OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Review

OPPO is shacking up its portfolio by introducing the new Reno line-up, which is being led by the flagship OPPO Reno 10x Zoom.

The entire Reno family spans from the midrange Reno Z, the standard Reno, and the one that we’ll be taking a look at here, the flagship OPPO Reno 10x Zoom.

As what you probably know, the Reno 10X Zoom sports killer camera features and unique design. But here in our OPPO Reno 10x Zoom review, we’ll be talking not just those, but all the goodies that come with it.

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Specs

Android 9.0 Pie, ColorOS 6
Dual SIM, Dual Standby
6.6-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~387ppi
93.1% screen-to-body ratio
Corning Gorilla Glass 6
2.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 octa-core processor
Adreno 640 GPU
8GB RAM
256GB UFS 2.1 internal storage
16-megapixel front camera, Soft light
48-megapixel (Sony IMX586, f/1.7) + 13-megapixel (Periscope telephoto) + 8-megapixel (Ultra wide) triple rear cameras, Dual OIS, PDAF, LED flash
Face unlock, In-display fingerprint scanner
HPSA +, 4G LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Bluetooth 5.0
Dual-frequency GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
NFC, USB Type-C
Dimensions: 162.0 x 77.2 x 9.3mm
Weight: 210g
Colors: Fog Sea Green, Extreme Night Black, Mist Pink
4,065mAh non-removable battery, VOOC 3.0

Design and Build Quality

Let’s get to it right away. The most distinctive feature of the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is its shark fin-style pop-up camera on the top. Besides providing a clever way to eliminate the notch — and just looking cool in general — the implementation works seamlessly with the device’s overall design.

We’ve seen how OPPO fluidly implemented a pop-up mechanism on the Find X. But the unique shape of the levitating module on this device makes it 10x cooler (pun intended).

The pop-up mechanism was also battle-tested by up to 200,000 times to ensure its durability. OPPO’s own design chief confirmed to us that the mechanism can last for over five years when being used by up to 100 times a day.

The OPPO Reno 10x has a drop detection so it automatically retracts back the front camera when you accidentally drop the device. It also works when the mechanism detects resistance, i.e when you try to manually put it back by pushing it down.

Aside from housing the 16-megapixel selfie camera, the pop-up mechanism also accommodates a front-facing soft flash and the loudspeaker. There’s a small slit on the top panel of the screen for the audio to pass through.

On the back of OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, you can see the LED flash for the primary camera. Having this hardware sitting right next to cameras itself would have been better. But I guess OPPO needs to fill the vacant space on the back of the pop-up module.

All these technologies incorporated to the pop-up camera is a result to achieve one goal: to keep the display bezels smaller.

Another clever design that the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has is the O-Dot on the back. This small but terrible circular node is made of ceramic, which is tasked to slightly lift up the device when placed in a flat surface, so the camera lenses don’t get scratched.

Now that we’re back here, let’s talk about its design. In our interview with the company’s design chief, she said that they’ve used three different layers for the back of the OPPO Reno 10x.

There’s the design pattern for the first layer, which provides that shiny reflective material despite the matte paintjob. Second, there’s the actual color. In our case, what we have is the Fog Sea Green as our review unit. An Extreme Night Black and Mist Pink are also available. Lastly, there’s the matte coating, which prevents any ugly fingerprint marks and smudges, while keeping the premium glass look.

But unlike most flagship smartphones, the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is a bit in the bulky side. It weighs at around 210g (vs 180g average) and is 9.3mm thick (vs 8mm average). But considering all the hardware that OPPO was able to cram inside, especially the motors for the pop-up camera, the weight and dimensions were definitely kept to the minimum.

If you really want to purchase the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, let us familiarize you with its hardware. Right on the front we have the all-screen 6.6-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display. An in-display fingerprint scanner is also buried underneath it.

We have the lock/power button on the left side, while on the right are the volume controls. Both buttons are positioned low enough to be easily reachable by any of your fingers.

On the bottom, we have USB Type-C port, loudspeaker, primary microphone, and a hybrid SIM tray; which can house either two SIMs or a microSD card, back to back.

Other than its classy finish, I also like the camera orientation on the back of the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom. All three cameras are in a vertical orientation, which matches seamlessly with the OPPO logo and “Designed by OPPO” tagline on the middle.

You can also slap in the included leather-like case, which keeps the premium look of the device while protecting it at the same time.

Display Quality

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has a large 6.6-inch FHD+ AMOLED display that’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6 to avoid accidental scratches and the like.

The screen quality is fine, but not as good as other AMOLED screens, like the one on the Galaxy S10. For one it only has an FHD+ resolution instead of WQHD+. But honestly, you’d barely notice the difference in screen sharpness in most use cases.

