OPPO enjoys an unparalleled reputation in the Indian smartphone market for pushing the envelope further regarding innovations. With the latest launch, the OPPO Reno12 5G, the brand is traversing further in the horizon by adding new-age GenAI features to the device. These features make the Reno12 5G the perfect everyday AI companion.
From being the sturdiest smartphone in the Reno series to taking the whole user experience to the next level with OPPO’s GenAI features, the OPPO Reno12 5G makes the perfect daily driver. We used the OPPO Reno12 5G as our primary smartphone and were extremely impressed by the end of our test duration.
So, without any further ado, let’s delve into why the OPPO Reno12 5G should be in your pocket as your daily companion.
50MP Shots Elevated to Professional Level With GenAI Features
At first glance, we loved the callback to the original Reno-style rectangular camera island on the back panel. The Reno12 5G continues the legacy of the Reno series, offering the best camera innovations in the market with a powerful trio of cameras and advanced software innovations.
AI Eraser 2.0
As if the OPPO Reno12 5G camera system was not powerful, the brand has loaded the smartphone with GenAI features. We loved the flexibility of AI Eraser 2.0 for removing unwanted people from pictures and AI Best Face for automatically opening closed eyes in group shots. There’s also an AI Studio, which lets you create stylised and themed avatars and invite your friends to join AI group photos, no matter which phone brand they use.
Our favourite AI feature of the Reno12 5G has to be the AI Eraser 2.0, which offers 98% accuracy in recognising images thanks to the training based on billions of public domain images. Clicking a decent group or solo shot in a busy street or tourist spot is nearly impossible in India. However, with Reno12 5G, you can remove all unwanted people from the frame with just one click. No matter where we click pictures, we can generate images with the intended subjects and objects without any distractions in the frame.
Not just objects, the Reno12 5G can intelligently analyse the picture to detect lighting and skin tone to generate natural skin tone. Whether the picture was clicked in day or night, you will get an accurate skin tone every time without any weird pinkish or greenish hue or holo effect. Whether you click a group picture or a selfie, you will always get consistently accurate skin tone.
Before AI Best Face vs After AI Best Face
Speaking of group shots, we loved the AI Best Face, which allowed us to change the picture after clicking it. It’s common for at least one person to accidentally blink in the group shot, but Reno12 5G lets you open the closed eyes in a picture with a single click. To achieve this feat, the phone uses generative AI and advanced recognition of human faces and expressions.
Not just that, the smartphone also boosts the facial details of up to 10 people in a group shot. The AI Clear Face option uses an on-device AI model to recognise the faces in the group shot and boost facial details, highlights, etc., every time. We loved the flexibility of handing the phone to anyone to take a group shot and get a brilliant shot anyway. Say goodbye to blurry photos taken by the stranger you requested to take your picture.
We also loved the ability to generate customised and themed pictures from the images we clicked on the Reno12 5G. Users can generate themed versions of themselves using the AI Studio. Moreover, you can also send invite links to your friends to generate group AI photos. The best part is that the AI Studio link can be used on any brand’s phone, which makes it accessible to all your contacts.
As for the cameras, the Ultra-Clear Portrait camera module has the 50MP Sony LYT600 primary sensor with a 1/1.95″ sensor, f/1.8 aperture lens, OIS, All Pixel Omni-Directional PDAF, and 26mm focal length. The secondary camera is an 8MP Sony IMX335 ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture lens, 112-degree FOV, and 16mm focal length. Lastly, a 2MP OV02B10 macro camera offers an impressive 4cm focusing distance. You get the best-in-class portrait lens, an exceptional primary camera, and an impressive macro lens.
We loved how detailed and crisp the pictures we shot using the primary camera of the OPPO Reno12 5G were. The game-changer camera setup combines the Sony LYT600 and All Pixel Omni-Directional PDAF with OIS. The Reno12 5G produced sharp, punchy pictures with good dynamic range in daylight.
