Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G Audio review: A midrange performer at both playback and recording - DXOMARK - The first knowledge sharing application in Vietnam

Oppo’s latest mid-range phone series is now also available in Europe, a few months after its initial launch in China. In terms of audio, while the Chinese version is only equipped with a single speaker, the European model features two speakers, and boasts a Dolby partnership promising “immersive and dynamic high-end sound”.

We put the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G’s European version, which is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset, through our rigorous DXOMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance both at recording sound using its built-in microphones, and at playing audio back through its speakers. In this review, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Key audio specifications include:

One top front-firing speaker, and one bottom-firing speaker
Dolby Atmos technology
USB Type C for headphones

About DXOMARK Audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled lab conditions. This article highlights the most important results of our testing. Note that we evaluate both Playback and Recording using only the device’s built-in hardware and default apps.
(For more details about our Playback protocol, click here; for more details about our Recording protocol, click here.)

Mục lục bài viết

Test summary

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

108

audio

105

playback
Timbre

108

158

Dynamics

112

149

Spatial

104

162

Volume

125

162

Artifacts

120

157

115

recording
Timbre

147

Dynamics

120

146

Spatial

125

157

Volume

132

170

Artifacts

106

145

Background

106

166

Please be aware that beyond this point, we have not modified the initial test results. While data and products remain fully comparable, you might encounter mentions and references to the previous scores.

122nd

122

Position in Global Ranking

1. Black Shark 5 Pro

161

2. Asus ROG Phone 6

155

3. Asus ROG Phone 5

151

4. Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders

149

4. Black Shark 4S Pro

149

4. Black Shark 4 Pro

149

4. Honor Magic3 Pro+

149

8. Xiaomi Mi 10 S

147

9. Huawei Mate 50 Pro

144

9. Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

144

11. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

142

11. Apple iPhone 14 Pro

142

13. Apple iPhone 14 Plus

141

13. Apple iPhone 14

141

15. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

140

15. Apple iPhone 12

140

17. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

139

17. Apple iPhone 13 Pro

139

17. Apple iPhone 12 mini

139

17. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon)

139

21. Apple iPhone 13

138

21. Asus ROG Phone 3

138

21. Google Pixel 6 Pro

138

24. Apple iPhone 13 mini

137

24. Google Pixel 7 Pro

137

24. Google Pixel 6

137

24. Honor Magic4 Pro

137

24. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (Snapdragon)

137

29. Google Pixel 6a

135

30. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4

134

31. Huawei Mate 20 X

133

31. Lenovo Legion Y90

133

31. Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon)

133

31. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon)

133

31. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)

133

31. Vivo X90 Pro

133

37. Vivo X90 Pro+

132

38. Apple iPhone XS Max

131

38. Oppo Find X2 Pro

131

40. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4

130

41. Vivo X80 Pro (Snapdragon)

129

41. Xiaomi 12S Ultra

129

41. Xiaomi 12 Pro

129

44. OnePlus 11

128

44. Oppo Find X5 Pro

128

44. POCO F4 GT

128

44. Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming

128

44. Xiaomi 11T Pro

128

49. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G

127

49. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G

127

49. Xiaomi 12T Pro

127

52. Apple iPhone 11

126

52. OnePlus 10T 5G

126

52. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

126

52. Xiaomi 12T

126

52. Xiaomi 11T

126

57. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max

125

57. Samsung Galaxy A33 5G

125

57. Vivo X80 Pro (MediaTek)

125

60. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro

124

61. Google Pixel 7

123

61. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G

123

63. Apple iPhone SE (2022)

122

63. Apple iPhone SE (2020)

122

63. Xiaomi 12

122

66. OnePlus 9 Pro

121

66. Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Exynos)

121

66. Sony Xperia 1 IV

121

69. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

120

69. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)

120

69. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)

120

72. Asus ROG Phone 2

119

72. Huawei P50 Pro

119

72. OnePlus 9

119

72. OnePlus 8

119

72. Xiaomi Redmi K40 Gaming

119

72. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra

119

78. Realme GT Neo 3

118

78. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)

