Are you curious to see the difference between the Reno and Reno 10x Zoom’s camera quality? Well, you came to the right place. As much as we love the camera versatility of the flagship model offers, most of us still find ourselves using the standard main camera for a quick snap. And with the Reno model priced at P26,990 and the 10x Zoom at P45,990, you better believe the difference with your own eyes before you start spending.
Let’s start with the selfie camera.
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Table of Contents
Selfie Camera
With both phones using a 16MP f.20 sensor, add the fact that it has the same post-processing, the results are pretty much identical. With or without beauty mode on, expect skin tones to smoothen out. This is a matter of user preference whether you like blemishes to be present or not. But for the most part, the selfie photos look good. The colors tend to be on the natural side and the textures are sharp. Although OPPO is known for blowing out highlights, we are glad to report that HDR on both phones is equally impressive. While it does manage to expose everything, we find the background to come out cartoonish and unnatural. It’s as if there’s a painting behind the subject.
As for indoor scenarios, the overall quality starts to slightly drop. Textures aren’t that fine anymore but leave a good amount of detail. You will also notice noise to start creeping in, despite the ample presence of natural lighting. For some reason, HDR doesn’t kick in automatically even when the background is full of incoming light.
To sum up the selfie experience, both are reliable shooters. When the subject is hit with proper lighting, photos can look extremely good with just the right amount of color, sharpness, and texture. While both clearly struggles in low-light scenarios, you will find the front LED flash on the 10x Zoom useful here.
READ: OPPO Reno Review – A Premium Mid-Range Experience
Main Cameras — Two vs Three
Both phones are coming with a 48MP main sensor. However, the Reno comes with a secondary 5MP depth sensor while the 10x Zoom makes use of a pairing of 13MP telephoto + 8MP ultrawide sensors. Furthermore, the zoom lens can reach up to 5x optical zoom.
48MP lens – Outdoor
Due to the same lens and post-process, it’s hard to tell the difference in overall quality. Perhaps the only distinction that we can see is the color temp, due to the fact that we shot a few samples on different days. However, we noticed the Reno is better in focus. While it’s not perceivable upfront, you need to zoom in close to the see the contrast in detail quality. Despite appearing sharp, the 10x Zoom shows very minimal blur effect.
48MP lens – Indoor
Again, there’s not much discrepancy here. Thanks to that large sensor, the photos don’t pale in sharpness. In exchange, tho, noise is more apparent. This can be seen when zooming into the image or the captured subject is moving. In terms of color reproduction, it stays on the natural side with a very slight touch of saturation.
48MP lens – Low-light
Again, the large sensor is doing its magic once again during low-light scenarios. While there’s noticeable degradation in texture, the quality is still better than most of the competition. But should you wish to expose the subject more, the Ultra Night Mode does it well. A few seconds are required to completely process the photo.
13MP 5x Optical zoom vs 48MP 2x Digital Zoom – Outdoor
Even though the Reno lacks a true telephoto lens, the 48MP sensor is capable of delivering good-looking photos. At 2x zoom, you can barely see the loss of quality. For the most part, you will notice less contrast. Beyond that, the watercolor effect will start to show up. Personally, using Note 9’s telephoto lens, I have to say that the quality is impressively similar. But of course, we’re here to compare it with the 10x Zoom.
While the quality isn’t on par with the 48MP sensor, the 13MP telephoto lens is impressive enough given the ability to provide 5x optical zoom. You do have to be aware that OPPO’s camera defaults the zoom tick to 6x, instead of 5x. This means it’s delivering hybrid zoom with noticeable texture degradation.
8MP Ultrawide
The only missing sensor on the standard Reno phone is the 8MP ultrawide of the 10x Zoom. That said, we think it’s the most inferior yet useful lens out of the three. Its primary weakness is detail quality especially on the edges of the photos. However, OPPO has done a great job in fixing barrel distortion.
There’s no doubt that both phones have great cameras. While there are noticeable differences in the number of optics, the quality of similar sensors is nearly identical. You can always rely on the standard Reno’s cameras as it carries a 48MP Sony flagship sensor. But if you want to experience the best offering of mobile cameras in 2019, you have to get the Reno 10x Zoom.
READ: OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Review – OPPO’s True Flagship Phone
