OPPO Reno4: Portrait photography

Remember when OPPO Reno4 came out and we saw its cameras put to the test in a real-life photoshoot for the visual album of local celebrity Nadine Lustre? Published by Preview PH, OPPO showed what exactly the Reno4’s cameras could do, and, indeed, the photos that came out were vibrant, detailed, and quite impressive.

Not to downplay the capabilities of the device but we’d like to think that these photos came out as brilliantly as they did because of other factors as well. Being a professional shoot, there may have been professional lights, an experienced photographer, a well-designed set, a professional makeup artist, and, of course, a beautiful model.

With that in mind, we decided to try and shoot some portrait shots ourselves with the equipment not to disprove the aforementioned shoot, but to see how the Reno4 would fair in the hands of normal people like us. Using just a ring light, some smart lights, and our home as a makeshift studio, we wanted to see what we could achieve by shooting in the device’s different modes.

Here are a couple of shots we were able to churn out without having a complicated setup. Do take note that these photos did go through some minor editing to bring out some details.

Colors are noticeably vibrant and the overall contrast of the above photos positively enhanced each image. For its artificial bokeh, though, you can still see some hair that were blurred out by the phone’s AI.

During the interview, Lustre mentioned loving the Reno4’s AI Color Portrait which desaturates the background but keeps the subject colored. As you can see below, cutouts are pretty accurate. Often times, though, colors would bleed on the hairline, for example, but it’s not destructive and could possibly be avoided if there were more lights to separate the subject from the background. We see this feature to be great for creating artistic shots.

We also decided to step out and test the Reno4’s Night Flare filter for portraits. Unfortunately, we found this mode to be the most finicky among the ones we’ve tested. We often got the “need more light” warning even if we had a direct light on the subject. Photo quality is also inconsistent as it bounced around from being sharp to muddy.

We couldn’t quite get an image as sharp as the ones from Lustre’s photo set but, again, we only worked with very basic equipment. Theoretically though, if a proper light setup was present or perhaps even just stronger ones, you could get really nice shots with pretty background bokeh lights.

But all things considered, we still found the below samples to be more than enough for social media posting.

So as you can see, in the hands of regular people like us, the OPPO Reno4 still produces quality photos that are quite impressive. There is a bit of inconsistency at times but, considering everything else OPPO offers with this phone, you’re getting a good set of cameras on a solid device.

For the rest of its specs, the OPPO Reno4 is equipped with what the company calls an “innovative quad-cam” setup. It’s composed of a 48-megapixel wide-angle camera utilizing a Sony IMX586 sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle, 2-megapixel mono camera, and 2-megapixel macro. The setup isn’t unfamiliar but it’s proven to be one that works. As with a lot of mobile cameras, you’ll need a lot of light to really get the best quality possible.

But overall, we’re happy with the performance of the Reno4’s rear cameras. There’s no crazy post-processing even with Dazzle Color Mode on that intelligently boosts colors and details. This is something we appreciate because you get neutral but well-saturated colors and room to edit them if you wish to.

The 32-megapixel front camera isn’t bad as well. In fact, it was consistently able to produce sharp photos even with indoor light. But again, as the light started to fade, images would lose their sharpness and details are lost.

As an all-around, everyday camera, the OPPO Reno4 is a great performer. It churns out sharp, properly saturated photos in a number of different scenarios. Bright lights are the camera’s best friend as it performs at its best when there’s a lot present.

It’s just a shame that OPPO didn’t have any kind of image stabilization for the main camera. Shakes can become visible in photos every so often even with adequate lighting.

The lesson we learned during our time with the Reno4 isn’t anything new when it comes to mobile photography – bright lights are your best friend. We were happy, though, that even in the hands of amateur photographers, the device is still able to produce impressive-looking portraits worthy of being posted.

Do you own an OPPO Reno4? Tweet us and share your best portrait shots with @moderncreatures! We want to see ’em!

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realme Pad 2: An affordable ‘entertainment-first’ tablet

11/06/2023

Tablets offer many advantages. Apart from the obvious size advantage over your regular smartphone, these larger devices are often equipped with other features and specs that could make them a valuable addition to your daily workflow.

More affordable but still capable tablets aren’t plenty but they do exist; the recently released realme Pad 2 is such an example. The newest addition to the company’s Pad series offers a refreshing new look, a slightly bigger size, and more powerful internals.

Familiar design, fresher feel

Unlike today’s smartphones, the tablet scene is a tad less diverse when talking about design. Only a handful offer more ‘fun’ or interesting colors which is a shame because it’s something I personally look for.

But realme has always put a certain value on looks. Sometimes its designs can be a bit out there but I’ve always appreciated the company’s efforts in trying different looks for its devices. Even partnering with brands like Coca-Cola to offer limited-edition, collector-level pieces. With its tablet line, it’s no different.

Case in point is its first tablet, the realme Pad, which came out of the gate in a nice gold colorway instead of the usual matte black or blue. This year, for its follow-up, the realme Pad 2 is offered in two colors: Imagination Grey and Inspiration Green.

realme sent us the latter which is my pick between the two. I absolutely love how the color is cast on this tablet; not too loud but not too subtle either.

Its overall design is quite similar to its predecessor in some ways. The realme Pad 2 retains a flat metal frame with a slightly curved back. Now an 11-inch tablet, it’s slightly heavier but still lightweight enough to bring around. Its slim frame also makes one-handed operation easier.

The back’s design is obviously based on the original realme Pad but this time, the realme Pad 2 combines two finishes: metallic and matte. About a fifth of the device, the part where the big round camera module is, offers a metal-like texture while the rest lends a shimmery, matte-like finish.

