Optical zoom seems to be the new obsession in the smartphone camera market, with the likes of Huawei, Honor, and OnePlus trying to beat one another. But before
Optical zoom seems to be the new obsession in the smartphone camera market, with the likes of Huawei, Honor, and OnePlus trying to beat one another. But before any of these companies made their move, OPPO was already playing around with periscope-style zoom lenses. With the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, the company has finally used its own technology to its own advantage. But does the latest OPPO flagship live up to the expectation it set for itself and does it have more to offer than just a great camera? We zoom in to find out.
The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is definitely a sight to behold both front and back. The absence of any notch and the thin bezels on all sides gives the phone a distinct visual identity. Of course, you probably know by now that its spotless face doesn’t come without a cost.
The phone comes in the usual glass-metal-glass sandwich, with the screen protected by Gorilla Glass 6 while the back settles for an older, 5th generation protection. The matte texture on the back glass gives it a bit of a grip and saves it from smudges but for less confident users, OPPO does have a protective case in the box.
Quite noticeable on the back is the lack of a camera bump, with the array almost completely flushed to the glass – Almost; There are some rings around the lenses to prevent them from making direct contact with surfaces. The effect, however, is that the Reno 10x Zoom looks thicker than its contemporaries but it’s almost easily forgotten after some time.
The phone’s “shark fin” or “gum stick” pop camera has more consequences than just providing a notchless screen. Because of the moving parts involved, the Reno 10x Zoom misses out on any formal IP rating. But as OnePlus would try to assure customers, the absence of that expensive certification doesn’t always mean that a phone isn’t, at the very least, resistant to accidental splashes.
As far as hardware is concerned, you won’t be wanting with OPPO Reno 10x Zoom. It pretty much has the top of the line components for this half of the year. For a brief recap, here’s what you will find inside. And if the list looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same set you’ll find in almost high-end flagships launched so far.
• Operating System: Color OS 6 (Android 9 Pie)• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855• RAM: 8 GB• Storage: 256 GB, expandable• Display: 6.6-inch, 2340×1080 OLED• Battery: 4,065 mAh, VOOC 3.0 fast charging
It probably doesn’t require much imagination to figure out that the phone performs like a beast. Of course, part of that can be helped or hampered by the software running on top, which we’ll get to later. Overall, the Reno 10x Zoom can stand tall beside the Samsungs and Huaweis of the market. Of course, we have benchmarks for that but, as always, your actual real-world mileage may vary.
