Prabhu RamWhen we look at the affordable premium smartphone segment in India, there is more hyper-competition than before. Many new aspirant brands are challenging the triumvirate of incumbents – Apple, Samsung and OnePlus. With the increased competition, what is noticeable is also an increased commoditization of smartphone features. Across the board, smartphones are increasingly getting refined, and differentiation is becoming tougher. How does one stand out and get the consumer attention. With the new OPPO Reno4 Pro, OPPO has taken a different route. It has looked at addressing one key consumer pain-points. It’s a feature rich phone that checks all the boxes – sleek design, amazing aesthetics, 90Hz display, stereo speakers, good performance, and a headphone jack.
Let’s talk about what makes the Reno4 Pro different.
One of the key consumer pain-points in an ‘always-on’ world is smartphone battery life, and the juice in it. Think about it. This is especially more stark in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic-induced lockdown. Whether it be endless hours of work-related zoom calls, productivity, or catching-up with family and friends, or unwinding by consuming OTT content in late evenings, the consumer interest in long battery life is absolutely high. What really matters to them is a long battery life, and more importantly, the ability to swiftly amp up the battery juice.
As per a recent consumer survey report from CMR, the obsession with battery life is such that consumers get alarmed with low battery juice. To conserve the remaining battery life, they do everything from turning down screen brightness (70%) to turning-on battery saver mode (66%), from closing battery-consuming apps (63%) to even turning- off Wi-Fi (56%).
The findings showed that seven in every eight users charge their smartphone at least once in a day and the average duration of charging in a day is 66 minutes. In fact, seven in every eight smartphone users in India feel innovations in the fast-charging technology is key, and long battery life is a ‘must’ for an always-on world.
OPPO is one smartphone brand that has relentlessly focused on smartphone battery innovation, especially around fast-charging technologies. With the new Reno4 Pro, OPPO has brought the fast-charging to affordable premium segment.
65W: All the juice delivered swiftly
Reno4 Pro is equipped with a 4000mAh battery, that helps one breeze through the day. What makes the Reno4 Pro absolutely special is the fast charging. The ultra-fast 65W fast charging, or ‘SuperVOOC 2.0’ on the Reno4 Pro enables consumers to amp up their battery juice from 0 to 100 in as little time as 32 minutes flat! Absolutely stunning! For those who are always on the go, the juice can be amped-up to 50% in less than 15 minutes. The many years of R&D at Oppo have ensured that the charging speeds are safe for users.
For the always on user, all of this translates into super efficiencies. No more need to be hassled and frazzled. One can amp and go back to the stuff that really matters – work or play. The other big draw with the Reno4 Pro is the battery power saving mode, that brings efficiencies in conserving battery juice in those extremely critical conditions.
Quad Lens System
The Reno4 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup on the back, comprising of a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP mono camera. On the front is a selfie camera that can take 32MP photos. The phone provides many different modes and filters, through its feature-rich camera app, for consumers to experiment with, while recording their lives most important memories. For instance, the AI Color Portrait mode for videos is really cool and fun.
During the time I spent with the Reno4 Pro, I managed to get some great photos, though constrained by the pandemic conditions.
Design and Display
The Reno4 Pro is one of the slimmest phones (a mere 7.7mm!) around, even though it comes with a large battery under the hood. It weighs just 161g. This is owing to the fact that it uses a plastic back panel in place of metal and glass.
The Reno4 Pro comes with a 6.5” curved AMOLED screen, with a screen-to-body ratio of 92%. The speedy refresh rate of upto 90Hz and a 180Hz touch sampling rate translates into smooth and immersive experience, when it comes to animations, scrolling through text and browsing images.
Performance
Reno4 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. As a premium daily driver, the Reno4 Pro is able to handle anything and everything thrown at it – whether it be calls, gaming, and content consumption, whether it be music or movies. The performance remains strong and stable, and is consistently smooth.
In Closing
Whether it be its visually appealing and ergonomic design, or its impressive swift charging for those who are always on the go, the Reno4 Pro is an absolute performer. It is a reliable and excellent daily driver, whether it be for those long working hours, or unwinding late at night. When it comes to gaming on the Reno4 Pro, hyper-casual and casual gamers would not feel much complain about.
