Review: Oppo Reno13

The mid-range smartphone market is crowded one with lots of brands competing in this segment. Oppo is one of them, with its Reno13, alongside the Reno13F, which makes up the local line-up for the series.

It should be noted that South Africa will not be getting the Reno13 Pro this year. The Reno13 comes in on the pricey side at R18 999 and competes with the Galaxy S24 FE at R14 999.

For context, the Reno13F is R14 999 and these are the phones it’s up against from our comparison post.

On the key differentiators to the new Reno13 over its predecessor is more AI features, much like what we’re seeing across the industry. So I will try to focus on that.

Oppo Reno13 Quick Look

• 6.59-inch display; 120Hz; 1256×2760 pixels
• MediaTek Dimensity 8350; ARM Turse G615
• 12GB RAM + 512GB storage
• 50/8/2MP rear camera; 50MP selfie-cam
• 5600mAh battery
• Dual SIM through eSIM support

The Oppo Reno13 is quite a large phone, at 6.59-inches. It’s slim and elongated but wide and tall, and weighs 181g. It’s a phone that you use with two hands, much like most smartphones these days that don’t come with a “mini” attached to its name.

Our review unit came in a “plume white” shade, but it also comes in a dark blue option. If you care about aesthetics, the Reno13 ticks that box.

You get the phone in the box, alongside a clear cover, USB-C charging cable, Oppo’s SuperVooc 66W fast charging plug, a SIM tool and relevant paperwork.

Set-up and using the Reno13

Straight out of the box once you switch it on, it’s hard to ignore the amount of bloatware, i.e. pre-installed apps. Plus, I noticed with there were a bunch of apps in folders that looked like they were installed but not, but I didn’t know how to get rid of them. When you scroll through all apps on the phone, you can see these folders and each app has an “install” button beneath it. I’ve not seen this before on any device.

I did remove the unnecessary games and tools that came with it but for a phone at this price, one shouldn’t be deleting so many unnecessary apps. Considering Oppo has full access to the Google Suite, you don’t need third-party apps and duplicates, or tools you didn’t ask for.

An example if you don’t delete the apps you didn’t want is the Facebook app. I don’t use this app but it remained on the phone and I received notification that it is “draining the battery” in the background, which is why you should remove apps you didn’t want.

AI features

On the topic of apps, the Reno13 comes pre-installed with Oppo’s AI Studio app. If you want to play around and use GenAI, it does AI Portraits, AI Reimage and AI Motion.

You need star credits to use the effects, which eats into your balance. Oppo gives you credits when you log in with your account. Example, I could see my history from reviewing a previous device loaded onto the device when I logged in, along with 4790-star credits.

The novelty does wear off when using an AI image generator, but it may be more entertaining and amusing for a younger crowd. It’s also a good way to experiment and see how far AI has progressed.

Other ways to access AI is from the camera. Once you take a picture and go to edit it, the first option is the AI Editor. A great feature here is the ability to remove reflections. You can also unblur, erase unwanted objects (since last year) or enhance clarity.

A lot of the AI features form part of the camera and editing tools, but just like most new Androids today, you can also use it for productivity, and other performance tweaks.

Google has done a great job with Gemini, so if you want to play around with AI, you can access it directly via the app. You can ask it to find restaurants for you with specific parameters, or another example, to find the UEFA Champions League schedule and add it to your calendar. I also asked Gemini to also search flights for an upcoming trip, plus you can add follow up questions with instantaneous results.

On the productivity side, there’s the usual AI Summary, translation, edits options like you see on most Androids that come with AI. The AI Summary for long articles happens in real-time while you are looking at your screen, it’s like you’re watching someone speed typing the article. It is a bit weird, because Samsung does it instantaneously where all the text just appears on the screen. I hope a software update changes it to make the text appear immediately.

If you’re playing games on the phone, Oppo says the performance will be optimised through AI and resources are allocated as needed. It also enhances signal strength and stability, but I’ve not tested this.

