Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review: Is This a Midrange Flagship Phone?


Oppo has launched Reno 3 Pro in various regions, having had the unit with us for over a week a now, here is our complete review. Reno name kicked off last year when Oppo unveiled its shark-fin pop-up camera technology. Extending the series, Reno 3 series is what Oppo has developed for 2020. Featuring promising internals, a competitive price-point, read our complete Reno 3 Pro review ahead to find out whether this phone is the perfect buy for you.

In terms of positioning within Oppo’s diverse Android phone lineup, Reno 3 Pro places itself right beneath the flagship Find series. It competes solely in the upper mid-range. Salient features include its quad cameras on the back, dual front cameras that have been integrated within the display via a cut-out and also, VOOC 4.0 fast charging. Read our concluded thoughts on Oppo Reno 3 Pro as a complete package right ahead.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review

First let’s go over all Oppo Reno 3 Pro’s technical details:

  • Network: (GSM / FDD / TDD / WCDMA)
  • Display: 6.4’’ Display (2400 x 1080)
  • Processor: MediaTek P95
  • OS: Android 11, MIUI 11
  • Camera Rear: Primary: 64MP, 1/1.72″ sensor size, 0.8µm pixel size, f/1.8 aperture. Ultra wide-angle: 8MP, 1/4” sensor size, 1.4µm pixel size, 13mm, f/2.2. Telephoto: 13MP, 1/3.4” sensor size, 1.0µm pixel size, 2x optical zoom (53mm), f/2.4. Depth sensor: 2MP B/W; 2160p@30fps video recording
  • Camera Front: Primary: 44MP, 1/2.8″, f/2.4. 1080p@30fps video recording; Depth sensor: 2MP
  • Connectivity: USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.0 and 3.5mm Headphone Jack
  • Memory: 6GB RAM + 256GB Storage
  • Dimension: 158.8mm x 73.4mm x 8.1mm
  • Battery: 4,025mAh

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review: Exterior and Design

If it was difficult for a manufacturer to set itself apart through design philosophy couple of years back, the problem has only exponentially increased up till now. Reno 2 from last year caught loads of eyes with its one of a kind shark fin pop-up camera module. However, the new Reno 3 Pro ditches that in trade for a more traditional hole-punch front camera display making it that much similar to other phones on the market.

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Exploring the phone from the rear, Reno 3 Pro follows a bar chap with curves at the borders for easy gripping. There is a large elongated bump that has the camera module array aligned horizontally and is itself placed at the top-right. Rather than going with a square piece, this is another good, aesthetically pleasing approach for lining up all the 4 cameras.

Further to add more unique design depth to the phone’s back, Oppo has introduced an amazing paint-finish called Auroral Blue. To put it into words, the color has a darker blue shade on the bottom left and then it gradients to lighter blue on the top-right. Further, the reflections produce stark lines giving it a mesmerizing overall feel. For a slightly toned down look, there is a Midnight Black color option as well. To finish, there is the Oppo logo on the bottom left.

Adventuring towards the side chassis, it is made of plastic and follows the same gradient as on the back. You can see the color fade from dark to light on each side. Just as on other Oppo phones, you have the power button on the right and separated volume buttons on the left.

Uniquely, the power button has a green paint finish on it. At the bottom is where we find all of the I/O. There is a single USB-C port, headphone jack, speaker cutout and also, one of the microphones. Up top, it is all empty except for a single mic. For the SD tray, it is located right above the volume rockers. For our model, it supports dedicated Dual SIM slots as well as a separate slot for SD Card expansion.

The front side is all display thanks to minuscule bezels and the cameras being integrated within the display itself. Unlike the Chinese Reno 3 variant, Reno 3 Pro comes with a flat display. Further, what ties the whole experience together is the AMOLED technology. We will be talking about in detail right ahead. The overall size of the panel is 6.4 inch (diagonally) and follows a tall aspect ratio. Worth noting is, there is a pre-applied screen protector on all phones. This ensures users get perfect fitted protectors that don’t protrude on the camera modules.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review: Internal Hardware and Performance

Reno 3 Pro delivers well for exterior looks and overall design, however, being a mid-range device, strong internals will be what customers look for the most.

