Product Listing

Oppo Reno2 review: An excellent update over the original Reno

By Marcus Wong - 2 Feb 2020
Launch SRP: S$899

Benchmark Performance, Battery life and Conclusion

Benchmark Performance, Battery life and Conclusion

As we mentioned when we reviewed the Samsung A80 back in September last year, mid-range smartphones with game-optimised processors are becoming more common now. And this certainly gives you more options if you’re looking for better value for money.

Like the Samsung A80, the Reno2 is also running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor, so you’ll get two Kryo 470 cores running at 2.2GHz derived from the Cortex-A76, and six A55-derived Kyro cores running at 1.8GHz for speedier performance.

The original Reno only uses the more pedestrian Snapdragon 710 which has two Kyro 360 cores running at 2.2GHz and six Kyro 360 cores running at 1.7GHz. The Reno2 also has the newer Adreno 618 graphics processor compared to the Adreno 616 in the Reno, so we’d expect performance to be a fair bit faster.

Test phones compared
  Oppo Reno2 Oppo Reno Google Pixel 3a XL (64GB) Samsung Galaxy A80 Vivo V15 Pro
  Oppo Reno2 Oppo Reno Google Pixel 3a XL (64GB) Samsung Galaxy A80 Vivo V15 Pro
Launch SRP
  • From S$899
  • From S$849
  • From S$779
  • From S$898
  • From S$699
Operating system
  • ColorOS 6.1, based on Android 9 Pie
  • ColorOS 6, based on Android 9 Pie
  • Android 9.0 Pie
  • One UI based on Android 9
  • Funtouch OS based on Android 9.0
Processor
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver) with Adreno 618 GPU
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver) with Adreno 610 GPU
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
  • Octa core (2 x 2GHz 360 Gold, 6 x 1.7GHz Kryo 360 Silver)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
  • Octa-core (2 x 2.2 GHz + 6 x 1.8GHz)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, octa-core (2x Kryo 360 Gold + 6x Kryo 360 Silver), 2.0+1.7GHz
Built-in Memory
  • 8GB RAM
  • 8GB RAM
  • 4GB RAM
  • 8GB RAM
  • 8GB RAM (Singapore variant)
Display
  • 6.5-inch / 2,400 x 1,080 pixels (401 ppi) / 20:9 ratio / AMOLED Display
  • 6.4-inch / 2,340 x 1,080 pixels (387 ppi) / 19.5:9 ratio / AMOLED Display
  • 6-inch OLED touchscreen
  • 2,160 x 1,080 pixels resolution
  • 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED (393ppi)
  • 6.39-inch, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, notchless
  • Super AMOLED
  • 2,340 x 1,080 pixels
Camera
  • Rear: 48MP, f/1.7, 26mm, Telephoto 13MP, f/2.4, 53mm, 8MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 2MP Black and White, f/2.4,
  • Front: 16MP, f/2.0
  • Rear: 48MP f/1.7 26mm (wide)+ 5MP f/2.4 depth sensor
  • Front: 16-megapixel, f/2.0,26mm (wide)
  • Main camera: 12.2MP, F1.8, 28mm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
  • Front camera: 8MP, F2.0, 24mm
  • 48MP main camera F2.0
  • 8MP ultra-wiode camera F2.2
  • 3D dept camera F1.2
  • Rear:
  • Main: 48-megapixel, 0.8μm pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, PDAF
  • Ultra wide-angle (13mm): 8-megapixel, f/2.2 aperture
  • Depth sensor: 5-megapixel, f/2.4 aperture
  • Front:
  • 32-megapixel, f/2.0 aperture, pop-up motorized
Connectivity
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac , dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, EDR, LE, aptX HD, dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NFC
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac , dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, EDR, LE, aptX HD, dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NFC
  • 802.11ac/b/g/n/a
  • Bluetooth 5.0, aptX HD
  • USB Type-C
  • LTE Cat. 11
  • 802.11ac/b/g/n/a
  • Blueooth 5.0
  • USB-C
  • Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac dual band
  • Bluetooth 5.0 LE/EDR/aptX support
  • GPS, AGPS and GLONASS positioning
  • IR blaster
  • micro-USB 2.0
Storage Type
  • 256GB internal storage
  • microSD support up to 256GB
  • 256GB internal storage;
  • 64GB internal
  • 128GB internal
  • 128GB internal storage space (Singapore variant)
  • microSD support up to 256GB
Battery
  • 4,000mAh
  • VOOC Flash Charge 3.0
  • 3,765mAh
  • VOOC Flash Charge
  • 3,700mAh
  • Fast battery charging 18W
  • 3,700mAh
  • 3,700mAh
Dimensions
  • 160 x 74.3 x 9.5mm
  • 156.6 x 74.3 x 9.0 mm
  • 160.1 x 76.1 x 8.2mm
  • 165.2 x 76.5 x 9.3mm
  • 157.3 x 74.7 x 8.2mm
Weight
  • 189g
  • 185g
  • 167g
  • 220g
  • 185g

3DMark Sling Shot Extreme

3DMark Sling Shot is an advanced 3D graphics benchmark that tests the full range of OpenGL ES 3.1 and ES 3.0 API features including multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. The test also includes impressive volumetric lighting and post-processing effects.

