OPPO starts the year with a bang as they update their Portrait Expert lineup with the all new OPPO Reno11 Series 5G smartphones consisting of the base OPPO Reno11 5G and the more souped-up brother, the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G. Missing in action is the Pro+ version which we’re not sure if we’ll still be seeing considering the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G is already a powerhouse when it comes to photography, performance, and a sense of absolute style.
As the main mid-range line for the brand, the OPPO Reno11 Series 5G is all about giving users true flagship experience at a much more affordable price-range. With the OPPO Reno11 5G and the OPPO Reno 11 Pro 5G, we feel the brand has achieved this – especially for the Pro 5G variant.
What makes this a stand-out piece is a good mixture of excellent hardware, choice design and engineering, as well as a stellar new OS that makes productivity much more intuitive and free-flowing. The OPPO Reno 11 Pro 5G has all the hallmarks of a great flagship device all staying within a very acceptable mid-range price category.
Geek-sthetic
Let’s start with the looks. For design, the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G comes in two stellar colors inspired by natural elements: Rock Grey for a slate-like looking device, and the Pearl White, which is the focus of this review (and what we feel is the “hero” product for this variant).
The OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G’s 3D curved glass back design has a naturalistic satin shimmer, allowing for great smudge-free hand-feel whenever you take the phone out for a spin. For the Pearl White, the wizards at OPPO combined 3 varying design layers into one glass incorporating 3.6 million tiny reflective surfaces to create each phone’s unique pattern. Since the pattern isn’t printed on like a stencil, no two Reno11 Pro 5G glass backs are said to be the same.
When the light hits the reflective surface, the mother-of-pearl-like design seems to create a gently wave-like pattern conveying lazy afternoons in some high-end resort. Quite early to be thinking about summer, but the hero colors from the Reno11 Series 5G phones evoke the feeling of luxurious escapism.
This backplate is further accentuated by the chromed-out Sunshine Ring camera system which we will be looking further later.
The OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G is also slimmer and lighter than its predecessor at 181g and 7.66mm thin (7.59mm for the Rock Grey version). And with ultra-thin chrome bezels, you get more screen-to-body (93%) on the display so you can enjoy consuming all the content on the phone’s 6.7” curved OLED screen.
Binge-Watching Factor
The large 6.7” curved OLED FHD+ (2412×1080) with up to 120Hz refresh rate support screen gives you enough multimedia real estate to enjoy binging on shows and favorite clips on the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G. Aside from having immensely thin bezels at 1.57mm thin, the display of the unit also supports up to 1-Billion colors and is HDR10+ certified as well – ensuring that colors and images are as accurate and as crisp as possible.
The dual-firing audio speakers are loud enough without the need to max the volume out for more immersive experiences.
Because of the thin and lightweight form-factor of the unit, it’s easy to hold the phone up while you enjoy a bit of screen time before going to bed. I mean, even if the phone accidentally falls on your face, because of the rounded edges, it’s not going to hurt as much (but yes, please don’t let this happen to you).
Gaming Prowess
Now powering all this goodness is a 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 8200 chipset and 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM (+12GB Extended RAM) supported further by a whopping 512GB UFS3.1 Internal Memory. This setup allows the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G to play today’s popular mobile games with relative ease. We tested it on our usual roster and as you can already expect, games like Mobile Legends: Bang-Bang and Asphalt 9 performed exceptionally well while more demanding titles like Genshin Impact suggests that you clock some of the graphics down a bit so that you can enjoy the game with consistent framerates.
We tried to push the framerate to 60 fps, and we got an overclocked notification on the game. Still for the few minutes on 60fps, the gameplay was smooth through and through. We did, however, detect the phone heating faster more than if you keep the game at a solid 30fps.
Geek Photoshoot Capabilities
On paper, the camera set-up of the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G doesn’t seem to differ than that of its predecessor. It still comes with the same triple camera setup from the OPPO Reno10 Pro 5G: a 50MP f/1.8 main with SONY IMX 890 sensor with OIS, a 32MP f/2.0 telephoto with SONY IMX 709 sensor, and an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera with SONY IMX355 sensor. The phone also has the same selfie cam set up with a 32MP f/2.4 front-facing shooter with a SONY IMX 709 sensor.
So, what’s new this time around?
The processing power – and the quality of photos. Oh, and OIS on the main 50MP cam this time around.
The OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G maximizes the already robust hardware from previous gen and makes sure that you get a real flagship photography experience from the phone.
Colors are more accurate, images are sharper, and the bokeh effect are much more natural this time around. The 5X Optical zoom on the phone is incredible as well – showcasing crisp images mimicking results from more expensive telephoto cameras.
