Introduction
OPPO officially launched the Ace2 flagship at an online event in China today. The phone succeeds the OPPO Reno Ace model announced last year with better hardware and the world’s fastest wireless charging technology. The Ace lineup is being split up from the Reno series and will be sold as a separate lineup from OPPO. Overall, with 5G, Snapdragon 865, an ultra-fast charging technology, 90Hz display the phone is being marketed as a gaming flagship. The OPPO Ace2 starts at 3999 yuan ($567) for the 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM variant and goes up to 4399 yuan ($623) for the 8GB and 256GB ROM variant. The 12GB RAM and 256GB storage model is priced at 4599 yuan ($652). Note that the 8GB RAM models are all LPDDR4X, and only the 12GB RAM model comes with the latest LPDDR5 standard. These three storage variants are available in Black and Purple color options. The OPPO Ace2 is up for reservations in China starting today and will go on sale for the first time on April 20.
Design and Display
The first thing to note about the OPPO Ace2 5G is the much cleaner design with a satiny finish, just like the OnePlus 7T (or the upcoming OnePlus 8 series). The Ace2 comes in three colors – black, purple, and silver a gradient. The OPPO Ace2 features a traditional 2020 smartphone design, which includes a punch-hole display up front and a round-shaped quad-camera setup at the back. The circular quad-camera arrangement on the back also looks like the OnePlus 7T, as well as the relatively newer Redmi K30 Pro. The phone weighs just 185 grams and is 8.6mm thick, which means it will be comfortable to hold. There’s a 3D back curved design as well, improving the overall ergonomics.
The OPPO Ace 2 features a 6.55-inch AMOLED display featuring FHD+ screen resolution, 91.8 percent screen-to-body ratio, and a punch-hole cutout in the top left corner. The display flaunts a high refresh rate of 90Hz along with an impressive touch response rate of 180Hz, which comes in handy during gaming. The display also offers features like E3 Luminescent panel, 402ppi pixel density, peak brightness of 1100nits, and fourth-generation in-display fingerprint scanner. The phone comes with the 5th generation Corning Gorilla Glass protection, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and HDR10+ certification.
Front and rear cameras
The Ace2’s camera setup isn’t exactly extraordinary, but it should still be good enough for decent shots. The handset houses quite a similar camera setup to its predecessor. The 48MP Sony IMX586 primary camera remains the same, and so does the 8MP ultrawide camera. Instead of the 13MP telephoto on the Reno Ace, the Ace2 5G features two portrait sensors for improved portrait shots irrespective of the lighting condition.
The 48MP primary sensor of the phone has f/1.7 aperture, 26mm (wide), 1/2.0", 0.8µm, and PDAF technology. The 8 MP ultra-wide shooter offers f/2.2 aperture, 13mm, 1/4.0", 1.12µm, and AF technology. Like the predecessor, it can record 4k videos at 30/60fps and Full HD videos at 30/60/240fps. On the front, the smartphone features a 16MP camera sensor with f/2.4 aperture for selfies. The selfie sensor records only Full HD videos at 30fps. There are some camera features such as Digital Zoom, Auto Flash, Face detection, Touch to focus, Continues Shooting, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Exposure compensation, ISO control, and Phase Detection autofocus.
Performance (Processor, software, and battery)
The OPPO Ace2 is fueled by a Snapdragon 865 chipset with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 with Turbo Write and Host Performance Boost (HPB) for fast read and write speeds. Thanks to Snapdragon 865 SoC, the phone supports dual-mode 5G with roaming enabled in over 25 countries worldwide. Like all flagship phones of 2020, the OPPO Ace2 also supports Wi-Fi 6, and this can be combined with 5G to reach peak speeds of up to 2950Mbps. At the online event in China today, OPPO said that “the Ace2 scores around 608,000 on AnTuTu at room temperature. But if the phone’s cooling system kicks in, it can go up 625,184 in the same benchmark application.” OPPO revealed that it has managed to reduce power consumption by up to 12 percent in some games, and the temperature can be brought down by up to 1.4° C without sacrificing its performance. The OPPO Ace2 has an optimized gaming experience. It supports a stable high frame rate and comes with good battery life with excellent temperature control. Thanks to the new HyperBoost 3.0, the Ace2 manages to games like Peace Elite at stable 90FPS for a long time. You can keep playing even when the phone is charging, thanks to its advanced 4D VC cooling technology. Since this is a flagship focused on gaming, OPPO has optimized e-sports and balanced mode on the device by gathering data from over 200 internal test players. The phone also has a new social feature, which is similar to the popular online commentary system in China called danmu.
The Oppo Ace2 supports voice controls during gameplay via OPPO’s Breeno smart assistant. You can tweak the volume, brightness, and other features using Breeno. The phone also arrives with 4D Game Vibration 2.0 standard, which will customize gameplay vibrations according to the weapons being used. Finally, dual stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos ensure an immersive sound experience on the handset. In terms of software, the OPPO Ace2 5G comes with Color 7.1 based on Android 10. The OPPO Ace2 packs an average 4000mAh battery under the hood. But this is paired with an ultra-fast 65W wired charging solution. You get the world’s fastest 40W Super AirVOOC Wireless Charging technology on board, which could bring the device from 0 to 100% within a short span of just 56 minutes. This charging tech is certified by TUV Rheinland. OPPO has also launched a special AirVOOC fast wireless charger for CNY 249 ($35) with an inbuilt fan, which helps it remain cool. The Ace2 5G also complies with Qi standards for wireless charging at 10W as well as supports reverse wireless charging at 10W for other wirelessly charging devices.