Oppo Reno8 Lite in the test: More appearance than reality

This is an article by our content partner "Nextpit". Here you can find the original article by Carsten Drees.

Pro

• Beautiful, valuable design

• Dual Orbit LED lighting for notifications

• Decent performance
• Support for microSD and 3.5 mm jack
• Useable main camera during the day
• Long battery life

Contra

• 60 Hz display
• Only IPX4 certified
• Only the main camera is usable
• Android 11 and short update warranty

Short conclusion

The Oppo Reno8 Lite is a classic mid-range smartphone like many others. The problem is that equivalent smartphones are available for much less than the 389 euros Oppo charges. So you get a smartphone here that offers decent performance, display and battery, has a usable main camera at least during the day and looks really great - but at a price that is simply too high.

The Reno8 Lite is really suitable for everyday use and a real eye-catcher thanks to the LED rings and rainbow back. But it's still not our first recommendation in the mid-range, it's too expensive for that. If you're mainly looking at the specs, you should wait until the price drops by at least a hundred euros. If you're mainly concerned with looks, the Reno8 Lite is worth considering thanks to the "Dual Orbit" LEDs and the shimmering Rainbow look on the back.
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Design and display: Shine bright like a diamond

A eye-catcher or a dazzler? Visually, the Oppo Reno8 Lite makes a great impression, which is also due to the beautiful camera array - and the "dual orbit" LEDs around the camera sensors.

The design of the Oppo Reno8 Lite is very attractive.

Liked:

• Good workmanship

• LED notification rings

• "Glow" design
• Decent display
• Reliable in-display fingerprint sensor

Don't like:

• Low refresh rate of 60 Hz
• Display not particularly bright

However, the Oppo Reno8 Lite is an eye-catcher. At least this is true for our test device in the colour "Rainbow Spectrum", which shows a shimmering colour gradient on the back, which Oppo calls "Glow Design". Depending on the viewing angle, it shimmers differently, as if you were looking into a prism. The device measures 159.85 x 73.17 x 7.49 millimetres and is not too heavy at 173 grams thanks to polycarbonate.

For those who find the colourful back too wild, reach for "Cosmic Black". Both alternatives offer a matte coating that leaves almost no fingerprints - very nice, Oppo! Otherwise, the device looks quite angular, but it feels good in the hand and leaves a surprisingly high-quality impression despite the plastic.

For my taste, the camera system, with the main camera and the bokeh camera protruding, looks really elegant. But what's also exciting about the two sensors are the blue LED rings that inform you of notifications. The different shades of blue also light up, for example, when you start mobile games or while charging. This enhances the eye-catching feeling when you look at the back.

This also applies to the buttons with good pressure points and little play. The power button is on the right and the volume control is on the left. This is not a volume rocker, but separate buttons for loud and quiet, which I like.

Also on the left is the slot for both SIM card and microSD, at the bottom there is the mono speaker, a 3.5 mm jack and in between the USB-C port. Unfortunately, the phone is only IPX4 certified. This means that splashing water is OK, but you should not submerge the device in water.

The display with a diagonal screen size of 6.43 inches is flat and has a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 pixels. In bright mode, the AMOLED display shines with up to 600 nits, in normal mode it is only 450 nits. So it could be brighter, even in this price range. In addition, images are only repeated at 60 Hz and the maximum sampling rate of 180 Hz (for gaming, for example) is not exactly record-breaking.

The bottom line is that you get an OK display for mid-range conditions. However, if you look at what other smartphones under 400 euros offer, the Oppo device unfortunately lags a little behind.

Software with light and shadow

I consider the installed ColorOS 12 to be a really successful Android overlay with a lot of possibilities. However, the fun of it is somewhat marred by an outdated Android 11, low update guarantees and bloatware.

Liked:

• Very customisable

• Many handy features and gestures

Does not like:

• Android 11
• lots of bloatware
• only two Android updates

It's rare to hear a good word about ColorOS, especially from the OnePlus camp. Yet the overlay is really chic, versatile and really practical in many situations. I like being able to swipe three fingers across the display to take a screenshot, the quick launch mode in the fingerprint sensor or even the Antipeep mode.

You can heavily personalise the look of the interface to suit your preferences, and there are "Air Gestures" that let you scroll through apps even when you're not touching the screen. However, only a handful of apps such as YouTube, Facebook and TikTok are supported by Air Gestures so far.

This is my point.

What I'm saying is that ColorOS 12 is a really great interface, thumbs up for that. However, you probably already realise that behind this praise now lurks a fat ".... BUT" lurks behind this praise. Unfortunately, ColorOS is still based on Android 11 in this case. In addition, there is only a guarantee for two years of Android updates as well as three years of security patches.

The bottom line is that you would be buying a smartphone now whose latest Android version will be Android 13, which will be released in just a few months. Android 12 has been on the market long enough that Oppo could put it on the Reno8 Lite, and the Chinese company should think about its update policy anyway.

Performance

The Snapdragon 695 does its job very well and has 8 GB of RAM at its side, which you can virtually boost by another 5 GB. Also nice: The 128 GB internal memory can be expanded via microSD card.

Liked:

• Decent performance
• microSD slot

• No excessive heat generation

• 8 GB RAM can be virtually increased by 5 GB

Don't like:

• Only WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1

Before I dive into a smartphone test, I always do a few recurring things: check whether the latest software update is on it, for example - or also install and run the benchmark tests. The Wild Life test didn't look very encouraging. The score is quite low and the refresh rate is between 5 and 9 FPS.

