Pretty, functional, and affordable, all packaged into a handset seemingly made for Philippine consumers

The last quarter of 2022 has been eventful in the tech world. For one, the business magnate known for being the CEO of electronic car enterprise Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk, finally took over Twitter, having bought the micro-blogging site for $44 billion.

Not as dramatic but equally as loud and impactful is the news of Samsung and Apple releasing the latest models of smartphones, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the iPhone 14, respectively.

Also held a couple of weeks back, in mid-October, was the inaugural Philippine FinTech Festival. The momentous affair celebrated the tech scene of the country, bringing together industry leaders, startups, and stakeholders into an ecosystem that propels the discussion on everything about technology forward. It is recognized as the largest privately-led consortium to tech up the Philippines.

Even earlier, in late August, another notable electronics company, Oppo, unveiled its Reno 8 series at the Marquis Event Place in Bonifacio Global City. Executives of the brand, business partners, as well as its endorser Nadine Lustre, were present at the occasion that showcased the latest innovations of the tech label.

Dubbed the “Portrait Expert,” the Reno Series 8 5G, the brand’s flagship phone, as well as the Reno 8 Z 5G, is a game changer, addressing the market needs of the Philippines, which was regarded by Time as “the Selfie Capital of the World” in 2014.

Makati City, in particular, ranked first in the investigation conducted by the media outlet, looking into hundreds of thousands of selfies online. The magazine’s database had more than 400,000 Instagram photos tagged as selfies to rank 459 cities.

Before selfies became a “thing,” Filipinos had already displayed enthusiasm to adopt new technology that made communication easier. With well over 400 million text messages sent each day, the Filipinos even held the title of “Texting Capital of the World.” Social media entered the scene and Filipinos, once more, were early adopters. Data reveals that 90 percent of the Philippine population used one platform or another.

In full circle, this leads us back to how the Reno Series 8 5G and Z 5G, would appear to have been made for the Filipinos.

‘ reminds me of ultra-clear nights in Poblacion, because there would always be a lot of lights there and I always have fun with my friends around the area.’

“It’s always about self-expression, and what I love with our new campaign now is that it’s super high energy,” says Nadine Lustre teasing the music video she made for the brand for the Series 8 5G.  “ reminds me of ultra-clear nights in Poblacion, because there would always be a lot of lights there and I always have fun with my friends around the area.”

Talking about technicalities and hardware, the phones boast dual Sony Flagship sensors that enable users to capture the ultra-clear night in portrait mode. That’s 32 megapixels (mp) of front camera for the regular Reno 8, and 16 mp for the Z.

The Z, on the other hand, with its 64mp wide angle, 2mp macro, and 2mp depth sensor with auto focus, the triple lenses produces better resolution photos than its brother. Another upside to the Z is that it still has a 3.5mm audio jack. It supports a memory card and it is water resistant.

Both the Z and regular series 8 have a 16.7M color AMOLED display, a 4500 mAh Li-Po Battery, and support reverse charging. Of course, they also include a USB-C port, NFC, and 5G support.

 In terms of charging, Z has 33W fast charging, while the Reno 8 5G has 80W rapid charging, which is incredibly fast even in today’s standard.

Users can capture high-quality images with its powerful portrait shooting features like the AI triple camera, AI portrait retouching, bokeh flare portrait, selfie HDR, AI color portrait, AI palettes, and dual-view video, among others. The powerful hardware performance of both handsets combined with the super-efficient and easy-to-use ColorOS 12.1 of the brand creates a world full of possibilities.

Focusing on the back camera, normal mode reaches up to six times digital zoom, but having experienced the camera firsthand, I suggest you use only up to three times zoom to achieve better shots. Turning off HDR mode is another recommendation if one wants to get more natural-looking images.

The personalization of the user interface (UI) is also worth mentioning. Certain applications already installed on the phone give it good customizability. 

The overall physical design is another unique aspect of the phone that catches the attention and seals the deal. The Z, to be precise, is the brand’s first phone to adopt a 0.5 mm anti-glare glass back cover with an integrated glow design, giving off a one-of-a-kind visual effect. Gorgeous, stunning, and chic are some of the words to describe it. Its back is fingerprint resistant too.

The outer circle of the back cameras of the Z also has ambient lighting, a small detail, which nonetheless adds its overall charm.

The phone comes in variants, such as Starlight Black for those who prefer a low-key aesthetic, and Dawnlight Gold, an elegant head-turning color.

The Reno Series 8 5G and Z 5G come close to the specs of the high-end luxury smartphones overhyped in the market but at the fraction of the price. Do note that the series is not exactly for gaming. It specializes in photography, selfies, and just being a fashionable handset without burning the pocket.