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- Ultrawide
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- 1x
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- 2x
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- 5x
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- Ultrawide inside Car
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- 5X focusing on fountain
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- Ultrawide
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- 1x
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- 2x
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- 5x
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- ultrawide
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- 5x
Even at low light, the night mode makes good use of the hardware and software component of the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G allowing better image rendering and less noise. The OIS takes center stage in situations like these.
As the phone inheriting the Portrait Expert monicker, Portrait photos stand-out as well. With rich, natural-looking bokeh and clear subject and background separation, you’re bound to find that perfect portrait shot with ease. And yes, even in low light situations, you can create awesome images as well.
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- Portrait Night time
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- Selfie Portrait 0.8x
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- Selfie Portrait 1x
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- Selfie Portrait 2X
As for videography, the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G can shoot up to 4k @30fps on both the rear-camera and front-facing cameras (finally) of the phone. The 512GB of storage should come in handy if you want to shoot everything at 4K.
When the brand claimed that they want their users to get a flagship-like photography experience on a mid-range phone for this series, they weren’t kidding. You really do get flagship-level results.
Everyday Reliability
Like its predecessor, the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G comes with 4600mAh of battery and an 80W SUPERVOOC Flash Charger allowing you to charge the phone to full in less than 30 minutes. OPPO’s Battery Health Engine also intelligently manages hardware and software to keep battery degradation at bay.
But while these technologies may not be entirely new, what’s new this time around is that the OPPO Reno11 Series 5G comes with the latest ColorOS 14 (based of Android 14) out of the box. With the new OS, there’s a ton of new productivity features that open up with just a few tap.
One of which is the inclusion of a smart slider File Dock where not only does it have quick access to your most used apps, you can easily pin images, text, and documents that you may already have in your file folder or stuff you find on your browser.
Android 14 ushers in the helpfulness of Ai to help streamline processes and nothing says that better than Smart Image Mapping.
It works, well, pretty much like magic – or a really good photoshop natively enabled on your phone. Simply open the photo you’d like to create a drop-out of and click the subject.
Wait for the magic to happen and voila, you now have an image with a transparent PNG background. Easy for you to pin on your File Dock so you can easily drag it to a photo-editing app, or note pad.
The File Dock isn’t only restricted to your phone as well. You can connect your OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G with your ColorOS14 tablet without the need for a USB-C cable. If you have the same OPPO account turned on you can seamlessly transfer data from one device to another pretty much on the fly.
The future is bright and optimized with OPPO Reno11 5G Series. What’s more, OPPO guarantees that the series will have 48 months fluency. This means that in 4 years’ time, your OPPO Reno11 Series 5G should run as if you got it from day 1.
Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict
The official retail price of the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G is at Php 31,999 and while a few thousand pesos more than its predecessor (the OPPO Reno10 Pro 5G was priced at Php 29,999), you are getting an updated processor, improved software, AND 512GB of internal memory. For the price, and the many features that it has – especially on productivity and photography—this phone is well worth it. Usually refresh models don’t excite us as much, but the OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G is one of the few exceptions that did.
Pre-orders for the phone start from Feb 1 to Feb 8 and come with a LOT of perks and freebies. For starters, everyone who pre-ordered from official OPPO offline and online stores will be getting a FREE S39 Ambient Light Bluetooth Speaker (including free shipping and 0% installment via LazPayLater and SPayLater). If you have an existing My OPPO account, OPPO Reno11 Series 5G users can get the following starting Feb 1, 2023 (until supplies last):
- 4,500 Mabuhay Miles from Philippine Airlines
- 100 PICKUP Points from PICKUP COFFEE
- Billow Minis from BASH
- Php 200 voucher from Bistro Group
- Php 100 gift code from Zalora
- Php 100 gift code from Sodexo
- Exclusive to new My OPPO users – Php 200 gift code from Zalora
- Exclusive to old My OPPO users – Php 500 gift card from Sodex
For more information, check out the official social media page of OPPO Philippines.
OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G Specs:
- MediaTek Dimensity 8200 (4nm)
- Mali-G610 MC6
- 12GB (+12GB) RAM / 512 GB ROM
- 6.7-inch OLED FHD+ display (2412×1080), 120Hz refresh rate, 950 nits max brightness
- Rear Camera: 50MP f/1.8 main with SONY IMX 890 sensor with OIS + 32MP f/2.0 telephoto with SONY IMX 709 sensor + 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera with SONY IMX355 sensor
- Front-Facing Camera: 32MP f/2.4 with SONY IMX 709 sensor with autofocus
- 3G, LTE, 5G, SIM+ Hybrid SIM Slot, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, USB Type-C
- Wi-Fi 6, GPS, under display fingerprint sensor, ai face recognition
- Dual Speakers, Dolby Atmos
- 4600mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC Charger
- ColorOS 14 based on Android 14
- Pearl White, Rock Grey
- Price: 31,999