Probably the only main thing that we’ve noticed is the lack of vibrancy in colors. Although it’s still better than most IPS panels around, it sure lags behind some of the competing AMOLED smartphones.

On the upside, OPPO Reno 10x Zoom’s all-screen display with a really huge screen estate of 6.6-inch makes watching movies immersive. It also provides more room for on-screen controls when playing games, and is also great for multitasking.

Sound Quality

It looks like companies are eyeing the future without the headphone jack in it. With the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, you’re only getting a single USB Type-C port for all your input needs, even for audio.

The device comes with Type-C headphones on the box. Unfortunately, if you want to use your own 3.5mm headphones/earphones, you have to purchase an adapter which is quite a bummer.

But the good news is the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom comes with Dolby Atmos technology. Its stereo loudspeakers provide loud volume, making it usable even in a noisy environment like a park, coffee shop, etc.

It also has great stereo separation that’s good for hearing footsteps in shooting games or making movies more enjoyable.

Hardware and Performance

The OPPO Reno 10x is a flagship device with high-end hardware on the inside. It’s powered by the monstrous Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 octa-core processor, an Adreno 640 GPU, and is available in 6GB/128GB, 6GB/256GB, and 8GB/256GB of RAM and UFS 2.1 storage configurations. For your reference, the one that we’re reviewing here is the top-of-the-line model.

As expected, the overall performance is top-notch. Everything is just fast and snappy — from launching different apps, switching between them, or using them all at once with the split-screen mode.

Thanks to its generous memory and powerful processor, this device can pretty much handle anything you throw at it.

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom benchmarks

Of course, gaming is also seamless on the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom. Partnered with its Game Boost 2.0 optimization, popular titles like PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends, NBA 2k19, and Asphalt 9 ran at smooth frame rates under the highest graphics settings.

Its advanced cooling system also tried its best to keep it cooled down after extensive gaming. However, you can still feel a little bit of heat, but nothing too alarming as it’s pretty normal.

Security

One of the key reasons why the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has an AMOLED screen is for its in-display fingerprint scanner to work.

We’re happy to report that the fingerprint sensor works fast and reliably. Unlike the one that we saw on devices like the Galaxy A50.

You can also use it to lock apps or unlock the private safe section that lets you hide photos, videos, and other files.

The face unlock feature also worked well. Although, since it uses mechanical hardware for the front camera to be usable, I suggest you just stay with the fingerprint to prevent unnecessary wear. You can leave this feature on and just swipe up from the bottom of the lock screen in case you want to use it as an alternative.

ColorOS 6.0 also has other security features such as Find My Device, Emergency SOS, Anti-harassment/Fraud, Pseudo Base Sation Docking, App encryption, Private Safe, and Kid Space. There’s also the dedicated security keyboard, where you can securely type your passwords or bank details.

Software and User Interface

Just like all of their new devices, the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom runs on the latest Android 9 Pie with the company’s custom ColorOS 6.0 interface on top.

It may not be the best and cleanest Android skin that we’ve seen, but it does accentuate the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom’s overall design and hardware. The lock screen is pretty packed with the time and date on the top left and the notifications almost filling up the entire screen.

The app drawer is turned off out of the box, but you can enable it on the settings menu. You can swipe from the bottom up to see all your apps, just like how the stock-Android looks like.

Swiping from the farthest left of the home screen reveals the Smart Assistant. It has a search tab for local and internet search, calendar, quick apps, and tabs for step counter, favorite contacts, and photos.

The control center is accessible from the top, with large icons that are easy for your fingertips. Some buttons, like the WiFi toggle, has a drop-down menu, so you can pick from any available networks without digging in on the settings.

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom features on-screen controls, but you can opt to use the more modern gesture navigations. However, it may take some time to get used to so better be prepare for the switch.

OPPO also included their Hyper Boost feature for optimized performance when gaming. Game Assistant has shortcuts on screen recording, reject calls, and more. There’s a dedicated Game Space app so you can optimize the handset for each game. I also like how the UI would only show a less-distracting notification every time you take a screenshot while in-game or watching videos.

Google’s own keyboard comes standard in all OPPO smartphones, including the Reno 10x Zoom. It’s intuitive to use and really easy to type on. The camera app makes using its jam-packed camera system less overwhelming even though it has tons of features.

Also, if you’re worried about the pre-installed apps taking precious space from your storage, you can easily uninstall them.

Camera

As what you probably by now, the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has a killer set of cameras. Based on the name alone, we can already tell that it features 10x of hybrid zoom at its core. That’s thanks to its periscope-style telephoto lens that’s sitting behind an optically stabilized 13-megapixel sensor. This brand new lens design can provide a clean 5x of optical zoom.

You can tap the zoom icon on the camera app to easily switch from 1x, 2x, 6x, and 10x zoom. All of which provides a clean image, which is great if you want to eliminate any distraction on the foreground, or pinch in closer to the subject.

