Oppo Reno 14 review: An almost perfect midranger

The Oppo Reno 14 brings some notable upgrades over its predecessor. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Subtle curves and a smaller screen make it ergonomic 

Oppo phones are known for their fresh takes on design, but the Reno 14 seems to be an exception, as you might mistake it for the Reno 13 at first glance. It looks like Oppo is taking the Apple route by making minor changes to the design, but I might be wrong in the long run.

As for the Reno 14, I received the Forest Green colourway, which looks stunning with its glowing camera island. It has a 6.59-inch AMOLED screen, which makes it smaller than most candy bar phones in the market. But the slightly smaller display does make it easy on the hand.

In a market crowded with phones that come with phablet-sized screens, the Oppo Reno 14 feels like a breath of fresh air as it has a smaller footprint, and you won’t feel the brunt when watching movies, TV shows or playing games for hours. 

Unlike other flashy phones like the Poco F7 (review) and Oppo K13 Turbo Pro (review), the Reno 14 has a minimalistic design, which makes it easy to look at. On the back, you get a squarish camera island and a glass back panel with a matte finish that is also surprisingly fingerprint-resistant. Another thing I noted is that the Reno 14 has symmetric bezels, something that adds to the phone’s premium finish.

Like its predecessor, the Reno 14 offers both IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, which means I could take it near the swimming pool or keep it on the table without having to worry about water spill. However, this is pretty standard for a premium mid-range device launched in 2025.

The Oppo Reno 14 looks great and is easy on the hands. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

ColorOS 15 is the smoothest Android UI to date

The Reno 14 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chipset, which is the same as its predecessor. Unsurprisingly, since the specifications and the design are the same, the performance is also similar. The Reno 14 isn’t as fast as other phones in its price bracket, but the Dimensity 8350 easily beats the 1.4 million in AnTuTu and can effortlessly handle whatever you throw at it.

Be it graphic-intensive games, juggling between multiple apps at once or video editing, the Dimensity 8350 has no problems in handling any of these workloads, and not once did I encounter any stutters or lags. The Reno 14 may not be able to handle the latest Android games at their highest settings, but if you are someone who doesn’t care about these things or doesn’t mind dialling down the graphic quality a bit, this is a great phone for everyday use and can easily last for years to come.

Also, like its predecessor, the Reno 14 comes with ColorOS 15 based on Android 15. The user interface isn’t as feature-packed as Samsung’s UI, but this is hands down the smoothest Android skin I have ever used. Oppo is promising five years of OS updates and six years of security patches, and I feel this is great since the company has a solid track record of rolling out updates on time.

The Oppo Reno 14 has a 50MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom support. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Flagship-like primary camera, great telephoto, but ultrawide fails to impress

The Oppo Reno 14 has a 50MP primary camera alongside another 50MP telephoto shooter and an 8MP ultrawide lens. The main 50MP sensor is capable of capturing some really good photos. While the details and noise levels are at a minimum during both day and nighttime, the colours are punchy at best and great for sharing on social media. And, if you like natural-looking photos, it can be disappointing at times.

However, images taken using the 8MP ultrawide lens are fairly average at best. Due to its low resolution, photos sometimes may lack detail when zooming in, and I felt that the ultrawide sensor was mediocre compared to other similarly priced phones.

As for the 50MP telephoto shooter, you will immediately notice some colour shift. This isn’t bad by any means, as most mid-range phones fail to maintain colour accuracy across lenses. Also, zoomed-in shots look pretty great as long as you are clicking photos at 3x zoom, but they quickly lose detail once you are past the 5x zoom mark.

All in all, compared to other phones in the Rs 40,000 price bracket, the Reno 14 has a solid point-and-shoot camera setup that can click some great pictures. If cameras are your priority, this is an easy recommendation.

Camera Sample 1. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 2. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 3. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 4. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 5. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 6. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 7. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 8. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 9. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Camera Sample 10. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Battery and charging

2025 has been a great year for smartphones across all price brackets, thanks to phone manufacturers switching to Silicon Carbon batteries. Unsurprisingly, the Reno 14, despite its lightweight build and small size, packs a 6,000mAh battery that can easily last you a day or more, even if you use it all day long.

My typical routine involves using the phone for listening to music on the go, in the office, navigating to places, using WhatsApp, browsing the web and playing games on mobile data for a while. Even when I  used the phone on 5G all day, the Reno 14 managed to survive with around 20 per cent before I hit the bed.

Also, the standby battery drain is pretty negligible, and I not once I had to worry about charging the phone in the morning, even when it had 15 to 20 per cent battery, thanks to Oppo’s 80W fast charger.

This is one of the most balanced mid-range phones you can buy in 2025. (Image Credit: Anurag Chawake/Indian Express)

Oppo Reno 14: Who is this mid-range phone for?

The Reno 14, despite its shortcomings, is one of the best premium mid-range phones you can buy under Rs 40,000. It isn’t the fastest phone in the price bracket, but the reliable camera setup bundled with the huge battery and long software support makes it a no-brainer for users who are looking to buy a phone that will easily last them for years to come.

The Reno 14 may fail to impress performance enthusiasts, but it did convince me that benchmarks and specifications don’t tell the whole story.