Oppo has always been the dark horse. While the Android scene is fixated on Samsung, Oppo has slowly but surely manoeuvred itself farther ahead in the smartphone race. Remember the Oppo Find N3 Flip that was released last year? With an improved flexion hinge and souped-up camera system, it demonstrated what a good foldable phone ought to be. In the same vein, the Oppo Reno11 series showcased what a dependable midrange phone could be.
Released in China last year, the Reno11 series made its first SEA stop in Singapore this January. With marketing fiercely touting the Reno11 Pro smartphone’s Ultra-Clear Portrait Camera System, Oppo banks on attracting a new segment of smartphone photographers.
The Reno11 Pro’s glass back was inspired by nature and comes in two colourways: Pearl White and Rock Grey. We were handed the former to test, and at first glance, it reminded us of expensive marble. The effect is courtesy of a 3D etching process. That creates millions of reflective micro surfaces, giving it a shimmer that moves under the light. Curiously, the thickness of the Pearl White smartphone measures 7.66mm, while the Rock Grey is 7.59mm. However, unless you’re some sort of hypersensory mutant, the difference is negligible.
Set in the curved glass back panel is a raised Sunshine Ring camera system. This contains the main 50MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, a 32MP telephoto with an f/2.0 aperture and an 8MP ultra-wide (112 degrees of Field of Vision) with an f/2.2 aperture. Front-wise, you have a 32MP camera with a f/2.4 aperture.
The 32MP telephoto lens is something else. It shares an IMX709 sensor with the front camera and can capture portrait photos even under low light conditions. The Reno11 Pro includes a next-gen computational photography algorithm called the HyperTone Imaging Engine. Originally featured in the Find X6 Pro and Find N3, the Reno11 Pro has an improved version. One that combines multiple uncompressed images in the RAW domain. It also applies AI-powered de-noising and de-mosaicing to give your images clarity, dynamic range and colour richness.
On top of the photography expertise, there is one more thing that stuck out: ColorOS 14.
There is something inherently exciting about the updated ColorOS 14, which serves as an exciting launchpad for the brand in 2024. With an updated user interface; Aqua Dynamics; allows for more network connectivity in challenging environments; the use of Oppo’s Trinity Engine and more, ColorOS 14 allows the company to lean away from Android and into its own identity.
The smartphone race has also always been about whether the hardware can catch up to the software. The Find N2 Flip was the first device with ColorOS 14 but its hardware was unable to do anything else to the cover screen when its closed. But with the Reno11, the series presents what it can do with ColorOS 14 and what the operating system could possibly do in the future. And that is a future we will eagerly stick around for.
The Oppo Reno11 Pro is now out in stores.
