Oppo Reno12 Pro 5G Review: A Mid-ranger at its Best

Oppo Reno12 is a mid-range phone in the full sense of the word. Smartphones from this segment generally do not shine in any category. And basically no one expects them to. For around PLN 2,000, they are supposed to offer decent capabilities, smooth operation and satisfactory photo quality.

However, something has to make the customer choose the mid-range X instead of opting for brand Y. And this is where all those extra features that make the difference come into play. However, for the user to appreciate them, the bare minimum that I wrote about in the previous paragraph must be met. Does the Oppo Reno12 Pro 5G meet them?

One thing that definitely connects this smartphone with high-end is the contents of the box. We have neither a charger nor a case here. The bare minimum has been kept – a USB-A – USB-C cable, a key to the SIM card drawer and brochures.

Construction and design

The design of the Oppo Reno12 Pro is quite unconventional, and I would even say a bit sophisticated. It combines a matte, shimmering, grainy surface with a high-gloss polished bottom. The relatively prominent island with three cameras above the casing has also been finished in a similar way. The device is available in two color versions – silver (or rather silver-purple) and black. I got the latter, unfortunately a bit less interesting.

The design is slim and light. The Reno12 Pro weighs just 180 grams, and with dimensions of 161.45 x 74.79 x 7.9 mm. The glossy frame around it is gently rounded, which works well with the convex surface of the display and makes the smartphone lie well in the hand.

The layout of the functional elements is not surprising. On the left edge, we have a two-stage volume control and a power button – all with a distinct and relatively loud “click”. At the bottom, there is a USB-C 2.0 port, and on its sides – a drawer for two Nano SIM cards (the second slot can be used for MicroSD), a microphone for calls and a speaker grille. At the top, we have an additional microphone, a second speaker and an infrared port.

As for the audio capabilities – they are quite average, but not tragic. However, in terms of call quality, I can’t have any major reservations here.

Similarly, when it comes to the overall build quality of the smartphone – it is decent, despite the lack of a metal frame and the back made of plastic. A big advantage is the IP65 standard, thanks to which the Oppo Reno12 Pro is resistant to, among other things, flooding. Nevertheless, it would be nice to see IP68 here.

Display

The screen is definitely a pleasant surprise. Here we have the top Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which the manufacturer for some reason additionally protected with a factory foil on the screen (which everyone will probably remove after some time). The surface is rounded on all four sides, which creates an effect that is pleasing to the eye.

A 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with HD+ resolution (2412 x 1080 pixels, 394 PPI), 120 Hz refresh rate and maximum brightness of 1200 nits (1500 in HDR) has been used here. It is definitely not the brightest panel in the mid-price range. However, it makes up for it in other areas, offering decent colors, great contrast and Adaptive Tone mode that adjusts the parameters of the displayed image to the ambient conditions (by the way, the software offers quite extensive customization options in this area). Another advantage is the ability to lower the brightness to just 2 nits, which will be appreciated by people who often use their smartphone in bed.

The screen has a fingerprint reader built into it, and it works fine. A nice addition is the ability to configure quick shortcuts, which can be accessed by holding your fingers on the reader for a longer period of time.

Battery

The lithium polymer cell used in the smartphone has a capacity of 5000 mAh. Oppo emphasizes the high degree of energy density in this battery, thanks to which it was possible to combine it with such a slim design. What’s more, the manufacturer ensures that it will maintain at least 80% efficiency after 4 years of use. It is difficult to verify these promises at the moment, but they bode well.

The battery lasts for 9 to 12 hours of active use of the phone, which is not far from the standards in this segment. Generally speaking, it should be enough for the whole day. The distinguishing feature is support for fast charging SuperVOOC with a power of 80 W. And here Oppo shows class, because a full charge takes only 45 minutes.

Unfortunately, there’s a trade-off – there’s no wireless charging function, which is a big minus.

Software and Performance

ColorOS can be loved or hated. It is a rather specific overlay on Android – packed to the brim with functions and extras that many people probably will not use at all (or quite the opposite). However, this does not change the fact that it is one of the most advanced solutions when it comes to Androids. In Oppo Reno12 Pro it gains even more, because AI functions come to the fore.

We have everything here – literally. There is a gesture control function, there is always-on-display, there is a floating handy drawer with applications.. I could go on like this for a long time. ColorOS gives us a lot of personalization options – starting with icons, fonts and colors, and ending with animations when using the fingerprint reader.

Unfortunately, this also comes with a lot of bloatware pre-installed on the new device. Fortunately, all of these junk games and questionable add-ons can be quickly uninstalled.