The cool thing here is, the OPPO Reno 10x camera can achieve up to 60x of hybrid zoom. That’s an additional 10x zoom than what the Huawei P30 Pro can do.

But, from what it looks like, OPPO just forced to increase the number to one-up the competition. The images taken at 60x are really dull and almost unusable. But still, having the ability to do a telescope-like zoom from a device that’s in your pocket is really impressive.

Next stop, let’s talk about its primary camera. The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor, with a wide aperture of f/1.7, optical image stabilization, and phase detection autofocus.

Unsurprisingly, you can take really great images with this camera. Partnered with its fast AI scene detection, it outputs photos with punchy colors and the right saturation. The contrast is also good, but the dynamic range is definitely not the best.

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom also has a Night mode feature, which takes a five-second long-exposure shot for brighter images at night. It churns out professional-looking images, but you have to be careful about moving objects (i.e cars on the highway).

Unlike what we saw on other devices, instead of just preserving the movements from the first frame, and only gathering light information from the next frames, it would literally take a traditional long-exposure image. And since it’s only a 5-second exposure, it doesn’t have that cool light trail look, resulting in blurry moving subjects.

Next stop, we have the 8-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera. The quality is not the best, but the flexibility provided by having a wider field-of-view is very much welcome. It’s something that’s really good to have in cases that you want to take a wider picture.

Since it has three cameras, the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom can take good portrait photos, from human subjects to random objects. It can mimic the DSLR-like shallow depth-of-field effect pretty easily.

The device can also record 4K videos at a smooth 60fps frame rate. The quality is fine but is definitely not the best that we’ve seen in a smartphone.

The interesting part is, it has Audio Focus sound recording, which enhances the audio that’s coming from a subject that you zoom into. We tested it out and it’s pretty cool. The 3D stereo audio recording is also great if you really want to achieve that immersive sound quality.

Finally, we have the 16-megapixel selfie camera. OPPO has clearly mastered the selfie game in the last couple of years, and it clearly shows in the Reno 10x Zoom.

The front sensor can take sharp selfies with decent colors and acceptable contrast. The sensor is so sharp that even when you enable its face beauty modes, the image remains relatively sharp.

Speaking of which, the face beauty now works really well with the help of AI. It can smoothen your skin, make your face smaller, thinner, and more without making it look too synthetic.

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom also has a soft light flash on the front, so you can take images on the dark, or even in pitch black scenarios. And since it’s a continues light rather than a traditional flash, you can set the exposure properly before taking the shot.

Battery

Not a lot of flagship smartphones have great battery life, and that’s acceptable considering their high-resolution screens and powerful processor. But with the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, our expectations were surpassed.

The 4,065mAh battery on this device provided good longevity. PCMark’s battery test gave it a score of 11 hours and 40 minsutes. That’s one of the best scores that we got on a flagship smartphone.

In real-world usage, expect the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom to last you for an entire day of light to casual use. This is one of those phones that you have to recharge every night — which is pretty much all of them (except phones with over 5,000mAh).

In addition, the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has a VOOC 3.0 fast-charging support. This can fill up the battery back to 100% in only around an hour.

Verdict

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is easily one of the most interesting flagships in the market today. Sure, it has a powerful processor, large display, and what not. But what really makes the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom stands out is its great cameras.

It’s one of the first smartphones to have a periscope-style camera. It also has a really good primary shooter and an ultra wide-angle snapper. All of which provides great flexibility when you’re taking pictures.

Of course, we also have the unique shark’s fin pop-up camera, which is always the center of attraction every time you pull it out with a group of friends.

There are also some tiny, but pretty cool stuff. There’s the O-Dot that has a clever purpose, a really fast VOOC 3.0 charging, and a shiny back design that has a matte coating.

However, its unique features came with a price. The motors on the pop-up mechanism required OPPO to make the build a little bulky. Plus, the colors from its AMOLED panel is definitely not among the best that we’ve seen.

But still, there’s no denying that the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is one of the most interesting flagships in the market today. It has a killer camera, top-notch performance, reliable battery life, and a large display — features that can satisfy whether you’re a gamer, photographer, or productivity user.

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom pricing and availability in the Philippines

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom will be officially available starting July 1, 2019 for a price of Php45,990. Those who will pre-order the device from June 21 to June 30 will get a free camera gimbal stabilizer valued at Php5,999.

It will also be available for installment in Home Credit at 0% interest for 9 and 12 months. OPPO is currently working on bringing the Reno 10x in Smart and Globe postpaid plans soon.

Pros

Great cameras
Fast, snappy performance
Reliable battery life
Unique pop-up camera

Cons

Slightly bulky build
Mediocre display quality