Coming to the front camera, the OPPO Reno12 5G is a true-blue portrait expert with a 32MP GC32E2 selfie camera with a 1/1.1” sensor, 21mm focal length, and f/2.0 aperture. The camera is backed by CDAF and PDAF. We were highly impressed with the bokeh amount, scene separation, skin tone reproduction, and face clarity offered by the camera. Whether taking a self-portrait or group selfie, your pictures will always be share-worthy straight out of the camera.
Sturdiest Reno Phone Yet
We loved the confidence-inducing heft and build quality of the OPPO Reno12 5G. The latest launch is slim, with a thinness of just 7.6mm and a weight of only 177 grams. Despite being a sleek smartphone, the OPPO Reno12 5G feels solid in hand, thanks to OPPO’s proprietary High-Strength Alloy Framework, which is designed to offer a hardness level comparable to metal and exceptional durability.
Don’t be fooled by the sleek and delicate appearance of the OPPO Reno12 5G. The latest launch has secured the prestigious Premium Performance 5-star Multi-Scene protection certification from SGS. It means the smartphone flaunts exceptional water- and shock resistance. The Damage-Proof 360° Armour Body is protected further by the device, inspired by a sponge, to enhance resistance against drops and impacts.
Lastly, the IP65 rating makes the OPPO Reno12 5G water and dust-resistant. During our time with the Reno12 5G, we didn’t drop the phone but had the peace of mind of knowing it wouldn’t give up on us even if we were to drop it.
OPPO offers the Reno12 5G in Sunset Peach, Matte Brown, and Astro Silver colours. We loved the sophisticated look and rich cocoa hue of Matte Brown, which looks classy and is fingerprint-resistant. The Sunset Peach colour offers a stunning finish with the graphic liquid crystal process. In contrast, the Astro Silver utilises OPPO’s Fluid Ripple Texture to imitate liquid on a smooth surface. No matter which colourway you choose, you will be grabbing eyeballs whenever you take the phone out of your pocket.
You Can’t Take Your Eyes Off That Display
Of course, we can take our eyes off the display, but the thing is, you wouldn’t want to. The OPPO Reno12 5G marks the debut of the 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED 3D Curved Screen with 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i on top. The display itself is a 6.7-inch Flexible AMOLED panel with FHD+ screen resolution.
The screen features a 43° quad-micro curve, which results in an impressively narrow 1.69mm side bezels. The Reno12 5G offers an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 93.5%. We immensely enjoyed the immersive experience when streaming a movie or show on the Reno12 5G.
The 10-bit panel further enhances the viewing experience. This means the Reno12 5G can display 1.07 billion colours, enabling life-like colour reproduction and smoother colour transitions between scenes. The best part is that we can enjoy the same quality even outdoors, thanks to the HDR brightness of up to 1200 nits.
The OPPO Reno12 5G also comes with a new feature called Splash Touch, which allows users to operate the phone normally even when water is on the screen or their hands are wet. We loved the convenience of looking up directions or hailing a cab, even in the pouring rain.
It’s almost as if OPPO knew that Reno12 5G users will spend copious amounts of time on their phones, as the display features a dedicated Bedtime Mode. This mode intelligently adjusts the colour temperature throughout the day to minimise the impact of high screen time on natural melatonin levels, ensuring a good night’s sleep.
The phone also offers up to 2160hz high-frequency PWM Dimming and low blue light display hardware to prevent eye fatigue. We can vouch for the same. A season each of Bridgerton and Kota Factory later, we have yet to reach out for that tiny bottle of eyedrops on our desk.
ColorOS 14.1 Experience Jam-packed With AI Features
The Android 14-based ColorOS 14.1 rounded off the entire experience of using the Reno12 5G very well. OPPO is committed to offering reliability and longevity to its users, which is why the brand has promised three years of OS upgrades and four years of security patches. We love that with the Reno12 5G, you are sorted for at least four years, as the performance and fluidity will likely remain the same.
The all-new AI Toolbox, powered by Google Gemini, makes the ColorOS 14.1 experience of Reno12 5G even better. This toolbox sits conveniently on the sidebar of the interface, analysing everything you do on your phone and suggesting AI features accordingly. If you are writing a text message, email, or social media caption, AI Writer will be suggested to offer grammar correction and word suggestions in real-time.
