Eight months after the Reno12, Oppo is returning to the mid-range segment with four Reno13s. The Pro version, the most comprehensive, is obviously the most expensive. Positioned much more expensive than the Reno12 Pro, can the Reno13 Pro also be described as excellent value for money? The answer is in this comprehensive test.
In June 2024, Oppo returned to France after almost a year of brutal absence. The Chinese brand, ambitious again, then unveiled the Reno12 Pro, which impressed us with its commercial aggressiveness: a complete and qualitative technical sheet at a price of around 550 euros. Despite a few minor flaws, the Reno12 perfectly symbolized a very auspicious return.
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Eight months later, Oppo is already renewing its mid-range offering with four new Reno phones. The Reno13. The Reno13 F. The Reno13 FS (which is simply a Reno13 F with more RAM and storage). And the Reno13 Pro that we are testing here… and which shows more ambition than commercial aggression. Because its price is much higher. Is this justified? Is the price-performance ratio still there? This is what we will discover in this comprehensive review.
Price and availability date
The recommended retail price of the Reno13 Pro is 799 euros. Oppo is therefore repositioning its Reno range at the same prices as in the heyday of the Reno 8 that we tested in 2022. There is only one configuration with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. At least the brand remains generous. The progression compared to the Reno 12 Pro, released in July 2024, is significant: 250 euros. We will see in this test whether it is justified or not.
For a similar price, we find among the competitors the Galaxy S24 SE, the iPhone 16e, the Xiaomi 14T Pro, the Honor 200 Pro, the Realme GT 6 or even the Pixel 9. They are all sold between 700 and 800 euros, except the Realme GT 6 which starts at 599 euros and the Pixel 9 which is offered at 899 euros. In this set, the Reno 13 Pro's technical specifications are not inconsistent.
The Reno13 Pro has been available since March 7, 2024. It comes in three colors: purple, which you can see in the photos opposite, and black. This purple version benefits from very nice "butterfly wing" reflections. In the box, you will find the smartphone and a USB-C cable, not forgetting the small tool to open the SIM card tray. A screen protector is also installed at the factory.
Design and interface
Let's start this test with the visual aspect of the phone. The Reno13 Pro largely takes over the work done on the Reno12 Pro: the corners of the phone are rounded and the edges are straight, the back is flat and does not protrude from the edges, the finishes are matte and the screen is slightly protruding and very slightly curved on all four sides. The technical elements do not move. The punch-hole for the selfie sensor is still centered. And the fingerprint reader is still present under the screen.
There are several differences between the Reno12 Pro and the Reno13 Pro. The most obvious one is the camera module: it looks more like that of an iPhone. Still in a vertical position, it is more square, it is integrated into the phone's case and it is made of transparent mineral glass. An interesting little detail: in the center of the flash is a small mirror for those who like to take selfies with the main sensor. Note above the butterfly effect of the purple version of the phone.
Finally, the Reno13 Pro is slightly larger, but it is also 15 grams heavier. The main reason is the replacement of polycarbonate with an aluminum alloy. You can also see that the edges of the Reno 13 Pro incorporate characteristic separations for the antennas that its predecessor did not have. The Reno 13 Pro is certified IP66/68/69 against water and dust, like its predecessor.
This smartphone naturally runs on ColorOS, here in version 15. It is based on Android 15, obviously. This version of Oppo's interface is not so different from that of the Reno12 Pro: the application drawer is activated by default, as well as the small shortcut panel for certain quick tasks (screenshot, translation, etc.) and common applications; Quick settings and notifications share the same space; the "Shelf" screen dedicated to widgets; "Live Alerts" that mimic Dynamic Island; etc.
There are also some AI-powered tools, including AI Studio. This application, which we encountered in the Find X8 Pro, creates images from your photos, with varying degrees of success. You can choose the drawing style and the general theme. Please note that the number of free uses is limited per day. Of course, summary, translation and transcription are also offered, as with almost all competitors. And the photos taken by the phone are improved to remove blur and reflections.
ColorOS is generally pleasant to use, but the interface tends, like Huawei for example, to increasingly push sponsored content: pre-installed applications in abundance, obligation to share personal data, software that installs without authorization, recommendation lists checked by default, advertising screens, etc. It's a shame. Finally, Oppo promises 5 years of updates and 6 years of security patches on this Reno13 Pro. It's as good as the Reno12 Pro.
