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Oppo Reno7 SE 5G Review: Can it rule the upper mid-range segment?

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The Oppo Reno7 SE 5G was released on 17th December 2021 in China. The phone was released as a budget alternative to the Oppo flagship, the Reno7 5G. Interestingly, the Reno7 SE looks exactly similar to the Reno7. With a great camera, fast processor, and a large battery, the SE offers a lot on par with the Reno7. Let’s take a deep dive into the details.

Oppo Reno7 SE 5G Key Specifications

Design and Build Quality

The design of the Reno7 SE is probably its strongest suit. The phone features a dual-glass design on the front and back. The stainless-steel frame is sandwiched between the two glasses. Oppo did not provide any certification of Reno7 SE’s back glass. During testing, it was found that the rear glass works great at deterring scratches.

The rear camera series features the proprietary triple camera module mounted on a base. The rectangular base with its lighter hue adds a distinct look on the back. You will find a punch-hole display on the front of this latest OPPO phone. The phone has a considerable bezel which might feel like an eyesore by 2022 standard. However, these are some of the cost-cutting corners of the mid-range budget options.

The power button is situated on the right and the volume rockers lie on the left. Both the clickers have a tactile feel to them. In addition to that, there is a single bottom-firing speaker along with a USB Type-C port.

Display

Oppo has used the same display as the Reno7 on the Reno7 SE. The display is an AMOLED FHD+ 90 Hz panel. The 6.43 inches screen boasts a 409 ppi which makes for an impressive viewing experience.

The display is protected by Corning gorilla glass 5. Not to mention, this feature is a surprising addition at this price point. The display has an average brightness of 600 nits but it can go up to 800 nits under direct sunlight. The display provides a great viewing experience both indoors and outdoors.

The viewing angles are also very sharp. Unlike some of the previous Oppo models, there is not any kind of color shift here. The display supports HDR so media consumption would be an enjoyable experience.

Camera

Oppo has featured a triple camera sensor for the Reno7 SE. The main sensor is a 48 MP f/1.7 26 mm wide-angle shooter. This is a standard main shooter that is seen on other mid-range Oppo phones. In addition to that, there is a 2 MP f/2.4 macro shooter and 2 MP f//2.4 depth sensor included in the module. In testing, however, the macro and sensor felt fairly gimmicky. These are neither anything revolutionary nor something anyone will use daily.

But the main sensor does an excellent job here. It can take sharp and crisp images under direct sunlight. The images look bright with a decent amount of dynamic range in them. The images can retain natural colors which is a welcoming addition. The sensor performs better in artificial lighting and dark settings as well. But there are some noticeable grains in the images. And the night mode tends to overexpose subjects in artificial lighting.

The front-facing camera holds a 16 MP f/2.4 sensor. It is a wide-angle shooter which is similar to other Oppo phones in this price range.

The video quality is excellent thanks to the gyro-EIS. The phone can shoot at 4K at 30 fps or 1080 p at either 30, 60, or 120 fps.

Processor and Performance

Moving on to the processor of the phone. The Reno7 SE features MediaTek MT 6877 Dimensity 900 5G chipset built on the 6 nm architecture. The 6 nm architecture provides incredible power efficiency which allows Oppo to squeeze in a considerably small battery. More on that later. The octa-core processor comes in at 2 2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 and 6 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 chipset configurations. The processor is coupled with the Mali-G68 MC4 GPU.

The processor held up strongly on a day to day usage. This is an upper mid-range processor from MediaTek, so it performs as expected. The processor can handle games without any issue. All the leading 3D titles like PUBG and Fortnite can be played on this device without a frame drop. Though the phone gets a bit hot after 30 minutes of continuous media playing or gaming, there would be no drastic battery drop.

The UI is powered by Android 11 with Oppo’s skin, the ColorOS 12 on top of it. To be fair, the ColorOS is a heavy skin that is not for everybody. It brings an iOS-like interface to android. Granted previous users will not have any issue adapting to it but it might take some getting used to for the new users. Regardless, the OS runs smoothly on the device and it does not bog down over time.

Battery and Charge Time

Oppo has included a 4500 mAh battery with the Reno7 SE. As mentioned above, this is a fairly small battery compared to other devices at this price point. But the defining feature here is the 6nm processor architecture. Even with 4500 mAh, the Reno7 comfortably gets through the day. Typical usage will see users get around 5 to 6 hours of screen on time which is fairly enough to get through the day.

On top of that, the phone features a 33W fast charging which can fully charge the phone in just over an hour. What is more, there is an option that allows reverse wireless charging.

Price of OPPO Reno7 SE 5G in Bangladesh

The Oppo Reno7 SE 5G has not been officially launched in Bangladesh yet. In the Indian market the expected price of OPPO Reno 7 SE 5G (8/128GB) is around Rs. 31,490. It is equivalent to BDT 36,150 (Conversion rate RS 0.87= BDT 1). However, after launching in Bangladesh, the exact price of this phone may vary due to diverse reasons like tax issues and company decisions.

Verdict

The Oppo Reno7 SE 5G is targeted as an upper mid-range phone. It is a perfect substitute for the pricier Reno7 5G. The phone performs exceptionally well for its international price. Especially the processor and the build quality are its strongest suit. However, Oppo could have done better on the camera segment. The camera module is effectively a single main shooter doing most of the work. Nevertheless, time will tell whether the official price of the Reno7 SE 5G in Bangladesh can provide a bang for the buck.

Source: United News of Bangladesh