In the world of smartphones, brands often hold back features to distinguish between flagship, mid-range, and budget offerings. However, this trend is rapidly changing. The OPPO Reno 13 Pro, which I’ve been using for over three weeks, challenges the status quo. Offering a near-flagship experience at less than half the price, it excels in design, display, camera, performance, and battery life.
It genuinely made me wonder why anyone should spend a fortune on a flagship smartphone? Here’s my detailed take on OPPO’s latest “de facto” flagship.
Built like a flagship
In my review of the Reno 12 Pro last year, I criticised its build quality and design. It looks like OPPO has taken that feedback to heart, and went back to the drawing board for the Reno 13 Pro. It has a premium glass sandwich design with a metal frame reminiscent of the Find X8 series, and has a sophisticated look and feel.
The design draws comparisons to the iPhone 16 Plus—a compliment in every sense. It’s backed by an IP68/IP69 rating for water and dust resistance and even includes an underwater camera mode. The Mist Lavender colour variant, with its butterfly shadow design, is my personal favourite.
Vibrant, immersive, and eye-friendly quad-curved display
The 6.83-inch screen is bright and vivid. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The screen on the OPPO Reno 13 Pro reminded me of the Find X8 Pro, a phone that costs more than double. This 6.8-inch, 1.5K-resolution quad-curved AMOLED display is a visual delight. With a 120Hz refresh rate, the display is fast, colour-accurate, and works well for gaming, movie-watching, and social media scrolling. The built-in optical in-display fingerprint sensor is also fast and accurate, although I would have liked it more if it had been positioned a bit higher.
The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, and the phone also comes with a pre-applied screen protector. The screen is susceptible to minor scratches from everyday objects like keys and coins, so it is best to keep the screen protector intact.
With support for HDR10+ and ProXDR, high-dynamic-range content on this screen looks lively. It supports HDR video streaming on platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video. While it gets quite bright and remains visible even under direct sunlight, I appreciated the fact that it can also get very dim. Its 3,840Hz PWM dimming makes it an eye-friendly display.
Top-tier triple-camera setup and a selfie camera that can shoot at 4K
The phone has a proper triple camera setup. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Reno 13 Pro has a 50 MP primary camera, a 50 MP 3.5x telephoto lens, and an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle lens. The phone offers up to 120x zoom, and in low light, it automatically switches from the telephoto to the main camera to improve picture quality. There is also a 50 MP selfie camera with autofocus support –– easily one of the best selfie cameras I have ever used on a smartphone. It can also record up to 4K 60fps videos.
Here are some unedited camera samples from the OPPO Reno 13 Pro:
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Practical AI experiences, rich software
Image shot on Reno 13 Pro. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Image edited using AI eraser. (Image credit: Vivek Umashnakar/The Indian Express)
The Reno 13 Pro offers a host of AI experiences as part of OPPO AI. This is also one of the most affordable smartphones that offers Google’s “Circle to Search” feature, popular on flagships like Samsung S24 Ultra. Coming from the Find X8 Pro, I appreciated that all the AI-powered photo editing tools were present on the Reno 13 Pro, including AI Reflection Remover, AI Unblur, AI Eraser 2.0, AI Best Face, and more as part of ColorOS 15—one of the best custom Android skins based on Android 15.
From its highly customisable lock screen to its overall UI animations, the phone feels fast and snappy, even while multitasking. I also liked the built-in gaming mode on the Reno 13 Pro.
It also has an AI writer tool, which can check and rewrite content or change the tone of the content to casual, formal, or polite. This is a handy feature when you need to send a message or email to your boss urgently and don’t want to sound wrong or rude. OPPO also uses AI for zoom, where the phone employs generative AI to enhance clarity on long-range pictures of up to 120x magnification.
Plenty powerful for most users
The device is powered by a Dimensity 8350 chip. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The MediaTek Dimensity 8350 is an upper mid-range chip that offers over 1.2 million points on AnTuTu and a CPU stability of 79 per cent on the throttle test. It can handle even the most demanding games like BGMI at higher graphics settings without any issues. I also liked that even with extended COD: Mobile sessions, the phone barely got hot and quickly returned to room temperature.
More than all-day battery life, backed by 80W fast charging
The device will receive four major Android OS upgrades. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Reno 13 Pro is equipped with a 5,800 mAh battery and supports 80W fast charging. During my usage, the phone easily delivered over seven hours of screen-on time, even with heavy usage. It takes less than 50 minutes to fully charge the smartphone, and the fast charger is included in the box. Note that you need to enable smart charging to unlock the best possible charging speeds, which does tend to heat up the device a bit.
Extra perks
Reno 13 Pro can share photos and videos with iPhones. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
This is also one of the first Android smartphones that can share photos and videos with an iPhone, although the iPhone user must install an app called O+ Connect. It also has O Motion, a feature that can generate short videos from just a photo. Lastly, the networking capabilities on the Reno 13 Pro are powered by the SignalBoost Chip X1, which improves Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.
A complete package
A mid-range phone with flagship experience. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
If you are a photography enthusiast or someone who just wants a reliable and well-built smartphone, the Reno 13 Pro is what you have been waiting for. Reno 13 Pro is a wholesome package offering a solid experience.
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| Pros |
Cons |
| Design & Build: Premium glass and metal design, IP68/IP69 water and dust resistance, attractive color options. |
Display: Fingerprint sensor position could be higher, screen susceptible to minor scratches even with Gorilla Glass 7.
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Display: Vibrant 6.8-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ and ProXDR support, 3,840Hz PWM dimming for eye comfort.
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Battery: No wireless charging |
Camera: Versatile triple camera setup with 50MP main, 50MP telephoto (3.5x), and 8MP ultrawide lenses. Excellent 50MP selfie camera with 4K video recording.
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Camera: Low resolution ultra-wide angle lens. |
| Software: ColorOS 15 based on Android 15 with useful AI features like “Circle to Search”, AI photo editing tools, and AI writer. |
Software: Bit of a bloatware
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Performance: Powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chip, handles demanding games smoothly.
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| Battery: Long-lasting 5,800 mAh battery with 80W fast charging (charger included). |
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Extras: O+ Connect for sharing with iPhones, O Motion for creating short videos, SignalBoost Chip X1 for improved connectivity.
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Value: Offers a near-flagship experience at a mid-range price.
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A phone with premium build and top tier AI experiences. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express) 
The 6.83-inch screen is bright and vivid. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The phone has a proper triple camera setup. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
OPPO Reno 13 Pro camera sample. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Image shot on Reno 13 Pro. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Image edited using AI eraser. (Image credit: Vivek Umashnakar/The Indian Express)
The device is powered by a Dimensity 8350 chip. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The device will receive four major Android OS upgrades. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Reno 13 Pro can share photos and videos with iPhones. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
A mid-range phone with flagship experience. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
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