OPPO officially introduced in the Philippines the Reno3 series composed of the OPPO Reno3 and OPPO Reno3 Pro last April 30. We already reviewed the non-pro model and its time for the more premium variant to undergo the same test.
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| OPPO Reno3 Pro Review; Dynamic Photography and More! |
Being the "PRO" in the series means it is not only more superior than its sibling, but it also has a higher price tag. Are the added features and qualities enough to justify this? Let's all find out in this review!
PHYSICAL:
Both the Reno3 and Reno3 Pro dumped the pop-up camera design of their predecessors and opted for the front-mounted selfie camera, or shall I say cameras for the pro version. However, the Reno3 uses the old waterdrop notch screen found on the old OPPO devices like F9 and R17 Pro. Meanwhile, the Reno3 Pro adapted to the current trend and chose to have punch-hole on its display to hold the two front cameras, which gives it a more classy look than its siblings. And if we are not mistaken, this is the first time OPPO has introduced such innovative dual punch-hole display on their devices.
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| Front |
Both devices also have the same 6.4-inch display with FHD+ resolution, that is 2400 x 1080 pixels, and 20:9 aspect ratio. However, the Reno3 Pro uses a Super AMOLED panel and also has a higher screen-to-body ratio of 91.5%. Moreover, its partial peak brightness can reach up to 1,200 nits, which makes everything clear and visible even under direct sunlight. In addition, it has Full Care Display Certification by TUV Rheinland, which simply means the phone's eye care protocols really help in reducing eye strain and visual fatigue.
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| 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED Display |
The sAMOLED screen is topped with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection, and if that's not enough, it also has a pre-installed plastic film to give consumers peace of mind that it is safe against the usual scratches.
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| In-Display Fingerprint Sensor |
Just like its brother, it has an in-display optical fingerprint sensor, and it is quite fast in detecting imprints of your finger. In fact, it unlocks the phone almost in an instant. Once your finger touches the sensor, the phone unlocks in an instant, no waiting needed.
If you want your phone to be more secured, you can use fingerprint together with the Face Unlock feature, which also works pretty fast.
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| Light Lapse Design |
Moving at the back, it has the same light-lapse OPPO design with glass or glass-like mirror finish. It is smudges and fingerprints magnet, thankfully, you can use the free case included in the package, so you don't need to wipe it often. Unlike its brother which is available in 3 colors, Reno3 Pro only comes in Aurora Blue and Midnight Black, no Sky White option.
Going to the sides, the top holds the secondary microphone, while the bottom has the loudspeaker grille, USB Type-C port, primary microphone, and the 3.5mm audio jack. The right side holds the power button, while the left has the volume keys and the tray that supports three cards.
In terms of outer physical measurements, it measures 158.8mm x 73.4mm x 8.1mm and weighs approximately 175 grams. For some reason, it is 0.2mm thicker and 5 grams heavier than the Reno3. When compared to the Reno2 series, it is more compact, lighter, and weigh less than the OPPO Reno2's 160mm x 74.3mm x 9.5mm and 189 grams, and OPPO Reno2 F's 161.8mm x 75.8mm x 8.7mm and 195 grams. This simply means it is sleeker than the previous generation. However, the camera bump is obviously visible, something that is not present in the Reno family of 2019.
Looking at the facade of the Reno3 and Reno3 Pro, you can simply distinguish that the latter is more luxurious. But, looking on their backs, they look almost the same and quite hard to identify which is which.
OPPO Reno3 Unboxing and Hands-on
To learn more about its appearance and to know what are the items included in the package, you can check the above video.
SOFTWARE:
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| Software |
The OPPO Reno3 Pro runs on ColorOS 7 based on Android 10, and it is the latest software from the global smartphone maker. We will not discuss it in detail in this review as we have done that before. If you want to know more about ColorOS 7, you can read the software section of our OPPO Reno3 Review, or visit https://www.coloros.com/en/coloros7.
