The Oppo Reno 4 Pro’s main camera clocks in at 48MP, with an f/1.7 lens and OIS. That’s combined with a 12MP ultrawide camera and a 13MP 3x optical zoom snapper – competitive, but definitely not class-leading on paper.
Expect standard shooting modes – Auto, Pro, Night Mode and more, and thanks to smart electronic stabilisation coupled with that OIS, it grabs rocksteady video.
Detail from its pictures is on-point. Even indoors with middling artificial light, keep a steady hand and photos look sharp. You can pinch and crop into them a fair bit and they’ll still be good enough for social media or small prints.
Colour balance across all three cameras is also great unless lighting is seriously tricky – a bright TV to the side or coloured bulbs throwing off the scene, for example. Meanwhile, saturation balances a realistic and punchy look with finesse, looking less zingy than Samsung phones, including the Galaxy S20, probably one of the Reno 5G’s main rivals.
Noise handling is good in auto mode, though you’ll need to dip into the night mode if scenes get too dark. The fact the Reno 4 Pro uses the same 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor found in phones launched in early 2019 like the Honor View 20 shows just how far software can boost mobile photography. That said, it isn’t perfect, with dynamic range struggles surfacing in dark scenes. This is specifically when capturing dark elements such a black cat fur indoors.
As for the ultrawide camera, it’s anything but a letdown thanks to a new Sony sensor at its heart. Shots look sharp enough whether taken near or far thanks to autofocus – missing from most ultrawide lenses.
Also a boon – the phone’s night mode works across all three cameras. Meanwhile, the 3x optical zoom is decent, wiping the floor with the Pixel 5’s digital zoom, for example. Unlike the Pixel 5 though, the Reno 4 Pro can’t shoot 4K video at 60fps, instead, capping out at 30fps.
That said, video does look incredibly smooth, with the onboard stabilisation working a treat. The Reno 4 Pro copes with low light better than most of the sub-£700 competition in video mode, and if you want the best results, drop the resolution to 1080p. Once you do, you’ll open up video across all three cameras (and therefore focal lengths). If you stick with 4K, you’re locked to the main camera.