We especially loved the AI Speak and AI Summary features, which are suggested when reading long articles or reports on your phone. AI Speak allows you to listen to the content without looking at the screen, whereas AI Summary can generate notes, summaries, and highlights to help you grasp the essence of any story in no time. We loved using the feature on long work emails to highlight the important points without reading the whole thing.
Speaking of work emails, there’s a saying that many meetings could have been an email. While we couldn’t escape the meetings, the AI Recording summary helped us get the gist of meetings while doing other work simultaneously. The feature can be found in the Recordings app, which captures meaningful summaries and then exports them to Notes for easy later reading. These summaries create to-do lists and highlight important dates and locations, which is very convenient. And the best part is that it supports both English and Hindi, making the Reno12 5G extremely useful.
Other features include File Dock, which seamlessly drags and drops files across apps; Smart Touch, which copies content from a screenshot; and AI LinkBoost, which optimises network selection. The LinkBoost feature uses a system-level AI model and a 360-degree Surround Antenna Solution with nine individual antennas to ensure you have a strong and reliable connection. Thanks to this, we could make and receive calls and enjoy seamless streaming even when we were in a lift or in an underground tunnel on Delhi Metro.
Speaking of good signal reception, the OPPO Reno12 5G also uses AI to offer exceptional voice clarity on calls across multiple apps. It comes with an AI Clear Voice feature, which intelligently filters out background noise in calls for precise audio delivery. We truly loved having Reno12 5G as our primary smartphone simply because of the myriad software features, making daily tasks extremely convenient.
The Reno12 Series, also introduces BeaconLink technology that provides a dependable fallback during network outages. It allowed us to connect seamlessly on a one-to-one voice call via Bluetooth in no-network environment. Works well in areas such as underground garages, concerts, music festivals, and remote countryside settings.
Flagship-Grade Performance
All those hardware and software advancements wouldn’t have been possible without a powerful processor at the core. The Reno12 5G is the first smartphone powered by the all-new 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300-Energy processor, developed exclusively for the Reno series. With 4nm fabrication and an octa-core architecture featuring four high-performance A78 cores and four efficiency A55 cores, the chipset strikes an excellent balance between performance and power efficiency.
The processor is backed by the MediaTek NPU 655, the superpower behind all the OPPO GenAI features offered by the Reno12 5G. The NPU 655 is designed to improve overall AI task efficiency with improved power efficiency. With a powerful processor, efficient NPU, well-optimised operating system, 8+8GB RAM, and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, the Reno12 5G is the workhorse you deserve and need.
We particularly loved the overall performance boost offered by Trinity Engine on the Reno12 5G. It refers to CPU Vita, RAM Vita, and ROM Vita. The CPU Vita uses onboard AI models to analyse app behaviour and schedule processor resources for a smooth and stable performance.
On the other hand, RAM Vita optimises background apps to accelerate app launch speeds and switches. ROM Vita is designed to compress lesser-used apps and manage duplicate files to free up storage.
Faster Charging, Longer Lasting Battery
We are pleased to report that the Reno12 5G’s battery life reflects all those optimizations and efficiency features very well. OPPO has equipped the Reno12 5G with a massive 5,000mAh battery with an optimised cathode and anode structure. Further, OPPO’s machine learning-based AI Smart Charging feature adapts to your charging needs to preserve battery health for over four years.
The Reno12 5G gets upgraded over its predecessor’s 67W SUPERVOOC™ fast charging technology. The new launch supports 80W SUPERVOOCTM fast charging technology, which can charge the battery from 1 to 100% in just 46 minutes. Simply plug in the device for 15 minutes, and you are sorted for a full day of light usage, which is impressive.
OPPO Reno12 5G: The New Generation AI Companion You Deserve
If you’re after cutting-edge AI features, an immersive viewing experience, unmatched performance and software experience, and powerful cameras, look no further than the OPPO Reno12 5G. You get all this and much more in a sleek and stylish package that will make you the talk of the town.
So, without hesitating, head to the nearest mainline retail store, OPPO online store, or Flipkart to pick the preferred device colour. It’s priced at INR 32999 for 8GB/256GB and is available with lucrative launch offers, further sweetening the whole deal.
