Oppo Reno smartphone with periscopic telephoto lens will be released in June for 799 euros

Oppo has announced the European versions of its Reno phones. The top model with Snapdragon 855-soc, three cameras and ’10x hybrid zoom’ costs 799 euros. There is also a cheaper model without a telephoto lens and with a Snapdragon 710 soc, which costs 499 euros.

The two Oppo Reno smartphones have an OLED screen without a notch. Oppo has concealed the front camera in a sloping element that folds up from the housing when in use. The loudspeaker and flash are also incorporated in the extendable part. According to Oppo, users can extend the mechanism more than 200,000 times. If the device falls, the phone ensures that the camera is automatically retracted into the housing.

The most expensive model has a 6.6″ screen, the cheaper version a slightly smaller 6.4″ screen. In both cases, it is an OLED panel with a resolution of 2340×1080 pixels and a fingerprint scanner behind the screen.

Oppo gives the most expensive version a Snapdragon 855-soc, 8GB ram and 256GB flash storage. On the back are three cameras, with focal lengths in full-frame equivalent from 16 to 160mm. That is why Oppo speaks of 10x hybrid zoom. It is actually not an optical zoom, because it involves three fixed focal lengths. The intermediate focal points are calculated with digital zoom.

The telephoto lens is incorporated in the housing with a periscopic construction. Oppo already demonstrated this setup at the beginning of this year at the Mobile World Congress. The camera in the Reno 10x Hybrid Zoom uses this technique. The top model from Reno has a larger ‘zoom range’ than Huawei’s P30 Pro. That device has a telephoto lens with a focal length of 125mm in full-frame equivalent.

For the primary camera in both Reno phones, Oppo uses Sony’s IMX586 sensor. That 48-megapixel sensor is being used by many manufacturers this year. Behind the telephoto lens is an undisclosed 13-megapixel sensor and the wide-angle lens is combined with an 8-megapixel sensor.

The back of the Reno devices is made of glass. Oppo uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 for this. On the front is Gorilla Glass 6. On the back is also a ceramic ‘o-dot’. According to the manufacturer, it ensures that the phones are raised to a minimum to protect the camera lenses when the device is on a flat surface.

The cheaper Oppo Reno without telephoto lens contains a Snapdragon 710-soc, 6GB ram and also 256GB flash storage. There are two cameras on the back, but the second is only used for additions such as a depth of field effect. Both devices run on ColorOS 6, based on Android 9. The phones support fast charging with the Vooc flashcharge 3.0.

From May 10, the Oppo Reno is for sale for 499 euros. The Reno 10x Hybrid Zoom will follow in June and will cost 799 euros. A variant of the top model with a 5G modem appears in Switzerland, which costs 899 euros.