Chinese smartphone makers are pulling out all the stops to make their smartphones stand out in the overcrowded, highly competitive market and they are not just doing it for flagship devices. Even mid-range devices are getting much love and attention. The Oppo Reno12 AI smartphone is one such midrange device.
Sure, the Reno12 may be a mid-ranger but it has a lot to shout about. There are two models of Reno12: the standard Reno12 [CH] and the Reno12 Pro [CH]. The differences between the two are not a lot. But never mind the model because the Reno12 prides itself as a tough little device that boasts a suite of AI functionality, and allows communication in a zero network environment that is NOT satellite communication.
Design of Reno12 Series
I am not a fan of the shining, dazzling back cover but aside from that, the Reno12 breaks the convention of smartphone designs; it has a flat display with subtle curved sides and a back cover with subtle curves but with a straight edge design made popular by Apple. In other words, it has the best of both worlds—well, best if dig the straight-edge design but not the uncomfortable handling brought by the sharp edges.
The Oppo Reno12 is also marketed as a tough device (note: not rugged). The so-called “diamond architecture” which has incredible drop-resistant properties from the Oppo K12 has found its way to this mid-ranger, allowing it to survive fairly brutal drops. Though it is not clear if it survives the violent Monica’s heels.
Complimenting the tough architecture is Corning Gorilla Glass. It is tough and remains in an incredibly light and thin form factor. It is just 7.24 mm (7.55 mm for the Pro) at its thinnest section and tips the scales at a mere 179g (183g for the Pro). And yet, it packs a large 5,000 mAh battery that supports 80 W Super VOOC. The battery also promised a 4-year ultra-durable lifespan.
Chipset and Display
The device is powered by MediaTek 8250 “Star Speed” Edition—a 5G chip “co-tweaked” by Oppo, or the 9200+ in the case of the Reno12 Pro. The chip is paired with LPDDR5X and UFS 3.1 storage.
The Oppo Reno12 has a 120 Hz “eye-care” display 6.70” FHD+ AMOLED ProXDR display that supports a 3-level adaptive refresh rate, 1 billion colors, and under sunlight peak brightness of 1,200 nits.
Cameras
The phone is outfitted with a triple camera setup around the back comprising a 50 MP DSLR-grade portrait camera featuring 47 mm golden focal length for portraits and 2x optical zoom, a 50 MP wide-angle main camera featuring 26 mm-equivalent focal length and OIS, and 112° super wide-angle camera featuring Sony sensor, 16 mm-equivalent focal length, low-distortion and ultra-wide field of view. Around the front, there is a 50 MP super-sensitive “cat-eye” lens front-facing camera with f2.0 aperture and AF.
Artificial Intelligence
The phone is billed as an “AI phone” and so not surprisingly, AI imaging is one of the AI functions. It has three key AI imaging features. It has an AI “close eyes” fix that fixes photos with subjects that have their eyes closed, AI removal that supports removing passersby (aka photobombers) and objects leaving no marks, and AI cutout that lets you cut subject or subjects from a photo with just one click. You can copy the cutout, save it as an individual image, share it, or use it to create other creative projects.
Other AI functions include AI learning, AI document scanning into various formats, and support extraction of complex formulas; it can even scan and recognize handwritten documents, 1-to-1 Xiao Bu English teacher coaches oral, vocab, writing, translation, et cetera, intelligent audio recording summary from class lecture and meeting audio recordings, and more.
Other Highlights
The new Reno12 further touts calls without a network. Built on Bluetooth 5.4, this network-free communication tech was first unveiled at MWC 2019 and finally sees implementation on the Reno12 series. It allows up to 3 km (1.9 miles) of communication in open areas even without a network and no satellite.
This function could come in handy in underground parking garages where signals are almost non-existence, concerts, trekking with a large group, and more.
It is worth mentioning that not just dust and waterproof with an IP65 rating; it also has a self-developed wet-touch algorithm with a touch success rate of up to 95%. So it can still function if you are caught in the rain.
A few other highlights include super Wi-Fi 2.0, a wide NFC area that negates the need for precise positioning of the phone to use Near-Field Communication, and it has a multi-functional IR remote.
Differences Between Reno12 and Reno12 Pro
The key differences between the Reno12 and Reno12 Pro are physical dimensions and the SoC (8250+ vs. 9200+). In addition, the main camera on the standard Reno12 is a 50 MP Sony LYT600 1/1.95” sensor while the Pro is a 50 MP Sony IMX890 1/1.49” sensor. The Pro also benefits from a stereo speaker (the Reno12 only has one bottom speaker), and the Pro further supports the 5.5G mobile network and is equipped with an X-linear haptic motor.
Pricing and Availability
The new Oppo Reno12 is available for pre-orders in China with the Reno12 starting at 2,699 yuan [CH] (around US$373) and the Reno12 Pro starting at 3,399 yuan [CH] (about US$469).
Images: Oppo [CH].
