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Jasper Hart
October 17, 2019
Oppo announces two mid-range handsets during European Reno 2 launch
Oppo today unveiled its latest Reno 2 series will be available from tomorrow (October 17) as the vendor revealed two mid-range smartphones.
The Chinese manufacturer announced the series at its European launch event which was held at The The English National Ballet in London.
At the event Oppo took the wraps off the Reno 2 and Reno 2 Z, with the two smartphones the latest additions to the Reno series that Oppo launched earlier this year in Zurich.
Both smartphones will be aimed at the mid-range sector of the market, with the Reno available for £449 and the Reno Z for £329.
The Reno 2 features a quad-camera setup that includes a shark-fin style camera that pops up when in use and has a notch-less 6-5-inch AMOLED display.
It’s ‘little brother’ Reno Z has a slightly smaller display with 91 per cent screen-to-body ratio, compared to the 93 per cent on the Reno 2 and instead features a pop-up camera.
Both smartphones have a quad-camera set up, with the Reno 2 made up of a 48MP ultra-main camera, 13MP telephoto lens, 2MP mono lens and 8MP wide angle lens. The Z has a 48MP ultra-clear main camera, 8MP wide angle lens, 2MP mono lens and a 2MP portrait lens.
Both also come with Android 9 OS and feature 4,000mAh batteries. The Reno 2 has 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, with the Reno 2 Z having up to 128GB storage.
The Reno 2 comes in black and blue is and will be available from Carphone Warehouse, in store and online from October 17, while the Reno 2 Z comes in black and white.
Customers can also get the Reno 2 in black from EE for £28 per month, with an upfront cost of £50 from the entry-level tariff of 500MB of data.
Investment
During the event Oppo also revealed that over £1 billion has been invested in its R&D this year alone as the brand has made advances in 5G and AI, plus struck 3,000 technical patents.
Oppo also confirmed its European expansion is set to continue, with Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Ukraine announced as the next markets to stock Oppo devices.
It follows a strong venture into the region this year across 10 countries and 13 carriers as Oppo looks to grow market share.
However Oppo global senior brand director Derek Sun said at the event at that market share isn’t everything to Oppo: “Market share is important but customer satisfaction is more important to Oppo as we want our customers to get the best quality. That’s our main priority.”
Reaction
Decision Tech mobile lead Rob Baillie believes Oppo is taking the fight to Huawei.
“The brand is no doubt hoping the OPPO Reno 2 will change this and capitalise on the opportunity afforded by Huawei’s ongoing tribulations. Billed as a balanced all-rounder, the Reno 2 marries style with high-end camera features at a price that won’t break the bank.
“It will set UK consumers back £449, which could well appeal to those who have limited funds that are looking for a quality handset. The 48MP camera is hidden in the phone, as opposed to the ubiquitous notch design of almost all other smartphones, which adds to the sleek design and could win over those looking for an aesthetically pleasing device,” said Baillie.