OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G Review - Satisfyingly good yet costly
After using the OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G as our daily driver for three weeks, we share our full experience with the premium mid-ranger.
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro in two colorways |
To recap, the previous generation Reno12 Pro 5G launched in the early 2nd half of 2024. We praised it for its Gorilla Glass-protected 120Hz AMOLED screen and long-running battery.
Several months later, in January 2025, the Reno13 Series was announced. In our Unboxing, we were immediately impressed by the leap in build materials and design from the Reno12 Pro 5G to the new 13 Pro 5G.
The new Reno13 Pro 5G comes with a 120Hz AMOLED screen, a Dimensity 8350 octa-core processor, 12GB RAM, 512GB storage and a 5,800mAh battery with 80W fast charging.
The cameras at the back are a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera and 50MP 5x telephoto camera with an LED flash. While in front is the 50MP selfie camera.
In the Philippines, it is priced at only PHP 43,999 for the 12GB/512GB model.
Let's dive into the review!
For our review part 1: OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G Unboxing and First Look
Multimedia Experience
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G's screen |
In front is a 6.83-inch Flexible AMOLED screen with a 2,800 x 1,272 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. It is Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protected.
The panel is bright, at 600 nits typical and 1,200 nits peak brightness. This means it's readable under direct sunlight. The colours pop, while the text and fine details are crisp.
It supports 10 multi-touch points, making it good for multitasking or games that support multiple simultaneous touch inputs. It responds quickly and accurately to our taps and gestures.
The bezels around the panel area are symmetrical and are the thinnest bezels yet on the Reno series. On the top bezel is the super slim earpiece while below it is the punch hole that houses the selfie camera.
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G's top and bottom |
The phone is equipped with stereo speakers (top and bottom firing) for audio. Around the phone are microphones used for noise cancellation in calls and audio recording.
The sound from the speakers is always surprisingly loud, especially at 90 percent. What surprises us is that it maintains good sound quality until 80 percent. Distortion is apparent from 81 percent until its maximum. It can be pushed to 300 percent with minimal penalties too.
The microphones do a good job of picking up sounds from a meter away while the noise-cancellation for calls is good too.
Cameras
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| OPPO's Rear cameras |
The back is the rear camera made up of a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with OIS, an 8MP f/2.2 116-degree ultra-wide angle camera and a 50MP f/2.8 3.5x telephoto camera with an LED flash.
The included modes of the stock camera app include Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, Pro, Hi-Res, Pano, Slo-Mo, Time-lapse, Dual-View Video, Sticker, Doc Scanner and Underwater.
The Pro controls include EV (+-3), ISO (50-3200), Shutter speed (1/8,000-30 secs), Focus, and White Balance.
Added features include Aspect Ratio, Timer, Action Mode, Interval Shooting, and Live Photo.
The Portrait Mode can use the 1x, 2x, and 3.5x camera and it comes with bokeh strength control (f/1.4-16), and Retouching (1-100).
In both the Photo, Portrait, and Video Modes, users can use preset filters while in the Photo and Portrait modes are the Soft Light Misty, Glowy and Dreamy filters first introduced in the Find X8 series.
Unique to the Reno13 series is the new Underwater mode. It allows users to take advantage of the freshwater resistance of the phone by turning off inputs with the touch screen and allows users to capture both photos and video with the main camera using the power button and volume buttons. To turn off this feature, you need to press and hold the power key while in Underwater mode. It will then blast sound to flush the water out of the ports.
Rear Camera Samples
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G daylight 1x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G daylight 2x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G daylight 3.5x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G daylight 7x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G daylight ultra-wide |
The images from the ultra-wide, 1x, 2x, 3.5x and 7x are good. Detail, color, and contrast are good. Although the ultra-wide is somewhat softer than the rest. The 120x hybrid zoom is softer than we would like.
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| Close-up with the main camera |
With Close up images, the areas that are in focus are sharp while the out-of-focus areas have a nice fall-off. The color and contrast are good too.
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G indoors 1x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G indoors 2x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G indoors 3.5x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G indoors 7x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G indoors ultra-wide |
Indoors, we shot partly against the light with the window on the right. What impressed us is the dynamic range of all images as the image is well exposed across the images. The color and contrast are good too. The images from the 1x, 2x and 3.5x are sharp and detailed as well but like in daylight, the 7x and the ultra-wide aren't as sharp as we would like.
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G lowlight 1x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G lowlight 2x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G lowlight 3.5x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G lowlight 7x |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G lowlight ultra-wide |
For low light, the images are good that we didn't bother using the Night mode. The 1x, 2x, and 3.5x are great while the 7x and the ultra-wide aren't as sharp as the others but have consistent white balance, color and contrast.
You know its good when the Night Mode is only used sparingly.
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| Portrait shots with 1x and 3.5x cameras |
For portraits, the Reno13 Pro 5G can choose between 1x, 2x, and 3.5x while having the ability to apply filters and artificial bokeh. The bokeh has been improved over the Find X8 with great edge detection while having a near natural swirl effect.
