"Reno" is OPPO's first 5G smartphone

OPPO has unveiled its first 5G smartphone: the OPPO Reno. The oddly named device will come in three different variants: a standard 4G model, a 4G model with OPPO's 10x lossless zoom technology, and a model that also adds 5G.

We're expecting the OPPO Reno 5G to be one of the first 5G smartphones available in Australia, with Telstra and Optus both set to range it later this year.

There are a few differences between the trio of new OPPO phones, but they all share a notchless design with a pop-up shark fin front-facing camera that slides up whenever you want to take a selfie. OPPO says the fin has "intelligent drop protection" that will hide the camera if it seems like the phone is falling. Instead of facial recognition, the Reno devices all use an in-screen fingerprint reader for biometric authentication.

The major difference between the devices is the rear-facing camera configuration: the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Edition and the OPPO Reno 5G both have a triple rear-facing camera configurations capable of 10x zoom, while the standard Reno only has two rear-facing cameras and doesn't have the same kind of zoom capabilities.

The tech that makes OPPO's lossless zoom possible is a triple camera setup including an 8MP 120-degree ultra-wide angle lens with an equivalent focal length of 160mm, a 48MP primary lens, and a 13MP telephoto lens with an equivalent focal length of 160mm. Moving between the ultra-wide angle lens and the telephoto lens gets you the 10x zoom factor.

OPPO's 10x solution makes use of a periscope design where the angle of the telephoto lens is rotated by 90 degrees. This allows for a deeper zoom without making a phone much thicker - OPPO says the module is only 6.76mm thick. A periscope-style prism is used to adjust the path of the light entering the camera to match that of the lens. This is similar to what Huawei has used for the P30 Pro.

The standard Reno has the same the 48MP primary lens and a secondary 5MP lens for sensing depth.

Key specifications for the standard Reno include a 6.4-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 710 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, 48MP + 8MP rear-facing cameras, and a 3,765mAh battery.

Key specifications for the Reno 10x Zoom Edition include a 6.6-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, 48MP + 8MP + 13MP rear-facing cameras, and a 4,065mAh battery.

We're expecting the OPPO Reno 5G to have almost identical specs to the Reno 10x Zoom Edition, but OPPO has yet to confirm exact hardware details.

Local pricing and availability has yet to be announced, but we're expecting the standard Reno to retail for around $685, and the Reno 10x Zoom Edition around $830, based on Chinese pricing and current coversion rates. OPPO has yet to provide pricing for the 5G Reno variant, but says it will be available in May.

OPPO is holding an international launch event for the Reno on April 24. We're expecting to hear more about global pricing and availability at that time.