Evaluation of Reno2 after 1 week of use: very convincing but not suitable for people who “like configuration”

It seems that the product launch cycles of smartphone companies are getting shorter, before we had to wait for 1 year to have a new product, last year, this number was reduced to half a year (6 months), and this year, maybe only 4 months!

In April of this year, OPPO launched Reno product line – marking its 'change of blood', penetrating more deeply into high-end and high-end markets. But 'one shot' to August, the company released successor versions, which is strange. Those who use the first version probably use 'not yet warm' have seen the company release Reno2 !

Is this upgrade version different enough for first-time Reno users to feel 'jealous' or not, and are there any outstanding weaknesses that the company has yet to address in such a short time span?

Harmonious design between 'different' and 'sophisticated'

The point that the company certainly can not change much: Design. We still have a plump, round and with 2 glass backs (the front is Gorilla Glass 6 and the back is Gorilla Glass 5). But this is not a weakness, when the first version Reno had a very good design?

The 'shark fin' selfie camera mechanism has made the name of OPPO Reno

Reno2 will no longer be a Reno smartphone without its distinctive 'shark fin' camera system. This component is not only aesthetic, but also creates an additional area for the company to be able to integrate a flash on the front to help the machine no longer have to use the screen to create light in dark conditions anymore.

And of course, the camera system is motivated to 'yield' the entire front to the screen, so it does not have the difference of cutting points. The Reno2 screen has a 6.5-inch AMOLED display (0.1 inches larger than the Reno, almost negligible), with a resolution of 1080 x 2400. The company claims this is the first screen in the world to receive Full Care Eye Protection Certification. Display Certification of TÜV Rheinland.

I could not confirm this certification, because … I used a lot of smartphones in the past and so far I have not seen any decrease in vision. But one thing can confirm that the quality of this screen is not bad at all. This wallpaper gives bold colors, deep blacks, white balance is quite standard (Reno2 F version I tried slightly yellow), brightness is good enough for outdoor use.

The fingerprint sensor of Reno2 is very fast

Underneath this screen is a fingerprint sensor. This is an optical sensor, so it will still have to shine a light on the user's hand when operating (slightly uncomfortable when used at night), in return, has a very fast reading speed, not inferior to the sensor. capacitance at all. If the company says this is a sensor used in the high-end OnePlus 7 series, I would probably believe it!

The biggest difference, what Reno2 owners can use to show off is that it's not the first generation Reno on the back. There are many versions, but the luminous black version I have here is probably the most beautiful. The back of the glass is glossy black, decorated with a small blue thread.

This road every time there is light on it will reflect back, looks quite like there are LEDs below. The combination of deep black and blue makes Reno2 a different beauty, sophistication and not being 'overshadowed'. This is certainly not true for most smartphones from Chinese manufacturers.

If the back of the Reno2 is not enough to convince you that OPPO pays close attention to the appearance of the product, it is sure that the included case will perform this task. We have a case made of leather, with embossed stitching lines that are completely different from other transparent hard plastic cases.

Thank goodness we still have the 3.5mm music port!

Finally we will go to the bottom edge of the machine, with USB Type-C port supporting VOOC 3.0, we will test more clearly in the following. Right next to that we have speaker holes, with high volume and also less distortion, but with the drawback is that it is single speaker, can not give high quality stereo speaker system.

This drawback is quickly 'appeased' with the 3.5mm music port, which I and many other people who listen to music with other wired headphones are still not ready to give up!

Camera system 'take nice pictures'

The biggest weakness of the first generation Reno camera system is the lack of diversity, and it was quickly fixed in this Reno2 version. We have up to 4 rear cameras, including the main camera 48MP, super wide 8MP, 2x 13MP zoom and a black and white sensor.

Reno2 focal lengths: Ultrawide, conventional, 2x zoom and 5x zoom

Adding a super wide camera is one of OPPO's right decisions, and I personally think this camera is far more useful than those cameras that are 'zoomed in' to a point where unnecessary on the Reno 10x Zoom. The company also allows users to zoom to 5x, 10x or 20x on Reno2, but in practice, this is only electronic zoom, will be 'used' at 5x again.

Reno2's ultra-wide camera is subjective evaluation, still lost to the type that is integrated into the higher-end models in terms of definition, but if you simply take photos and post the network, the difference will not be too big.

Reno2 image processing algorithms must be said to be not bad at all: switching between cameras is less discolored, images have adequate contrast and rich colors. In case of bright enough, we just need to hold up the camera, select the focus and press the capture, most of the photos we have are beautiful.

Night falls, Reno2 is still not afraid because it is equipped with the ability to shoot Dark Mode, take photos for a longer time to collect more light. My favorite point here is that Dark mode works with wide-angle camera, helping us to create architectural images at night 'monumental' like this:

One of the best dark pictures I've ever taken on a smartphone!

A few more photos were taken from OPPO Reno2:

Regarding movie recording capabilities, Reno2 can record 4K / 30fps in all focal length ranges. The video quality stopped at a good level, the colors seemed to be lighter than when taking the picture, so it needed to be adjusted in post production software. The point here is that the anti-shake system is very effective, helping us to shoot handheld video but no different from using a gimbal:

Great battery charger, the configuration is not!

Testing the battery quality of the device by GSMarena

The camera system is not the only notable upgrade of Reno2, this product is also equipped with a larger battery than the first version, 4000mAh compared to 3765 mAh. According to the review of the GSMarena site as well as my actual experience, Reno2 for very good usage time, only those days of continuous heavy gaming, it must be recharged during the day.

Combined with a long-lasting battery, OPPO's exclusive 20OO VOOC 3.0 charging technology, with 30 minutes of 50% charge and after 1 hour 20 minutes (80 minutes) is full. These two things combine to give us a great charging experience, users no longer encounter the situation of 'sticking to the wall', waiting for the smartphone to finish charging to continue using.

But I am satisfied with how much the battery charge feels like "missing" on the configuration side. Reno2 is only equipped with Snapdragon 730G processor (G version has a slightly higher pulse than the regular Snapdragon 730), supported by 8GB of RAM.

Performance score of Snapdragon 730G in Reno2

All common tasks such as surfing the web, watching movies, using outside office software are done smoothly by Reno2. ColorOS 6 interface is not the fastest interface today, but 'neat' enough to avoid the "freeze" phenomenon, slowing annoying. Therefore, those who buy Reno2 for use with 'gentle' purposes will not be disappointed.

On the contrary, when you switch to heavy tasks, you will see the difference with more advanced smartphones. For example, the game Garena Lien, we can not choose the HD screen option, and if intentionally set high graphics level, the machine will not be able to keep stable frame-rate 60fps – something that will never happen. with smartphone with Snapdragon 855.

Reno2 F (top) and Reno2 (bottom)

A smartphone is easy to like, but not "worth buying" if only viewed on paper

I really like Reno2 , simply because this smartphone offers a lot of 'desirable' things: AMOLED screen integrity, high quality; Shark fin selfie camera is not only beautiful but also useful, complete the luxurious back, the rear camera system 'captures beautifully'.

If you experience the reality, you will certainly love this smartphone. But if you compare online via the configuration comparison and find it only uses a mid-range processor at the price of VND 15 million, many of you will have the psychology to type it 'right from the parking lot' to choose the more powerful smartphones that are even cheaper. This is probably the point that OPPO needs to be aware of. Perhaps the strong investment in design and camera has made the price of the team up, so the company did not dare to "boldly" bring the most advanced chipset here?

Will it launch 10x Reno2 or Reno3 versions with more advanced configuration in the next 4 months? I hope so.