Tested Oppo Reno 5

■ Charging ahead

The Reno 5’s Super-Vooc 65W fast-charging system tops the 5 000mAh battery up to full in less than an hour. If you’re really in a hurry, you’ll get about 4% a minute or four hours usage from five minutes charging. R15 000/oppo.com/za

■ Quad Damage

Oppo isn’t known for its camera tech but the 64/8/2/2MP quad camera array has a few software tricks up its sleeve. Upscale pics to 108MP using software or take advantage of on-device AI. The prize? Software stabilised video.

Reno 511

Oppo’s making more inroads into the SA market with its Reno 5 handset, bringing 65W fast-charging to the masses

■ Oppo’s out to capture hearts and minds and its first major foray into the market, the Reno 5, is an admirable effort. It combines some very high-end features with a reasonable price to tempt you to try out what the new guy has to offer. We think it’s working.

■ The Reno 5’s build is solid, even if that rear plate is lighter than it looks. Oppo’s visual presentation is top-notch and the phone oozes quality from its substantial rear camera bump to the in-screen fingerprint reader.

■ Best of all, you get everything in the box. The 65W charge block is something special (and will cost R1 000 to replace so don’t lose it) but there’s also headphones and a clear cover, so you don’t conceal that delightful backside, to look forward to.

■ The Snapdragon 765G and 8GB of RAM in our review model made the phone’s interface – which was mercifully lacking in massive amounts of bloat – nippy and responsive. It’s not quite flagship speeds but it’s not far off either.

■ The battery will last you, but the Reno 5’s charging tech means it doesn’t actually have to, and it arrives packing 5G support as well. Technically this company is a bit of an upstart but they’re worth checking out. First budget phones, now this? Fine, they can stay.

Tech specs

Screen 6.43in FHD+ AMOLED (90Hz) Processor Snapdragon 765G RAM 8GB/12GB Cameras Rear 64MP/8MP/2MP (depth) /2MP (macro) Front 32MP Battery 5000mAh OS Android 11 Storage 128GB/256GB Dimensions 159.1x73.4x7.9mm

STUFF SAYS This Oppo is knocking, you’d be a fool not to answer ★★★★✩

Making their mark on the South African market

Oppo has plans for South Africa. We sat down with them to get a few hints as to what they are and they include the launch of 5G routers and a few more smartphones in the budget category before we see any of the company’s really high-end smartphones. What we’re really keen on is seeing Oppo’s Find X-series headliners but that will apparently take some time to happen. In the interim, we’re not upset with the Reno 5’s launch in SA.