118

78. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos)

118

78. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)

118

78. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon)

118

78. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos)

118

84. Asus Zenfone 8

117

84. Google Pixel 4

117

84. OnePlus 10 Pro

117

84. OnePlus 8 Pro

117

84. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro

117

89. Motorola Edge+

116

89. Realme GT Neo 2 5G

116

89. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)

116

89. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)

116

89. Xiaomi Redmi K40 Pro+

116

89. Xiaomi Mi 11

116

95. Motorola Edge 30 Pro

115

95. OnePlus Nord 2T 5G

115

95. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)

115

95. Xiaomi Mi 11i

115

99. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G

114

99. Vivo iQOO 7 Legend

114

101. Google Pixel 5

113

101. LG V60 ThinQ 5G

113

101. OnePlus 7 Pro

113

101. Samsung Galaxy S20+

113

101. Samsung Galaxy S10+

113

101. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G (Exynos)

113

101. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ (Exynos)

113

101. Sony Xperia 1 III

113

109. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro

112

109. Nubia Red Magic 5S

112

109. Realme GT 5G

112

109. Xiaomi 12 Lite 5G

112

113. Sony Xperia 5 IV

111

114. Oppo Find X3 Pro

110

115. Honor 70

109

115. Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G

109

115. Oppo Find X5

109

115. POCO X3 NFC

109

115. Realme GT 2 Pro

109

115. Vivo X70 Pro+

109

115. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra

109

122. Huawei Mate 30 Pro

108

122. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)

108

122. Oppo Find X3 Neo

108

122. Realme X2 Pro

108

126. Nothing Phone(1)

106

126. Oppo Reno8 Lite 5G

106

128. Lenovo Legion Phone Pro

105

128. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro

105

130. Honor V30 Pro

104

130. Oppo Reno8 5G

104

130. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G

104

133. Black Shark 3 Pro

103

133. Oppo Find X5 Lite

103

133. Sony Xperia 1 II

103

136. Huawei P40 Pro

102

136. Motorola Edge 20 Pro

102

136. Oppo Reno6 5G

102

139. Motorola Razr

101

140. Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition

141. Black Shark 2 Pro

141. Honor 20 Pro

141. Oppo Find X3 Lite

141. Vivo X51 5G

145. LG G8 ThinQ

145. Sony Xperia 10 IV

147. Nubia Red Magic 3S

148. Fairphone 4

148. Sony Xperia 1

148. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)

151. Vivo X60 Pro+

152. Nokia 7.2

153. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)

39th

Position in Premium Ranking

1. Black Shark 5 Pro

161

2. Asus ROG Phone 5

151

3. Black Shark 4S Pro

149

3. Black Shark 4 Pro

149

5. Apple iPhone 14

141

6. Apple iPhone 12

140

7. Apple iPhone 12 mini

139

8. Apple iPhone 13

138

9. Apple iPhone 13 mini

137

10. Lenovo Legion Y90

133

10. Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon)

133

12. OnePlus 11

128

12. Xiaomi 11T Pro

128

14. Xiaomi 12T Pro

127

15. Apple iPhone 11

126

15. OnePlus 10T 5G

126

17. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro

124

18. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G

123

19. Xiaomi 12

122

20. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)

120

20. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)

120

22. OnePlus 9

119

22. OnePlus 8

119

24. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)

118

24. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon)

118

24. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos)

118

27. Asus Zenfone 8

117

27. Google Pixel 4

117

27. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro

117

30. Xiaomi Mi 11

116

31. Motorola Edge 30 Pro

115

31. Xiaomi Mi 11i

115

33. Google Pixel 5

113

33. LG V60 ThinQ 5G

113

33. OnePlus 7 Pro

113

36. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro

112

37. Realme GT 2 Pro

109

37. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra

109

39. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)

108

39. Oppo Find X3 Neo

108

41. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro

105

42. Honor V30 Pro

104

42. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G

104

44. Motorola Edge 20 Pro

102

45. Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition

46. Vivo X51 5G

47. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)

48. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)

Playback

Pros

Decent stereo wideness
Almost void of sonic artifacts

Cons

The tonal balance is heavily impaired by a strong lack of bass, as well as high- and low-end extension.
Maximum volume loudness is below average.