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– Display

Reno 3 Pro comes equipped with a large 6.4 inch display. This size choice is a great sweet spot between display real estate and ergonomics. As bezels don’t add up to noticeable additional size, Reno 3 Pro makes for great one-hand use. Further, the display technology being utilized is AMOLED. Unlike LCD displays in various competing phones in the same price bracket, this panel makes for a great viewing experience that includes deep blacks and saturated colors. Deployed with a 2400 by 1800 pixel resolution, text, icons and overall sharpness is adequate as well.

– Processor, Storage and RAM

To ensure proper performance, Oppo decided to go with MediaTek on its Reno 3 Pro. The phone comes with MediaTek’s P95 processor which is based on 12nm process. The processor is 64-bit and has 8 cores. With its focus on efficiency and performance when required, we found to be a great choice. You have some drawbacks such as UFS 2.1 rather than UFS 3 but then again, for the price, this is a trade-off we can live with.

Moreover, Reno 3 Pro combines the chipset with 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. Both figures are good for a 2020 phone. We appreciate Oppo going with 256GB storage rather than 128GB and further, still allowing users a microSD card slot for further expansion. In our standard usage test, the phone performed efficiently and sipped power which is exactly what is required. As for under stress, it ran demanding games at high settings without hiccups!

To put all this into numbers, here some benchmark results:

– Battery

Powering the AMOLED display, octa-core processor and all the other hardware is a 4,025mAh battery module. If compared solely on the battery capacity, there are various phones offering much more than Reno 3. However, there is a trick with Oppo’s Reno 3 phone, one which might make it perform better than device’s with larger batteries: VOOC 4.0 charging! Oppo promised 50% charge in 20mins with its 30W VOOC 4.0 fast charging and we found that to be quite accurate. Our phone reached 50 from 0 within 23mins.

While the charging is definitely superior, various customers won’t be carrying the VOOC fast charger and cable (both included in the box) with them all the time and that is where the phone’s actual endurance comes into place. Gladly enough, in all our tests, we couldn’t get the phone to die before 8-9hrs of screen on usage which is a complete day and more for most customers. So, all in all, the phone displays good endurance and with additional VOOC functionality, there isn’t anything you would trading off from a much expensive device, in terms of battery.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review: Camera

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Just like various other brands, Oppo has spent a lot of time on perfecting its camera experience. For the Reno 3 Pro, it ships it with a 4 camera system which has quality and versatility all in one. The main module is a whopping 64MP then next comes the ultra-wide 8MP module, tertiary is the 13MP telephoto and last, 2MP depth sensor.

In our tests, the daylight performance was exceptional and thanks to dedicated night mode, low-light situations weren’t a problem for Reno 3. If we have any criticism for the phone, it would be the fact that Oppo focused more on zoom lens rather than the ultra-wide. If we speak for most users, zoom functionality plays a lesser role in mobile photography as compared to wider shots. Oppo could’ve went with a higher-res ultra-wide lens rather than telephoto. Other than that, you can see the amazing shots we captured right ahead:

For the front module, there is a main 44MP camera that produces stunning selfies. Paired with a 2MP depth sensor, portrait mode is pretty accurate as well.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review: Software

Reno 3 Pro runs ColorOS 7 which is based on Android 10. The skin provides additional functionality that is otherwise unavailable on base Android. There is an App Cloner that lets you run multiple instances of a single app so that you can have multiple accounts logged in. Then ColorOS has a Game Space framework. With it, the phone can automatically set different routines when you launch a game and also, boost performance. Additionally, Smart Assistant is also something that Oppo packages with Reno 3 Pro.

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Moreover, the stock apps are well built. The dialer, messaging and other Oppo apps all support dark mode. For the camera app and its software, we found it complete with functionality and features. It has Oppo’s Dazzle Color enhancement, AI assistance, HDR and all the necessary modes.

One thing we would also credit to Oppo’s software is the battery endurance. Thanks to good optimization within the code, Reno 3 Pro can last longer. There are various additional power mode settings that customers can tweak specific to their use cases and make Reno 3 Pro perform either way: either go for longer periods of time without charging or perform its best without any power restriction.

To read more about the latest Android 10 features in Oppo phones, go through the official ColorOS 7 page.

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Taimur Akmal
Taimur Akmal

Devoted writer, enjoys developing code. Appreciates excellent food, exceptional coffee and great company. He is also into sublime design and nicely built cars.

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