It’s probably safe to say that we’re already knee-deep into the era of phones highlighting their generative AI chops above all else. Which is a bit of a shame, as the trend coincides and overshadows another positive trend in current day smartphones. In a sense, it is fortunate then than the subject of this review, the OPPO Reno13 Pro, features both on the list of things it has going for it.
But let’s not keep up the suspense and let me just spell it out – the overshadowed and underrated feature in question is the IP69 rating. The OPPO Reno13 Pro is by no means the first to feature it, but it’s definitely part of a wave of phones to have it feature quite prominently on its spec sheet. I’m aware this is a personal bias speaking, and it’s not something that we’ll put to the test, but it’s worth mentioning nevertheless.
Specifications
Looks & Functionality
There isn’t much to be said here that I have not already said in my hands-on impressions of the OPPO Reno13 Pro. But to reiterate to some degree, it feels nice enough in hand, with the size of the phone – and its 6.83-inch form factor – just narrow enough for one-handed use without having to toggle the dedicated mode.
The texture on its sides and back help somewhat with grip, though the sides provided less grip than expected, while the back provided more than the way it looks would indicate. The contrast between the camera island and the rest of the back is also helpful in an unexpected way, as when you do touch the smooth surface of the former, you know you’ll need to wipe the camera lens before taking any shots.
In front though, the screen that’s mostly flat, but curved very slightly at the edges is nice when you need to hold the OPPO Reno13 Pro in your hand. But the very same thing, combined with the extremely thin bezels, ironically makes the phone pretty difficult to use while lying down on your back. Maybe it’s not a situation many would encounter, but probably worth mentioning nevertheless.
On the software side of things, the OPPO Reno13 Pro, with ColorOS 15, features Aqua Dynamics, which is not-Dynamic Island. Like the iOS equivalent, it’s a way to present notifications in a more fun way, but for the most part that’s just what it is. You do get some additional functionality, such as when you have music playing you can tap on it to get quick access to controls and playlists. But support for these kinds of bonuses are depended on individual app makers.
Beyond that, day-to day usage such as scrolling through social media should pose no major issues. The MediaTek Dimensity 8350 is capable enough to not experience any hiccups here, or most of anywhere else for that matter minus the most intense of mobile games.
Performance & Battery
As mentioned, the OPPO Reno13 Pro tuns the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 which, when put through synthetic benchmarks, performed within the expected range. It did freeze up once when going through a run of GFXBench, but that was about the only hiccup it experienced.
Using it for gaming, the OPPO Reno13 Pro does run a little hot, and graphically intense games struggle a little at the start of every session, presumably when assets are being loaded initially. Once it pushes through the initial stages though, things are buttery smooth, though depending on the game you may get some more minute stutters.
Battery life is probably where the phone performed better. Going through the usual video marathon test, the OPPO Reno13 Pro lasted just over 23 hours, which is quite impressive. In actual use as a daily driver, with moderate social media scrolling and video streaming, I could end the day with just under 40% of charge left. Which is plenty, but definitely not enough to last another day unless you really keep your phone usage to the absolute minimum.
Camera
On the hardware side of things, the OPPO Reno13 Pro has a 50MP main +_ 50MP 3.5x telephoto + 8MP wide-angle combo at the back, and another 50MP shooter in front. On paper, the hardware is pretty impressive, with the sheer number of 50MP units that it has. But in practice, it behaves in more or less the same way you’d expect from any other phone within this price bracket.
Although, special mention needs to go to the imaging algorithm this time around, and its very aggressive brightening of images. If you like the usual behaviour of phones making your shots more vibrant than it actually is, then this is just more of that. But at times the extra brightness goes too far making some shots look pretty unnatural. The silver lining is that no details were lost in the making of most photos.
Of course, there’s the AI erasing feature. As usual, your mileage may vary as to whether it works or not, but here’s an example nevertheless. In sequence, here’s the original image, the image to be edited, and the resulting image.
Sample Images
Competition
HONOR 200 Pro
The HONOR 200 Pro is not only a tad older than the OPPO Reno13 Pro, it is also a tad more affordable, with an asking price of RM2,699. It pack a 6.78-inch OLED 120Hz screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, a single 12GB + 512GB configuration, a 5,200 mAh battery that supports 100W wired and 66W wireless charging. For its cameras, it has a 50MP main + 50MP 2.5x telephoto + 12MP wide-angle combo at the back, and a 50MP front facing shooter.
POCO F6 Pro
Sort of in a similar vein, there’s the POCO F6 Pro, with an asking price that ranges from RM2,299 to RM2,899 depending on your preferred memory and storage capacities. Beyond that, the phone comes with a 6.67-inch WQHD+ AMOLED 120Hz display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 gen 2 chipset, a 5,000 mAh battery with 120W charging, a 50MP main + 8MP wide-angle + 2MP macro combo at the back, and a 16MP shooter in front.
Conclusion
The OPPO Reno13 Pro sits in a pretty awkward price point. On one hand, there are mid-range devices that you can get at a lower price point with minimal tradeoffs. But on the flip side you just have to increase your budget by a bit to get some of the more reasonably priced flagships. It does what it does well, no doubt, but most of what it really does isn’t so much visible from the spec sheet.
In all fairness, the same can be said of most phones these days, where their key selling points revolve around their generative AI features. While the brand’s take on certain software features like Aqua Dynamics is certainly fun to mess around with, it’s up to you to decide if that sort of thing is worth the premium that the OPPO Reno13 Pro asks compared to its alternatives.
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