OPPO Reno12 FS 5G test: a generous smartphone, but too limited
Announced at the start of the school year, the Reno12 FS 5G has been available since November in France. It demonstrates the renewed interest of the OPPO brand in the European market, after disappearing for a few months. Its new smartphone forms the link between entry and mid-range, with a price positioning below 350 euros.
For this price, this S model is generous by immediately including 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. A unique configuration that accompanies a very honest configuration, but is it enough to face fierce competition in this segment?
| OPPO Reno12 FS 5G | |
|---|---|
| Screen | – 6.67-inch AMOLED screen – Definition: Full HD+ (2,400 x 1,080 pixels) – Screen-to-body ratio: 92.2% – Brightness: 600 nits (standard), 1200 nits (max in direct sunlight), 2100 nits (maximum local peak) – Refresh rate: 120 Hz – Screen protection: DragonTrail – Star 2 |
| SoC and GPU | – MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (8 cores) – Mali-G57 MC2 1072 MHz |
| Memory | – 12 GB LPDDR4X RAM – 512 GB of storage in UFS 2.2 – microSD card slot |
| Colors | – Amber orange – Olive green – IP64 |
| Camera | – Main: 50 Mpx; f/1.8; 76° angle; 5P objective; AF supported; open loop focusing motor – Ultra wide angle: 8 Mpx; f/2.2; 112° angle; 5P objective; FF – Macro: 2 Mpx; f/2.4; Angle of 89°; 3P objective; FF – Front camera: 32 Mpx; f/2.4; 90° angle; 5P objective Capture modes: |
| Audio | – Stereo speakers – Audio codec: SBC, AAC, aptX, LDAC |
| Battery | – 5000mAh – 45W fast charging – Supported protocols: SUPERVOOC 2.0, SUPERVOOC, VOOC 3.0, PD3.0 (9V/1.5A), PPS |
| Connectivity | – Fingerprint reader under the screen – Facial recognition -Bluetooth 5.3 – WiFi 5 – 5G – Dual nano-SIM – GPS, A-GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou, QZSS – USB-C 2.0 |
| Software | – Android 14 – ColorOS 14 |
| Size and Weight | – 163.1 x 75.8 x 7.8mm – 187g |
| Introductory price | – 349 euros |
| Availability Date | – November 2024 |
Price and availability
The OPPO Reno12 FS 5G is officially available at a price of 349.90 euros. It is offered in a unique configuration of 12 GB of RAM + 512 GB of storage and comes in two colors: olive green and amber orange.
RakutenDesign
If not surprising, the OPPO Reno 12 FS 5G looks premium. The smartphone sports a classic design with emphasis on its imposing photo block, with flat edges.
The island, which protrudes slightly from the rest of the device, houses three sensors, the flash and a light ring! This one doesn't jump out at you, but this Halo Light (or pulsing indicator light in the French version) can light up in different situations and take on several shades.
In addition to benefiting from very nice integration, it turns out to be more interesting than it seems by lighting up when the phone is charging, during incoming calls or when the user receives notifications. The ring even offers lighting effects when launching a game or when there is music (via the OPPO app only). We almost regret that OPPO does not play the game more by offering even more customization options, which would help make it a discreet alternative to Nothing's Glyph system. For example, you can alternate between 8 different colors and assign a color to the telephone number… but limit the possibility to only 3 numbers.
The addition of this element is therefore not enough to make it a selling point, but it allows the Reno12 FS to stand out from the crowd. Its presence also confirms that this smartphone is less classic than it seems, especially in this amber orange dress which suits it rather well. It has the merit of remaining sober while helping the device to have a little personality, and it was necessary at least that so as not to confuse it with a Realme 12 Plus 5G or Xiaomi Redmi 14C.
Screen
A 6.67-inch OLED panel is available on our Reno 12 FS 5G. This large diagonal displays a classic Full HD+ definition of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels, ensuring 395 pixels per inch. The refresh rate increases to 120 Hz, but the panel is not LTPO, which is rather common on entry-level or mid-range models. Dynamic refresh is offered by default, with the option to toggle standard (60Hz) or high (120Hz).
Comfortable, this large screen boasts a peak brightness of 1,200 nits in direct sunlight and even peaks at 2,100 nits. A tempting promise on such an accessible smartphone and during our test, we actually did not encounter any brightness problems in direct sunlight. By default, the colors are not faithful and you have to switch to Natural mode (and not Vivid) to find more fidelity. A common choice among manufacturers who like to flatter the eyes of users by accentuating colors.
