What’s new on the OPPO Reno 8 Series cameras?

Portrait photography and videography have been ingrained in the OPPO Reno series since its inception in 2019. With the launch of the OPPO Reno8, the leading global smart devices brand has continued to push new limits in delivering a “Portrait Expert” experience to its users.  The new “Portrait Expert”, presents Dual Sony Flagship Sensors, a new generation IMX709 RGBW on the front camera, and an IMX766 sensor on the main camera.

As per OPPO, they have discovered that 40% of photos shot on Reno smartphones are taken after 5 pm. This percentage is even higher at nearly 50% for videos. With this discovery, OPPO has been working to upgrade the portrait capabilities on the Reno 8 series to unleash unlimited imaging power that enables users to capture the most important and memorable moments of their lives.

To work on the greatest challenge of getting decent shots in a lowlight environment, OPPO invented the Quadra Binning Algorithm, which helps each sensor capture 60% more light and reduces image noise by 35% compared to a traditional RGGB setup. Enabling the phone to capture brighter, clearer images while maintaining color accuracy in low-light situations. To enable this algorithm to be functional on the Reno8 series, OPPO partnered with Sony to have the IMX709 RGBW on the front 32MP camera and the flagship Sony IMX766 50MP on its main camera. With this upgrade of both the front and back camera, the OPPO Reno8 series enables users to become “Portrait Experts”.

OPPO equally worked on the backlight, which is a common problem in smartphones with traditional camera sensors that results in strange ghosting effects on images. They incorporated DOL-HDR technology into both the front IMX709 sensor and the rear IMX766 sensor. It differs from traditional HDR processes as it takes short and long exposure photos “quasi-simultaneously” before synthesizing them into a single frame image. Increasing the dynamic range of video by a factor of 4, providing the perfect balance between brightness and shadows. With this, users are assured whether they posing in front of a sunset or beneath serene moonlight, every photo and video was taken on Reno8 5G will look brighter and sharper.

The Reno8 5G’s Ultra Night Video algorithm detects ambient light, automatically increases image brightness, improves color expression, and sharpens facial features to bring out the beauty in everything. This AI-enhanced feature is set to deliver clearer, brighter, and more vivid portrait videos on both front and rear cameras, whether shooting at night or in dimly lit surroundings. To enable Ultra HDR Video, on the Reno8 5G, OPPO worked to develop DOL-HDR on the phone. This will enable the Reno8 5G to detect a high dynamic range of scenes, that will automatically toggle Ultra HDR Video, bringing DOL-HDR into action to process each video frame with enhanced dynamic range and true-to-life colors guaranteeing details in videos come out looking bright and clear in both bright and dark areas.

Looking at the traditional nighttime photography features on smartphones, users always take time while taking photos at night. This is a problem of the past for Reno8 users as OPPO has added two features that improve night portrait capability by 39.7% compared to the previous Reno7 series. The inclusion of the industry-leading Turbo RAW algorithm, which reduces noise in all three R/G/B channels using an AI neural network, is one of these. The other is the significant increase in light sensitivity of the dual flagship camera sensors.

The Oppo Reno 8 series expands the possibilities for capturing realistic portrait photos in a variety of situations. AI Portrait Retouching uses 193 facial recognition points to identify facial features and remove imperfections such as pimples, acne scars, and sunspots, while intelligently retouching skin tones and makeup without any artificial or excessive brightening.

The phone is currently available in Kenya in two models. The Oppo Reno 8 4G is retailing at Ksh 42,999 while the Oppo Renbo 8 5G is retailing at Ksh 59,999.