Oppo has recently unveiled the flagship Reno 12 Series in India, consisting of two smartphones- Oppo Reno 12 and Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G. While we have already discussed the Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G in depth, it is time to explore the vanilla Reno 12 smartphone. Serving as the successor to Oppo Reno 11 5G, this model has emphasized design aesthetics, battery life, camera capabilities, and more. The Oppo Reno 12 5G also offers on-device AI features that enhance the everyday smartphone experience and are also provided free of charge to those who purchase the smartphone. Do all these features make it the best in its category? Let’s find out.
Oppo Reno 12 5G 5G Price & Availability
Oppo Reno 12 5G comes in a single 8GB RAM+256GB storage model for Rs. 32,999. It comes in Astro Silver, Matte Brown, and Sunset Peach shades and is available for sale via Oppo India website, and Flipkart.
Pros
- Generative AI Features
- Stylish Design
- Long battery life
- Fast charging
- IP65 rating
- 120Hz curved AMOLED display
Cons
- SoC Performance isn’t the best
- Only 8GB RAM is available
- 3.5mm headphone jack missing
- Useless 2MP lens
- Bloatware
Oppo Reno 12 5G Review – Design & Build
Oppo has established itself as a leader in creating sleek and lightweight devices, and the Oppo Reno 12 is no exception. Upon unboxing the device, you get an elegant-looking Reno 12, which is lightweight and refined. Available in Astro Silver, Matte Brown, and Sunset Peach, I received the Sunset Peach version, which features a unique mixed-colour tone design that creates a stunning sunset-like aura.
With a thickness of 7.6mm and a weight of 177 grams, the device feels well-built and comfortable in hand. The back panel is attractive and provides a great tactile experience. Additionally, the smartphone is equipped with Gorilla Glass 7i protection on the front for durability, an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, and a high-strength alloy construction for robustness.
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Let’s discuss the layout of this device. The Oppo Reno 12 5G rear panel features a slightly protruding rectangular camera module on the top-left corner, housing three sensors arranged vertically along with an LED flash. The Oppo branding is engraved in silver text at the bottom. You will find the power button and volume rockers on the straight edge, while the left edge remains smooth and empty.
The top of the device houses a microphone or stereo speaker and an IR blaster, while the bottom edge includes a SIM tray, USB-C port, and speaker grille. Unfortunately, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack, so you must use TWS Buds. The front of the device boasts a curved display with noticeable bezels all around and a punch-hole selfie camera at the top.
Oppo Reno 12 5G Review – Display
The Oppo Reno 12 5G features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels. The screen delivers vibrant colors and deep blacks, providing an excellent viewing experience. When set to high (120Hz) mode, the refresh rate during browsing remained at 90Hz. This indicates that the software automatically adjusted the refresh rate based on usage, offering a smoother scrolling experience. However, when the refresh rate dropped to 60Hz, browsing sessions were not as smooth as anticipated.
The Oppo Reno 12 5G boasts a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels. The display offers vivid colors and deep blacks, enhancing the visual experience. When selecting the high (120Hz) mode, the browsing refresh rate remained at 90Hz while reading articles or watching videos on YouTube. It went down to 60Hz on Spotify and Netflix but remained at 120Hz while scrolling through the Settings Menu. This dynamic adjustment by the software resulted in a more seamless scrolling experience most of the time. However, when the refresh rate decreased to 60Hz, browsing sessions were noticeably less smooth than expected. The refresh rate was similar to what Oppo had advertised.
The Oppo Reno 12 5G boasts HDR10+ support, enhancing the video viewing experience. Whether you’re streaming on Netflix or YouTube, the quality remains top-notch. Oppo claims a maximum brightness of 1200 nits for the device, providing satisfactory indoor and outdoor brightness levels. Since it’s a monsoon season in India, we could not test the display visibility under harsh sunlight.
I should remain visible under direct sunlight. Additionally, the smartphone features stereo speakers that outperform the Oppo Reno 11 5G, further enhancing the content consumption experience. With Holo Audio support, Oppo’s audio spatialization technology aims to deliver exceptional headphone or earphone experiences.
Oppo Reno 12 5G Review – Performance
The Oppo Reno 12 5G runs on the latest MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Energy chipset with up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. Although the chipset is not the most powerful or efficient in its category, it still performs well for everyday tasks like social media, light gaming, and video streaming without any noticeable lags. However, for more demanding tasks, such as playing intensive games like BGMI Mobile, the device may experience some lag after extended use.
If you prioritize gaming performance, there may be better choices than this smartphone. Switching between apps can sometimes take time, leading to occasional hang-ups.
Some benchmark test scores are-
- AnTuTu- 612185
- Geekbench single core- 1127
- Geekbench multi core- 2690
- CPU Throttle- 62.7%
Regarding the software aspect, the device operates on ColorOS 14, based on Android 14. ColorOS 14 introduces a mix of old and new features that enhance the user experience. Some of these features include Smart Sidebar, Smart suggesting, Air scrolling, and more. However, the downside is the excessive amount of bloatware that comes pre-installed.
