The latest refresh of the Reno series has arrived in the Philippines. The OPPO Reno6 5G sports quite a few enhancements from its predecessor such as a new Dimensity 900 5G chip, new camera features, and a new design. But will these be enough to make it stand out of the crowd?
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G |
| Screen | 6.43-inch AMOLED, 2400 x 1080, Gorilla Glass 5 |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| OS | Android 11, ColorOS 11.3 |
| Rear Camera | 64MP f/1.8 Main, 8MP f/2.2 Ultrawide, 2MP f/2.4 Macro |
| Front Camera | 32MP f/2.4 |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB UFS 2.1 |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 5G |
| Connectivity | Dual-Band WiFi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, USB Type-C |
| Battery | 4,500mAh, 65W Flash Charge |
| Others | In-Display Fingerprint Scanner |
| Colors | Aurora, Stellar Black |
The Reno6 5G comes in a standard black OPPO box with a light blue-green sleeve embossed with the branding. Inside is the smartphone itself, a 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 wall adapter and its USB Type-C cable, a pair of USB Type-C earphones, a silicone case, a SIM pin ejector, and documentation.
The OPPO Reno6 5G drifts from the usual curved sides of Android smartphones and instead now has flat edges akin to an iPhone, which does feel great and hefty in the hand. The Stellar Black variant has a smooth matte finish that adds to the overall feel of the device.
Its power button is located at the right while the volume rocker is placed at the opposite side. All buttons offer decent resistance without any kind of wiggle for a satisfyingly tactile experience.
At the bottom is its USB Type-C port and single bottom-firing speaker. Its SIM Card tray is also placed down here and supports two 5G SIM cards. The Reno6 5G drops support for MicroSD card expansions and 3.5mm audio jack.
The smartphone has a 6.43-inch 2400 x 1080 90Hz AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass 5. OPPO has increased its peak brightness to around 750nits compared to the 600nits of the Reno5.
The Reno6 5G’s display isn’t particularly color accurate but it does offer vivid colors on its default setting. Black levels are deep thanks to the AMOLED panel and can produce bright images even against background lighting. Check out our measurements below:
90Hz refresh rates are becoming common this generation and its nothing special on the Reno6 5G but it allows for smoother browsing and gaming experience for apps that support it. It can be toggled down to 60Hz via the settings menu to increase battery life.
Its bottom firing speaker can get decently at maximum volume but since it doesn’t have much to work with, audio does lack depth and detail while bass remain weak and uninspired. Overall, an okay speaker system for casual use but it won’t deliver a stellar listening experience.
Not much has changed in the software department of the OPPO Reno6 5G. It runs on ColorOS 11.3 based on the Android 11 ecosystem. It comes with a ton of customization options to fully personalize the device.
You can adjust the style of the icons from their shape of the borders or text size. The OS also offers the options to adjust the animation speeds without turning on developer mode and change the animation for fingerprint unlock or icons and patterns on the Always-On display option.
All the standard Android options are here as well such as gesture or button navigation, command center at the top, multi-window support, raise to wake, and one-handed mode. OPPO adds more options, however, like the Smart Sidebar at the side which can be accessed by swiping at the thin bar.
The Reno6 5G comes with a triple camera setup composed of a 64MP f/1.8 main lens, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro. It seems that they have dropped the depth sensor from the last iteration of the Reno series.
Its camera app comes with all the modes you could think of from a device. These include Photo, Video, Night Mode, Portrait, Time-Lapse, Extra HD (64MP Mode), Pro, Slow Motion. Panorama, Dual-View Video, among many others. OPPO is replacing the absence of the depth camera with software with its new Bokeh Flare Portrait mode for video and photo.
The main 64MP f/1.8 main camera of the Reno6 5G delivers sharp and vibrant photos in well-lit conditions. The AI can be too aggressive at times, which oversaturates some of the photos. Dynamic range is pretty good as it preserves detail in both light and dark scenes.
It can also capture pretty good images in the evening or dimly-lit settings. The camera mostly performs well in catching details and colors in the night but noise is still perceptible at times and the AI can over brighten some parts.
One of the highlights in the Reno6 5G’s camera repertoire is its new Bokeh Flare Portrait mode that replaces its hardware depth sensor. It tries to simulate the bokeh found on camera lenses. It works well most of the time but it seems that it has problems separating the background from accessories like hats and earrings but face masks seem to do well.
Its 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide is not as impressive when it comes to detail and colors compared to the main camera but performance is pretty good in bright conditions. Photos are properly corrected without any kind of significant distortion at the sides.
A 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera is placed at the front that captures fantastic detail and colors, which is expected from an OPPO entry. There is good separation from the subject and the background but AI Beautification is incredibly aggressive. It also sports the Bokeh Flare Portrait mode found on the rear camera.
The OPPO Reno6 5G is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 900U 5G chip complemented by 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It employs RAM extension which uses some of the internal storage as slower RAM to allow more apps to be run at the same time.
Its chip won’t deliver top-notch performance in the midrange segment but it does well enough for the average user. Stock benchmarks put the Reno6 5G at the 427,451 mark in AnTuTu, 9844 in PCMark Work 3.0 Performance Benchmark, 699 single-core and 2,071 multi-core scores in GeekBench, and 2,040 in 3DMark WildLife.
Gaming performance is adequate for mainstream multiplayer games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Call of Duty: Mobile, and League of Legends: Wild Rift. It can also get a steady playable framerate of 30fps at the highest settings in Genshin Impact. It is unfortunate though that some of the popular games in the market do not support the Reno6 5G’s 90Hz display.
Powering the OPPO Reno6 5G is a 4,300mAh battery, 200mAh more than its predecessor. It might not be on-par with some devices with a 5,000mAh capacities, it can us through the day with medium use composed of work, replying to emails, watching YouTube videos, and the occasional bout of Call of Duty: Mobile.
The smartphone supports the OPPO’s SuperVOOC 2.0 charging tech through its USB Type-C port. Charging times remains impressive with smartphone able to go from 0% to 100% in under an hour.
Priced at PhP 26,999 in the Philippines, the OPPO Reno6 5G is not a complete redesign of the Reno lineup nor have a revolutionary jump in performance but more of a refinement compared to previous iterations. It still comes with the strong points of an OPPO device such as good cameras, eye-catching design, fantastic AMOLED display, and fairly long battery life.
The weaker aspects of the Reno6 5G could be easily overlooked such as the lack of stereo speakers and the omission of the 3.5mm audio jack. One could argue that the Dimensity 900 5G somewhat lags compared to other chips at the higher mid-end of the market but it remains functional at the very least.
Overall, the OPPO Reno6 5G offers everything you would want from a smartphone at its price point. Those who are looking to upgrade to a smartphone that have a good set of features should have it on their shortlist.
The OPPO Reno6 5G is now available in the Philippines for PhP 26,999 via the brand’s official Shopee and Lazada stores. It can also be had via Globe and Smart postpaid plans as well as retail stores nationwide.
