This time round OPPO decided to launch both phones in the Reno7 series – the 4G version and the 5G version. We’ve already reviewed the OPPO Reno7 5G which you can read here and now the focus is on its smaller sibling.
Design
Unlike the curvier 5G version, the 4G version borrows its design from the Reno6 5G from last year with its boxier aesthetic. It’s a tad heavier than the Reno7 5G and the corners really dig into your palm with extended use.
Otherwise, it feels pretty solid, lightweight and comfortable to hold. There’s a case included.
The phone is dual SIM and comes with standard features as its big brother – a 32MP selfie camera housed at the top left punch-hole.
There’s a microphone at the top, speaker grille, type-c charging port, microphone and a headphone jack at the bottom, a power button on the right, volume rocker buttons on the left.
It’s worth noting that OPPO ditched the headphone jack with last year’s Reno6 5G but included Type-C headphones. The company switched it up and brought back the headphone jack with a slot for microSD card expansion but no headphones were included in the box.
There’s stereo sound thanks to the earpiece. For biometrics, you get an in-display fingerprint reader with face unlock.
At the back is where differences start to emerge – from colours to camera island design. We have Cosmic black for the 4G version and Starry Black for the 5G version.
The Reno7 4G also comes in Sunset Orange and the back uses a Fiberglass-Leather design to bring that new tactile texture which is combined with a bright orange colour tone to exude that premium feel.
The 4G version spots a 64MP main, a 2MP microscope and a 2MP depth sensor. The OPPO Reno 7 4G is the first phone in Kenya to sport a microscope camera. It also has an LED ring light around the lens.
It rocks a polycarbonate back cover while the front panel rocks Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The matte materials give the phone a quite good overall feel.
The hardware itself has a comfortable heft to it as well for those that prefer that.
Back to the centrepiece of the Reno7 series is the magnificent 6.43” AMOLED display capped at a 90Hz refresh rate that supports HDR. Things look really excellent on this panel. Multimedia content remained sharp with the vivid colours and expected deep blacks that made binging movies and tv shows quite enjoyable.
Scrolling and gaming sessions were pretty much perfect thanks to the high refresh rate and touch response that never stuttered. Every action on the display felt buttery smooth.
The display is easy to navigate and the in-display fingerprint scanner is well positioned for quick unlocks.
Overall, I loved the design choices and display quality of the Reno7 4G.
Performance
OPPO went with the Snapdragon 680 processor and Adreno 610 GPU for the Reno7 4G pairing it with 8GB RAM(plus 5GB virtual RAM) and 256GB of UFS 2.2 onboard storage.
OPPO Reno7 4G ships with Android 12 and ColorOS 12 – its sibling, sadly, comes with Android 11 straight out of the box.
Android 12 brings with it new quick tiles, new widgets, improved one-handed mode, notification settings, visual overhaul, and new app pairs for split-screen and privacy improvements such as a new dashboard that shows which apps are using which permissions and indicators for camera and microphone access.
I have really enjoyed the goodness that comes with Material You design and the wallpaper based theming.
ColorOS 12 brings upgraded features like Omoji, floating windows, Quick launch, PC Connect, 3-Finger Translate powered by Google Lens, FlexDrop, Private System, Game Assistant, Private Safe, App Lock, App Cloner and Phone Manager. The quick launch feature lets you quickly launch apps or functions when you long-press the fingerprint icon when the phone is locked.
Both Android 12 and ColorOS 12 bring a treasure trove of customization features to play around with.
The RAM, storage and chipset combo makes things load instantly making multitasking a breeze and the RAM expansion feature increases those gains. OPPO Reno7 4G took every task I threw at it with ease.
Light games ran fluidly unless you tossed heavy titles in there like Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile. You have to cap at medium graphic settings for smooth gameplay.
Overall, OPPO Reno7 4G’s performance is truly in step with some of the best mid-range smartphones in the country.
Battery Life
Like its sibling, the OPPO Reno7 4G rocks a 4500mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. The phone takes an hour to go from 0% to 100%.
It will last you last through the day even with the refresh rate set to the highest. I didn’t have to worry about my phone unceremoniously dying.
I was getting around seven and eight hours of screen-on-time in-between heavy and light use.
You can push from breakfast to bedtime with little to spare for late-night browsing on the web or checking Instagram before dosing off.
Cameras
OPPO Reno7 4G has a 32MP selfie camera and a 64MP triple camera setup that includes a 2MP microscope and a 2MP depth sensor.
There’s an Orbit Light underneath the Micro lens to provide additional illumination when it is enabled.
You can see the individual pixels.
It’s a nice-to-have gimmick to play around with.
In most shots, OPPO Reno7 4G went for a more saturated look.
The selfie camera took really good portraits with a decent dynamic range. The phone went with a more vibrant look for portraits when compared to regular selfies.
OPPO Reno7 4G also keeps the same saturated look for nighttime photos.
I was impressed with how it handled lowlight selfies and portraits too.
And as OPPO says, the Reno 7 series is truly a Portrait expert.
Other modes you can shoot in with the Reno 7 4G include Pano, ExtraHD(64MP mode), Timelapse, Slow Mo and Pro.
Video is however capped at 1080p and there’s no AI highlight to help shoot lowlight videos.
Verdict
It is interesting that the lower-specced Reno7 4G managed to go toe to toe with its bigger sibling and even win in some.
OPPO Reno7 4G is generally a well-rounded phone that makes the appropriate sacrifices while maintaining OPPO’s standards for quality and performance.
The only qualm I have is the lack of 4K recording – the OPPO Reno5F from early last year has that ability.
But this isn’t an OPPO Reno7 4G problem – it is spread across smartphones that run on the Snapdragon 680 chipset including the Realme 9i, the Realme C25Y and the Huawei Nova 9 SE.
Snapdragon 680 ISP has the Hexagon 686 NPU that can only capture video max at 1K at 60fps.
If you can overlook this compromise, you’ll love its portrait-taking capabilities.
Pricing and Availability
OPPO Reno7 5G and 4G versions are being sold at OPPO’s and Safaricom’s retail stores countrywide and on e-commerce sites like Jumia, Kilimall and SkyGarden.
Pricing starts at Ksh 42,999 and Ksh 59,999 for the 4G and 5G versions respectively. Configurations start at 6GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage, 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage and 8GB RAM and 256GB onboard storage.
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