OPPO Reno 9 Pro Review – Not Just Looks Premium, There’s Much More

The OPPO Reno9 Pro has been launched in global markets. The 16GB RAM and 256GB internal storage cost RMB 3,499 (approx Rs 40,000) and the 16GB RAM and 512GB internal storage cost RMB 3,799 (approx Rs 43,400).

The OPPO Reno9 Pro packs the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• 67W charger
• Type-C cable
• SIM ejector tool
• Documentation

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Before we talk in detail about the OPPO Reno9 Pro, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.7 inches OLED
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Max
• RAM & ROM: 16GB RAM + 256GB Storage, 16GB RAM + 512GB storage
• Software: Android v13
• Rear camera: 50MP + 8MP
• Selfie camera: 32 MP
• Battery: 4500 mAh
• Weight: 174 grams
• Dimensions: 162.3 x 74.2 x 7.19 mm

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Starting with the design, you can tell that the all-new OPPO Reno9 Pro looks premium just by taking a glance at it. It comes in three colour options: GOLD, Gradient Gold and Black. We have the Gradient Gold colour option with us for the review. Just by holding the device, I can tell that the phone feels sturdy and well-built.

It comes with a curved glass back having a textured finish, which helps to offer a good grip in the hands. Like other glossy phones in the market, it does not attract fingerprints and is neither slippery – a big plus! I just love how OPPO has worked to get this phone to look so premium.

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The camera module doesn’t protrude, but the lenses do, so there’s a little wobble when kept on a flat surface. All in all, there’s no compromise in the built quality and hence the in-hand feel is great.

Moreover, though the phone is big, it’s quite slim at 7.99mm and lightweight, weighing just 174 grams. I used the phone for long durations and it’s definitely a lighter phone than most other phones in the market.

Talking about the ports and buttons, the right side has the power button while the left holds the volume rockers. The top just has the secondary mic and the bottom houses the SIM card tray, type-C port, primary mic and speaker grille.

The OPPO Reno9 Pro review would be incomplete without talking about the camera. The phone comes with a dual camera setup on the back. This includes a 50MP Sony IMX890 primary camera and an 8MP ultra-wide lens. The front has a 32MP selfie camera housed in the punch hole cutout.

Talking about the main camera performance, the 50MP camera takes good shots in daylight. The pictures were clear, detailed and crisp. The colour accuracy was on point and the dynamic range was pretty good as well. Low-light shots were nice with a little bit of noise creeping in around the corners. The details dipped, of course, but the colours were maintained well.

The portrait shots were solid. Subject was well separated from the background. The background blur was good with solid edge detection. Detailing was on point and colour accuracy was great here as well.

Coming over to the 8MP ultra-wide lens, it takes nice images with a wide point of view. The detail level was good but the images were not as sharp as the main camera. The dynamic range was good here as well. I wish the colours were a little bit more punchy.

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The image quality takes a hit as the light drops. Low-light shots were grainy and the detail level was way far compared to the main camera.

Lastly, the 32MP front camera takes fantastic selfies in daylight. The selfies were packed with details and were sharp and crisp. The dynamic range was good and the skin tones looked pretty natural to me. Low-light selfies were also good and the details were still there.

Portrait selfies were lovely with performance that was on par with the main camera. The background separation was well done and the subject was properly in focus.

Talking about the video recording, the phone can record 4K videos at 30fps from the main camera. The videos from the main camera were detailed and clear. Thanks to the OIS, the videos were pretty stable as well.

The OPPO Reno9 Pro packs a decent-sized 4500mAh battery which looks a bit small compared to the other phones in this price range but offers a decent battery backup. The phone can easily last one and a half day for casual users like me. I got about 5-6 hours of screen on time, which is not bad.

My usage involved some Instagram scrolling, taking pictures, making a few calls and grinding in games. Even if you are a heavy user, you can expect at least a full day of battery life. To be honest, I didn’t feel the battery backup was any less, however, a 5000mAh battery would have been appreciated.

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Do not worry; even if you run out of battery, the phone comes with 67W fast charging support. The 67W fast charger takes just less than an hour to fully charge the phone from 0 to 100 per cent. A quick charge of just 25 minutes will juice the battery to about 50 per cent.

Good thing is that OPPO provides the fast charger in the box, unlike some other brands where cost cutting is more rigorous. However, wireless charging support is missing, which is a bit disappointing to see considering the price point.

Display is where the OPPO Reno9 Pro feels like a genuine flagship phone. The phone features an FHD+ curved 6.7 inches OLED display with a resolution of 2412 x 1080 pixels. It flaunts a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 950nits.

All that was specs, but how’s the user experience in real life? The phone was bright enough for indoor and outdoor usage. I could easily see the texts and app icons even on a bright sunny day. The 120Hz panel feels super smooth for day to day usage and I did not notice any shutters while using the screen.

Talking about display quality, the panel is clear, bright and crisp. The colours look punchy and vibrant. Thanks to the OLED panel, the screen had deep blacks and great viewing angles. It comes with HDR+ certification, so you can watch HDR content on OTT platforms.

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I watched some videos on YouTube and movies on Netflix and my experience was just great. The curved display provides a more immersive experience especially while playing games.

All in all, this is one of the best displays I have recently used. The only thing I wish was better that the brightness level could have been a little more.

OPPO has made sure that you get the performance of a flagship phone. The OPPO Reno9 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Max chipset which is paired with massive 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage.

There’s no denying that this phone can handle anything you throw at it with ease. The huge RAM makes it easy to keep a bunch of apps open in the background. However, I think its a bit overkill. 16GB RAM is just too much and there was not a single task I did that required such RAM usage.

The apps were quick to open and close, thanks to the UFS 3.1 storage. The OPPO Reno9 Pro ran smoothly and I did not notice any kind of lags or shutters during my review period. Switching between apps was seamless and multitasking was not an issue.

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However, you can’t judge the performance of a phone until you throw some heavy games at it. And I did the same. I tried some graphic intensive games, including Call of Duty Mobile, Apex Legends Mobile and Asphalt 9. All the games ran at high settings without any issues.

I did some long gaming sessions and did not notice any frame drops or lags. Even after playing for an hour, the phone did not get hot, which is good. So, no thermal throtteling. Yes, it got warm which is normal if you are doing some resource intensive task.

The OPPO Reno9 Pro runs on ColorOS 13 which is based on Android 13. I am really happy to see that OPPO has launched the phone with the latest Android version. The company has not made any claims about future updates but I guess you can expect major updates till Android 15.

The OPPO Reno9 Pro comes with 5G connectivity. We’ll have to wait for a bit to know which 5G bands it will support in India. Other connectivity features include: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS and NFC.

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The phone comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner which was fast and reliable. It was accurate and I didn’t had to touch the scanner multiple times to unlock the phone. Alternatively, you can use the face unlock feature but keep in mind that it is way less secure.