Recording

Pros

Good wideness and distance rendering
Great loudness
Great signal-to-noise thanks to an efficient noise cancellation algorithm.

Cons

The tonal balance is very midrange-focused and sounds nasally, in addition to exhibiting resonances.
Noise cancellation is a bit overzealous at times, affecting the signal envelope, as well as timbre and localizability.

The Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G’s global Audio score of 62 places it below the average of all the phones we’ve tested to date, between devices such as the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra, and the Oppo Find X3 Neo.

In playback testing, the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G earns below-average to average marks in all categories. It makes a decent playmate for gaming thanks to the quasi-absence of sonic artifacts, acceptable wideness, and correct distance rendering. Additionally, the minimum volume is well tuned, and the distribution of steps across the volume scale is consistent. On the other hand, the frequency response is heavily unbalanced, with a strong focus on midrange, and a lack of both high- and low-end extension. Besides localizability of the sources within the sound field, this also affects all dynamic attributes. Finally, note that the global left-right balance is skewed towards the right side of the device, when used in landscape mode.

The Reno6 Pro 5G turns in a more contrasted performance in the recording area. While timbre and background quality are well below average — due to a (yet again) highly midrange-focused tonal balance, resonances, and an occasional excessive noise cancellation — the phone reaches very good sub-scores in the spatial and volume categories. Recordings ensure good wideness and distance capture, great loudness, and an excellent signal-to-noise ratio.

Sub-scores explained

The DXOMARK Audio overall score of 62 for the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G is derived from its Playback and Recording scores and their respective sub-scores. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at these audio quality sub-scores and explain what they mean for the user.

Playback

Timbre

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (89)

Timbre tests measure how well a phone reproduces sound across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance, and volume dependency.

Overall, the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G’s timbre is focused on the upper midrange. While treble sounds a bit dull, high-end extension is very limited, resulting in inconsistencies in the upper register. Low-end extension, as well as bass, is also strongly lacking.

Music playback frequency response

Midrange is rather decent, despite a lack of low mid warmth (particularly perceivable on voice-only content), and the prominence of high mids.

You can hear for yourself the differences in timbre (and other attributes) between the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G and two of its competitors in the following sample:

Dynamics

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (81)

DXOMARK’s dynamics tests measure how well a device reproduces the energy level of a sound source, and how precisely it reproduces bass frequencies.

With such substantial bass loss, the Reno6 Pro 5G really isn’t equipped to shine in our bass precision tests. Attack isn’t very good either — transient sounds are rounded and unprecise, especially at soft volumes — and punch is very weak due to the lack of low mids, impairing the speakers’ ability to properly reproduce impacts.

Spatial

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (88)

The sub-attributes for perceptual spatial tests include localizability, balance, distance, and wideness.

Although the European version is stereo, wideness is decent, but fairly limited. Localizability suffers from unstable source positions within the sound field. Balance between the left and right channels is not ideal, since supposedly centered signals are perceived to the right side of the device in landscape mode. Finally, distance rendering is rather realistic, even though voices sound slightly veiled.

Volume

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro

Best: Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro (91)

Volume tests measure both the overall loudness a device is able to reproduce and how smoothly volume increases and decreases based on user input.

Except for subpar loudness at maximum level, the phone’s volume performance is globally satisfying. Here are a few sound pressure levels (SPL) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:

Hip-Hop
Classical

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
73.9 dBA
68.8 dBA

Xiaomi 11T Pro
73.4 dBA
70.1 dBA

OnePlus 9 Pro
75.5 dBA
72.4 dBA

The minimum volume step is very well tuned, allowing highly dynamic content (such as movies and classical music) to remain entirely intelligible. Additionally, the distribution of volume steps from softest to loudest is thoroughly consistent and natural, as shown in the graph below.

