REVIEW: Oppo has recently launched its new phone, but the Reno12 Pro is not your standard model upgrade. The kicker is that it is powered by AI. Spend a week with Idealog’s Bernadette Basagre, as she reviews the new phone and its AI features.

From the get-go, I am in love with the design of this phone.

I have been an iPhone user for the last 10 years, but the Oppo Reno12 Pro blows the signature Apple product out of the water with its unique look.

Unlike what I already have, the Reno12 Pro has a larger screen display and is slimmer than the iPhone 15.

The digital interface of an Android phone is also completely different, taking a few hours for me to get used to.

As I set up the Reno12 it asks me if I would prefer to navigate the phone in either an Android or iPhone way.  For me, I appreciate this small little detail.

But, the design is not the hero of the Reno12 – it’s the fact that it is an AI-powered phone.

The marketing of this phone focused on the generative AI features such as the AI photoshop features, its AI-powered studio that transforms photos to digital avatars and its AI Toolbox that included a writing, translator and summary assistants.

AI phones are not new, with the likes of Samsung releasing its signature smartphone powered by machine learning in early 2024, but Oppo says its product lands in the more affordable price range at $1099 compared to $3049 for the latest Galaxy Z Fold6.

Now my iPhone is not AI-powered, so this week I decided to immerse myself in the world of technology and let the Reno12 Pro be my phone, or rather, my AI companion.

The moment I unboxed it, I had to test out the AI Eraser.

A tool that can erase anything from the background of an image – from trash cans to people – making it seem like they were never there in the first place.

Now this tool is a godsend for editing photos. It was amazing, considering if I were to use a feature like this on my iPhone, I would have to pay for it from the App Store.

What I really liked about the AI Eraser is that you could be super detailed about it, using a wand tool to get into the nitty gritty, or use the AI to spot what it thinks needs to be removed.

Over the weekend, I got to use this quite a lot. For some attempts, the AI was a bit questionable in recognising what I was trying to erase from the background, but for most of the time, it worked quite well.

Read more: One year of ChatGPT: has it changed the landscape?

But out of all the features, I can’t stop raving about the AI Recording Summary feature.

As a journalist, the feature allows for AI to summarise any recording into key points but also an audio transcript.

Using this tool over the past week for work has been so good, especially the summarising feature, which I found particularly useful for longer interviews. Normally, I use Rev, an online transcription service that charges between $25 to $80 on a one-hour recording.

The Rev AI transcription service is a markdown from its human transcriptions at $8-$16 on a one-hour recording.

Reno12’s other features like the generative AI studio, AI Clear Face and AI Best Face are not tools I would be using.

Trying to navigate through the generative AI studio feature was hard and left me having to ask Google, who didn’t provide an answer at all.

AI Clear Face and AI Best Face are smart concepts and would be of use of trying to save that perfect photo, but the phone’s medium-quality camera is not something I find myself going to when I want to take a picture.

Out of all the features on this phone, the AI Recording Summary and AI Eraser were my stand outs, providing easy access to tools I use on a regular basis.

But as much as these features provided ease and efficiency, my overall feeling was that an AI-powered phone is a requirement I don’t need.

Especially when the likes of ChatGPT are both available and accessible on the rare occasion I need it.

But in a market with an increasing range of AI-powered phones, the price point of the Oppo Reno12 Pro at just over $1000 is a good deal.

And with the information that the Oppo Reno12 Pro has added AI support from Google Gemini, this could be a good alternative for the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy AI.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed my week with the Oppo Reno12 Pro, my life is not yet calling for an AI companion.