Oppo Reno 7 SE Review – Launched in 2021, the Oppo Reno 7 SE is the cheapest phone to launch in the Oppo Reno 7 SE series. The reno series of phones are known for their camera prowess, and the Reno 7 SE is no different. The 48MP rear camera and the 16MP front camera are optimized to produce some very amazing shots, but we will discuss cameras in detail later.
The phone comes with an AMOLED display, and it is quite compact compared to many other phones in this price bracket. It also has a very decent processor and an under-display fingerprint. Overall, it seems like a very decent phone. Let’s begin with a detailed review of the Oppo Reno 7 SE smartphone.
Table of Contents
Oppo Reno 7 SE Review
Highlights
- The Oppo Reno 7 SE features 6.43 inches Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and an under-display fingerprint sensor.
- The chipset powering the phone is the Mediatek Dimensity 900 5G SoC that is clocked at max 2.4GHz and supports 5G connectivity.
- It has android 11 with ColorOS 12 UI on top of it.
- The main rear camera sensor is 48MP, and it also comes with a 16MP selfie sensor.
- The battery has a capacity of Li-Po 4500mAh and has a decent 33W fast charging.
Design and Display
Launched in Q4, 2021, the Oppo Reno 7 SE smartphone is quite compact compared to other phones released in the same price bracket. It is very refreshing to see such compact phones again, and the Reno 7 SE can be used one-handedly. The back of the phone features a matte finish while the sides are curved and chamfered for a comfortable grip, and you get a very firm grip. The phone will not slip out of your hand easily.
The triple camera module on the back is very minimalistic. The phone barely has any text or branding on the back of the phone, making it an elegant design. The smartphone features 6.43 inches of AMOLED Full HD+ display protected by the Gorilla Glass 5 coating. The display gets really bright indoors at 430 nits brightness and 600 nits (HBM) brightness for outdoors which is good enough to use under harsh sunlight. The display has a refresh rate of 90Hz for smoother scrolling and operations and is available in 3 colors- Black, Blue, and Gold.
Memory and Internal
Internally, the phone has 6nm Mediatek Dimensity 900 5G SoC for all the performance and gaming needs. You get an octa-core configuration with this chipset. It features 2 big Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.4 GHz and 6 power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores are clocked at 2 GHz will allow the processor to conserve battery when you are not running games or any power-hungry apps.
The presence of 2 powerful A78 cores makes this processor powerful enough to handle all your day-to-day apps as well as gaming needs. Speaking of gaming, BGMI and COD mobile plays flawlessly with this chipset. So, gaming and performance-wise, you have nothing to worry about, and the chipset doesn’t have any overheating issues. The phone comes in 2 variants, and the base variant of Oppo Reno 7 SE has 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage.
While the second variant has 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage if you need more internal storage as there’s no MicroSD card slot. For the operating system, you get Android 11 with ColorOS 12 UI on top of it. The device also supports a dual 5G sim service.
The chipset is quite powerful, and it will be powering everything from your games to your greatest shot taken through the 48MP camera. The ISP of the chipset is quite good at processing all the details taken from the camera sensor, which we will discuss in the next part of the review.
Camera
The camera system on the back is a triple camera setup, but it has only 1 usable camera as the other two cameras are just 2MP depth and 2MP macro camera. That’s not to say that the camera is bad, and it’s quite the opposite. The 48MP wide camera is quite good and takes decent pictures with a good amount of details and color rendering in sunlight.
The 16MP selfie camera is also optimized to take very bright selfies. They contain a good amount of details and also capture a lot of light to make the images brighter. The pictures look good even when you are outdoors under harsh sunlight. The night-time photography is decent and also has a dedicated night mode that enhances the low-light pictures even further. For video recording, the phone manages to shoot up to 4K@30FPS from the rear camera while the selfie camera maxes out at 1080p at 30fps with gyro-EIS support on both cameras.
This is where all the good things about the camera come to an end. Now, let’s talk about some real concerns. The phone has 3 camera sensors on the back, but in reality, only 1 of them is actually usable. The other two sensors are quite useless unless you happen to like blurry, pixelated macro images. There was no need to include these 2 sensors, and instead, they could’ve provided an ultra-wide-angle sensor in their place.
Battery and Others
The Oppo Reno 7 SE has a battery capacity of Li-Po 4500mAh, which provides adequate battery backup and can easily last a whole day. When it comes to charging your smartphone, you get a decent 33W fast charger in the box. The phone also supports reverse charging, and you can charge other accessories such as your wireless earphones with a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Apart from that, the phone also has Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and an under-display fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. The pricing of the smartphone starts at $350 (Rs. 26,999 in India) approx. for the base variant while the higher variant will cost a little more.
Oppo Reno 7 SE Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Oppo Reno 7 SE smartphone.
| Specifications | Oppo Reno 7 SE |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | November 2021 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.31 x 2.88 x 0.30 inches |
| Weight | 171 grams |
| Size | 6.43 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 90Hz 430-600 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~409 PPI density |
| Protection | Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 11, ColorOS 12 |
| Chipset | 6nm – MediaTek MT6877 Dimensity 900 5G |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G68 MC4 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB UFS 2.2 |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (macro) 2 MP (depth) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 4K@30fps, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie | 16 MP (wide) Panorama Max – 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Under-display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 4500 mAh Fast charging 33W Reverse charging |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Gold |
| Expected Price | $350 (Rs 25,999) Approx. |
Conclusion
The Oppo Reno 7 SE smartphone is an excellent smartphone if you want a compact camera-centric smartphone with decent performance and battery life. The price is quite affordable, considering the camera and the hardware that you get inside. The overall experience is decent and it has almost everything one could need in a smartphone, such as an impressive camera, decent processing, and a full-day battery. Unlike most other smartphones in this price category, the Oppo Reno 7 SE has an all-rounded list of specifications and features.
However, not everything is as good as it seems to be. The phone has its flaws also no phone is perfect. If you can accept the flaws, then this is a very nice smartphone. But if you want an alternative smartphone, then the Motorola Edge S30 smartphone is an excellent choice.