Performance
Under the hood of this model, we find a MediaTek Dimentity 6300 chip flanked by 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Note that our model is not exactly the one you will find for sale in France, since the graphics part is entrusted to the Mali-G75 MC2 GPU, a very honest configuration on paper.
OPPO Reno12 F or FS: we get lost
At the start of the test, we announced that the OPPO Reno12 FS 5G was only available with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. However, our test model only has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. How is this possible?
For this test, the manufacturer lent us a model which is not intended for the French market. The technical characteristics of our model are identical, with the exception of the amount of RAM and storage. Note that OPPO also mentions the existence of the Reno12 F on its French site, it is a 4G only version.
To make things even more complicated, the OPPO Reno12 FS marketed in France is called OPPO Reno12 F in other regions… while the OPPO Reno12 F launched in France is also known as OPPO Reno12 F 4G in other countries. Stay vigilant, especially if you decide to buy this smartphone via a marketplace.
The MediaTek SoC is recent (April 2024) and its CPU part includes 2 Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.4 GHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0 GHz. We're not the most impressive on the market, but it's still enough to carry out everyday tasks. In the benchmarks, this Reno12 FS is not the same smartphone that leaves us with the best impression and the smartphone confirms that it is limited to providing the essentials. You get what you pay for, but you shouldn't expect incredible performance. Even though it is stamped AI, it also does not present impressive results in benchmarks like Geekbench AI. In reality, AI calculations are mostly done in the cloud.
| OPPO Reno12 FS 5G | |
|---|---|
| SoC | – MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (6nm) – CPU: 2 x Cortex-A76 up to 2.24 GHz, 6 x Cortex-A55 up to 2.0 GHz – GPU: ARM Mali-G57 MC2 |
| AnTuTu | 445 584 |
| Geekbech 6 CPU (single-core / multi-core) | 785 / 1,980 |
| Geekbech 6 GPU (OpenCL / Vulkan) | 1,410 / 1,423 |
| WildLife Extreme (score / average fps) | 362 / 2.17 |
| Steel Nomad Light (score / average fps) | 143 / 1.07 |
| Geebench AI Score | – Single Precision Score: 552 – Half Precision Score: 547 – Quantized Score: 1,031 |
The advantage of this approach is that it allows the device not to heat up too much, even when it is heavily used. OPPO chooses efficiency.
Photo
The Oppo Reno12 FS 5G comes with the following configuration:
- 50MP main sensor: OmniVision OV50D, f/1.8, 27mm equivalent
- 8 MP ultra wide-angle: Sony IMX355, f/2.2, 16 mm equivalent, 112°
- 2 MP macro lens: OmniVision OV02B10, f/2.4, 22mm equivalent
Few surprises on this model which offers three sensors at the rear and places particular emphasis on the main module. With its definition of 8 Mpx, the ultra wide-angle is aptly named secondary sensor while the 2 Mpx macro camera above all allows you to make up the numbers. Such a sensor is useless in everyday life and we continue to rail against their presence, but the Reno12 FS 5G can boast of having a three-sensor configuration. No telephoto lens, but you can't have everything on a smartphone sold between 300 and 350 euros.
In use, the smartphone offers a fairly average photo experience. The results are correct when the conditions are good, but limits appear very quickly when the Reno 12 FS does not benefit from an alignment of the planets (absence of blue sky, light, night, etc.). Images may lack life, displaying low contrast and a lack of saturation.
If the main sensor can be misleading, the ultra-wide-angle is not helped by its low definition and the photos lack detail. Obviously, the defects become more pronounced at night and when you try to play too much with the zoom of the smartphone. Even more than the configuration, the lack of power of the device and the absence of an advanced algorithm (often reserved for premium models) can explain this behavior.
Autonomy
The OPPO Reno 12 FS 5G opts for a classic formula by offering a battery with a capacity of 5,000 mAh. It provides a day and a half of use in “normal” conditions and up to two days if you are a little more economical. The smartphone is in the high average and offers very decent battery life for most users.
In addition, it is compatible with several fast charging protocols (SuperVooc 2.0, Vooc 3.0, PowerDelivery 3 at 9V/1.5A) and supports a charging power of 45 W. It is not the fastest on the market, but it fulfills its mission correctly and allows the smartphone to be charged for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes. For this, you will need to have a compatible charger since the manufacturer does not provide a power supply in the box. We used a 100W UGREEN charger with the Reno 12 FS 5G, reaching 50% in 30 minutes and 100% in 1 hour 10 minutes.
