The smartphone with a hidden selfie camera: OPPO Reno2 Review

We were recently given a chance to try out the OPPO Reno2 that features an immersive notch-less display by employing a pretty ingenious way to hide the selfie camera. Released in September 2019, the Reno2 sits roughly between a mid-tier and flagship model from OPPO.

In this review, we hope to help you discover if the OPPO Reno2 is the right smartphone for you and also share what we like and dislike about it. Don’t forget to check out some of the sample photos and videos that we shot on this smartphone as well!

A quick rundown

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the OPPO Reno2:

Display	6.5″ (16.6cm) 2400 by 1080 pixels at 401 PPI Screen Ratio: 93.1% Type: AMOLED on-cell
Chipset	Snapdragon 730G
Memory	RAM: 8GB Storage: 256GB
Main Camera	48MP Ultra-clear Main Camera Sony IMX586 | 1/2.0” Sensor F/1.7 Aperture | OIS13MP Telephoto Lens 1/3.4” Sensor | F/2.4 Aperture | Auto focus8MP Wide Angle Lens 116° | 1/3.2” Sensor2MP Mono Lens 1/5” Sensor | 1.75um large pixels | O6 portrait modeVideo: 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps (gyro-EIS)
Front Camera	Motorized pop-up 16 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm LED Fill Light Video: 1080p@30fps
Battery	4,000 mAh

The full list of specifications can be found here: https://www.oppo.com/sg/smartphone-reno2/specs/

Design

When it comes to smartphone design, OPPO is bold. You’ll almost always find bright and eye-catching gradients in OPPO smartphones. In Singapore, 2 different colour options are available: Luminous Black and Sunset Pink. We were given the Sunset Pink to try out and the best way to describe it is like a light shade of baby pink. It is also beautifully designed with curved edges that make it comfortable to hold in the hands.

The Reno2 comes with a USB 3.1 Type-C connector which we strongly approve of due to the support for faster file transfers. It features fast charging of up to 20W with the included charger with OPPO’s proprietary rapid-charge technology VOOC Flash Charge 3.0.

Users would also be pleased to know that the Reno2 comes with a headphone jack as well.

What we liked ??

Camera, camera, camera & camera

Marketed as a 48MP Quad Camera smartphone, it features an array of 4 cameras flushed at the back of the smartphone. This allows you to switch between 1x, 2x, 5x and wide-angle. The fourth mono lens help to provide depth information when taking a portrait shot.

The 48MP Main Camera

We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of photos taken in daylight. With a 48MP sensor in the main camera, you can still zoom in after taking a photo and still retain clarity. Have a look at some of these shots taken using the main camera to see it for yourself!

Ultrawide Camera

Having an ultrawide lens on your smartphone camera is definitely a joy and the Reno2 did not disappoint. Because of the slightly lower 8MP count in the ultrawide lens, there is a noticeable drop in quality when you do try to zoom into them in post. But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a wide-angle lens? Looking at the picture as a whole, we were definitely satisfied with some of these shots. See them for yourself!

Ultra Steady Video

Tired of shaky footage? There is an option on the Reno2 to activate an Ultra Steady mode when taking videos. We tried it out and there is definitely a drastic improvement! Have a look at the above sample footage which was taken while walking.

The hidden selfie camera

Smartphone companies have employed some pretty innovative methods to hide the front-facing camera. If some of you are wondering why it’s because doing so will provide you with an undisturbed and immersive display. No notch, no camera cut-out, nothing at all!

As for the Reno2, the company has designed a pretty unique pop-up camera that extends out at an angle. It supposedly provides a more rigid structure for the camera instead of a small little nub that sticks out from the top.

OPPO also included a neat little drop-detection feature that will automatically retract the camera the moment it detects a fall. Pretty neat right?

A front-facing LED fill light?!

Thanks in part to the pop-up camera, we were pleasantly surprised to find an LED fill light! Selfie-lovers would definitely kill for a smartphone like this especially when it comes to low-light environments.

Dual SIM or microSD expansion

Especially useful when travelling overseas, the Dual SIM tray allows users to insert a second SIM or expand your storage space with a microSD card by up to 256GB. We honestly find this a really neat feature because you can still remain contactable when travelling abroad even after buying yourself another tourist SIM card. Why doesn’t the iPhone have this?

What we disliked ??

Ultra Dark Mode

In a low light environment, the Ultra Dark Mode on the OPPO Reno2 may not perform as well as some of the other existing smartphones. Even as the overall brightness increase, you will find that most detail is lost or blown out by some of the brighter spots in the image.

Availability

The OPPO Reno2 is now available in Singapore at a recommended retail price of S$899 without a contract. Users can purchase them from online stores like Shopee, Lazada, Qoo10 and telecoms M1, Singtel and Starhub.