The biggest novelty in the Reno12 Pro is of course the additions using AI. Artificial intelligence is to be used here to improve the connection to the network and improve the quality of calls. However, users have access to such functions as text generation, audio recording summarization, text-to-speech conversion, and intelligent removal of objects from photos. The problem is that most of these functions are not available in Polish, so their usefulness for the average user remains negligible.

What’s more, you need an internet connection to use the AI ​​features, which raises some serious concerns about the privacy of your data. I’d feel much more confident if the photos I wanted to erase were on my phone all the time, rather than being sent to the cloud somewhere for AI to process.

Android 14, on which ColorOS is based, is to receive 3 major updates on this smartphone, and the whole thing is to be supported for 4 years through regular security patches. It’s good that Oppo does not lag behind the competition in this field.

The system takes up quite a bit, because at the start we have 480 GB of built-in internal memory. That’s still a lot for a mid-range smartphone. And if necessary, we can add a MicroSD card (taking up the slot for a second Nano SIM card) with a capacity of up to 1 TB. This gives us a huge amount of space for data, photos and recordings.

The European version of the Oppo Reno 12 Pro has a worse processor than its Asian predecessor. It uses the Mediatek Dimensity 7300-Energy system, whose cores are based on the now outdated Cortex-A78 (4 x 2.5 GHz) and Cortex A55 (4 x 2 GHz) architectures. This drama is complemented by the very average Mali G615 MC2 GPU. For comparison, in China, this model works under the control of the Dimensity 9200+. To wipe away the tears, we get 12 GB of RAM – unfortunately LPDDR4X.

This is not a system that is lacking – at least not yet. The smartphone and applications run smoothly. Unfortunately, with more dynamic multitasking, demanding scenarios or attempts at video editing or photo editing, we can quickly feel its limitations – not to mention games.

Apparatus

We have a pretty decent system here consisting of three cameras:

• Main 50 Mpix, f/1.8 aperture and OIS, 1/1.95″ matrix, 0.8 µm pixels
• Ultra-wide (112˚) 8 Mpix with f/2.2 aperture, 1/4.0″ matrix
• 1.9x (47mm) 50MP telephoto with f/2.0 aperture and OIS, 1/2.75″ sensor, PDAF

The front camera is 50 Mpix with an f/2.0 aperture. This is one of the smartphone’s strong points, because it takes really decent selfies and offers good bokeh in portrait mode.

The smartphone allows you to record video in 4K resolution at 30 fps and 1080p at 60 fps. The application itself also includes a slow-motion mode (at 720p), as well as a number of other extras, such as filters, watermarks, etc. However, it does not surprise you with anything special.

There is a lot of good and bad to say about each of the built-in cameras. The overall quality of the photos is not bad. The rather strong saturation of colors is definitely noticeable here, which is probably intended to mask the relatively low tonal range. The contrast is high – shadows tend to fall into deep black, and bright frames – into white. Of course, this can be tamed by adjusting the exposure and playing with the camera settings. On the plus side, one must count the efficient operation of the autofocus and the decent sharpness of the photos.

Bright lenses work relatively well after dark, where the long exposure mode (Ultra Night) doesn’t have much to do. In general, its operation came down to a 1-2 second delay, which is a great result. And the photos themselves? Solid, although again – the Reno12 Pro likes to mess with the contrast a bit here and sometimes oversaturates the shots. Here, too, problems with focusing appeared more often.

Summary

Calling this smartphone a “Pro” is a gross exaggeration, but such tricks are commonplace in the mobile industry these days. The Oppo Reno12 Pro 5G may not deserve this designation (at least in its European incarnation), but that doesn’t make it unworthy of attention.

The device has a great design and is surprisingly light. There is also a MicroSD card slot, which is becoming increasingly rare (even in the mid-range). I was also impressed by the camera, display and battery life.

Unfortunately, the chip used casts a shadow over all of this, which is based on a slightly outdated architecture and therefore may not be a good fit in the long run. This makes it hard to call the Reno12 Pro 5G a device for many years to come.

I would also expect a bit more from the heavily advertised AI functions, the usability of which is severely limited by the lack of Polish language support. The lack of support for eSIM cards and wireless charging must also be counted among the minuses.

If you want the fastest SoC possible, you won’t find it here. ColorOS itself is also not for everyone, which is also worth remembering before buying. Overall, for PLN 2,199, it is a decent offer. Nevertheless, it is hard to call it the best. This segment is characterized by high competition and diversity.