Our guide to the best AI phones has only been around for a few days, but Oppo is hoping that its latest phone, the Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G, can immediately knock the Google Pixel 8a out of its position as the best cheap AI phone of 2024.
Having been officially announced at Oppo's inaugural A.Island event in Ibiza (get it?) on June 18, the Reno 12 Pro 5G offers an impressive set of flagship-level generative AI features for the decidedly non-flagship price of £499. Sure, the Pixel 8a costs the same price in the UK (and $499/AU$849 elsewhere), but the Reno 12 Pro 5G combines its AI with some interesting design quirks that are sure to hit the appeal. of Google's latest similar (yet undeniably impressive) Pixel Phone.
For starters, the Reno 12 Pro 5G features what Oppo describes as an infinite view display: a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that lightly wraps around the device on all four sides. This design supposedly fuses the expanded views and rounded grip of a curved display with the precise touch recognition and durability of a flat display. Having tested the Reno 12 Pro 5G for myself, I can confirm that the combination is subtle but effective (it's also great to see the curved screens enduring in one form or another).
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This Infinite View display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is the same shield you'll find adorning the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. The Reno 12 Pro 5G also offers IP65 water and dust resistance.
Other specs include a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset, a 5000mAh battery, and four decent cameras, specifically a 50MP main, a 50MP telephoto lens (with 2x optical zoom), an 8MP ultra-wide, and a snapper for 50 MP selfies. But what's really interesting about the Reno 12 Pro 5G is its aforementioned artificial intelligence capabilities.
AI for people
Earlier this month, Oppo announced plans to “democratize AI” by bringing generative AI features to its entire product line, and the Reno 12 Pro 5G represents the first beneficiary of that accessibility-first approach.
Leading the charge is a suite of photo editing tools that aren't far off from those already offered by companies like Google and Samsung. AI Eraser, for example, lets you remove unwanted subjects and objects from photos with a simple tap (I recently tested the feature on the Oppo Find X7 Ultra at the Champions League final), while AI Clear Face can automatically remove facial imperfections and add details to facial features.
Similarly, AI Best Face can automatically identify closed eyes in photos and reopen them, while AI Studio lets you recompose photos with different artistic styles (think manga or cartoon filters) using generative AI.
For the more productive among us, the Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G also offers a host of Google Gemini-based assistive features such as AI Write, AI Speak, and AI Summary. These tools take advantage of Google's broad language model to understand the content displayed on the screen and recommend features that you might find useful. Need to rephrase an important work email or extract text summaries from a long voice recording? The Reno 12 Pro 5G can step in to help you.
Again, it's worth reiterating that Oppo offers all of these features, without a subscription, for just £499. Of course, you won't get the Max-level performance of the iPhone 15 Pro or the Ultra-level camera credentials of the Samsung Galaxy S24 for that price, but as a means to access generative AI features without requiring you to spend a lot of money, the Reno 12 Pro 5G looks like a home run.
We're currently putting the Reno 12 Pro 5G through its paces, so stay tuned for our full review, but if you're interested in pre-ordering Oppo's latest AI phone, you can do so now from Oppo.com. The Reno 12 Pro 5G will start shipping from June 28, 2024, although like other Oppo phones, it won't be available in the US.