Soft lighting is a nice addition for those who want a misty, dreamy or glowy effect on their images.
Burst shooting on the Reno13 Pro 5G is the same as the one on the Find X8, it saves all shots in one file. Once viewing the file on the Photo app, there is a burst icon on the top right. Once tapped, it will show the user all the shots. The user can then choose which shots to export. The above image is the shot the camera app picked as the best shot.
Overall, the rear camera produced consistently good images from a smartphone so far. Our only nitpicks are that the ultra-wide and 7x aren't as sharp as we would like.
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G's selfie camera |
The 50MP f/2.0 selfie camera on the punch hole on the display.
Camera modes include Photo, Video, Portrait, Panorama, Night mode, and Dual View.
Selfie Camera Samples
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| Daylight Selfie |
Daylight selfies from the OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G are good too. The colors, sharpness, and contrast are around what we expect in its premium price point.
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro Portrait Selfie |
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro Portrait Selfie with Soft Light filter |
Like with the portrait mode bokeh of the rear cameras, the edge detection is great but the bokeh looks good with a decent swirl. However, the face softening has gotten better over previous generations.
The Soft Light Features as mentioned above add a vintage digital camera look to the images.
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| Selfie Indoors |
Indoor selfies are the same as the daylight. It never disappoints even with the slight increase in grain or noise.
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| Selfie low light |
In low light, the selfie looks good even though some grain was introduced. Images are sharp where it matters while the color and contrast have been degraded
Overall, the front cameras produce consistently good images across the board. Our only nitpick is that the grain softens the image of the low-light selfies. In addition to that, the ultra-wide camera's low-light performance is slightly less than the rest of the cameras.
The rear and front cameras can record up to 4K at 60fps with Dolby Vision. The footage is sharp and vibrant in color. The noise is noticeable in some areas. Stabilization is okay. Not the best but it's better than none. If you want to reduce micro jitters there is an Ultra Steady mode that records up to 1080 at 60fps but crops the field of view.
The rear and front camera video capability of the Reno13 Pro 5G is good.
Performance
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| AnTuTu and GeekBench score in High-Performance mode |
Inside the OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G are the 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 8350 octa-core processor, Mali-G615 MC6 GPU, NPU 780 Advanced AI Processor, 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 3.1 storage. It is cooled with a large 4,791 mm2 vapour chamber.
During the AnTuTu test, while being in High-Performance Mode, the phone's temperature increased by 9 degrees while the Silicon Carbon battery lost 7 percent power.
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| CPDT and 3DMark in High-Performance mode |
In the more intensive 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme, the Reno13 Pro 5G managed to score 3,134 overall with an average frame rate of 18.77.
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| AI Benchmarks on High-Performance Mode |
In GeekBench AI, it scored 1,752 in single precision, 1,733 in half-precision, and 2,435 in the quantized score. While the internal storage got 658.19 MB/s in sequential read speeds and 725.36 MB/s in sequential read speeds.
OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G benchmarks:
- AnTuTu - 1,315,052
- Geekbench 6 - 1,329 (single-core), 4,069 (multi-core)
- 3DMark Wild Life Extreme - 3,134 overall score, 18.77 average FPS
- CPDT - 725.36 MB/s sequential read speeds and 658.19 MB/s sequential write speeds
- GeekBench AI - 1,752 single precision, 1,733 half-precision, 2,435 quantized score
- AI Benchmark - 4,429
The OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G scores in AnTuTu and the Geekbench are within the range of what is expected in its price range. However, there are better-performing smartphones with similar price point. The new 4nm CPU and GPU performance offers decent sustained performance.
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| Genshin Impact on OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G |
In Genshin Impact, it managed to unlock the Medium graphics settings as the default. This is a Massive indicator of the improved GPU because, in the past several years, flagship smartphones with flagship chipsets only managed to unlock the medium graphics settings. This changed with the flagships in the latter half of 2024 where they unlock High as the default.
Playing Genshin Impact continuously for an hour on the OPPO Reno13 Pro 5 was a treat. Even when the screen was getting busy with multiple characters and multiple animations, the game was running smoothly. After an hour of continuous playing, the phone warmed but never hot enough to warrant any concern. It also warmed up during the massive download and installation of the Genshin Impact files.
OPPO has added the new Adaptive Frame Booster which the brand claims produces a smooth 120fps gameplay experience but with 18 percent power consumption.
In our experience, the phone can handle the majority of tasks like navigating through the OS, opening apps, web surfing, and social media without struggling.
The phone has an optical In-Display fingerprint sensor and face unlock for security. The initial setup and subsequent uses are quick and it detects our biometrics instantaneously. It works even if your finger is a little sweaty.
The face unlocks only struggles when the camera is dirty. The screen brightens up when used in the dark.
Regarding connectivity, we have the following: WiFi 6E, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4 LE, NFC, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, and dual nano SIM.
Connections are usually stable for WiFi and we get 4 to 5 bars of mobile data signal most of the time.