It can be frustrating with over 50 pre-installed apps and games, most of which are unnecessary. Having so much bloatware on a device that costs 35k is disappointing as it takes up storage space. Additionally, some of Oppo’s native apps cannot be uninstalled. Oppo promises this device has three major OS updates and four years of security updates.
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Like its Pro counterpart, the Oppo Reno 12 5G is equipped with AI features that enhance performance. The AI Toolbox, accessible from the file dock, offers three key functionalities: AI Writer, AI Speak, and AI Summary.
AI Writer is useful for social media posts, offering suggestions for captions and more to improve your content.
AI Recording Summary is one more handy feature that allows you to record whatever’s happening around you and then summarize it for you to access later.
Oppo Reno 12 5G Review - AI Features
The Oppo Reno 12 5G is equipped with various Artificial Intelligence features. The AI portrait retouching feature utilizes facial recognition algorithms to identify and enhance up to 296 facial attributes in real time, such as skin tone, texture, spot healing, cheeks, eye size, brightness, dark circles, and teeth. I tested this feature on one of my selfies and noticed an improvement in my cheekbones and overall appearance, especially on a bad hair day.
Moreover, the AI Eraser 2.0 function lets you remove unwanted people or objects from photos taken in busy environments. It provides three options – smart lasso, paint over, and remove people – making it a convenient tool for editing pictures with distracting elements in the background.
AI Clear Face and AI Best Face are designed for group selfies. When taking selfies with three or more people using the front camera, you can enhance all their facial features and correct any issues, such as closed eyes.
AI Studio is an entertaining platform where you can upload your solo or group headshots and transform yourself into characters such as a cowboy/cowgirl, beach bum, schoolboy/girl, and more. Group shots can also be utilized to create fun and unique looks.
Oppo Reno 12 5G Review – Cameras
The Oppo Reno 12 5G features a triple-lens setup on the rear, consisting of a 50MP Main Sony LYT600 sensor, an 8MP 112-degree ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro sensor. On the front, there is a 32MP Selfie sensor. The 50MP camera captures photos in 1x and 2x modes, with the ability to digitally zoom up to 10x.
You can click photos with 1x and 2x in-sensor zoom, and you can zoom in up to 10x further using digital zoom. Shots taken using the primary sensor in daylight are vibrant, bright, and lifelike.
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The natural colours are reproduced well, and good-light shots have no noise. Each detail is captured perfectly without any distortions. Even in 2x mode, there is hardly any drop in quality. However, when you zoom in further like I zoomed in up to 6x, the quality does go down a notch, and it’s not as perfect as you expect it to be.
The 8MP Ultrawide sensor captures decent images with a colour profile similar to the primary camera. However, there is some noticeable noise in the shots. Despite this, the shots provide a good field of view, and in well-lit conditions, the noise around the edges is hardly noticeable.
The portrait mode of Reno 12 5G doesn’t come with 1x and 2x mode options. It clicks clear shots with decent edge detection. The focus is entirely on the object in the frame, but the colours seem boosted in some photographs. Here are some shots to give you an idea of the portrait mode’s performance.
The 32MP selfie camera takes decent seflies. A great example of its capabilities is a random shot taken on a bad hair day with no effort, yet it turned out to be respectable. The camera perfectly captured the details, and the skin tone looked natural. I don’t use filters, so I disabled them before taking the selfie, and it still turned out great. The camera also did an excellent job of keeping the focus on the subject and removing unwanted objects and people using AI capabilities. Oppo has also introduced some AI features for the camera, enhancing the overall photography experience.
Oppo Reno 12 5G Review – Battery Life and Charging
The Oppo Reno 12 5G smartphone is powered by a substantial 5000mAh battery, equipped with 80W wired fast charging capability. Even with heavy usage involving calling, texting, social media browsing, reading articles, listening to music, playing games, and more, the battery can last an entire day when fully charged. On lighter usage days, such as attending calls and replying to messages, the battery can easily stretch to a day and a half. Of course, engaging AI features or intensive tasks may cause slightly faster drainage, which is to be expected.
The 80W charger ensures a shorter wait time for charging the device. It typically takes around 50 minutes to charge from 2% to 100%, which is reasonable, although it falls slightly behind some competitors.
Review Verdict: Should You Buy the Oppo Reno 12 5G?
Smartprix Rating: 7.7/10
Design and Build:
Display and Speakers
Software & AI
Performance
Camera
Battery Life and Charging
8/10
7.7/10
7.5/10
7/10
8/10
8/10
The Oppo Reno 12 5G offers a more budget-friendly option than the Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G. With a larger battery capacity, fast 80W charging, sleek design, and IP65 rating, it stands out as a unique mid-range device. Including AI features enhances the camera capabilities, although the rear camera setup could be improved. While the user interface could be less cluttered, and the performance may not be top-tier, the Oppo Reno 12 5G is suitable for users seeking a smartphone that prioritizes AI features over gaming performance.
First reviewed in July 2024.
