April has been an exciting month for the mid-range smartphone segment so far. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A80 with rotating triple cameras that also serve as selfie cameras. Now Oppo has come up with the Oppo Reno that uses a unique “shark fin” sliding mechanism to accommodate the selfie camera. While Samsung has doubled down on the mid-range segment to thwart competition from Chinese vendors, Oppo continues to innovate to capture more market share.
Oppo has released two versions of Reno. One of them is the standard model with mid-range specs while the other one is the premium Oppo Reno 10X Zoom. The 10X Zoom is going to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus and Huawei’s latest P30 Pro. If you can’t decide between Oppo Reno and Galaxy A80, this comparison could help you decide which one is a better buy.
Oppo Reno vs Galaxy A80: Design
Both devices have used a creative solution to offer a fully bezel-less design and ditch the dreaded notch. Both handsets have front and back glass panels supported by a metal frame in the middle. Both of them have a fingerprint sensor integrated under the display for authentication and security. While Reno retains the 3.5mm headphone jack, the Galaxy A80 has done away with it.
The Oppo Reno has a pop-up selfie camera that slides up like a wedge from the top of the phone. The “shark fin” structure holds the front camera, flash, and earpiece. Oppo claims to have tested the slider camera for 200,000 standard uses. It folds into the body when not in use. On the back panel, it has a vertically aligned dual camera setup. The phone measures 156.6 x 74.3 x 9 mm and weighs 185g.
Oppo Reno comes in Fog Sea Green, Extreme Night Black, Nebula Purple, and Pink Mist colors, each of which looks beautiful. Both devices lack the IP68 rating for water resistance.
The Galaxy A80 measures 165.2 x 76.5 x 9.3 mm. It is available in Ghost White, Angel Gold, and Phantom Black colors. The A80 has completely ditched the notch because Samsung has used an innovating sliding and rotating camera mechanism. When you need to take a selfie, the triple camera setup slides up and rotates to selfie mode. It means the rear camera system also serves as the front-facing camera.
Display
Both devices feature OLED screens that offer deeper blacks and more vibrant colors compared to LCD panels. The Oppo Reno features a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. It has an impressive 86.8% screen-to-body ratio, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and 402ppi of pixel density. The screen is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6.
The Galaxy A80 features a gorgeous 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. It has an 86% screen-to-body ratio, 20:9 aspect ratio, and 393ppi of pixel density. There is no notch or hole-punch on the screen, offering an immersive experience.
Internal specs
Oppo Reno runs Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 710 processor paired with Adreno 616 GPU. It comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. There is also an 8GB RAM variant with 256GB storage. There is no microSD card slot for external memory, so you’d want to go for the higher storage options when buying the phone. It is powerful enough to play games and run multiple apps.
Both the Reno and A80 have dual-SIM card slots. The A80 is the more powerful of the two, running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 730 processor with Adreno 618 graphics processor. It packs 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. There is no other RAM or storage option available. It also lacks the microSD card slot.
The Reno comes with an impressive 3,765mAh battery, which is large enough to last a full day of normal-to-heavy usage. It comes with 20W Super VOOC 3.0 charging. The Super VOOC 3.0 technology maintains high voltage during the final leg of charging. It means the last 10% charging will no longer feel slow.
The A80 packs a 3,700mAh battery with 25W Super Fast charging technology via USB-C port. Neither device supports wireless charging. Samsung has added some intelligent software features to reduce energy consumption on Galaxy A80.
In terms of software, both devices run the latest Android 9 Pie with a custom skin on top. The Reno gets Oppo’s ColorOS 6 skin, which runs smooth but has some bloatware. The A80 features Samsung’s latest One UI skin, which is designed to offer an intuitive experience on phones with larger displays. It displays content in the top half of the screen and navigation options near the bottom to ensure that they are within the reach of your thumb.
Oppo Reno vs Galaxy A80: Camera
The Oppo Reno features a dual camera system on the back. It consists of a 48-megapixel main sensor with f/1.7 aperture and a 5MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. The depth sensor offers 2x optical zoom and allows you to take portrait images. On the front, it gets a 16-megapixel in a “shark fin” pop-up mechanism.
The Galaxy A80 features an innovative rotating slider triple camera setup that serves as both the rear camera and selfie camera. It slides up and flips around to the selfie mode when you tap on the selfie mode in the Camera app. The camera setup consists of a 48MP primary lens with f/2.0 aperture, an 8MP ultra wide-angle sensor with f/2.2 aperture, and a 3D Time-of-Flight sensor. The same lenses also take selfies.
Price
Oppo Reno is set to go on sale in China on April 19th, with the European launch slated for April 24th. The device is already available for pre-order in many countries including the UAE in Saudi Arabia. In China, it costs CNY 2,999 for the 6GB/128GB version, CNY 3,299 for the 6GB/256GB variant, and CNY 3,599 for the 8GB/256GB model. In the UAE, it has been priced at AED 1,899 for the 6GB/256GB version, which is the only configuration available in the country.
Samsung has priced the A80 at EUR 649 in European markets. It will become available in Europe, Russia, China, Australia, and other markets on May 29th.
