetically, I do worry about debris and dust getting caught in the mechanism, especially since there’s a bigger opening for this phone compared to the others.

But let’s talk about the rear cameras, since that’s the main selling point for these phones. While only the 10x Zoom has the periscope-style telephoto camera that enables the 60x digital zoom, both phones use the 48MP camera that’s seemingly become a standard for most phones these days.

Utilising pixel binning and the Night Mode setting, the camera’s low-light capability is surprising and almost on par with the photos produced by the Google Pixel. I personally prefer the look from the Oppo Reno’s Night Mode setting, with more subdued highlights, but this is a personal preference.

Taking a look at the zoom levels on the 10x Zoom version, I found that the 60x zoom was too shaky to be used handheld. Details were still somewhat visible though, like the car brand on the front bumper, but it’s definitely not something you’d be bringing to concerts unless you’ve got a seated ticket.

Battery life on this phone is insane; both the 4065mAh battery in the 10x Zoom version and the 3765mAh battery on the OPPO Reno lasts the whole day. The VOOC charger included in the box works great as well, the 10x Zoom version charged from 15% to 100% in 1 hour and 17 minutes.

There is no wireless charging or 3.5mm headphone jack, and those might be dealbreakers to some. But to me, the huge screen real estate, great camera quality, exceptional battery life and pretty design makes this phone well worth the price.

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom (S$1,199) and OPPO Reno (S$849) are available at OPPO’s online store, OPPO’s store on Lazada, OPPO concept stores and at authorised distributors.