Bucket Tech: OPPO Reno 12 Series launched in SA

 

OPPO today announced the launch of the Reno12 Series, introducing advanced AI capabilities designed to enhance productivity and creativity for South Africans. This new series marks a significant milestone in OPPO's commitment to making AI Phones accessible to everyone.

The Reno12 Pro boasts a sleek, Futuristic Fluid Design with a High-Strength Alloy Framework, offering both style and robust protection against drops, pressure, and water.

Powered by the new 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 platform, the Reno12 Pro delivers exceptional power efficiency. It features a 5,000mAh battery with OPPO’s 80W SUPERVOOCTM Flash Charge technology, ensuring ultra-long battery life and lightning-fast charging. The battery can reach 32% in just 10 minutes and 100% in 46 minutes.

Equipped with a 50MP Telephoto Portrait Camera and a 50MP Selfie Camera, the Reno12 Pro takes mobile photography to the next level. The AI Portrait Retouching feature allows real-time adjustments for perfect selfies, while the AI Eraser removes unwanted elements from photos with a simple tap.

“At OPPO, we believe that everyone deserves AI. The Reno12 Pro, with its cutting-edge GenAI features and innovative design, is likely to be the first AI phone for many South Africans. We are democratising access to advanced technology by offering the best-in-market features at an unbeatable price. The Reno12 Pro sets a new standard in smartphone excellence, ensuring that top-tier AI capabilities are accessible to all.” says Liam Faurie, Head of Go-to-market & Operations at OPPO South Africa

Democratising AI 

Earlier this year, OPPO outlined its commitment to bring AI capabilities to everyone, not just those with high-end flagships but across its entire product category outside of just smartphones. In collaboration with tech giants like Google, Microsoft, MediaTek, and Qualcomm, OPPO is spearheading the arrival if new-generation AI phones. 

Breaking down the barriers of exclusivity traditionally associated with high-end devices, the Reno12 Pro marks a significant step forward in this journey. It introduces a suite of GenAI features for everyday uses. With the newly updated AI Eraser, users can effortlessly remove unwanted elements from photos. for creative minds, AI Studio can transform a single photo into digital avatard or artistic portraits, letting users image themselves in various personas such as Amapiano DJs, stars in a local soapie, or many other styles. 

The AI toolbox built on the Google Gemini 1.0 Ultra large language model (LLM), recognises on-screen content and suggests relevant AI tools, like social media content generation or article summaries. Additionally, the AI REcording Summary tool organises voice recordings into clear, actionable notes, making it easier to manage information on the go. 

“We are excited to be pushing boundaries with this device. By collaborating with industry leaders, and integrating AI across all our product lines, we are bringing top-tier technology to the market," says Faurie. 

Strong and Durable: Built to Withstand Water and Impact

The Reno12 Pro’s 6.7-inch, 120Hz OLED display delivers stunning visuals with vibrant colours and smooth motion, enhancing viewing experience for everything from streaming movies to gaming. Supporting up to 1.07 billion colours, this display brings content to life with exceptional clarity and richness.

The low blue light eye protection ensures comfortable viewing, reducing eye strain during extended use. This means you users can enjoy your favourite activities longer without discomfort.

The innovative Fluid Ripple Texture design not only looks stylish but also feels premium. Coupled with Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2, the Reno12 Pro offers superior durability, providing excellent resistance to impacts, drops, and scratches. This ensures that the phone remains protected and looks pristine, even with daily wear and tear.

The Reno12 Pro is designed to work seamlessly even when exposed to water, thanks to its IP65 rating and reinforced components. This makes it a reliable companion for all adventures, whether rain or shine.

Professional-Grade Photography with AI Precision

The Reno12 Pro’s Main Camera, featuring a Sony LYT-600 sensor with omnidirectional autofocus and optical image stabilisation (OIS), ensures the device gives clear, focused shots quickly. Its Portrait Mode with 2x zoom captures stunning, professional-quality portraits with beautiful background blur.

Taking portrait photography to the next level, the Reno12 Pro includes a 50MP Telephoto Portrait Camera and a 50MP Selfie Camera. The new AI Portrait Retouching feature allows users to make real-time adjustments to enhance facial features, ensuring every selfie looks perfect.

The enhanced Flash Snapshot feature automatically adjusts the camera settings for more natural lighting and skin tones. Plus, with 4K video recording at 30fps on both the rear and front cameras, you can capture your favorite moments in stunning high-definition.

Exceptional Performance and Efficiency with AI Optimisation

The Reno12 Pro is the first phone to feature the brand-new 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 platform, co-developed by MediaTek and OPPO. This platform delivers outstanding power efficiency and performance, thanks to its advanced octa-core design and innovative collaboration on system-on-chip (SoC), memory, and storage enhancements through the latest 

ColorOS Trinity Engine.

Using AI models to identify user scenarios, the Trinity Engine’s updated CPU-Vita engine smartly allocates resources, ensuring lower power consumption while maintaining system stability and smoothness. This means the phone runs efficiently, adapting to usage without wasting battery life.

The RAM-Vita engine optimises RAM utilisation, speeding up app launches and allowing users to switch between apps seamlessly. It can keep active background apps running smoothly for up to 72 hours. Additionally, OPPO’s RAM Expansion feature can convert 12GB of storage into temporary RAM, providing extra smoothness when needed.

The updated ROM-Vita engine compresses infrequently used apps and manages duplicate files, freeing up storage space and improving memory read/write speeds. This ensures that your phone remains fast and responsive, with plenty of room for your files and apps.

Longer battery life, faster charging

The Reno12 Pro comes with a 5,000mAh battery, providing extended battery life and over four years of optimal battery condition  without increasing the size of the battery or the phones. 