PERFORMANCE:
The OPPO Reno3 Pro is the first handset that we reviewed with MediaTek's Helio P95 chipset. If you can recall, the Reno3 is powered by Helio P90 silicon chip. Both chipsets are actually identical, except for the slightly, around 10%, better AI performance, and the support for 64MP camera. That said, you can expect that the Reno3 Pro has similar, if not the same performance with the Reno3 as the Helio P95 does not bring anything new to the pro variant, except again for the support for the 64MP camera.
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| CPU-Z Info |
Don't get us wrong; a 10% improvement in the AI performance is still an improvement. And even if the Helio P90 and P95 have the same CPU and GPU, the AI boost gives the Reno3 Pro a slight advantage, especially in the long run.
In terms of memory, both devices have 8GB of RAM, but the pro version has 256GB of internal storage, which is double the storage of the non-pro model.
Of course, we still subjected it to our favorite benchmarking tools, and below are the scores.
| Benchmark | OPPO A9 2020 | OPPO Reno3 Pro | OPPO Reno3 |
| Antutu | 133,922 | 227,884 | 217,741 |
| Geekbench 5 (Single-Core) | 314 | 402 | 409 |
| Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core) | 1,287 | 1,502 | 1,501 |
| Geekbench 5 (RenderScript) | 373 | - | - |
| PC Mark | 6,809 | 9,694 | 9,105 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot | 1,748 | 2,343 | 2,361 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot (Vulcan) | 1,040 | 1,549 | 1,549 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot (OpenGL) | 1,109 | 1,250 | 1,259 |
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| Benchmark Scores |
We already know based on our review of Reno3 that the Helio P90 is more powerful than the SD665 in the OPPO A9 2020 and even with the G70 inside the Realme C3. The said can be said true with the Helio P95 in the Reno3 Pro, and it is also better than the Helio G80 chipset inside the new Realme 6i. However, its scores are still lower when compared with the Snapdragon 730G chipset found in the Reno2.
As for the Reno3 Pro versus Reno3, as you can see in the above table, the former slightly outscored the latter. And, for some reason, Geekbench 5 RenderScript also won't finish testing, it always got stuck at a certain percentage.
In real life performance, both devices have similar smoothness when it comes to playing games, such as Asphalt 9, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, NBA 2K20, and Mobile Legends. And as our daily driver for a week, everything works just fine - the fingerprint sensor is quite fast, the same thing with the face unlock, no hang-ups, and no slow down whatsoever.
CAMERA:
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| 64MP Quad Rear Cameras |
Just like its brother, the Reno 3 Pro also has Quad AI cameras on its back. But this time around, the main module is upgraded to 64MP f/1.7 as compared to 48MP of the non-pro variant. The rest remained the same - 13MP f/2.4 telephoto, 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and 2MP sensor for depth sensing. By default, the phone shoots in 16MP (3456 x 4608 pixels) and has more than 7MB of file size on average. To maximize the 64MP (6944 x 9248 pixels), users must select it in particular before taking the shots. Be advised, though, that the file size will be 15MB to over 30MB. But we think that's OK, as you need to store around 7000+ 64MP photos to fillup the 231GB user-available storage.
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| 4MP Dual Selfie Cameras |
Moving in the front, both also have 44MP main module for taking selfies, however, the pro version has a secondary 2MP sensor for depth sensing.
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| Camera Interface |
Camera Samples:
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| Road, Ultrawide |
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| Road, Normal |
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| Road, 2x |
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| Road, 5x |
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| Pools, 16MP |
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| Pools, 64MP |
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| Pools, 16MP, Zoomed In |
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| Pools, 64MP, Zoomed In |
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| Playground, Dazzle Color Off |
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| Playground, Dazzle Color On |
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| Night, Dazzel Color Off |
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| Night, Dazzel Color On |
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| Night, Night Mode |
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| Ultrawide, Night, Dazzle Color Off |
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| Ultrawide, Night, Dazzle Color On |
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| Ultrawide, Night, Night Mode |
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| Flower, Macro |
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| Selfie With Face Mask |
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| Selfie, Normal |
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| Selfie, Portrait |
The OPPO Reno3 Pro main module offers stunning images both in bright environments and dark scenarios, whether using the default 16MP or the full 64MP resolution. The dazzle color feature also helps improve colors and dynamic range. The same is true for the 13MP telephoto module, the 2x zoom looks great, and even the images produce when in 5x hybrid zoom is very much usable.