While it has gotten cold in Joburg, I’ve not had an opportunity to do any underwater testing but at the event, Oppo made a splash about these features, literally, as a model “fell” into the pool with the phone.

Given that the phone is rated IP69, it supports underwater photography for up to 2m for 30 minutes. The AI kicks in by adjusting colours and making images clearer by reducing distortion.

Oppo O-Connect iPhone app

I love that Oppo is open to speaking to iOS users and as such, released the O-Connect app that’s available on the local App Store. It works for transferring files between Oppo, Realme and OnePlus devices, and iPhones, the way “AirDrop” works.

Once you install the app on your iOS device, you can go into the Photos app on the Reno13, tap share, and choose “share with iPhone”. On the iPhone you need to have the O-Connect app open when you are sharing. After you hit send on the Oppo, your iPhone will prompt you to accept, and then connect the Oppo which turns itself into a WiFi hotspot.

My quickest transfer of two images took 22 seconds in total. Not near the few seconds you get between Apple devices, naturally, but a good way to transfer pictures. I typically do this by emailing myself and it’s such a schlep.

Camera

The back is characterised by two large protruding lenses, so it does not sit flush. However, the clear case supplied does even that out. The trio of lenses include a 50MP wide-angle; 8MP ultra-wide angle and 2MP monochrome with a 50MP front camera.

I have previously used the Pro models on the Reno series and this year is the first year I am testing the standard Reno13, and the biggest difference is that the main camera is not a telephoto lens and as such, no optical zoom. This is what the 2x digital zoom looks like on the standard camera, which isn’t too bad. You can see how different the colours look from the same spot, taken seconds apart:

The zoom you’re getting is digital, and when you go higher than 10x, Oppo says it uses AI but I noticed it on the zoom for less than 10x, and I don’t like the look of an AI enhanced photo. If you’re using this camera, just shoot as is without zooming, at best you can crop afterwards. That said, the 2x zoom above is the furthest I would go.

This is a shot on regular Photo mode in the morning with different lighting conditions. One has a light background with the sun shining on it, which looks good, and the second pic has a darker, shadow background, which didn’t quite get fixed with HDR.

The camera also does not have a macro lens, but going up close to the subject did a good job on these images I took. These are the closest I could get for a macro shot.

I also tested the option to remove the reflection from a photo and this was the result. It didn’t fully remove the reflection.

On the video side, both front and rear cameras shoot in 4K UHD and there’s a “sound focus” option if you are outdoors or in a noisy environment.

Performance and Battery Life

The Reno13 has a decent 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, not expandable. Using the phone was a smooth experience. I found that it did not struggle switching between apps I use the most, or when using resource intensive apps for video, which I kill in the background when I’m done, out of habit. I also use the Optimise widget to do this routinely.

The Reno13 is being punted as an AI phone, so it has the processor to handle it because AI is intensive and needs the correct chipset. I found that the device handled it all without lag. And afterwards switching from Gemini to non-AI apps worked great.

When using the camera extensively, the phone didn’t over heat, which is something I have experienced on other devices using the camera or shooting videos.

On the battery life front, the phone has an excellent standby time, the battery doesn’t drain when it’s left locked. And above that, it has a massive 5600mAh battery. But Oppo also provides a 66W fast-charging plug in the box, which makes a big difference for a quick charge, but realistically, you don’t need a power bank with the Reno 13.

Final Thoughts

The Reno13 is a solid, well-built phone that supports AI features so it has the speed and optimisation for it. The battery life is excellent, too. It’s also travel-ready with its dual SIM slots, including eSIM support.

However, AI on smartphones is still early days so it can be very hit and miss. Sometimes you get the results you want or not, and sometimes you won’t even use it on the daily.

The Reno13 is considered a mid-range handset but comes in at a higher price point of R18 999. You should also look at other phones in this category before deciding what ticks the right boxes for you, with the Galaxy S24 FE being a strong rival.