OPPO Kenya announced on Thursday 5th November 2026 that the Reno16 series is now on sale, the day after pre-orders closed. The Reno16 5G costs KES 79,999 and the Reno16 F 5G costs KES 69,999 at OPPO stores around the country, the same prices as when pre-orders opened last month. OPPO Kenya has also brought in the Enco Air5, a pair of noise-cancelling wireless earbuds, at KES 3,999.
OPPO’s announcement doesn’t mention the pre-order gifts, which included a power bank and three months of Google AI Pro, so ask at the shop before you count on getting them now.
If you’re choosing between the two phones, the extra KES 10,000 on the Reno16 mostly buys a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chip in place of MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300-Energy, a 50MP ultrawide camera against the F’s 8MP and a sharper screen, in a smaller body. The F has the bigger 6.57-inch screen and the bigger 7,000mAh battery, takes a microSD card and has the same 3.5x zoom camera as the Reno16. So, as we said last month, we think the F is the more interesting of the two.
The AI tools, and whether they work here
OPPO is also selling these phones on their AI tools. Both run ColorOS 16, OPPO’s version of Android, and both have an AI Snap Key. A short press records your screen, a long press records a voice memo, and a double press opens AI Mind Space, where the things you’ve saved get stored and organised so you can find them later. So Mind Space is for you if you keep taking screenshots you mean to come back to.
Inside Mind Space is AI Bill Manager, which turns digital payments and paper receipts into spending records. AI Mind Pilot connects you to an AI assistant with one tap, or lets you compare answers from three of them side by side.
Both phones are also on OPPO’s global schedule for ColorOS 17, the Android 17 upgrade, from 30th October, although OPPO says timing varies by region.
What you get for KES 3,999
Active noise cancelling uses microphones to pick up outside sound and cancel it, so that the engine at a matatu stop fades into the background. OPPO claims up to 52dB of noise cancelling on the Enco Air5. Its footnote says that’s the most it measured in its own lab, and that what you get depends on things like your ear shape and how you wear them. There’s a smart mode that adjusts to how loud it is around you, plus deep, medium and light levels.
Each earbud weighs about 4.3g and has a 12mm driver, the part that makes the sound. They connect to two devices at once, say a phone and a tablet, and switch between them. There are three sound presets and a 10-band equaliser for adjusting the sound yourself. You set the earbuds up in the Bluetooth menu on an OPPO phone with ColorOS 12 or later. Any other phone needs the HeyMelody app, which runs on Android 8 and iOS 13.2 or later.
OPPO’s announcement gives the battery as 13 hours per charge and up to 54 hours with the case, but its spec page says those are with noise cancelling off, at 50% volume. With it on, the figures drop to 6.5 hours and 27 hours. OPPO’s claim of up to 11 hours of playback from a 10-minute charge is with noise cancelling off too. So if noise cancelling is why you’re buying them, 6.5 hours between charges is the number to plan around.
OPPO also disagrees with itself on exercise. The product page talks about running and cycling in them, while a footnote on the same page recommends avoiding them during exercise so sweat doesn’t damage them. The earbuds are rated IP55 for dust and splashes, but the case isn’t, and the warranty doesn’t cover damage from immersion. We’d treat them as commuting earbuds until OPPO settles the exercise question.
KES 3,999 looks fair next to India, where the Enco Air5 launched in July at Rs 3,299, or about KES 4,500. In Kenya, our gift guide last month had the Soundcore R50i NC at KES 3,499 and the Oraimo SpaceBuds N at KES 1,800, which Oraimo rates at up to 35dB and 8.5 hours per charge with noise cancelling on.
So on paper, look at the Enco Air5 if you want deeper noise cancelling and the Oraimo if battery and price matter more. Those are each maker’s own figures, and we haven’t tested the Enco Air5.
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