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The Oppo Reno8 series will premiere in the Philippines on SEPTEMBER 1

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We saw the unit ourselves and we’re quite amazed by its front camera performance and its sparkling design!

Oppo Reno8 Premiere Event

We may never have gotten a review unit, but we’re still proud to come to our first-ever large LIVE event! Oh, we’re also coming to OnePlus’ debut event in the Philippines this coming Thursday and we can’t wait to see the OnePlus 10T come first.

The main star of the Oppo event is the Reno8 series. This includes the Reno8 5G and Reno8 Z 5G. As always, the Z series serves as the “budget” subseries for Reno. Oppo is always striving for a premium design but with a somewhat high price which may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Oppo Reno8

Oppo Reno8 in Shimmer Black

Starting with the main star, the Reno8, it features a classy, metallic design that truly describes its colours. The back is shiny, shimmering, splendid. The camera hump at the back also reminds us a lot of the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the OnePlus 10 Pro, as if those two had a baby.

Also, the Reno8 is a noticeable upgrade over its predecessor, and because of that, its specs do not feel incremental. The display remains the same. As with the Reno7 5G, the Reno8 retains the 6.4in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) AMOLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. It has a peak brightness of 800nits so the screen is very bright even under the sunlight, and our rhymes are quite tight.

We were blown away to see the Dimensity 1300 equipped inside the Reno8 5G. For those who don’t know, the Reno7 5G was equipped with Mediatek’s Dimensity 900. Both of these are manufactured based on a 6nm process but their main differences lie in the processing speed and the Dimensity 1300 is almost flagship level at an affordable price. This chipset is paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. This also makes the phone run smooth. ColorOS 12.1 is also well-developed, despite it not being stock Android.

Speaking of ColorOS 12.1, one of the highlighted features was the anti-peeping mode and Air Gestures. The former is intended so that your notifications will stay hidden. Pretty useful in public places. The Air Gestures mode is just Oppo’s fancy way of using multiple yet gimmicky gestures that can be convenient in some cases, such as the three-fingered screenshots.

The Reno series is always all about cameras, and the Reno8 does not disappoint. Like its distant sibling, the Realme 9 Pro+, the Reno8 uses the popular 50MP Sony IMX766 camera with a 1/1.56in. sensor and OIS. The large size allows for more light to enter and thus, creating livelier and brighter images even at night. Alongside it are your usual nobodies. Particularly, the 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro.

The selfie camera, which frankly, I’ve been using a lot during the event, has a 32MP resolution. We figured why the camera has some stunning photography. This is no ordinary 32MP camera, it’s the Sony IMX709 that can be used by companies as the main camera as well. Oppo really put the effort into making its cameras worth it, which is the main highlight of the Reno series.

As we mentioned earlier, the phone has a large sensor. With its AI capabilities combined, the phone can take night videos and photos. Oppo calls it the Ultra Night mode that significantly enhances your videos and photos in low-light situations. Sure it isn’t GCam, but Oppo’s R&D is big enough and for a midrange phone, that’s already impressive.

Oppo is also boasting the phone’s 80W fast charging tech alongside a typical 4500mAh battery. For its price, it’s actually faster than its competitors which are usually limited to just 65W. Oppo said this level of fast charging can charge a flat battery to full in just 11 minutes. Also, during the launch event, there was a ceremonial dance that lasted almost the same time.

It has an in-display fingerprint reader which, in our press release, was surprisingly not mentioned. Pretty strange. Although we can hypothesize that this is an expected feature already among phones within the same price range. It also has support for face unlock

It comes in Shimmer Gold and Shimmer Black colours. The live event for some reason did not have the Shimmer Gold colour. In the Philippines, the phone will be available by the 1st of September. It would be available via Lazada, Shopee, TikTok Shop, and in authorized offline stores, including Oppo’s concept stores.

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Oppo Reno 8Z

Oppo Reno 8Z in Dawnlight Gold

The more budget-oriented phone, the Reno8 Z features an attractively beautiful design also with a focus on camera efficiency. Although not as efficient as the more expensive Reno8, it still is quite competitive akin to its main competitors.

Just like the Oppo Reno8, the 8 Z is captioned as the “Portrait Expert” due to Oppo’s enhanced AI capabilities when it comes to their phone’s cameras. Having great selfies has been a signature of the company since its inception into the mobile phone industry.

“Over the years, the Portrait Expert has been known to challenge the limits of smartphones’ camera technology. As we continue to innovate the OPPO Reno Series, we want to focus on one of the leading challenges for devices–capturing photos and videos at night. With the OPPO Reno8 Series 5G, people can now capture ultra clear nights and shine at their best moments, anytime and anywhere,” said Chiqui Tapawan, Head of Marketing Communications of OPPO Philippines.

If you find the design quite similar, then you have some good eyes. The Reno8 Z is basically a refined Reno7 Z. It keeps almost every spec its predecessor it’s known for, with a few software tweaks. If you own a Reno7 Z, chances are, you’re using both the Reno8 Z and 7 Z without even knowing it.

Like the 7Z, the 8Z features a similar 6.4in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) AMOLED screen with a regular 60Hz refresh rate. Oppo couldn’t be bothered to add a bit more. It has also kept the same unique RGB notification ring LED located on the rear cameras.

In terms of performance, the phone features a blessed and cursed Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset which has 5G capabilities. This is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage, yes the same options as the Reno7 Z 5G. It also has a microSD card slot that can support cards of up to 1TB storage.

There are three cameras, again, retaining the Reno7 Z’s 64MP + 2MP + 2MP setup. The front camera has 16MP resolution situated on the leftmost corner of the screen. Also, the phone couldn’t take 4K video due to chipset limitation, which is actually one of the cursed things about it.

It also has a 4500mAh Li-Po battery with 33W SuperVOOC (whatever that means) fast charging. It has a headphone jack, USB-C port, and in-display fingerprint scanner. It has support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.1, and NFC.

The Reno 8Z 5G comes in Starlight Black and Dawnlight Gold colours. Its price is yet to be announced. Also, like the Reno8, it will be released on 1st September through TikTok, Lazada, and Shopee. It may also be released offline such as in Oppo’s concept stores and partner retailers.

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