As for the 8MP ultrawide lens, it also performs well similar to that of the 64MP and 13MP sensors during day time or when there's enough lighting. The outputs are also okay when shooting at night, that is when using in default mode and when the dazzle color is turned on. However, when using night mode, everything looks darker. In fact, the output image is hardly usable. We believe this is just a software issue, and hopefully, it will be resolved in the upcoming updates.
Moving on to its front cameras, we experience the same phenomena with the Reno3; that is, images look darker when we are wearing a face mask. Without the mask, the outputs are great, which is expected given the fact that it has 44MP resolution. Actually, the output has 7296 pixels x 5472 pixels, which is 40MP resolution.
CONNECTIVITY:
Just like its non-pro sibling, the OPPO Reno3 Pro that arrives in the country is the 4G variant, and if 5G is your top priority, we are sorry to say that it does not have such connectivity. And we understand that, especially if you are planning to keep your phone within a year or so. Nonetheless, 4G is still quite fast, and the connection is stable, whether your outside or inside your home. The WiFi connection is stable too, and the phones support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies.
The other connectivity features are just the usual, Bluetooth version 5.0, FM Radio, USB Type-C port, and GPS for location tracking.
BATTERY:
The OPPO Reno3 Pro has the same battery size as that of the Reno3, which is 4,025mAh. The main difference between the two is that the pro version supports or uses the newer VOOC 4.0 technology, which means that refueling its battery is faster. And based on our test, we can say that the Reno3 Pro can indeed recharge its battery faster. It reaches 0 to 81% in 40 minutes and 0 to 100% in about 57 minutes. Yes, it can fully charge the battery in less than an hour. Of course, you have to use the charger and cable that are included in the package. For comparison purposes, 40 minutes charging time fills up the Reno3 battery to 63%, and it takes 74 minutes for it to be fully charged from 0%.
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| Battery Settings and Score |
As for the PC Mark Battery Test, it scored 12 hours and 50 minutes. And, would you believe that it is the same exact score the Reno3 got when we tested it in our previous review?
FINAL WORDS:
We can say that the OPPO Reno3 is a good-looking handset that can offer decent performance for day to days tasks, such as playing games, watching videos online or offline, and shooting photos and videos. It can definitely satisfy intermediate and even advanced smartphone users.
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| OPPO Reno3 Pro |
However, if you are not in particular with the punch-hole display, the 128GB storage is enough for you, the 1.25 hours charging time is already fast for you, and you are not keen about more pixels on your photos, then we would suggest getting the Reno3 instead as it will save you 10,000 pesos. But, if you have spare money to spend, then go for the Reno3 Pro.
OPPO Reno3 Pro Specs Philippines:
- Dual Nano-SIM, dual-standby, supports 4G LTE connectivity
- 6.4-inch AMOLED FHD+ (2400 x 1080) capacitive touchscreen, 91.5% screen-to-body ratio
- Dimensions: 158.8mm x 73.4mm x 8.1mm
- Weight: 175 grams
- ColorOS 7 based on Android 10
- 2.2GHz 64-bit octa-core CPU, PowerVR GM9446 GPU, Helio P95 chipset
- 8GB of RAM
- 256GB internal storage, expandable up to 512GB via MicroSD card, uses dedicated slot
- 64MP f/1.8 PDAF + 13MP f/2.4 telephoto + 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide + 2MP f/2.4 mono quad rear cameras; 2160 at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps video recording, gyro-EIS
- 44MP f/2.4 main + 2MP f/2.4 depth dual front cameras, 1080p video recording at 30fps
- Multimedia Player
- 3.5mm audio jack
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4GHz, 5.1GHz, 5.8GHz triple band
- Bluetooth v5.0
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS
- USB Type-C, supports OTG function
- Sensors: fingerprint (in-display), accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
- Battery: 4,025mAh with 30W VOOC 4.0 flash charge
- Colors: Midnight Black, Sky White, Aurora Blue
- Price: Php28,990