OPPO Reno6 Pro 5G Review: Filled with Minor upgrades

We reviewed the Reno5 Pro 5G a few months back, and now Oppo is back with the Reno6 series. Of course, we don’t know how this new refresh that too under 6 months will sit with the existing Reno5 users. But looking at the new Reno6 Pro keeping the Reno5 Pro next to it reveals that the changes aren’t that major on the new phone.

This new Reno6 Pro is being offered in the market in just one storage variant that too with 256GB and at a price tag of INR 39,990. Given how popular Oppo smartphones are for their design and cameras, this new model seems like a decent deal on paper.

We spent a little over ten days with the Reno5 Pro, and here’s our full review.

OPPO Reno6 Pro Specifications

Before starting with the OPPO Reno6 Pro review, let’s have a look at the phone’s specifications.

• Display: 6.55-inch FHD+ resolution, 90Hz refresh rate AMOLED display
• CPU: Octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1200 Processor
• GPU: Mali G-77
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 258GB internal storage
• Software: Android 11 (ColorOS 11.3)
• Main Camera: 64MP (f/1.7) (PDAF) + 8MP ultra-wide-angle + 2MP macro sensor + 2MP mono
• Selfie Camera: 32MP (f/2.4)
• Connectivity: USB Type C, Wi-Fi 802.11ax,ac, Bluetooth v5.1, GPS/ A-GPS, FM Radio
• Cellular: Dual SIM
• Fingerprint Scanner: Yes, in-display
• Battery: 4,500mAh, Li-ion Polymer, 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging

Box Contents

Here’s a complete list of items you get inside the box:

• OPPO Reno6 Pro smartphone
• 65W SuperVOOC fast Charger
• USB Type C Cable
• Earphones
• Sim Ejector Tool
• Documentation

Design

The Reno6 Pro follows the same design language as the outgoing Reno5 Pro but in a refined manner. The phone still had a glass sandwich design with a curved display up-front and 3D back glass. The overall construction is solid, and the phone feels premium in hand. We still get Gorilla Glass on the front and back, so no corners have been cut here.

This time around, the brand has gone with a different colour choice. We get the phone in either a flashy Aurora shade all over the place with the rainbow feel, while the Stellar Black is plain matte. There is a quad-rear camera module, and this is where you would notice a difference compared to Reno5 Pro. The module here is a bit more squared-out with slight curves on the corners.

The module is flushed to the back for the most part. On flipping the phone around, we get to see the gorgeous curved AMOLED display that is one of the highlighting features of the phone. Moving to the button and port placement, the power button is on the right side, while the volume rockers are placed on the left rail. The 3.5mm audio jack has been removed on this speaker, and the USB Type-C port sit on the bottom, while the earpiece is sandwiched between the display and the outer frame.

Display

Honestly, we didn’t find any noticeable difference in the display on this new model compared to the older one. The phone gets a 6.55-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a single punch-hole for the selfie camera. It has a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. Given the competition, we would have liked a 120Hz refresh rate, but the jump from 60Hz to 90Hz is more noticeable for the majority of the buyers.

The display gets a handful of colour profiles on the new ColorOS build, something we didn’t like. The phone out of the box is set to a Vibrant colour profile to show display prowess. The panel still sustains the HDR certification and the blue light filter. HDR kicks in certain apps like YouTube and PrimeVideo while you get 1080p support on Netflix, which will be fixed in a coming update.

Overall, the display gets plenty bright, has good colours, and is ideal for content consumption.

Software

Moving to the software, the phone gets the latest version of ColorOS, which is now more polished than the previous versions. With the unified experience going forward, it will be interesting to see if ColorOS gains some features from OxygenOS. The phone runs on Android 11 with ColorOS 11.3 out of the box. You get a flair of customization options, from changing the themes to wallpapers, icons, and more, since ColorOS at its core is basically a decked-out skin on top of Android.

