OPPO are at the center of innovation.

Their Android based smartphones were once the cheaper option (and for the mid-range ones like the AX5s they still are), but over the last couple of years OPPO have found and forged their own path in to supreme high end devices.

Introducing the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom.

Built on Android 9.0 with their signature and now updated ColorOS 6 overlaid, the beast of a handset goes full frontal, once again – as they did with the Find X, making the Reno 10x Zoom all 6.6 inch screen and no notch, coming in at an impressive 93.1% body to screen ratio overall.

ColorOS 6 will see you using swipe gestures to navigate throughout your open Apps, browser pages and more. OPPO also have an ‘edge’ like function which was introduced in to the latter part of ColorOS 5.

The 16MP Front Camera is housed inside the body of the phone. When it comes to selfie time – or 3D Face Unlock the extremely quiet internal mechanism will flick the front camera up, in an angled fashion that almost looks as though the Reno 10x Zoom is raising its eyebrow at you.

Purportedly the raising front camera should withstand 200, 000 instances of use. It’s sturdy and when closed sits flush with the top of the phone.

The rear camera is of course where the mobile photography smarts come rolling in.

Being a whopping 48MP + 8MP + 13MP the Reno 10x Zoom offers all of the smarts that we would expect, including A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), a mega suite of filters and effects,  aswell as an epic Hybrid 60x Digital Zoom with an advanced stabiliser.

The Reno 10x Zoom is also fitted with a periscope lens at the rear for optimal and fully detailed wide angle photo’s.

While all of this wizardry is more than expected – the Reno’s A.I. controlled low light is super impressive in the way it tries to adjust the image with the builtin Ultra Night Mode. But, there are occasions where it falls short and doesn’t quite do the MP rate and power of the rear cameras any justice.

Under the hood the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom has 8GB RAM coupled with 256GB storage. I am very pleased to say that OPPO retained the microSD option aswell, the dual sim bay sees the secondary sim share with a expansion bay.

The Reno 10x Zoom has a Snapdragon 855 processor to crunch the data, this is also optimised for the ever-lasting 4065 mAh battery.

Using the Reno 10x Zoom as an every day handset for the past week and a half – I let the battery run down to empty. This took around 3 days.

I am not a light user by any means. Running this website, replying to emails, messages and calls on a daily basis… no, hourly basis, aswell as aiming to push the phones’ specs to it’s limits by way of gaming, this is one hell of an energy consumption achievement on OPPO’s part.

Charging the Reno 10x Zoom from dead to full utilizing the builtin ‘VOOC 3.0’ honestly took around 30 – 40 minutes. No time at all when you think about how much juice you can get from the handset when fully charged.

OPPO have built the Reno 10x Zoom for gamers.

Featuring an Adreno 640 GPU and a dedicated App based function called Game Space – you can provision power where you need it most for optimal gaming, block in-game banners / advertising and add your favourite or most played games in to the Game Space App.

As mobile gaming and games become ever more resource hungry this was a handy function to have.

Needless to say no matter what I played, Fortnite, PUBG, ARK all were lag free and making use of the settings in the Game Space along with the triple internal cooling system of the device also ensured that my battery didn’t totally drain away. If you are a mobile gamer – or a mobile eSports enthusiast, OPPO designed the Reno 10x Zoom for you.

OPPO also take their device security seriously.

The 3D facial recognition is instant, the fingerprint senor is under the glass (and has a very nice animation to it aswell) and does not require a firm press as some other flagship (and more expensive) handsets do. The proximity sensor and gyro know when you are near the phone and the fingerprint sensor will come on to the screen.

While OPPO have totally outdone themselves with the Reno 10x Zoom there are a couple of things that they missed out.

There is no wireless charging and also no reverse charging. This is a shame and I do wonder why, if anything, wireless charging was not included.

Still, being that the cost of the Reno 10x Zoom is under half of the lesser spec’d high end handsets out there, its not fair to gripe too much about that.

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is one of my personal favourites so far this year. Coming in with a metallic finish of Ocean Green or Jet Black, OPPO also provide you with a rather high quality case in the box. But, the fiber carbon case’s edges make it difficult for the swipe to close / go back function of the ColorOS 6.

Likely you may want to use the device without the supplied case.

Overall The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is more than what you pay for. Retaining the exquisite build and looks from last year’s Find X flagship, the Reno has almost everything it’s competitor models do at a fraction of the price point.

From the flat and flush rear camera lenses to the small ball aesthetic which protects those said lenses when the phone is laid on it’s back – right through to the power of the processor, the super long life battery and a bevvy of mobile photography smarts, the Reno 10x Zoom is where it’s at and raises the smartphone bar even higher.

OPPO do it right, all over again.

The post OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Huawei are on fire right now.

With the sold out (in New Zealand) success of their flagship three lens smartphone the P20 Pro, they have followed up with a mid range device, exclusive to only one carrier in New Zealand; Spark.

This new handset, the Huawei Nova 3e (otherwise known as the P20 Lite) packs many punches for a mid range, placing itself amongst the higher end of this range, or just a bit over.

To get down to it, the 5.8 inch all screen phone (yes this also has a notch which can be toggled on or off) and boasts the same slim to almost non existent bezel that we have seen in it’s bigger brother the P20 Pro.

Unlike their recent top shelf handset the Nova 3e has the finger print sensor on the back (I personally prefer this) aswell as instant facial recognition and although the screen size is a tad smaller than the Pro, the Nova 3e is totally and all screen.

Under the glossy glass finishing the Nova 3e has a 64GB ROM (storage) and 4GB RAM (Memory). Running Android 8 (Oreo) and overlayed with Huawei’s own unobtrusive EMUI version 8.0, the Nova 3e is powered by a moderate speed Kirin 659 Octa-core processor.

During my time with the device, which I used as a primary handset, there were no lags or slowness when gaming, browsing and watching Netflix. The Nova 3e is a beast that can definitely perform.

Huawei have included the much needed ability to expand the storage space via microSd and the phone is also dual sim. Why microSD ability was excluded from the Pro I have no idea.

The 16MP front facing Leica lens camera boasts most of the features that we covered in the Pro aswell, also built in is a new AR Camera – and like Snapchat you can turn yourself into a pink and white kitty, adorn accessories and more.

The rear facing dual lenses are 16MP and 2MP, missing is the A.I. function where the camera has preset cognitive ability to determine and adjust accordingly to what you are taking a snap of.

Still, this is not a bad thing, as the P20 Pro did not always get it right with it’s A.I. and often I found myself clicking to close the A.I. function when trying to take a pic on the Pro.

Battery – well, Huawei are responsible for some black magic. The P20 Pro can last for days of medium to low-heavy use. Days. The Nova 3e is no exception to that rule. During a 7 Day period, I charged once (full charge) which took about an hour.

The Nova 3e is not a mid range handset, or if Huawei consider it so, it is redefining the definition of what a mid range can and should be.

On par with the likes of other manufacturers higher end devices the Nova 3e will suit most, and is just as speedy and feature packed as it’s bigger brother at a price point that wont break the bank.

The post Huawei Nova 3e Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.