Oppo Reno 6 Pro 5G Review: A Reno5 Pro with a faster chip and some camera tricks

OPPO brought the Reno series to India in 2019. The original Reno took everyone by surprise with its premium design language, the rear camera’s hybrid zoom tech and the shark-fin-style pop-up camera. Jump to 2021 and we have the OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G in India.

A lot has changed when you compare the Reno series generation-by-generation, just like the world around us over the past couple of years. While OPPO has toned down on the design, the Reno6 series continues to prioritise camera features along with a capable performance unit. After using the smartphone under Rs 40,000 for over a week’s time, here is our OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G review.

Display 

The Reno6 Pro 5G sports a 6.55-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display. The screen offers vibrant colours and good contrast levels. If you love consuming content, the thin bezels, coupled with the curved screens on either edge will help offer an immersive viewing experience. We did not experience any major colour shift or black crush issues on our OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G review unit. There’s support for HDR10+ but we were not able to play any HDR content on Netflix during our review period.

The screen is also plenty bright for both indoor and outdoor conditions. We also did not experience any accidental touch issues. The auto-brightness slider was slightly aggressive at times in outdoor conditions. We preferred to keep the toggle off. A bummer though is the presence of just a single-speaker setup. Although quite loud, it is an absolute shame for a premium phone in 2021 to offer such an audio setup. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack either. Phones like Redmi Note 10 Pro Max (Review), which cost half of the Reno6 Pro offer a dual-channel audio setup. 

Coming back to the display, users can choose to switch between Standard (60Hz) and High (90Hz) refresh rate modes. We preferred the latter for a slightly better scrolling experience without any lag or stutters. A 90Hz display will also help while playing games. However, neither Call of Duty Mobile nor Battlegrounds Mobile India offer 90FPS support for the device yet. 

OPPO Reno phones, more often than not, sport a premium smartphone design. The same is the case with the Reno6 Pro. It has a glass sandwich design with a plastic frame to offer a premium look and feel. The device’s rear panel has a matte finish with a textured look. OPPO’s opted for a “Reno Glow” design on the Aurora Glow variant that changes the colour depending on the angle you are viewing from. If you want something subtle, maybe opt for this Stealth Black colour option that also offers a slightly gradient design.

The device is also quite lightweight under 180 grams and slim at 7.6mm thick. The curved edges also help in offering an excellent in-hand feel. The Reno6 Pro 5G is IPX4 certified to offer splash protection and comes with Corning Glass 5 on the front. 

Performance 

The most significant upgrade in the Reno6 Pro 5G over its predecessor is the processor. It now comes with a more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC. If you look at the benchmark tests, It gets close to the Snapdragon 870 SoC. In terms of day-to-day usage, you are barely going to notice any difference. The processor is more than enough to handle multitasking. We also played Call of Duty and Battlegrounds Mobile India on this device. The Battle Royale games ran smoothly with HD graphics and High settings. Asphalt 9 also did not lag during our review time. 

That being said, this is the same SoC you see on the Realme X7 Max (Review) that is a few thousand rupees cheaper. If you want a smartphone for casual gaming but are okay with a less-premium plastic back, maybe consider getting the Realme X7 Max. Avid gamers can also consider the Xiaomi Mi 11X (Review) and the iQOO 7.

Apps remained open in the background, even while switching between some heavy apps like COD and BGMI. Our review unit packs 12GB of RAM and offers 256GB of internal storage. You can choose to lock some apps in the multitasking window in case you want to keep them running in the background. OPPO has also introduced virtual RAM support on the Reno 6 Pro 5G. Once enabled, it offers 7GB of virtual RAM, which the system will allocate from the device’s internal storage when required. Our use case did not demand so much RAM and we, therefore, chose to keep it off.

In terms of battery life, the device offers roughly 6.5-7 hours of screen-on time (SoT). This is quite good for a phone that has a reasonably large display and a 4,500 mAh battery. Switching to 60Hz will offer better battery life. In case you do not play games, the phone could even offer you solid eight-hour battery life on a single charge. In case you run out of juice, the 65W fast charger can refill the cell in around 40 minutes. We also tested the charging speed using the Stuffcool 65W GaN charger and the device was fully charged in about 70 minutes.

The device also comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is quick to detect and unlock the phone. You also get an AI Face Unlock option.

In terms of software, the phone runs ColorOS 11.3 based on Android 11 out of the box. ColorOS is among our favourite Android skins, especially after seeing so many improvements over the past two generations. Users get a bunch of customisation and personalisation options to play within the device’s Settings app. There’s also an option to change the colour of various buttons and icons within the notification panel and other windows. 

That being said, some apps spam you with notifications, even if you have never opened them. Fortunately, you can choose to disable these notifications. The phone also comes preloaded with a few third-party apps, which again can be uninstalled.

The USP of the Reno6 Pro 5G is its camera system. The phone offers the same camera setup that you see on the Reno6 Pro 5G. It has a 64MP Omnivision sensor that shoots good-looking shots with boosted colours. However, you are likely to notice the slight lack of details when you pinch to zoom in. The night mode performance is also quite decent. It bumps up the exposure levels to offer a brighter image and slightly better details in the shadows. However, there is noticeable noise.

The 8MP ultrawide gets the colour temperature right and is on par with the primary camera. However, like most ultrawide smartphone camera sensors, it lacks details and is generally very soft. You also get a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. OPPO could have included a higher resolution macro camera for better details and colours. The Portrait mode’s edge detection is pretty good and we have no complaints here. For selfies, you get a 32MP front camera that offers good colours and dynamic range. Hat tip: Enable the HDR when shooting a selfie against the sunlight to get better details and colours. 

OPPO’s also introduced a new feature for content creators and videographers called Bokeh Flare Portrait mode. It essentially blurs out the background while keeping the subject in focus to offer a DSLR-like look. While the attempt is good, the bokeh might seem a bit artificial at times, especially when the lighting is inconsistent.

Click here or check the Flickr slideshow below to check some of the sample images we shot during our OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G review.

The OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G packs pretty good hardware and offers a premium design. The curved AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate support, a capable performance unit and a feature-rich camera system make the phone an all-round package. However, bring in the price-to-performance aspect and you might hesitate to buy this one. Don’t get us wrong here as the OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G is not a bad device at all. It's just that the competition offers similar specs for a better price.

The likes of Xiaomi Mi 11X (Review) and Realme X7 Max (Review) offer a far better value for money if core performance if you are looking for. If the camera is your priority, we feel that the iQOO 7 and Vivo X60 do a better job.

For Rs 39,990, the OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G can be considered if you want an OPPO smartphone that offers a premium design with a bunch of camera features. It is also among the only few options in the premium range to offer a curved AMOLED display. The device does not compromise on performance either. You can also opt for the Reno5 Pro 5G, which has a near-identical spec-sheet for a slightly lesser price.