Smile! Oppo Debuts Smartphone That Specializes in Portrait Photos

Thanks to a proprietary neural processing unit

By
Lawrence Bonk
Lawrence Bonk
Lawrence Bonk
News Reporter
  • Florida State University
Lawrence Bonk is a tech news reporter for Lifewire, specializing in gaming, AI, VR, and consumer tech, including iOS, macOS, wearables, and more.
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Published on September 21, 2022 11:23AM EDT
Fact checked by
Jerri Ledford
Jerri Ledford
Fact checked by Jerri Ledford
  • Western Kentucky University
  • Gulf Coast Community College
Jerri L. Ledford has been writing, editing, and fact-checking tech stories since 1994. Her work has appeared in Computerworld, PC Magazine, Information Today, and many others.
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Gadget manufacturer Oppo just unveiled a trio of flagship smartphones, one of which is built to excel in taking portrait-style photos and videos.

The company’s forthcoming Reno8 Pro 5G, Reno8 5G, and Reno8 Z 5G all feature comparable specs to leading competitors, but the Pro 5G comes equipped with a proprietary neural processing unit (NPU) that specializes in enabling advanced camera features.

Oppo Reno8

Oppo

This NPU, named MariSilicon X, allows for 18 trillion operations per second, each of which is completely dedicated to image processing. What does this mean? The Reno8 Pro 5G captures lossless real-time 4K AI-assisted video, easily handles HDR and RAW footage, and creates stunning portrait images thanks to an 8dB signal-to-noise ratio. 

Sony’s professional camera division manufactures the dual image sensors. The front sensor was tailor-made for selfies, with AutoFocus, 2x zoom, and a minimum focal distance of 15cm for close-ups. The rear camera is designed for portraits, with a large 1/1.56-inch sensor, HDR capabilities, phase detection, and the ability to shoot 4K video in the dead of night.

The Reno8 Pro 5G is also, you know, a phone with a streamlined unibody design, a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX chipset, 12GB of RAM, and 128GB of LPDDR5 storage. The battery is also beefy, as Oppo states it can reach 50 percent in just 11 minutes of charging. 

This snazzy camera-centric smartphone is available to pre-order now, in both teal and black, for around $800. Like most Oppo products, however, availability starts in the Middle East, with a US launch at some point in the future. If you do happen to score a pre-order, Oppo is throwing in a free watch, earbuds, and some other complimentary gifts. Nice.

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