If looks were everything, the Oppo Reno 7 Pro would be the universe boss in its segment. For, make no mistake about it, this is a very good-looking and extremely stylish phone. Its real challenge, however, is going to be convincing people that it has enough substance to back up that style. Enough to invest Rs 39,999 in it. Here is our 1st Impression of Oppo Reno 7 Pro.
Black beauty!
We got the black variant of the Oppo Reno 7 Pro, and it has been a while since we have felt so bad about slapping a cover on a device (there is one in the box. The phone’s flat back and sides might make some people say “oh, iPhone clone” but this is a very different kettle of fish. The front is the predictable tall 6.55 inch display with tiny bezels and a punch hole notch in the top left corner, but it is the glass back that will really turn heads.
You would have thought that there is only so much one can do with black, but Oppo has come out with a new texture that makes the phone glitter. And glitter subtly at that. The back itself is smooth glass, but turn it towards a light source and you will see it start twinkling, as if there are stars on it. It seems so textured that you reach out to touch the back again and feel the grains that are reflecting the light, only to find it satin-y smooth. This phone looks more like something out of Tiffany’s than an electronic factory.
Slim and trim, and a different camera unit too
There are also some touches on what is generally an eyesore on most phones today – the camera unit. The one on the Reno 7 Pro also juts out like on other phones. But Oppo has thrown in a nice design curve ball here and given the upper part a metallic texture and the lower one a more glossy, glassy one. What’s more, it glows when you get a notification, which is kind of cool, but not very practical (a notification light in front would have been better, we think).
Between the glass front and back is a polished metallic frame. The phone has a very premium and classy feel to it, and perhaps tops its segment in this regard. It is also relatively compact for its display size – it is about 158 mm long, and while you would need two hands to use it, it is more manageable than a lot of the phones we have seen in recent times. It is also impressively slim at 7.45 mm and at 180 grammes, is comfortable enough to hold and carry. There is no talk of dust and water resistance, though. And while it is rare to see them at this price point, some might miss a 3.5 mm audio jack.
The challenge is the hardware
The Oppo Reno 7 Pro scores on the style front, but the real challenge it faces is in the spec department. The 6.55 inch AMOLED Display is a full HD one and seems colourful and bright, in best Oppo tradition, but its 90 Hz Refresh Rate is below the 120 Hz that is being seen on many devices in and around this price segment, and even at lower ones.
Similarly, while RAM and storage are not an issue, the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 Max might seem a bit on the less powerful side. We know that the Dimensity 1200 was a very good performer (the Nord 2 is powered by it), and its Max variant is supposed to be even better, but the general consensus is that it is still below the Snapdragon 888, and there are phones in this price zone with that chip. We were also a little disappointed to see the phone running on Android 11, with Oppo’s Color OS 12 on top.
The cameras promise a lot. The Sony IMX 766 50 Megapixel sensor has a great track record, and this being an Oppo, we have great expectations of the 32 megapixel selfie snapper as well. The 8 megapixel ultrawide seems par for the course (we would have liked more megapixels, though), although the 2 megapixel macro snapper seems decorative. There is no OIS but there are truckloads of shooting and editing options.
There is a 4500 mAh battery with a 65W charger that promises to get it from zero to hundred in a little more than half an hour, and in connectivity terms, there is “it-is-not-available-in-India-but-good-to-have-it” 5G, apart from the usual Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.
All down to performance
The Oppo Reno 7 Pro definitely has the looks, and at least some of the specs to make it big in the Indian market. Mind you, it has a lot of competition on its hands at its price point of —, especially from the likes of the Xiaomi 11T Pro, the iQoo Legend 7 and for those looking for stylish phones, the Vivo V23 Pro. A lot is going to depend on how well the Reno 7 Pro performs, especially in the camera department, as many of its competitors come with better display and processors on paper.
Oppo has definitely turned on the style with the Reno 7 Pro. It needs to prove that its beauty is not just skin deep. As of now, we can safely say that this is a phone that will turn heads. Now it needs to prove that there is a performance beast beneath all that shimmer-y beauty.
