OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Geek Lifestyle Review | A Flagship Worth the Wait

OPPO has become a major brand in the Philippines since the introduction of it “selfie expert” smartphone line, the F-series. The F-series though, is a decidedly mid-range line of phones, meaning OPPO’s dominance in the PH market is mostly in the mid-range. Though with the Reno 10x Zoom, OPPO is setting its sights on the flagship segment.

The Reno 10x Zoom isn’t necessarily the brand’s first attempt at launching a flagship phone, OPPO tried their luck with the Find-X last year. While it garnered praise for its innovative pop-up module, it was met with some resistance given its high price-point.

Photo taken with the OPPO Reno 10x

With the new Reno 10x Zoom though, OPPO seems to have learned a lot from last year’s flagship. We’ve spent about a week’s time with the 10x, and we’re mighty impressed with what the phone can do. With that, here is our Geek Lifestyle Review of the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom!

Geeksthetic

Look at that Beaut!

OPPO placed a lot of emphasis on design when creating the Reno and the Reno 10x. From the very obvious thin-framed full-screen display, to the nifty shark fin pop-up camera, the engineers and designers at OPPO went through lengths to ensure that this phone catches the eye.

When you flip the phone around, the Reno 10x’s looks just as elegant and luxurious as from the front. Overall, OPPO’s new flagship is one attractive-looking smartphone!

Binge-Watching Factor

Because of the near borderless AMOLED screen with a stunning 93.1% screen-to-body ratio, the OPPO Reno 10x will give you an immersive viewing experience. The massive 6.65” super clear display coupled with Dolby Atmos Speakers is definitely a great match for binge-watching. We had a fun time re-watching all 3 Seasons of My Hero Academia on the OPPO Reno 10x over the course of this review (We cannot wait for Season 4! HUHU).

Capture Everything (except maybe the moon)

Finally, an OPPO I can take amazing videos with! The OPPO Reno 10x is  OPPO’s best camera phone to date. Here’s a rundown of the triple lens action happening at the back: a 48MP (IMX586) main camera, an 8MP wide angle camera and a 13MP telephoto camera that allows you to do 10x Hybrid Zoom naturally. If you want to push the technology even further, the OPPO Reno 10x can go up to 60x  digital zoom! That’s the most a smartphone has ever claimed.

Current “decent” 60x photo of the moon. Handheld.

Of course, at that point, photos become a bit janky unless you have the proper equipment to support your phone. While the 60x zoom leaves much to be desired, we’re hoping that a firmware update could help improve the camera algorithm even further. I mean, we experienced the same thing with the Huawei P30 Pro, a phone that has 40x zoom capabilities. Hopefully OPPO can put the update as soon as possible so there’s more reason to go full 60x. If we’re sticking with just 10x zoom and below, though, photos look mighty fine. Here are some sample shots:

SET A – Greenbelt Bridgeway (Afternoon)

Set B – Buildings and Scenery

Set C – Let’s try a live subject

Night Mode On – Taking Night-time photography is made easier because of OPPO’s Night Mode capabilities. While not as crisp as other flagships, we feel that with a software update this could be improved upon.

The OPPO Reno also has a color enhancing mode called Dazzle Color which you can turn on or off prior to taking your photos.

Image seems more vibrant when you turn the Color Dazzle on.

But more than photos, the OPPO Reno 10x has pretty amazing video capture capabilities. Touting double OIS and the capability to shoot 60fps at 4K makes the Reno 10x a superb content creator companion. The unit that we got is equipped with an internal storage of 256GB – that’s more than what a lot of flagships carry (standard is 128GB). PLUS you can expand the memory even further if you want to!

Aside from video recording prowess, OPPO outdid themselves by including 3D Audio and Audio Zoom recording capabilities. This allows you to record audio with (more or less) accurate spacial distance from subject being captured. Talk about smart recording!

Gaming Prowess 

With Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset powering the OPPO Reno 10x and a whopping 8G RAM we’re fairly confident with the phone’s gaming capabilities. The full screen display is a godsend and gives you the fullest immersion possible. We tested the phone on a couple of pre-installed games (it comes with PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends) and playing them was a breeze even at Max setting.

But don’t just take our word for it. We had the phone run up against a rigorous 3D benchmarking tool from 3Dmark.

Looks like it beats everyone out! I mean….wow.

One of the best thing from Color OS, OPPO’s User Interface software, is the inclusion of the Game Space App – an app that optimizes your mobile game play by optimizing the experience further. On partnered apps (like Mobile Legends and PUBG Mobile), the Game Space automatically recalibrates resources to accommodate more computing power and block messages or calls that would otherwise interrupt your gameplay (you have the option to turn these on if you wish but honestly this is a useful tool that a lot of other phone manufacturers still haven’t latched on to).

There are 3 preset gaming modes for you to choose from: Competitive, Balanced and Low Power Consumption Mode. Each of them shifts performance to accommodate what you want.

Everyday Reliability

With how powerful the phone is, what it needs is a huge battery pack to support your everyday use, and we’re lucky that OPPO Reno 10x provides just that. Wiht a 4065mAh battery, the OPPO Reno 10x can hold up for quite a while before the need to charge again – depending of course on your usage. But regardless of your use, the OPPO Reno 10x is equipped with a VOOC 3.0 charger which performs 20% faster than before. The Reno 10x apparently features a triple cooling system to prevent from unwanted overheating.

Whoa!Best part about the OPPO Reno 10x? The Price. While most flagship with specs like these start at above Php 50,000, OPPO Reno 10x Zoom will only set you back at Php 45,990. Pretty steady stuff. With the tech involved and the innovations poured into this gorgeous machine, that’s a price that’s quite hard to come by.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict – 10/10

Overall, OPPO has itself a winner with the launch of the OPPO Reno and the Reno 10x. Having a price-point that’s slightly lower than competing flagships and yet able to deliver similar, if not better specs and features is something the public should definitely take notice of. With the Reno, they were able to deliver high-spec performance, a design that’s totally ownable (not to mention sleek and drop-dead gorgeous) and a price-point that’s hard to beat. And while there may be a bit of hiccups when it comes to maximizing the 60x Zoom capabilities, these are tweaks easy to fix with an update patch. We’re happy that the hardware is there to support it. This is easily a contender for best smartphone release of 2019.

I cannot wait for what the company has to offer for the flagship market moving forward! Congrats on the launch of Reno OPPO, it has been a long time coming!

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Specs:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 octa-core processor
• Adreno 640 GPU
• 6GB/8GB RAM
• 65-inch Full HD+ OLED display, HDR10+ compliant,19.5:9 aspect ratio, Gorilla Glass 6
• 128GB/256GB internal storage expandable
• Dual SIM
• Triple rear cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 Sony IMX 586 main camera with OIS;8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera; 13-megapixel f/3.0 periscope camera with 10x Lossless Zoom and OIS; dual LED flash
• 16-megapixel f/2.0 pop-up front camera
• WiFi, Bluetooth
• Dual band GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC
• In-display fingerprint scanner, face unlock, Dolby Atmos, Game Boost 2.0
• Android 9 Pie with ColorOS 6
• 4065mAh battery with VOOC 3.0 quick charging
• Price Php 45,990