OPPO Reno 10X Hybrid Zoom Review
If you're looking for a phone that stands out, you might want to take a closer look at the OPPO Reno 10x Lossless Zoom Edition.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✓ Great Camera | ✖ Big and bulky |
| ✓ Notch-free | ✖ No headphone jack |
| ✓ Amazing haptic motor |
If you're looking for a phone that stands out, you might want to take a closer look at the OPPO Reno 10x Lossless Zoom Edition. With the asymmetrical shark fin camera module, you're about to turn some heads on the street.
Priced under $600, it's a good compromise between a flagship and a mid-range phone.
SEE ALSO: OPPO Joined The 5G Battle With Reno Series, First 5G Smartphone
Exterior
With a 6.6-inch notch-less display, OPPO Reno has one of the largest screens I've seen so far among recent flagships.
The phone is quite thick due to the concealed camera module and the large battery (we’ll get to those in a minute). Even though it airs on the bulky side, it doesn’t put me off. You can tell there are some powerful specs hidden underneath the chassis. But for small-handed friends, you should consider yourselves warned.
The back has a smoothed out matte finish. Many manufacturers have recently chosen glossy glass finishes, which look great but immediately gets covered in fingerprint smudges. In my opinion, the matte cover looks and feels more luxurious.
The camera module is completely smoothed down, so you don’t have to worry about the phone wobbling when put on a flat surface, something that became a pet-peeve of mine after testing the Xiaomi Mi 9 with its ghastly protruding camera module. Like most flagships these days, the 10x Lossless Zoom doesn’t have a headphone jack. If headphone jack is a must, you can opt for the basic OPPO Reno model which does come with the 3.5mm headphone port.
Camera
The most eye-catching feature of this phone is definitely the asymmetrical camera module. Some people refer to it as the shark fin, which I find is a pretty accurate description of the unique design.
From a technical perspective, this is possibly one of the more innovative and solid designs for a movable module, but aesthetically an acquired taste. At first sight, it looks odd. But the more I toyed with it, the more it grew on me. Since the sensor is placed on the side due to the module construction, you'd have to turn the phone slightly in order to be centered when taking selfies.
OPPO says the fin can open and close 200,000 times without damage, which is equivalent to opening it 100 times a day for five years. Also if you drop it, the camera retracts by itself to avoid damage.
As for the rear triple camera setup, Reno's performance is great. The camera is very responsive with a powerful auto-stabilizer, which decreases the risk of accidental blurry photos. The level of saturation in the photos is also good, and the colors look true to life. In the ultra-wide angle mode, there is minimal distortion on the edges, and the overall exposure and contrast look balanced.
In default mode, the photo looks crisp and natural. When zooming in to 2x, 6x, 10x, and the newly updated 60x, colors remain consistent throughout. At 60x zoom, you might want to use a tripod as there’s no way to keep your hands steady enough for a clear photo.
When taking pictures in low light settings, the camera is still snappy. You barely have to wait for the system to calibrate. However, in normal mode, there tends to be some lens flaring at night, which is probably just the algorithm working its magic to reduce noise. This problem is solved when taking pictures using night mode and the picture as a whole appear brighter. Also, there's a chance that the lens flare problem will be fixed in future software updates.
Gaming
The big display provides a very immersive gaming experience. It just feels like you're seeing so much more with the full notch-less display. The smooth animation brought along by its great performance is a treat. If gaming is your thing, you can also opt for a configuration with more RAM.
Even with the settings on max, I haven't had a problem with lag or spiky performance yet after gaming for a few hours. However, even though the device has a liquid cooling system, it still does heat up after prolonged usage.
Software and Battery
It has a 4,065mAh battery which is more than enough to last you throughout a day. For an average user, there's really no need to carry a power bank. It also charges really fast using the VOOC 3.0 flash charge. When we tested it, it reached 48% in 30 min.
OPPO Reno 10x Lossless Zoom utilizes the top of the line Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. The GPU is Adreno 640, which can handle pretty much everything you throw at it, especially on a 1080p display. It also runs on OPPO's latest ColorOS 6, which is built on top of Android 9 Pie. ColorOS 6 is based on mixing a white backdrop with light color gradients. A new major feature of that comes with the operating system is the new universal font OPPO Sans.
I also can't help but bring up the phone's haptic motor that produces the vibrations when “pressing buttons” on the display. Reno's haptic motor provides a very satisfying and tactile experience. When you zoom on the scale in the camera, you feel a tiny but precise vibration with each tick. Typing using the keyboard is also delightful. Instead of a vibration in the general area of the key that you'd get with other phones, the Reno gives you a very exact tap at the exact spot you put your finger on. It is a rather ineffable, and really just something must be experienced to understand. Even though it's small, it's a detail that really stood out to me and it makes the phone feel a lot more high tech.
Conclusion
This phone has a solid set of specs, the design looks great and the no-notch screen is a real treat. Keep in mind that this is a rather large phone though, so don’t expect it to fit in your average women jeans pockets. Overall the OPPO Reno 10x Lossless Zoom is a well-rounded phone suitable for both hardcore gamers and aspiring photographers.
