Reno 4 Pro comes as another beautiful handset from Oppo with a 90Hz display, a magnificent design, and a decent battery but its Rs 34,990 price seems too high against the OnePlus Nord’s. India Today Tech finds out if the Reno 4 Pro is worth buying in the review.
Back in March, when I began reviewing the Reno 3 Pro, I had high expectations from the device simply because it is coming from Oppo and falls under the mid-range. But my expectations did not meet with what Oppo claimed with the device. No doubt it is a beautiful phone but its specifications and overall performance left me wanting more. After a few months, we have the successor to it, the Reno 4 Pro. With Reno 4 Pro, Oppo is addressing some of the shortcomings the Reno 3 Pro brought along. Although, the naming is kind of intriguing, given Chinese brands believe ‘4’ is an unlucky number. Anyway, the Reno 4 Pro takes forward the legacy of Reno-series phones of being one of the most beautiful smartphones in the market. It even takes things up a notch with a powerful mid-range processor, an AMOLED display, and, most importantly, the 65W fast charging that is the maximum speed commercially available for mobile battery charging. But it also has a hefty price of Rs 34,990, which could be a little difficult to justify, especially against the likes of OnePlus Nord and Realme X3. Should you go for the Rs 34,990-priced Oppo Reno 4 Pro for the chasm it brings to the table against the rivals or just skip it? Here is our review to help you decide that. If I were asked to judge a competition on who can make the most beautiful smartphones in the mid-range, I would choose Oppo year after year. The Reno series brings about a premium touch to them that cannot be ignored and the reason why I am telling you that is because I like the matte finish on a smartphone more than the shimmery one. If you like flashy colour tones, such as those on Realme phones, you will feel the design on Reno 4 Pro a little too boring. It is a well-made slab of glass frosted all over on the back, except for the cuboidal area on the top left where the cameras are given. The way these cameras are placed on the back emanate a level of plushness to the Reno 4 Pro. These are individual circular modules stacked vertically without any bridge or material connecting them. The modules are big and sit stoutly on the back, to jut out quite much. While this design is pleasing to eyes, it is not utilitarian much — you may end up scratching the camera glasses if you do not encase the smartphone with some the thickness equal to that of these camera islands. Towards the side of these cameras, there is «INNOVATIVE QUADCAM» written possibly as a marketing pitch. Reno 4 Pro comes in Starry Night and Lunar White colours and the subject of this review is the latter. I tried the speaker, which is located inside the grille on the bottom, and found them quite average. There is nothing special about the speakers, even though the smartphone comes with Dolby Atmos. The fingerprint sensor is integrated on the display, the performance of which I will talk about a little later. Then, you have the 3.5mm headphone jack, which does not make a difference now, given the wireless earbuds have gone extremely mainstream now. The power button is reachable from the thumb in your right hand and the fingers when held in the left hand. Reno 4 Pro has a 6.55-inch Full-HD+ (1080×2400 pixels) AMOLED display with the Always-On feature, which I find very useful. There is a punch-hole on the display on the left, but this one is a tad smaller than what I have seen on other smartphones. Since it is an AMOLED panel, the colour reproduction is nearly accurate, things can look natural and oversaturated depending on the display settings. Watching movies and shows on it is an enjoyable experience. The blacks in shows such as The Witcher and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are produced quite well. Even the photos look very appealing on it, because of the large real estate. It is a 90Hz panel, which means I can see everything happening on the screen a lot smoother than I would if I dial down to 60Hz from the settings.