The Reno2 easily outclasses the original Reno with this benchmark, with a score of 2,574 to the Reno’s score of 1,878. It seems the Adreno 618 really puts the Reno2 ahead of the competition as it’s second only to the Galaxy A80, which also uses the Snapdragon 730G. However the gulf in performance between these two phones means Samsung must be doing something else under the hood too. Perhaps some form of software optimisation?

 

Antutu v.7.2.4

AnTuTu is an all-in-one benchmark that tests CPU, GPU, memory, and storage. The CPU benchmark evaluates both integer and floating-point performance, the GPU tests assess 2D and 3D performance, the memory test measures available memory bandwidth and latency, and the storage tests gauge the read and write speeds of a device's flash memory.

The tables are turned when it comes to the Antutu benchmark though, as the Reno2 leaps miles ahead of the competition with a score of 261,223. None of the other competitive phones go above 200,000 mark, while only the Galaxy A80 coming close with a score of 196,994.

 

Geekbench 4.4.2

Geekbench CPU is a cross-platform processor benchmark that tests both single-core and multi-core performance with workloads that simulate real-world usage. Geekbench 4 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 4000 (which is the score of an Intel Core i7-6600U CPU processor).

With this, the Reno2 again leads the pack with a multi-core score of 7,038 and a single-core score of 2,554. The original Reno only had a multi-core score of 5,824 and a single-core score of 1,495, so you could say the Reno2 is 1.5 times faster than the Reno in this benchmark.

The next best performing phone was again the Samsung A80, with a single-core score of 2,508 and a multi-core score of 6,928. Seems like the Snapdragon 730G is quite a step-up.

 

JetStream 2

JetStream 2 measures the browsing performance of a device when processing JavaScript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is in delivering a high-speed web browsing experience.

Results on JetStream 2 again had the Reno2 leading the pack with a score of 46.232. That’s only about seven points above the Galaxy A80, but already 1.5 times better than the Reno, so it’s evident that in terms of processing power the Reno2 is much stronger than the Reno.

 

Battery Life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

  • Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  • Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

Now here’s the one area where the Reno2 fell completely flat. It only managed 573 minutes in our battery standard battery testing, which doesn’t even break the 10-hour mark. That’s rather surprising considering it ships with a 4,000mAh battery!

The Samsung Galaxy A80 has a smaller 3,700mAh battery, but that lasted 887 minutes (14 hours and 47 minutes), so you’d get almost five hours more from that. Looking at the maximum brightness value for both phones gives a possible explanation: the Galaxy A80 tops out at 607 nits, while the Reno2 goes up to 800nits, so that's likely to contribute to faster battery drain.

Still, it does seem like Oppo could take a closer look at battery optimisation on the Reno2 as that seems to be its biggest limitation at the moment if you use the phone outside a lot.

 

Conclusion

The Reno2 presents a very well-rounded feature set and a highly capable imaging system.

If you’ve been a fan of Oppo's recent phones, the Reno2 would come easily recommended. As we’ve seen from our testing, it has a highly competitive upper mid-range processor in the form of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G, a flashy pop-up fin-style selfie camera, and a very capable quad-camera system in the rear. It's one The one critical limitation would be the less than great battery life.

The suggested retail price of S$899 only places it some S$50 more than the S$849 of the orginal Reno too, so if you ask us, the Reno2 completely supersedes the Reno as it is better in almost every way. Where it gets trickier is when you ignore processing performance and only compare the Reno2’s camera system to the Reno 10x Zoom’s. The Reno2’s camera is arguably a more well-rounded one that only loses out in terms of telephoto reach, yet retails for about S$300 cheaper.

That said, because it’s been on market for a while, the Reno 10x Zoom can be had for as low as S$700 now (street prices). So, if you’re really looking to buy now, that would be the option to get as the street price of the Reno2 has only fallen to S$680 in terms of street price. Otherwise, we’d wait a few months for prices to taper further and tilt the Reno2 to its favour further. Just remember that unlike most phone of its class that have some form of water and dust protection rating, the Reno2's design cannot offer such protection.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
8.0
  • Design 8
  • Features 8
  • User-Friendliness 8
  • Performance 8
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Great well-rounded camera system
Good scores on benchmark tests
Interesting selfie camera design
Good image quality all the way up to 5.0x zoom
Expandable storage via microSD
The Bad
Price is a little high
Speakers are imbalanced
Poor quality from bundled in-ear headphones
No water and dust resistance
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.