It might not have been making the sort of headlines that OnePlus (its cousin?), Pixel and Samsung’s flagships have been making, but Chinese brand Oppo has
It might not have been making the sort of headlines that OnePlus (its cousin?), Pixel and Samsung’s flagships have been making, but Chinese brand Oppo has been bringing a number of innovations to the phone-y world. And doing so with a touch of class – something which comes to the fore in the just-launched Oppo Reno 10x Zoom (henceforth referred to as the Oppo Reno for the sake of simplicity). What’s more, this time, the class comes at a surprisingly affordable price, by Oppo and Android flagship standards.
Oppo says that the Reno series of devices is going to be targeted at the youth. That may be the case but its design would appeal to a wide spectrum of users. The front and back are glass, Gorilla Glass to be exact (6 in front, 5 at the back, if you are a version junkie) and at a time when most phones seem to be following near identical design templates when it comes to glass, Oppo has taken a very different route with the Reno. We got the Ocean Green unit (it is also available in a more routine Jet Black) and it was fascinating to see how it seemed to change shades, moving from a touch of blue to imbibing just a hint of purple, as light fell on it – we have seen something similar in other phones (the S10 is a prime example), but Oppo’s handling is by far the most classy implementation we have seen. A far cry from the slightly louder “gradient” finish we are seeing in so many phones these days. What also separates the Reno from the glass back crowd is a thin strip in the center just below the three cameras (none of which protrude, a rarity again) which contains a tiny sphere (such Sony Ericsson feels!), and also the Oppo branding and the words “Designed by Oppo.” At a time when most phones are beginning to resemble twins separated at carnivals, the Oppo Reno is one phone that you are in no danger of mistaking for any of its rivals.
