This evening, OPPO has officially launched two mid-range phones into the Kenya an Market – the Reno 8T 5G and Reno 8T 4G.
I’ve been using the 5G version for some time now and for me it was love at first sight, if only for the looks. The combination of the shimmery sunrise gold colour, the curved screen and the overall simplicity gives the phone a luxurious feel and this is exactly what I look for in the exterior of a device. In my line of work, I have access to a lot of phones, and I’m often confused about which one to keep as a primary but with this one I have no doubt. As was the case with Reno 5, the lightweight super slim Reno 8T has come into my life and fit right in. With the Reno Series, OPPO has blessed us with very beautiful devices.
The OPPO Reno 8T 5G is more than just looks. It is in fact quite a powerful device and in this article we are going to look at some of the features that make it so.
Cameras
At 108MP, the rear camera on this device is one of my favourite features. Phone photography is becoming more and more advanced as demand for great content on the go rises. With this phone, OPPO has covered that gap by putting a premium camera in the hands of mid-range customers. For those who want more advanced photography, the phone comes with a 40x Micro lens with which to zoom in on micro details without losing resolution. The camera also has a 2MP depth sensor.
Content creators are in for good times with this one as it will take high resolution photos which are highly editable without losing substance. The phone offers users a lot of effects which as OPPO puts it, “a full suite of stylizing options and tools gives you tons of ways to alter, enhance, and customize your photos”. With this we are looking at among other features, Bokeh Flare Portrait which blurs the background to make the subject stand out and AI Colour Portrait in which the background is black and white while the subject pops in full colour. With such features and a 32MP selfie camera, selfie lovers have a great camera in their hands.
The cameras are AI enabled to give enhanced results with features like AI scene enhancement. Users also have options for Slow-Mo photography, panorama, timelapse and dual view video among others. A bit of time on your hands and curiosity will have you discovering more features as you familiarize with the phone.
Design
The OPPO Reno 8T 5G cannot be faulted for looks. As mentioned earlier, the shimmery gold colour and 6.7” curved screen gives the phone a premium luxurious look. The back of the phone is let to shine with just a subtle OPPO branding and the camera casing which is surrounded by a band of slightly more pronounced shimmer. I find the cameras quite noticeably raised but that is because I’m coming from the Reno 8 5G whose casing rises more smoothly as one with the rest of the body.
On the right side of the phone is the power button, and on the left we have the volume rockers. As with Reno 8 5G, the SIM tray is at the bottom of the phone along with mic, USB port and speakers. At the top is an additional speaker to complete the dual stereo speaker set up. It does not have a 3.5mm jack.
Performance
The Reno 8T 5G ships out with Android 13, ColorOS 13 and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G chipset. This right here is guaranteed high performance. Add to that 8GB RAM and 256GM ROM for storage and you get a complete picture of the power that the phone packs. You also get the assurance of a smooth experience with no lags even when multitasking between apps or gaming. A refresh rate of 120Hz ensures that the phone has zero motion blur and is quite a pleasure to use.
To power all these, the Reno 8T 5G has a 4800mAh battery and a 67W SuperVOOC fast charger. This charger will get you from zero to 80% in half an hour, and full charge in 44 minutes. As quite a heavy user who is always on phone, I’m able to run a full day on one charge with regular use, but on days when I do a lot of video or games I sometimes need to recharge in the early evening. I’ve never had a battery crisis since I started using this phone, and the Reno series as a whole.
ColorOS
ColorOS is an OPPO user interface that is layered on top of the Android operating system. This gives OPPO users creative freedom to tweak their phones to a great level of personalization, not only in terms of look and feel but other areas like power conservation, convenience tools and app optimization. In the end, users have phones that truly reflect their personalities. It makes perfect sense why this is such an important feature. Because as a client, it is you who remains with the phone in the palm of your hand for days and maybe years on end. It better look like you want it to look. Since the OS is Android based, it has the full spectrum of Android benefits for a safe and up-to date phone.
Conclusion
The OPPO Reno 8T 5G will be retailing for Ksh.49,999/-. For the premium looks, sturdy build and high performance features, I would say this is a worthy investment since you are getting premium features in a mid-range phone. These are features that have been enjoyed by flagship device owners in the past, at a higher price.
