Oppo Reno 6 5G Review: Smart Design, Strong Battery

The Oppo Reno6 5G arrived in May, but it took the company more than three months to deliver the phone outside of China.

Reno 6 series succeeded the Reno 5 series which the company launched six months back. The new Reno series from Oppo consists of Oppo Reno 6 Pro 5G and the affordable Oppo Reno 6 5G, this elegant looking smartphone from Oppo claims to deliver a smooth performance.

Now that it is available in Europe and other markets, we got a unit for a review.

The Reno6 5G has a solid Dimensity 900 chipset, a 6.43” AMOLED and super fast 65W SuperVOOC charging.

We received a bright mint box which includes a Starry Black smartphone, a SuperVOOC 2.0 65W fast charger, a USB cable, USB-C earphones, and even got a transparent case.

The Reno 6 5G sits very well in hand with its 182gram weight; it feels lighter than expected and has lovely grip thanks to its flat sides. The Starry Black color is also lovely - yes, the panel is plastic, but it comes with neat dark blue glare under certain angles.

Design is one of the distinguishing factors between the Oppo Reno 6 5G and the Oppo Reno 6 Pro 5G. Unlike its sibling, the Oppo Reno 6 5G comes with flat edges and a matte-finished metal frame design.

The design resembles a lot to the last year launched iPhone 12. The smartphone comes with the company's own Reno Glow design technology which changes colour as light falls on it. The pretty looking rear panel is absolutely fingerprint-resistant. The pretty looking Oppo Reno 6 5G comes in two colour options -- Aurora and Stellar Black.

The back also houses a triple rear camera setup located inside a rectangular module. You will find the power button and volume rockers on the left side, while the SIM card tray, USB-C charging port and the single speaker sits at the bottom. The buttons are tactile and are placed at the right location allowing the users to easily grab them with one hand.

One thing which the smartphone lacks is a dual stereo speaker which will not be liked by many. Other than that, the smartphone gets a big thumbs up in the design department.

Oppo Reno 6 5G sports a 6.43-inch full HD+ display with 1080x2400 pixel resolution. The bright display is protected with a coating of Corning Gorilla Glass on top.

The premium display quality display of the smartphone offers a 90Hz refresh rate. The fast refresh rate of the display offers a smooth scrolling experience on the smartphone. Users can also control the refresh rate and can bring it down to 60Hz if the need be.

The smartphone does not come with adaptive refresh rate support and you will have to manually adjust the refresh rate every time. The display is quite bright and it also reproduces accurate and sharp colours. Along with this, the screen is not at all reflective when used under direct sunlight.

The screen is surrounded by minimal bezels on all sides so enabling you to get the maximum out of the display. The flat-screen display on the Oppo Reno 6 5G also prevents accidental presses and will be liked by many.

Coming to the hardware specs, Oppo Reno 6 5G is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor paired with 8GB of RAM. The smartphone packs 128GB of internal storage. You don't get microSD card support in the handset, which could be a bummer for some as the smartphone offers only one storage option.

Leaving that aside, the 5G-enabled smartphone from Oppo works fine and we didn't notice any lags. The smartphone acts snappily on your commands, whether it is opening apps, switching in between them, browsing the internet for hours with various apps running in the background.

The smartphone does not include a 3.5mm audio jack, which means that you will have to use the USB Type C port for both charging and music. The company is not offering earphones with the smartphone and you will have to purchase one if you want.

Oppo Reno 6 5G also performs well in terms of music. The sound output was fairly loud on speaker and it further gets better over earphones.

Oppo Reno 6 5G sports a triple rear camera setup with 64MP main sensor with f/1.7 aperture, LED flash, 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and 2MP macro camera with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, the company has included a 32MP selfie camera with f/2.4 aperture. The smartphone does deliver a good camera performance.

The 64MP main camera of the Oppo Reno 6 5G manages to deliver vibrant and detailed shots. The images captured during daylight reproduced accurate colour and dynamic range. The shots taken during low light also turned out pretty well. Like the Oppo Reno 6 Pro, the Reno 6 5G also comes with a Night Mode.

The smartphone captures well lit night shots with a good amount of detailing and less amount of noise. One issue we had with the smartphone is that it takes up a lot of time in focusing on the subject in low light.

The ultra-wide-angle lens on the smartphone captured decent images in daylight. The images offer accurate colour reproduction but lack dynamic range. The amount of noise in the images was negligible and you can also capture images in Night Mode with the ultra-wide-angle lens.

Along with this, the Oppo Reno 6 5G comes with features like Cinematic Bokeh Flare video effects and Bokeh Flare Portrait. These modes make use of AI to turn background lights into bokeh light spots. We tested this out and found that while you are able to do this, the quality of the video is naturally a bit over-processed. There is also an AI Highlight Video feature that is able to record bright and vivid videos with not too much light as well. Oppo Reno 6 5G also comes with an Ultra Steady mode which manages to capture steady videos.

The 32MP selfie camera of the smartphone also offers good and detailed selfies. The beauty filter incorporated by the company will be liked by many selfie enthusiasts.

Oppo Reno 6 5G houses a 4,300 mAh battery with 65W fast charging support. The smartphone easily manages to offer a day's battery backup on a single charge. And the support for fast charging works as an added advantage. During our testing, the smartphone charged from 0 to 100% in just 36 minutes. There is no doubt that the battery backup and the fast charging support are one of the key highlights of Oppo Reno 6 5G.

Oppo Reno 6 5G comes with a price tag of $439 (N180,648.50). Its design and form factor makes it stand out in the over-crowded Android smartphone market. Powered by a MediaTek processor, this 5G smartphone does manage to offer a smooth and lag-free performance.

Along with a good design, the Oppo Reno 6 5G offers good cameras and battery backup as well. The support for 65W fast charging further makes the deal more lucrative. So, if you want a pretty and elegant looking smartphone with all the above-mentioned benefits then, you can go for the Oppo Reno 6 5G.

September 27, 2021