Oppo Reno Ace review - Taking charge - Android
The Oppo Reno Ace is one of the first phones to support 65W charging and it can top up the battery in record time. It is also one of only a handful of devices to ship with the Snapdragon 855 Plus processor. Combine these with the 90Hz display and dedicated gaming features, and you have a powerhouse phone that brings the fight to Asus, Black Shark, and Red Magic. Can it ace the competition?
Find out in Android Authority‘s Oppo Reno Ace review.
Oppo is ready to get its game on. The Oppo Reno Ace doesn’t come with quite all the fancy bells and whistles that some gaming phones have, such as attachable fans and gaming grips, but it has the internals necessary to power the action.
Competition in the gaming phone space is particularly intense this year. Options such as the Asus ROG Phone 2, Black Shark 2, and Red Magic 3S pack a wallop with maxed-out specs and dedicated gaming tools. The Oppo Reno Ace enters the fray after many of its competitors have released second-generation hardware. The ace up Oppo’s sleeve, however, is a surprisingly low price point. Let’s find out just how good this phone is and if delivers a killing blow.
Just the essentials, nothing more. No earbuds, but I’m sure that’s because Oppo expects gamers to use their preferred headphones.
I know this is going to shock you, but there’s no avoiding the issue: The Oppo Reno Ace is made of metal and glass. Yep. It has an aluminum frame and two gorgeous glass panels front and back. Oppo didn’t specify what type of glass, but it sure is pretty. The company sent us the Starry Blue colorway, which has a subtle blue/aqua/green gradient. The Psychedelic Purple (yes, that’s the real name) colorway looks better in my opinion. Both hues are luscious, glossy, and stand out in a noticeable way.
Oppo used fine materials to put this phone together. The glass surfaces are polished to a high sheen and the metal has a nifty coat of paint. Everything about the phone feels classy and expensive. There’s nothing cheap about this phone at all.
It’s a sizable piece of hardware. About the same footprint as a Google Pixel 4 XL, the Oppo Reno Ace is a tall, wide, and heavy hunk of smartphone.
The glass surfaces are polished to a high sheen and the metal has a nifty coat of paint.
Oppo was able to keep the face of the phone almost 100% screen. The smallest teardrop notch dips from the top edge down into the screen area just a smidge. A broad slit for the earpiece is barely perceptible between the notch and the metal framing. The side bezels and chin are admirably thin. Oppo ships the phone with a pre-installed screen protector and the edges are easy to feel with your thumb. Otherwise, the rounded side edges and curved rear glass help the phone feel comfortable in your palm when gripping it.
The Ace has a fairly standard set of controls along the outer edges. Separate volume buttons are positioned about two-thirds of the way up the left side. The space between them is negligible, meaning it’s hard to tell up from down by feel. A power button sits on the right edge, opposite the volume keys. I really like that the button has a slim green accent, which helps it stand out visually.
The dual SIM card tray is above the power button. Sadly, there’s no memory card support to be found here. On the bottom, you’ll note the 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, and bottom-firing speaker.
Oppo could not have done a finer job shaping the rear panel glass. It has an attractive curve that bends along the side edges, where it tucks itself into the metal frame. The camera module is rather long and raised slightly to contain the four lenses. The main lens is called out by a green accent that matches the power button on the side. It’s a small detail, but a nice one. Oppo’s brand and tagline (“Designed for Reno”) are painted onto the glass in gold. Sharp.
Fingerprints mire both glass surfaces swiftly, and you’d do well to make use of the included TPU case, which provides a modicum of protection and grip.
Oppo does not call out an IP rating for the Reno Ace, so we have to assume it’s not waterproof.
See also: Best waterproof phones you can buy
Phone makers cannot enter the gaming space without a 90Hz panel on their phone. Thus, the Oppo Reno Ace includes a screen that refreshes 90 times per second — which makes it appear to be smoother than that of a 60Hz screen. The higher refresh rate is most evident when scrolling up and down or panning back and forth, as images, icons, text, and graphics remain sharp and stutter-free as they slide around the screen.
Similarly, gaming phones generally stick with Full HD or Full HD+ resolutions, given the number of gaming titles that are published in the HD format. That means the Reno Ace has a screen that’s more than twice as tall as it is wide.
It's a clean panel that delivers crisp text, excellent video performance, and luscious colors.
The last component here is brightness, and the Reno Ace delivers in spades. Oppo claims the phone reaches 700 nits average brightness, with peaks reaching 1,000 nits. Most flagship phones tested by Android Authority rate in the 400 to 500 nit space, and the Ace maxed out at 481 nits on our equipment. In short, the Ace’s screen is crazy bright and contrasty, though it doesn’t quite deliver on Oppo’s claims.
It’s a clean panel that delivers crisp text, excellent video performance, and luscious colors that aren’t over saturated. Most people who buy the Ace will love the screen.
I can’t say the same for the in-display fingerprint reader. It was a hassle to register a print and inconsistent at best.
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