Buttons and ports are where you’d usually find them: power button on top, volume rocker on the upper right side, and a SIM card tray on the left edge. The realme Pad 2 also comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera hidden in the display’s bezels. Made with a mix of metal and plastic materials, it seems durable enough to withstand the daily grind as well.

I honestly love how this tablet looks on my person. It acts almost like an accessory giving my outfit (which is usually black, white, or black and white) a pop of color and personality. It may sound silly to some but it’s a plus when my device can match my look, too.

A visual and aural delight

I’ve been a tablet user for a while now and I’ve found a couple of advantages that’s made me love this form factor.

For one, it’s an undeniably better way to consume all kinds of content – whether watching, reading, or playing the larger display makes the whole experience more comfortable. And despite being used to a 12-inch tablet, I find the 11-inch display on the realme Pad 2 still spacious to accommodate multi-tasking and other tasks.

Let me quickly lay down the specs for this device first.

The realme Pad 2 offers an 11.5-inch 2K display (1200×2000) partnered with a 120Hz refresh rate. We do only have an IPS LCD panel here but colors are still punchy and vibrant with a good amount of contrast. Brightness is a little on the short side for me but is enough for indoor use.

realme also made sure that the Pad 2 is Widevine L1-certified which unlocks up to FHD resolution for streaming apps like Netflix. For audio, we have a set of four Dolby Atmos speakers, two on each side.

One of our favorite features of the original realme Pad was its detailed and loud speakers. This year, we may be saying the same thing. The realme Pad 2 and its quad-speaker setup are impressive. Sound is balanced and well distributed though I wouldn’t be surprised if some would find it a little thin on bass.

One quiet night in, I ended up watching Dear Evan Hansen on the realme Pad 2. Being an adaptation of a musical, the speakers were tested against a range of songs and I found little to complain about. Vocals can get tinny during loud ensemble numbers but the overall experience was still pleasing.

At max volume, however, sound distortion is more prominent but shouldn’t be a problem for most. I would suggest going about 4 or 5 clicks down for a more balanced sound.

Apart from watching, I’ve found the realme Pad 2 is the perfect little size for reading. Going through PDFs for work was a breeze and I could even annotate and edit comfortably along the way. I’ve also been using it to reread a couple of comics and graphic novels like Scott Pilgrim (the new animated series premieres November 17 on Netflix, by the way).

Rounding out the whole content consumption experience is a large 8630 mAh battery which is more than enough for a few hours of binge-watching. For daily use, the realme Pad 2 was able to last more than two days until it needed to charge.

Topping up is a speedy too having support for 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging.  We were able to fully recharge the device in about an hour and a half.

With all that we’ve said, declaring that the realme Pad 2 is an ‘entertainment-first’ tablet wasn’t hard to do. With the first iteration having quality speakers as its best feature, the realme Pad 2 follows in its footsteps by offering not just really good quality audio but also a pristine picture to match it.

All while keeping that price tag ever so friendly.

The in-between device for productivity

While my constant is still my desktop for major workloads, I find having a tablet to do more menial things like checking emails, updating our socials, and writing articles is very convenient, too.

Equipped with a MediaTek Helio G99 processor and running on 8GB of RAM, you’ve got a good amount of power with this tablet. It isn’t the most capable or most recent chip around but has proven to be the pick for more affordable tablets.

With this configuration, you’re set up to do the dailies with ease. In my time with it, I was able to do all I just mentioned plus some light photo editing on Snapseed, quick video edits on CapCut, and even layouts in Canva. I know these are tasks that are doable on a smartphone but the ease of a big screen and more navigation room makes these tasks much easier and thus faster to accomplish.

The realme Pad 2 also offers virtual RAM expansion for when loads get heavy but I’ve found the improvement to be subtle, often unnoticeable. It also comes with a SIM card slot and support for LTE so you can stay connected even without Wi-Fi around.

 

A productive day means you’re able to knock off things on your to-do list efficiently. With realme Android 13 skin, you’ll be able to enjoy multi-tasking features that are unique to the tablet form factor. The Pad 2 is powerful enough to accommodate split screens, floating windows, dual windows, and multiple tabs but it does start to lag when there’s too much going on in the background.

Whether at home or not, it was also to take video calls. The front-facing camera is enough for the most part unless you’re a stickler for image quality. This may be a personal opinion, but I believe expectations shouldn’t be high when it comes to camera quality on tablets because even more expensive ones barely match today’s smartphone cameras.

Now what could make the Pad 2 much better for productivity, in my opinion, are accessories. Most tablets these days are partnered with a keyboard, pen, or even just a simple case or folio but it seems realme is sticking to the basics. Of course, these can be remedied by third-party products but it would’ve been nice to have a bundle with accessories of some sort.

Now while I don’t know many who game on a tablet, I’m aware that there are a few who do. But after what we’ve just talked about, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the gaming powers of the realme Pad 2 aren’t that extensive.

Simpler games like Pokemon Go are no big deal but expect to run on the lowest settings for more demanding games like Honkai Star Rail. I was able to play Star Rail rather smoothly as long as I kept graphics on low and closed all other power or resource-hungry apps.

Final thoughts

More often than not, tablets are propositioned as productivity partners but, again, the realme Pad 2 is showing itself as a better pick for entertainment. It’s equipped with the essentials for a cozy night of binge-watching including a high-resolution display, a quality set of quad speakers, and long battery life.

It’s great for multi-tasking and productivity too but to get the best performance, you will have to keep your background apps to a minimum and may have to forgo more resource-heavy tasks. But all in all and considering its asking price, it’s a solid day-to-day tablet.

The realme Pad 2 is now available in the Philippines and priced at PhP 13,999 and PhP 17,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and 8GB+256GB variant respectively.

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