
Competing against the dominance of OnePlus in the Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 price category isn't an easy feat. OnePlus' hardware clubbing flagship processor (even though a generation old now) and a good camera, aren't easy to ignore. The Reno 4 Pro priced at Rs 34,990 is a neat piece of hardware, but it falls short on a few fronts.
A rather good-looking smartphone, the Reno 4 Pro has a premium build quality. Frankly, if you hide the OPPO branding from the rear, I would easily believe it to be a Samsung flagship. Even though it houses a 6.5-inch display, Reno 4 Pro doesn't feel huge or uncomfortable to hold. Instead, the matte finish at the rear awards it a comfortable grip - unlike glossy ones that are super slippery to hold.
The matte finish also prevents it from attracting finger impressions. However, soft finish at the front and the rough finish at the rear was a disconnect for me. Moving on, the sleek and lightweight design along with a few neat tricks ensures the phone can be operated comfortably with just one hand. For instance, the smart sidebar has necessary tools such as screenshots, screen recording, calculator and I was able to add more apps including email, browser, Otter to name a few. There is also an option to resize the keyboard for one-hand operation.
Complementing the design is the 6.5-inch screen with 90Hz refresh rate and 2400 x 1080 resolution, which is bright to look at. With the display slightly curved from the side and blending into the sleek bezels, there wasn't any hindrance around the display. The small punch hole for a selfie camera didn't bother me as it doesn't interfere much while streaming or gaming. I loved streaming movies and shows over Hotstar and Amazon Prime on this smartphone. Also, because I didn't have to worry about the battery as the 65W adaptor bundled in the box juices this up rather quickly (full 100 % in less than 40 minutes).
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Powered by a Snapdragon 720G processor, the Reno 4 Pro was good enough for fetching emails, browsing the web, streaming videos, playing games and calling. I didn't encounter any lag or there wasn't any issue of the device heating up either. However, it doesn't match up to the performance and experience of what the OnePlus 7T (a couple of grands expensive) offers. Powered by 8GB of RAM, Reno 4 Pro comes with 128GB of internal storage, of which 110 GB was user-accessible. Besides, there is also a dedicated memory card slot, which I believe is a good idea as one can use this extra storage while exploring the new and interesting modes accessible in the camera app.
The neat vertical camera setup at the rear comprises four lenses - 48MP Sony IMX586 primary lens, 8MP wide-angle lens, 2MP macro lens, and 2MP portrait lens. As the case with most of the 48MP camera phones, using pixel binning the default photo captured is at 12MP resolution. The photo mode allows to quickly toggle between 2x, 5x as well as the ultra-wide view. However, when switched to 48MP resolution from settings, ultra-wide and zoom options were not accessible. In the default photo mode, OPPO has added a color Dazzle mode that identifies the subject for better results.
When focused on the magazine, it identified it as text and when I got a little close, the camera switched to macro mode. Oppo has added some nice fancy modes for portrait mode too. I loved the AI colour portrait where only the subject was coloured with the background captured in monochrome. The night flare portrait blurs the background lights giving good effects. Overall, I was impressed with images captured using the main camera as well as the portrait mode. Images were sharp with accurate colour reproduction when shot in well-lit surroundings. However, I think there is scope of improvement when it comes to low-light photography. I also enjoyed shooting videos with the Reno 4 Pro. Other than capturing stable videos, I loved the AI Colour Portrait mode that performs in a similar way as in the photo mode. Also, there are crimson, forest green and sky-blue filters that only capture shades of red, green and blue respectively, while recording everything else in monochrome. Despite a few shortcomings, the Reno 4 Pro is a smooth performer but the price tag of Rs 34,990 is a bit on the higher side.
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