Music volume consistency

Artifacts

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

113

Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming

Best: Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming (113)

Artifacts tests measure how much source audio is distorted when played back through a device’s speakers. Distortion can occur both because of sound processing in the device and because of the quality of the speakers.

The speakers have an excellent behavior at nominal volume, in that they essentially exhibit no noticeable artifact, whether temporal (compression) or spectral (distortion). That said, noise is slightly enhanced on reference tracks, and bass distortion can be slightly noticeable. At maximum volume, both temporal and spectral artifacts arise, but nothing too problematic.

Recording

Timbre

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Honor Magic3 Pro+

Best: Honor Magic3 Pro+ (91)

In recording too, timbre is very midrange-focused — while not unpleasant, it lacks low midrange warmth and high-midrange clarity, resulting in a nasally and unnatural sound. Severely recessed treble induces a muffled sonority, and on the other side of the spectrum, bass and low-end extension are also lacking.

Life video frequency response

Despite all this, the tonal balance remains rather adequate in most situations.

Dynamics

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (81)

As a recording device, the Reno6 Pro 5G delivers substantially better dynamics than in playback, thanks to an efficient noise reduction algorithm. The signal-to-noise ratio thus reaches an excellent sub-score, at the expense of the envelope‘s sub-score: on top of a slight compression, transients are affected by the noise reduction algorithm.

When recording in loud environments, compression becomes quite noticeable, further impairing the captured sounds’ envelope.

Spatial

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 4S Pro

Best: Black Shark 4S Pro (78)

The Reno6 Pro 5G turns in an honorable performance in the spatial category thanks to appreciable wideness in landscape mode and when recording meetings, as well as realistic distance capture.

While localizability is perfectly decent in our domestic and meeting situations, it lacks precision in more urban scenarios. The reason could be that the noise reduction algorithm is triggered by a louder background, impairing localizability of sound sources. That, and the lack of treble.

Volume

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (99)

Maximum level reachable without noticeable distortion is acceptably high, which means the Reno6 Pro 5G fares relatively well when recording in loud environments. Nominal level, on its part, is very good — especially in life videos and meeting recordings. Here are our test results, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); as a reference, we expect loudness levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:

Meeting
Life Video
Selfie Video
Memo

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
-21.6 LUFS
-16.6 LUFS
-15.4 LUFS
-17.1 LUFS

Xiaomi 11T Pro
-28.1 LUFS
-26.3 LUFS
-23.9 LUFS
-22.4 LUFS

OnePlus 9 Pro
-23.5 LUFS
-22 LUFS
-24.7 LUFS
-15.1 LUFS

Artifacts

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (97)

While the noise canceling algorithm is quite effective, it can at times become overzealous. It thus induces unusual artifacts such as sudden volume drops in the background accompanied by fluctuations in the main signal’s volume and timbre, which can even manifest slight phasing issues. Additionally, our engineers noted the presence of a noticeable albeit reasonable compression, especially when recording in loud environments. That all said, as a recording device, the Reno6 Pro 5G ensures an overall decent capacity of keeping undesirable sounds to a minimum, regardless of the use case. You can check for artifacts yourself in this sample recording:

Background

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G

Black Shark 5 Pro

Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (60)

Recordings made with the Reno6 Pro present a pretty good and natural background tonal balance, despite a substantial lack of treble, high-midrange clarity, and bass. However, note that the background’s timbre may be affected by the noise cancellation algorithm, occasionally inducing phase issues.

Conclusion

While the Reno6 Pro 5G doesn’t excel either at playback or at recording, it manages to remain fairly functional. Oppo’s Pro model in its latest mid-range phone series can make a decent gaming companion and a sufficient device for filming selfie videos or recording meetings and memos.