Oppo Reno 3, great camera for a midrange smartphone
When I heard Oppo was launching its Reno3 device in March I was a bit excited because of the hype that was online about it, especially from tech bloggers. So when I finally got my hands on one I was eager to find out what the hype was all about, especially after using the Oppo Reno 2F for a while before it.
The Reno 3 is aesthetically appealing, especially the ‘auroral blue’ device I have and it’s worth the Sh40,000 it retails for in the Kenyan market and when you open the box it kind of hits you in the face. It seems the company paid a lot of attention to two major features – the looks and camera.
The smartphone from the Chinese phone company is not heavy on the hands and weighs 170g, despite packing an Amoled 6.4-inch screen and a big 4025mAh battery.
First, the phone comes with a clear back cover, a SIM ejector, standard earphones and a VOOC 3.0 fast charger… and believe me it charges real fast! I don’t know if I spend too much time on my phone and online, but the battery seems to drain a bit faster than what my experience has been with the Reno 2F.
For me, the biggest selling point in the Reno 3 is the cameras since I love taking photographs (my first love was photography before radio and digital news stole me). The device takes some mean photos with its vertically arranged quad-camera both in natural lighting and with its LED flash.
The effects of it gamble on 48 MP (wide), 13 MP (telephoto), 8 MP (ultra-wide) and 2 MP (B/W) is magnificent in the photos I have taken, as much as I would still love to try more outdoor shots with it after the coronavirus becomes more manageable and share the outcome on my social media pages.
Its Ultra Night Mode also churns some pretty detailed shots too and this makes night photography more fun compared to other phones in the midrange market. This added to its 20x zoom, which helps when you want to take a picture of far away objects.
The 44MP selfie camera hidden in a small tear-drop notch does not disappoint either and can even take excellent portrait selfies, and one is also able to blur the background too in this mode.
On the other hand, those who like shooting videos will fall in love with Reno 3’s 4K videos, and if you prefer, you can still downscale and capture your memorable moments in 1080p, all are crisp clear.
Another feature that I liked is in-screen fingerprint scanner, this is a bold move by Oppo away from the usual back fingerprint reader. For added security, you can choose to use pin pattern or face unlock. I use the pin plus face unlock, and here the face unlock is very fast as it detects my face fast, even in dim light.
The 8 GB RAM, 128 GB storage is apt for the device that is nothing but slow in processing tasks even if you open and work in multiple apps giving one an excellent software experience. I am not big on mobile gaming so I haven’t really stretched its capabilities on that side but Golf Clash experience was smooth.
I have struggled to find fault with the Oppo Reno 3 as my experience has been majorly smooth, and I would gladly recommend the Sh40,000 smartphone to those in the market looking a good midrange device.