Your next smartphone could be different, even smarter. Just one touch is enough to create images, edit photographs or summarize the content of a voice recording. In short, integrating the generative artificial intelligence that is now all the rage everywhere and is quickly arriving on smartphones, including the less expensive ones. He has just provided us with proof of this transition Oppo, a Chinese manufacturer that recently presented the new Reno 12 and Reno 12 Pro in Ibizaits first two AI smartphone models aimed at the European market.
Oppo’s vision
Unlike the past, where specifications and technical details dominated the narrative, attention seems to have suddenly shifted to artificial intelligence and new dedicated ad hoc applications. A priority for companies, as confirmed during the presentation by Isabella Lazzini, CMO of Oppo Italia: “It’s a
trend recognized globally, IDC data projects that 170 million smartphones with artificial intelligence will be produced by 2024, around 15% of the total.” And he continues: «Our goal is to bring artificial intelligence on a more accessible price pointand have it on around 50 million Oppo devices by the end of the year.”
How the Reno 12 Pro works
At first glance we find ourselves faced with the usual mid-range Oppo device, capable of satisfying most of the needs of any user. With a bright display 6.7-inch OLED at 120 Hz protected by Gorilla Glass 7i (the first in the world to integrate it), the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 7300 octa-core chip, lots of memory and an excellent 5,000 mAh battery, there’s not much to envy the competition. On paper there seems to be almost nothing missing and the photographic sector is now more than reliable, well-established, with three 50 MP cameras: one is the main one, the other is the so-called telephoto with 2X zoom and the last one is the front one for self-portraits. In the first shots we took the impression is positive, with clear, crisp and well-balanced images. We would perhaps have expected something more from the wide angle, which integrates a rather standard 8 MP image sensor.
How AI works
To be honest, the real difference compared to the previous Renos, immediately perceived, lies precisely in the artificial intelligence functions, which here find their home in the image editor and in a dedicated app called AI Studio. In the first case, AI allows the removal of annoying elements in our shots in an easy and pleasant way; with AI Studio, however, you enter a completely new world: in fact, we start from a photo of ourselves (or any shot you want) to create avatars based on chosen sets and with our appearance, be it an astronaut, an elegant character or a cowboy, as you can see below. An operation that is performed remotely, on external servers and takes a few tens of seconds. A taste of AI that is more fun than useful, at this early stage. However, Oppo has carefully measured out the functions to bring to Europe, as China already has a powerful LLM model called Andes-GPT that moves millions of Asian devices. And there it is already being widely used, as declared by Isabella Lazzini who cites one of the main functions: «Today the Chinese user (of Oppo) uses on average 15 times a day the AI Eraserthis makes it clear how much this technology is actually having an impact on everyday use.”
Conclusions and prices
However, in our part the conditions are a little different: Andes-GPT and the connected virtual assistant are not there yet and it is not known when they will arrive. Many of the Reno12’s built-in AI features, such as those on the smart sidebar (AI Write, AI Speak, and AI Summary) are based on the Google Gemini language model. Some do not yet support Italian and do not differ from what is already offered on other smartphones. So the approach is changing, the things we can do on mobile devices are changing, and the main manufacturers can only try to accelerate this as much as possible
transition.
Reno12 Pro and Reno12 are already available in Italy from 18 June, at a cost of 599.99 euros for the first and 499.99 euros for the cheaper of the two. A trade-in program is active until July 21st which allows you to receive a discount of 100 euros compared to the list price.
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