But what can I say: In practical use, I got along very well with the performance of the Snapdragon 695. This means that the SoC is absolutely suitable for everyday use. Apps start quickly and run reliably, and gaming is no problem either. Of course, if you play a game like Genshin Impact, which I like to use for tests, you will be better off with lower graphics settings. But with average settings, you can still play the game absolutely reasonably.

By the way, this happens without the Reno8 Lite heating up excessively. At its peak, the device was 38 degrees warm, which is noticeable, but absolutely fine. In the test of the Poco X4 GT, the stress test still showed 44 degrees.

By the way, I tested it with 8 GB of RAM, but you can - provided there is enough free memory - also add virtual RAM. You can choose between an additional 2, 3 and 5 GB of RAM.

In addition, you can add virtual RAM.

On top of that, you'll be on the 5G network, get Bluetooth 5.1 and WiFi 5, and you can expand the 128 GB storage via microSD card.

Hurrah, finally 2-MP sensors for macro and depth

The 64-MP main camera takes really decent photos during the day. "Triple-cam" sounds like more than it is, though, thanks to the unedifying 2-MP sensors for depth and macro
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Liked:

• Decent results during the day with the main camera

• Dual View Video

Don't like:

• Weak 2MP sensors for macro and depth

• Poor results at night

• No ultra-wide angle, no telephoto

If by "mid-range" we mean something like "average", then the Reno8 Lite is also a mid-range model in terms of camera. "Triple-cam" sounds powerful, but in this case it means a 64 MP main camera flanked by macro and depth sensors of 2 MP each. It's not just Oppo playing this game, of course, but I sincerely hope that these nonsensical macro and depth cameras are a dying breed.

If you grab the Reno8 Lite during the day, the main camera with its f/1.7 aperture is quite edifying. The colours look realistic and the detail is not groundbreaking, but sufficient. The image changes when the lighting conditions become more difficult, for example when you go on a photo safari at night.
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The bokeh is actually also clear, but somehow it is no longer contemporary to install a 2-MP camera specifically for this. And to be honest, I don't like to talk about 2-MP macro cameras any more either. Nobody buys a mid-range phone with a 2-MP macro sensor like that to take macro photos. Really nobody! The zoom is digital only and not really worth talking about either.

There are some nice AI features to spruce up your photos and of course the usual selection of different camera modes. I find the dual-view mode exciting, which lets you use the main camera and the 16 MP front camera at the same time. It's up to you to decide whether you want to give yourself bunny ears with the sticker function or make your head smaller and your eyes bigger with AI.

Talking about the selfie cam: It delivers reliable results. Nevertheless, I think that the bokeh can now also be achieved via the software, making the depth sensor obsolete. Apart from that, I miss an ultra-wide-angle sensor and a telephoto sensor would have been nice, of course. Videos succeed at a maximum of 1080p and 30 FPS.

Oppo Reno 8 Lite: Battery

4,500 mAh battery and 33 watts quick-charging. That's fine and gets you through the day chilled out
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Liked:

• Long battery life

• Charger included

Does not like:

• No wireless charging

Whoever is as old as I am and has been testing in the smartphone space for a decade can't really be shocked by a slightly smaller battery anymore. Compared to what was offered back then, today's models are almost endurance runners across the board. This also applies to the Reno8 Lite, whose 4,500 mAh is not the largest in the mid-range in view of the many 5,000 mAh batteries.

Nevertheless, you can get through the day more than relaxed, and if not, the 33-watt quick-charging is fast enough to pump the battery back up to 70 per cent in about 30 minutes. The battery is fully charged in about 70 minutes. That's not record-breaking, but it's perfectly acceptable.

Wireless charging? No, señor! In the test, I started the day with a full battery and still had over 25 per cent juice when I hit the hay. What is also no longer a matter of course these days: the charger is included in the scope of delivery. Nice thing!

Conclusion: Very much average for even more money

Summarised in one sentence: The Reno8 Lite is a very average mid-range smartphone. Don't buy it - at least not for just under 400 euros. In my opinion, it is a dazzler that looks good despite its plastic back. I like both the prismatic effect of the Rainbow variant and the LED light for notifications, which shines in a circle around the camera sensors.

But that's about it for the most positive things that can be said about the Reno8 Lite. Yes, the performance is adequate, the display is OK despite 60 hertz and the main camera is okay during the day. But that's not enough of a selling point compared to devices like a Galaxy A53 or even the Chinese competition like Poco X4 Pro, Realme 9 Pro+ or many other mid-range devices,
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ColorOS 12 is useful and fancy, but still relies on Android 11 and will only get two years of Android updates. All in all, Oppo once again offers us a mid-range smartphone that is usable in many respects - but where the question once again arises as to whether management is dicing up the recommended retail prices. The Reno8 Lite is a usable mid-range smartphone - but please, not for just under 400 euros.

Smartphones

OPPO Reno 8 Lite

128 GB, Cosmic Black, 6.43", Dual SIM, 64 Mpx, 5G

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Smartphones

OPPO Reno 8 Lite

128 GB, Rainbow Spectrum, 6.43", Dual SIM, 64 Mpx, 5G

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