During an event held on Europe’s celebrated island of Ibiza, Spain, OPPO announced the global launch of the Reno12 and Reno12 Pro. These new phones feature a brilliant design and mark a significant milestone in the evolution of AI-powered smartphones, showcasing a suite of AI-powered features designed to enhance creativity, productivity, and overall user experience. According to Bingo Liu, CEO of OPPO Europe, “The trend of AI represents a fundamental change, and smartphones are the ideal devices to access and utilize mobile AI.”

Reno smartphones have reached 100 million people in the last five years. This launch continues the impressive innovation trajectory set by the series, which introduced 5G to smartphones in Europe back in 2019. “Since then, every generation has pushed boundaries further,” Mr. Liu stated on the stage of Ibiza’s Palacio de Congressos. OPPO’s commitment is “to make AI phones accessible to everyone,” aiming to reach 50 million people by the end of the year.

AI-Powered Photography

Smartphones have revolutionized photography in recent years, introducing us to the concept of “mobile photography” and effectively replacing the use of traditional cameras. Computational tools and generative AI are set to push these boundaries even further, as Mr. Liu explains. “Today, the possibilities given by AI extend beyond just photography.”

The Reno12 Series introduces several AI features aimed at transforming the mobile photography experience. The AI Eraser 2.0, for instance, allows users to remove unwanted objects or people from their photos with a simple tap, utilizing advanced object recognition technology. During the Ibiza keynote, Mr. Liu demonstrated how a crowd of people was removed with a single tap from a picture taken on a busy Hong Kong street.

“Exceptional for photo editing and out-of-the-box shoots,” the Reno Series has always been known as “the portrait expert,” explained Arne Herkelmann, Head of Product Management at OPPO Europe, on the Ibiza stage. “Now, this is the AI-powered portrait phone,” he added. The updated Portrait mode of the Reno12 and 12 Pro provides natural skin tones with capabilities extending over “the most diverse color palette.”

OPPO has also integrated AI-powered features for group portraits: AI Clear Face enhances facial details such as contours, hair, and eyebrows, ensuring everyone in the photo looks their best, while AI Best Face automatically detects closed eyes and uses AI technology to “reopen” them.

The Reno12 Series also features AI Studio, an innovative cloud-based app that offers users the ability to create digital avatars and apply a wide selection of artistic styles to portraits. Leveraging AI capabilities for imaginative and fun photo edits, Reno users can transform themselves into cyberpunk characters, manga figures, college students, astronauts, and more.

Productivity and efficiency boosts

AI is used to improve productivity and efficiency in the Reno12 Series. The new AI Toolbox, featured on the smartphone’s smart sidebar, is based on the Google Gemini large language model (LLM) and includes features such as AI Write, AI Speak, and AI Summary. These tools enhance text content generation, provide summaries for lengthy articles, and facilitate fast social media content creation.

The new AI Recording Summary tool can extract text summaries from voice recordings and organize them into notes, complete with to-do lists, times, locations, and other details. This feature is designed to help users keep track of important information using just voice input.

OPPO's proprietary AI LinkBoost technology ensures stable and seamless connectivity for the Reno12 series. This technology includes nine individual antennas arranged in a 360° surround architecture, optimizing network selection and boosting signal reception. The AI model enables agile network switching based on the user's environment, enhancing performance in areas with weak signals or busy networks, such as elevators.

OPPO Reno12 and Reno12 Pro: specs and availability

The Reno12 Pro features a futuristic fluid design, a 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED Infinite View Screen, and All-round armor, while the Reno12 comes with a 3D dual-curved screen and 2x in-sensor zoom. Both rely on MediaTek Dimensity, a new octa-core platform created by MediaTek in collaboration with OPPO to deliver the best power efficiency.

The Reno12 Series will soon be available for purchase, with a starting price of 499 euros for the Reno12, available in Astro Silver or Matte Brown, and 599 euros for the Reno12 Pro, offered in two different color options: Nebula Silver or Space Brown.