With the Oppo Reno12 FS 5G, you will return to those times of mobile phones with notification LEDs

With the Oppo Reno12 F series, Oppo has brought the main features of its big brothers to the mid-range (at least on paper). The Reno12 FS 5G includes AI functions at a price starting at 379 euros for the 5G version and 299 euros for the 4G model.

This Reno is presented as a mid-range model, but its design could easily turn it into a high-end phone.

With a back that finally introduces something different from what we are used to seeing on the market, and a brilliant surprise in its camera module that I will tell you about later, it certainly gave me a sense of déjà vu with respect to a technology that seemed to have disappeared from mobile phones.

This Oppo phone is a balanced alternative (with 5G in the version I tested) for those who don’t want to spend more than 300 or 400 euros (the 4G version starts at 299 euros) on their phone.

Artificial intelligence is, of course, one of the main features of this generation of phones from the Asian manufacturer Oppo.

A different design in a range full of clones

I’ve always thought that the mid-range mobile phone market is full of clones. You look at the back of the phones and they all look the same.

With the Reno12 FS 5G, that’s not the case: you look at the back and, if you know anything about the mobile phone market, you’ll realise that this is THE Oppo phone.

You will also notice that it is not just any Oppo phone, but this particular model from the Reno family.

It is a large phone, with a 6.67-inch screen, but I can confirm that it is very comfortable to use thanks to its slim body (7.76 millimeters thick, it is as thin as the iPhone 16) and its light weight (less than 190 grams).

The camera module houses the three sensors and the LED flash in a circular design that is very different from the horizontal or vertical format that we are used to seeing on the market.

The power and volume buttons are on the right, while the USB Type-C charging port and a dual SIM tray for nano-SIM cards are on the bottom.

The only thing I don’t really like is that Oppo has written the address of its offices in China on the bottom of the back… it’s great that they are proud of their origins, but it’s a bit strange to have such an elegant design accompanied by this detail that, honestly, I don’t need.

I already told you in the introduction that there was a surprise feature on the back: it turns out that the camera module has a halo of multicolored light, in the style of the old notification LEDs, and it can be customized to alert you to calls, battery charge or messages, among other things.
Oppo calls it Flash Light, you have many colors to choose from and you can specify what times of the day you want the light to be active.

This phone is available in two colors: this black-green one that is the star of my review, and an amber-orange one that has a spectacular flame effect.

Oppo certifies that this phone is dust and water resistant according to the IP64 standard, so it should be fine if it gets a little wet on a rainy day.

A normal screen in this price range

It is neither particularly good nor particularly bad: the screen on the Reno12 FS 5G is quite normal for a mid-range phone.

Its 6.67-inch panel has a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, AMOLED technology, a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a brightness of between 600 and 2100 nits. In other words, it’s business as usual, no surprises.

It’s a screen that looks good, has enough brightness for outdoor use and comes with preconfigured and very vivid color modes that will allow you to enjoy a series or a movie in good conditions.

The front is well used and achieves a screen-to-body ratio of 86.9%, which is not the best on the market, but for a mid-range device it is not bad.

The fingerprint reader is integrated into the screen and works very well, recognizing the fingerprint immediately after a few hours of use.

As for the protection of the screen, it is made of tempered glass with Asahi Glass AGC DT-Star2 technology.

We cannot ignore the screen without mentioning Splash Touch technology, which allows the phone to be used even when the panel is wet with water droplets (or when your hands are sweaty).

A MediaTek processor for everyday use, but not for the latest generation of games

The processor and graphics combination is the usual one in this category, a mid-2024 MediaTek processor, supported by a Mali-G57 MC2 graphics processor and 12 GB of RAM (LPDDR4X).

It works well when you’re browsing between Google Discover, Twitter and LinkedIn, the same goes for multimedia applications, but don’t expect the most powerful games of the moment to perform at their best here.

The most interesting thing is that the internal memory is 512 GB, with UFS 2.2 technology, and it is also expandable via microSD card, which is fabulous news for users who want to have all their files stored locally.

Nowadays, with the improvements in video recording that mobile phones incorporate, having plenty of space to store them in the internal memory is appreciated.

Three cameras that fall short of a good experience

Although on paper it seems like a powerful photographic set, the truth is that the camera of this Reno12 FS has left me with a bittersweet experience during this test.

The photographic kit consists of three sensors:

Main lens: 50 megapixels, f/1.8, 26 mm, PDAF, OIS.
Wide-angle lens: 8 megapixels, f/2.2, 16 mm, 112º, 1/4.0”, 1.12 µm
Macro lens: 2 megapixels, f/2.4.

I was disappointed with this photographic kit. Everything that looks good on paper translates into a very ordinary experience in everyday photography.

But, of course, for this price, it’s the least you can expect.

The problem is that, despite the high dynamic range (HDR) technology, the camera has problems handling scenes with contrasting light (for example, on a very sunny day with shadows, or indoors with artificial light sources), which results in overexposed or pastel scenes.

For video recording, the camera reaches up to 1080 pixels at 60 frames per second, and the EIS stabilizer, which reduces hand movements during recording, is particularly noteworthy.

The 5000 mAh battery lasts all day

You won’t run out of battery with this Oppo phone: it has a capacity of 5000 mAh, which I guarantee will last you well into the night, regardless of how much you use it.

What’s more, it comes with a fast charge of no less than 45 W, a figure which, thanks to SUPERVOOC technology, offers a 100% charge in 71 minutes.

A curious fact is that the box of this phone includes the charging cable (standard USB on one side, USB type C on the other), but not the charging base, so you will have to buy it separately if you don’t already have one.

Verdict: It’s not a bad phone, but its attractive design shouldn’t make you lose sight of other features

The Oppo Reno12 FS is love at first sight. It has a very special design (especially in the orange version) and the addition of the LED notification light is a real plus in my opinion.

But it’s important to remember that it won’t be enough for those who want to perform demanding tasks, and its camera may disappoint those who are used to high-level photography.

The Oppo Reno12 FS is love at first sight. It has a very special design (especially in the orange version) and the addition of the LED notification light is a big plus in my opinion.

But it’s important to remember that it won’t be enough for those who want to perform demanding tasks, and its camera may also disappoint those who are used to high-level photography.