The UI is packed with features like the Game Mode, Dark Mode, and the OPPO Relax. There has been liberal use of AI done here from camera to display to performance. With this new build of ColorOS, we got to see less bloatware which is always welcomed. Since the phone comes with an AMOLED panel, you get to see Dark mode here, Always On Display with many pre-sets and Edge lighting.

Performance

Performance is where the Reno6 Pro takes the lead from the outgoing Reno5 Pro. The phones come powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC, a 5G capable chip from MediaTek. Dimensity 1200 also brings some core and exciting technologies at a lower price point than Qualcomm chips like Wi-Fi 6, 5G carrier aggregation, and more than 5G bands in general.

The Dimensity 1200 from MediaTek is somewhat comparable to the Snapdragon 865+ or the newer Snapdragon 870 in terms of benchmarks and performance. This reflects in the day-to-day performance as well. We have lately seen many other Dimensity 1200 powered smartphones performing at par with the Snapdragon options.  During our extensive phone testing, we didn’t really notice any significant lags or overall sluggishness in the UI.

The RAM management on the Reno6 Pro was on-point, and the brand has indeed worked quite extensively on improving the ColorOS 11 experience. The newest addition here is the Expanded Virtual RAM; this is something that Oppo and other BBK owned brands are implementing on their products. But, again, the Dynamic RAM worked like a charm, helping the phone pull through demanding tasks.

We did some gaming, and games like PUBG and Asphalt 9 ran fine on medium to high graphics settings very smoothly. The call quality, too, is great, and the speakers’ audio is loud and clear for the most part. The brand has also fixed the flow in-display fingerprint sensor performance, which was a pain on the Reno5 Pro.

Camera

The OPPO Reno6 Pro comes with a quad-rear camera module, with the main camera being a 64-megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture, assisted with an 8-megapixel wide-angle shooter with f/2.2 aperture. There’s also a 2-megapixel unit for macro shots, and another 2-megapixel unit is a mono lens. As for the front, the phone boasts a 32-megapixel shooter with a slightly wider lens.

This is the same setup we saw on the Reno5 Pro. The main difference here is the implementation of AI modes and how it has impacted the camera performance. The images taken by the main sensor are sharp, have lots of detail, and bear natural colours. The dynamic range is excellent, as well. However, the low-light performance is just average as the phone struggled in bringing out quality shots. For taking darker shots, we would recommend switching on the Night mode that helps in achieving good results.

The wide-angle camera, while not as good as the primary sensor, produces decent results. The other two lenses are useless for serious photography buffs and, in our opinion, are placed on the phone to validate the quad-rear camera notion.  The front camera impresses as well, with the main 32-megapixel Sony IMX616 sensor pumping out consistently well selfies that have plenty of detail in them. In addition, the skin tones are on the richer side.

The phone lets you shoot videos in 4K60 fps though the footage is not stable. For better results, we would be suggesting bringing the resolution down to 1080p because this is when the stabilization feature kicks in.

Battery

This new model has boosted the battery, and we now get a fairly decent 4,500mAh battery under the hood. The phone lasted for a full working day with a screen ranging from six to seven hours on medium to heavy usage during our testing. Of course, our heavy usage included a bit of gaming, content consumption, usual texting, and high camera usage.

What is common these days on Oppo phones is the support for 65W fast charging. Using OPPO’s proprietary SuperVOOC 65W fast charging tech, we could charge the phone to 50% in under 20 mins, and a full top-up was done in a little over 40 minutes.

Verdict – Should you buy it?

While the jump from the previous Reno models was large, the same cannot be said for the Reno6 Pro. The phone carries the Reno series DNA; it’s got a premium design, a vivid display, decent battery life, and a more than able processor. The cost for this one can also be justified given the slight modifications and the 256GB variant.

For INR 39,990 and even lower during sales, the Reno6 Pro is an enticing deal for both offline and online buyers. While the phone has certainly gained when compared to the last-gen model, it still has some room for improvement. We would have liked the display refresh rate kicked up to 120Hz to match the current trend, and a pair of stereo speakers could prove a great addition to that gorgeous display, and most importantly, that main 64MP sensor is showing its age, a replacement for it is very much needed.