OPPO Reno 4 Review: It Is Hard Not To Recommend This One

You would need to know what more the Reno 4 does to guarantee its budget, and why you would pick it…

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Oppo Reno 4 is an excellent device that makes us question why high-end phones exits.

The smartphone was launched in Kenya a couple of weeks ago, and it succeeds the Reno 3 that was loved in the country and other markets.

Oppo appears to have figured out the needs of the Kenya market: that the majority of high-end smartphone buyers don’t see the need to spend a lot of cash on premium phones, but want to experience those high-value features on a package that is not outrageously priced.

And that is where the Reno 4 excels.

It has everything a casual smartphone user who has Kes 40000 chilling around would ask for.

And what are these features:

Well:

1.  The phone has an excellent, OLED and compact 6.4-inch screen. The display is not as big as what we are used to seeing in modern phones because it keeps the phone’s footprint quite small for many hands out there. And yes, it is a light phone at 165g.
2. The device has excellent battery life. the 4015 mAh battery looks normal, but it lasts. You can get two days from a 100% charge if you use it casually. Or between charges. Also, the 65W charger ensures fills it up to 50% by the 25^th minute. Impressive? We think so.
3. The cameras are excellent for the price. Oppo decided to include 4 of them here, so there is a total of 5 cameras in the package (the cutout part on the display would make you think there is a dual system on the front; no, there only one 32 MP unit for your selfies). Those sensors do a superb job, better than the Reno 3 and we are glad Oppo is refining its camera techniques to appeal to as many users as possible. Kudos!

You would need to know what more the Reno 4 does to guarantee its budget, and why you would pick it…

Which is why we have rounded up the best some of our thoughts about the device.

Lett’s talk about that…

Battery

A relatively bigger cell that manages to get the job done by day end.

1. 4015 mAh
2. USB Type-C 2.0
3. VOOC 4.0 fast charging

Again.

Understandably, phone battery capacities have been growing, not as much as we expected, but the size and charging speeds are appreciable. Reno 4 does just that, with a relatively bigger cell that manages to get the job done by day end, and probably a couple of hours the following day.

Oppo has always done a good job in this department, and it is a pleasure knowing that your phone will not die on you, even on a busy day. Obviously, a must-have for a Kes 40000 phone.

Radios and SIMs

The Reno 4 takes in two SIM cards and has space for a microSD card.

1. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
2. 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD for crisp audio when streaming with wireless headsets
3. No NFC, unfortunately, but we have not seen a practical use of the technology in Kenya, at least for most people

The Reno 4 takes in two SIM cards and has space for a microSD card.

This, especially for Kenyans, is a nice addition the majority of people here have two SIM cards, and like putting them in one phone.

The memory card space is particularly essential for people who have a ton of offline media files such as pictures and videos. You are likely going to take a lot of pictures with the Reno 4 because the quad camera at the back takes some of the best images you can get out of a Kes 40K phone. The cameras are even better than what we saw on the Reno 3, which we already loved too.

Which brings us to the next topic of discussion:

Camera performance

There is no object image stabilization here, but you do not need it especially if you are a casual photographer.

1. 32 MP selfie
2. Quad primary: 48 MP main (wide); 8 MP ultrawide. 2 MP macro and 2 MP depth sensor.

It is hard to see the fourth camera in the module because it is tiny, but looking closely, you will see it.

The pill-shaped cutout should also not be confused with a dual-cam selfie; there is only one camera there, a 32 MP sensor.

We have already figured out that Oppo Reno 4 takes great images. This is seen especially on daylight where the sensors take in light to produce some of the best images you can get from a phone, for the price.

There is no object image stabilization here, but you do not need it especially if you are a casual photographer. Nonetheless, it would have been a great addition.

Of course, the camera software is the same like others out there; it will over-expose some shots, especially food images. Contrast is sometime a hit or a miss, but that is something you can correct with a good image editing app.

A ton of shooting modes have been packaged in the software so you can have fun playing around with them.

Here are some sample images:

Software

These are features that ColorOS offers, and are perhaps more than the competition.

1. Android 10
2. ColorOS 7.2

The Reno 4 is one of the few devices that will be updated to Android 11 before the year rolls over. This is good software support from Oppo, which also adds another customization layer under the system named ColorOS.

The skin will also be updated to version 11 in line with Android 11.

At its current state, there are many things you can do with the software; the system-wide dark mode darkens the interface and supported apps; you can choose to use an app drawer or leave it; you can set many security features, including an in-display reader, a face and PIN. The face unlock has a feature that does not display notifications if it senses a new face. And so forth…

These are features that ColorOS offers, and are perhaps more than the competition. They have improved the skin so much that it does not distract a user from enjoying the phone.

Even better is that Oppo does not dish out ads here like the competition. There are few preinstalled apps too, some of which you can get rid of right out of the box. Isn’t that great? We think so too.

Overall performance

The phone performs as expected. It is fast, and executes tasks as expected.

1. Snapdragon 720G
2. Adreno 618 GPU
3. 8 GB of RAM

This is not a slow phone thanks to the used chipset and the available RAM. We are used to seeing mid-range devices pack some punch with capable silicon from either Qualcomm or MediaTek. Kind of surpuring that the Reno 4 chose a Qualcomm chip when the competition is using options from MTK that are priced lower.

But that is a story for another day.

The G in 720G should not be mistaken for chips that ship with 5G support. That wouldn’t be wise for a phone that sells in Kenya where there is no 5G yet.

Which is why the Reno 4 series has another device that is capable of 5G, but for Western markets.

As said, the phone performs as expected. It is fast, and executes tasks as expected.

The only slow-down I have far noticed is when opening the Camera. It takes a couple of seconds, but that is something that can be fixed via software.

Final words

Of course, it lacks lifestyle features such as water and dust resistance; but that is why +50K phones exist.

The Reno 4 package is easy to love. It is sizeable in a sea of big phones, has good battery life, customizable software that will exceed your expectations, very good cameras, and a bright OLED screen. Of course, it lacks lifestyle features such as water and dust resistance; but that is why +50K phones exist.

Kes 40000 looks like a fair price for what you are getting. The Reno 3 started selling at the same price too, but with the Reno 4 around, it is obviously a better buy. We just wish Oppo could slow down releasing upgrades that fast, but it is our understanding the Reno 3 and Reno 4 should co-exist alongside each other.