With support for OPPO’s 80W SUPERVOOCTM Flash Charge, this battery can be charged from 1% to 32% in just ten minutes, with a mere 46 minutes needed for a full 100% charge.

AI-Enhanced Connectivity for Reliable Performance

The Reno12 Pro features the latest generation of OPPO’s proprietary AI LinkBoost technology, designed to provide smooth, seamless, and steady connectivity. With nine individual antennas arranged in a 360° surround architecture, AI LinkBoost boosts signal reception and optimises network selection using a system-level AI model that adapts to network environment.

OPPO has conducted extensive local testing and optimisation worldwide to ensure stable connectivity. This includes reducing network latency in areas with weak signals or busy networks, enabling seamless transitions between WiFi and cellular networks, and accelerating signal recovery speeds when exiting elevators or basements.

For challenging situations like flying, commuting in tunnels or busy highways, or hiking Lion’s Head where mobile network coverage is unavailable, the Reno12 Pro introduces BeaconLink. 

This proprietary protocol boosts Bluetooth transmission, allowing one-to-one voice calls over distances of up to 200 meters without network coverage. While not currently available, this feature will be released in a future update.

“We are thrilled to introduce features like AI LinkBoost and BeaconLink in the Reno12 Pro, making it one of the most reliable smartphones on the market," says Faurie. "These innovations ensure that our users stay connected, no matter where they are, showcasing our commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology that enhances everyday life.”

Pricing and availability

OPPO Reno12 Pro will be available at all local operators, at an RRP of R18 999 with contract prices starting from R 749 per month .

New models of the Reno12 series will be introduced in the coming months, with the Reno12FS arriving in July and the Reno12 F 4G hitting stores in August, offering a broader range of choices for customers

Bucket Tech: Huawei Mate 10 Pro & Mate 10 Porsche Design - First Impressions

Monday night saw the launch of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Mate 10 Porsche Design devices in South Africa, much like the wind in Cape Town, it blew many of the crowd away with it's features of which many are a first for a smart phone. For it's flag ship device, Huawei opted for the tranquil and scenic Camps Bay, which was anything but thanks to the weather. Once sheltered from the gale force winds, it was time to view what the Chinese manufacturer had in store in its latest Mate series device. With the smartphone trend, everyone is looking at what each other is inventing but then copying and perfecting these trends, with Huawei, they have set some standards in the industry first which saw their competitors play catch-up. some of these include the dual lens technology in the cameras, the long battery life and super charge, but with the Mate 10, they needed something ground-breaking, something that would make their competitors not only think "why didn't we think of that?" but rather "how did they do that?". 

Step in the world's first AI Processor, the Kirin 970. But you may ask, what is AI? And how will it be beneficial to me? We've seen AI in movies but most of that has been fiction until now, AI is artificial intelligence, which enables the device to think on its own and not only when you tell it to do something. Yes, this is ground breaking and what makes it even more astonishing, is that it is able to do this without having a connection. For example, Huawei has teamed up with Microsoft for a number of things for the Mate 10 Pro, one of them being Microsoft Translate. The Mate 10 pro is able to view foreign text and convert it for you to the desired language, all on its own without an internet connection. "As we enter the age of intellegence, AI is no longer a virtual concept but something that interwines with out daily life. AI can enhance user experience, provide valuable services and improve product performance" says Likun Zhao, GM of Huawei Consumer Business Group. "The Huawei Mate 10 Series introduces the first mobile AI-specific Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU), launching a new era of intelligent smartphones. For the South Afrcan market, we bringing two most premium phones in this exclusive series - namely the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 - as we believe these are the best phones to meet the mobile needs of South African consumers, especially when it comes to business."

Yes, SA won't be getting the standard Mate 10 device as Huawei feels that the consumers would opt for the Pro and the PD devices, also the price difference in the standard and Pro is minimal. Getting back to AI, in essence, this issues a new dawn in the smartphone market, AI will only be enhanced from here on, unlocking potentials that we can only dream off from a phone. Some other cool features of the Mate 10 Pro, includes a new camera. It's a world's first f1.6 Leica Dual LEns camera which identifies, in real-time, different types of scenes and objects, such as food, nightscapes, sunsets and beaches, heck it can even identify if you taking a picture of a dog or a cat! It will then automatically adjust to make sure your picture is captured in the best possible way. While their is a Pro feature on the camera, you would rarely have to use it! The Huawei SuperCharge has also been upgraded, as the phone comes with a 4000 mAh batter with AI powered battery management for optimal usage, so this extends battery life on the device. It also comes with fast charging, allowing the device to get from 0 to 20 percent in 10 minutes. 

The Mate 10 Pro also comes with a dual SIM where both SIM slots are 4G capable. The design see's a change to the 9, with it having a more beveled finish, making the handset quite smooth and sleek. It has quite a large display, Huawei calls this "full view" enabling the user to have brilliant clarity and optimizes the viewing for the user. It also has the best screen to body ratio in its class using a 5.9 inch screen and 16:9 display. The device is IP67 rated as well, which we put to the test in the viewing rooms where we were allowed to dunk the phones into a fish bowl. Quite nerve wrecking but cool to see. 

Pre-Orders for the Mate 10 Pro have already begun, but the recommended retail prices have some folks talking. The Huawei Mate 10 Pro being R18,999 isn't too bad seeing that it has a host of worlds first and an extremely good smart phone, however the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 comes in at R26,999. That is a big jump in price but with PD, their products are quality and quite expensive. Also this Porsche Design handset will be super exclusive with only 999 units coming to South Africa. 

"We are delighted to bring the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Porsche Design Mate 10 to South Africa as we believe these smartphones will cater for the South  African consumers needs as we enter the age of AI" - concludes Zhao.