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| PCMark Battery Benchmark, High-Performance usage, Normal Usage |
Inside the phone is a large 5,800 mAh Silicon Carbon battery. It lasted for 16 hours and 22 minutes on our usual PCMark Battery benchmark. In daily use, we would end the day with 20 to 25 percent battery after 9.5 hours of on-screen time (on balanced mode) even when constantly connected to 5G, WiFi, and Bluetooth devices. What impressed us is the 8.5 hours of on-screen time on performance mode.
When running High-Performance mode all day, the phone would yield 5 hours of on-screen time.
The battery charges via USB-C with the 80W wall charger which charges the phone 100 percent in around 70 minutes.
It does not have wireless charging.
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| ColorOS 15 |
It is running on ColorOS 15 based on Android 15 which we first saw on the Find X8. It comes with builds on the previous generations' visuals and features by polishing them while making them more accessible for less tech-savvy people. In fact, it takes the best features, UI elements and ease-of-use from other brands and integrates them into ColorOS. So much so that when used side-by-side with an iPhone, there would be barely any struggle switching between the two.
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| ColorOS |
Pre-installed is the AI Studio app where users can select from a gallery of preselected generated designs. They can then upload their own photos to generate photos of themselves that are based on both their photos and the preselected generated design. Currently, it costs 10 stars per press of the generate button. They even added new art styles
Other AI features include the AI Editor. It is an image editing suite in the Photos app. Users can select 4K Enhance Clarity, AI Eraser, Unblur and Remove Reflections.
AI Eraser offers options to select the unwanted object in the photo with Smart Lasso, Paint Over, and Remove People. At first, the people detection and removal wasn't something to write home about. Over time and after several updates, it got better. Overall it is a nice to have feature when it works but how often do we really need it is the question only time will tell.
The same can be said with Remove reflections, It does not totally remove the reflections but it does minimize them to the point where you have to be looking for the reflections to actually see them.
It also comes with Google Gemini and Circle to search. It is the same as the iterations from recently launched smartphones.
One last unique and groundbreaking feature is the Touch to Share with iPhone. ColorOS 15 introduces a feature where it can effortlessly transfer files with a single NFC tap between a Reno13 Pro 5G and an iPhone or iPad. The iOS user just needs to install the O+ connect app and seamless transfer can now occur between operating systems. This bridges OPPO's devices to the Apple ecosystem. We hope that OPPO will develop this even further.
Pros - Eye-catching and Slim design, Premium build materials, IP66/68/69, Power Efficient performance in gaming, Great photos and selfies, 8 hours on-screen time in High-performance mode, fast 80W charging, cross-OS features in ColorOS 15
Cons - SoC performance is good but competition is stronger, Novel AI features, Novel Underwater mode
OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G Specs
Display: 6.83-inch Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protected Flexible AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, FHD+ 2800 x 1272 resolution at 450 ppi
CPU: 3.35GHz 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 8350 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G615 MC6
RAM: 12GB LPDDR5X
ROM: 512GB UFS 3.1
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.8 w/ AF, OIS + 8MP f/2.2 116-degree ultra-wide-angle + 50MP f/2.8 3.5x Telephoto Camera w/ OIS + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 50MP f/2.0
Battery: 5,800mAh w/ 80W SUPERVOOC
OS: Android 14 w/ ColorOS 15
Connectivity: WiFi 6E 2 x 2 MIMO, 5G SA/NSA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4 LE (SBS, AAC, aptX HD, LDAC, LHDC5.0), OTG, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, dual SIM (nano)
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, IP69 dust, and water resistance, stereo speakers, 3x microphones, AI X-axis linear motor, Multi-Cooling System, USB-C, Colors: Space Brown, Sunset Gold, Nebula Silver
Dimensions: 162.73 x 76.55 x 7.55 mm
Weight: 195 g
Price: PHP 43,999
Verdict
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| OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G's immersive screen |
We are happy with how great the looks and the performance of the Reno13 Pro 5G is. However, at what cost? If you can find it on sale, it may be a better deal.
The Reno13 Pro 5G is made of a solid metal frame and glass panels. It is slim and lightweight with an eye-catching Butterfly design. One of the prettiest mid-range phones yet.
The Dimensity 8350, G615-MC6 GPU, LPDDR5X, UFS 3.1 storage offer fast, reliable and cool performance. However, there are similarly priced phones with more powerful SoCs.
Its cameras perform consistently well with vibrant colors and deep contrast. The images are sharp and detailed, especially on the 1x, 2x and 3.5x. The ultra-wide and the 7x are softer than we would like. Also, the 7x is prone to motion blur.
The new Underwater mode is novel in its current state but can be even better with further development.
Ultimately, we love the Reno13 Pro 5G but the price point is competitive and is nearing the price of some of the previous year's flagships.
What do you think guys?
Build/Design - 4.25
Multimedia Experience - 4.25
Cameras - 4.25
Performance - 4.25
Average - 4.25/5
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