Smart market move
Oppo’s budget-friendly smartphone costs just $699. David Court finds out just how user-friendly it really is.
The Oppo Reno 2 Z is a budget-friendly smartphone that, in terms of features, will tick most of the boxes for most people.
Obviously, it’s not in the same league as the iPhone 11 or the Samsung Galaxy S10. However, at just $699, the Reno 2 Z asks consumers a really interesting question. Do you need to spend well over a thousand dollars on a smartphone in 2019?
But before we get into all that, and what this phone is like, there are a few things that we need to clear up. Most importantly, what is going on at Oppo?
This is the fourth Reno smartphone Oppo has launched this year. It all kicked off when Oppo launched the excellent Reno 10x Zoom and Oppo Reno Z in June.
Back then, Oppo’s lineup was almost easier to understand. There was the regular high-end Reno; the (also) high-end Reno 10x Zoom which was all about the camera and finally; there was the Reno Z, the wallet-friendly smartphone that was very OK.
Fast forward to last week and things take a turn for confusing. Oppo brings out two more devices, the Reno 2 and the Reno 2 Z (which I have been testing this week).
Oddly, the Reno 2 isn’t an upgrade on the original Reno.
The ‘‘2’’ doesn’t mean its a second-generation (updated) device. Instead, here the ‘‘2’’ stands for ‘‘second best’’, contradicting pretty much every other smartphone, laptop or ‘‘2’’ device in the industry.
And the Reno 2 Z. Yep, you’ve guessed it, it’s not as good. The main difference between the Reno 2 and the Reno 2 Z is the former’s telephoto lens and slightly faster processor.
Why is Oppo doing this? That’s simple. Donald Trump’s ban on Huawei has left big gaps in the market for more affordable smartphones.
Oppo is releasing devices to fill the space left by Huawei. And it’s smart business, too. Albeit a little confusing.
So, how does Oppo’s cheapest phone, the Reno 2 Z compare to the rest of the smartphone market? Pretty well is the short answer. Let’s start with the design. The Oppo Reno 2 Z does a great impersonation of a high-end phone.
Available in two colours, Sky white and Illuminous Black, it comes with a toughened Corning Gorilla Glass 5 finish on the back and front. No problems here.
The phone is slightly bigger than its, erm, predecessor the Reno 2. But that’s simply because it sports a bigger, 6.5-inch display. Measuring in at 162.4 x 75.8 x
8.7 millimetres and weighing 195 grams, it a very respectable effort from Oppo.
And the 6.5-inch AMOLED display is the real win you get here. This is exactly the sort of high-end technology you don’t expect in a phone at this price point.
Using the Reno 2 Z you’ll have no complaints with the display’s lack of contrast or its ability to handle detailed video.
The Reno 2 Z also manages to offer a full-view screen, not scarred by a selfie camera notch.
Oppo continues its theme of hiding its front-facing camera in the phone itself. Simply tap the selfie icon, when using the camera app, and a square selfie camera will emerge from the top of the phone.
Interestingly, this doesn’t stop Oppo from letting users unlock the phone with facial recognition (another high-end feature).
A quick press of the device’s power button, or swipe of the screen, will fire the periscope into action, allowing you to unlock the phone in well under a second.
Oppo has also equipped the Reno 2 Z with an in-screen fingerprint reader as an alternative, and quick, way to unlock.
The phone’s rear-facing cameras also represent a decent effort, too. The vertically aligned quad-lens camera setup will cover most bases in terms of a user’s needs.
The 48MP primary camera with Sony IMX586 sensor is yet another example of quality technology being employed by this affordable device.
The main camera is supported by an 8MP wide-angle lens and two 2MP depth and mono sensors.
There’s also an ample 4000 mAh battery that will provide more than enough juice to keep the phone running for a day’s normal use.
One of the obvious money savers for this phone is its processor.
There’s no Snapdragon 855 here. Instead, you get an octa-core Mediatek MT6779 Helio P90 chipset with 8GB of RAM. And that gets the job done reasonably well.
But the device’s lack of zip is immediately noticeable if, like me, you’re used to premium smartphones.
Oppo is also using Android Pi for its base OS, adding its own unobtrusive ColorOS v6.1 overlay. Again, this is fine. But it’s nothing special.
Phone manufacturers struggling to keep up with updates to Android is nothing new, so there’s no need to single Oppo out here.
Best of all, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Donald Trump’s ban on Huawei has left big gaps in the market for more affordable smartphones. Oppo is releasing devices to fill the space left by Huawei.