As AI becomes central to smartphones, OPPO's Reno16 series looks beyond the camera

It was against this backdrop that OPPO introduced its new Reno16 series across India on Friday, unveiling the Reno16 and Reno16c with the country's first HoloVerse 3D design and a suite of artificial intelligence-powered features aimed at photography, productivity and content creation.

Apoorva Srivastava, Product Manager of Oppo India, told IBNS, "What we've introduced as something new this time is a pop cam and an AI Remix collage. There's a different section in the camera part where you can just go and see that. We recently saw that a lot of people were really interested in all these old settings like Digicam, a lightly portrait film."

The launch reflects a broader shift in the smartphone industry.

As consumers increasingly look for devices that can do more than capture images or run applications, manufacturers are placing equal emphasis on intelligent software, personalised experiences and seamless integration between creativity and everyday convenience.

"The other feature which I'm talking about is AI Release Collage. If you do separate editing, it'll take like hours, but in this phone, this will take around just five minutes," Srivastava added.

The Reno16 series appears to have been built with that philosophy in mind.

The smartphones feature compact AMOLED displays, with the Reno16 sporting a 6.32-inch panel and the Reno16c a 6.57-inch display, both supporting FHD+ resolution.

A new AI Snap Key offers quick access to frequently used tools, while the devices arrive in Starry White, Twilight Violet and Stellar Purple, housed within an aerospace-grade aluminium frame with IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings for water and dust resistance.

When asked the manner in which Oppo is trying to attract new users, Apoorva Srivastava said, "The AI functionality, I think what we get in these phones, is something else. So if I just talk about the cameras, the 16 variant has three back cameras, all 50 megapixels, and the front 50 megapixel as well. We have a few case studies of people who are already switching from iPhone to this phone."

Photography remains at the heart of the Reno identity. The new series introduces a 50MP 3.5x telephoto portrait camera alongside a 50MP front camera, complemented by AI-powered Natural Tone Imaging designed to reproduce realistic skin tones and colour accuracy. The emphasis extends beyond still photography, with support for 4K 60fps HDR recording across the ultra-wide, main and telephoto cameras, as well as features such as Zoom-Free Video, 4K Auto Straighten and a range of AI-assisted editing tools aimed at simplifying professional-quality content creation.

On the new Bubble smart camera, Apoorva said, "The Bubble camera directly becomes your second screen. We've seen a lot of people do it if they want to click from the rear camera, but they can't really see. This works as a second screen and it also can work as a Bluetooth clicker."

The launch also expanded OPPO's connected ecosystem. Alongside the smartphones, the company introduced the magnetic OPPO Bubble smart camera companion and the Enco Air5 earbuds, which offer up to 52dB active noise cancellation, AI-powered call noise reduction, Bluetooth 6.1 connectivity and a battery life of up to 54 hours.

Artificial intelligence, however, remains the thread tying the ecosystem together. Through features such as AI Mind Space and AI Mind Pilot—which brings together Gemini, Perplexity and ChatGPT within a unified interface—the Reno16 series seeks to position itself not merely as a smartphone, but as a personalised digital assistant capable of supporting productivity alongside creativity.

(Reporting by Aaheli Chakraborty, images by Avishek Mitra)