Screen, performance and battery
Let's move on to the "technical" part of this test. The Reno13 Pro's specifications don't quite meet what we would expect from a high-end model. It's just below. Some competitors, for the same price, will emphasize a more powerful processor, a more generous battery or a better quality screen. The Reno13 Pro can therefore suit everyone, but the most demanding will prefer to turn to another model according to their specific needs.
First illustration of this positioning: the screen. This screen is a little larger than the Reno12 Pro, but it retains the other technical characteristics. It is a 6.83-inch AMOLED Full HD+ 120 Hz panel. The peak brightness is announced at 1200 nits and HDR10+ compatibility is confirmed. On the other hand, there's still no LTPO or Dolby Vision: that's the big difference with the Find X8 Pro, for example.
Our sensor tells us that Oppo has improved the colorimetry and brightness of this screen. In "pro" mode, the Reno13 Pro benefits from an average deltaE of 1.8 for an almost perfect average temperature of 6416°. The maximum manual brightness reaches 570 nits, which is also very good. In standard mode, activated by default, the deltaE is still just as good, but the average temperature is a little high and the average range is not 2.2, but 2.1. Contrasts are therefore less controlled. The brightness is also a little higher: 580 nits.
Second example that illustrates the Reno13 Pro's positioning: the processor. The phone has the Dimensity 8350, a less powerful SoC than the Find X8 Pro, but more energy-efficient. It replaces the Dimensity 7300 Energy, which is still a notch below. The Dimensity 8350 is supported here by 12 GB of RAM. By default, 12 GB of virtual memory is also activated. For the purposes of this test, we disabled them.
As expected, the benchmarks confirm that the performance of this platform is good, but less than that of a true high-end component. Result: the Reno13 Pro handles classic uses (web, social networks, messaging, office, casual gaming, streaming). But it shows its limits in slightly more advanced uses. The vast majority of the games we tried work well. But we occasionally experienced slowdowns.
The platform also shows decent stability, but doesn't reach that of a high-end SoC placed in a smartphone specifically developed to optimize heat dissipation. Stress tests indicate stability between 60% and 70%. And the temperature rises to 44°C according to the benchmarks. Our thermal camera even indicates a rise to more than 50°C at the screen.
On the battery side, the Reno13 Pro adopts a more generous component than its predecessor. Indeed, it benefits from a capacity of 5800 mAh, or 800 mAh more than its predecessor. This energy gain is not felt in the benchmarks, since the autonomy of the Reno13 Pro reaches 14 hours and 46 minutes, or a little less than 2 days of standard use, compared to approximately 17 hours for the Reno12 Pro (or a little more than 2 days). The reason, in our opinion: the higher consumption of the SoC. For gamers, the battery life ranges between 4 and 6 hours depending on the quality of the game and the optimizations made by the developer.
Once the battery is empty, you need to recharge the Reno13 Pro. It is compatible with 80-watt fast charging, like its predecessor. However, this power can only be reached with an Oppo charger. If you have a charger from another brand, you will be limited to 33 watts at best. The phone can also be charged wirelessly up to 50 watts. With an 80-watt Oppo charger, you can go from 0 to 100% in 48 minutes. Here are our interim measurements:
- 10 minutes: 26%
- 20 minutes: 48%
- 30 minutes: 70%
- 40 minutes: 91%
Photo, video and audio
Third step of this test: the multimedia part. On the photo side, the Reno13 Pro benefits from a triptych quite similar to that of the Reno12 Pro. But, there are some changes. The 50 MP main sensor is larger and its lens is wider. The telephoto lens is now stabilized and its zoom ratio is greater. But its aperture is smaller. The ultra-wide-angle lens benefits from a wider angle of view. Finally, a colorimetric sensor for white balance is added. Here is the complete configuration:
- Main: 50 MP sensor measuring 1/1.56 inch (1 micron pixel size), f/1.8 lens, optical image stabilization, multi-directional phase detection autofocus
- Panorama: 8 MP sensor, f/2.2 lens, fixed focal length, 116° viewing angle
- Telephoto: 50 MP sensor, f/2.8 lens, optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus, 3.5x optical zoom
- Selfie: 50 MP sensor, f/2.0 lens, contrast-metering autofocus
The photos taken with this configuration are quite good in broad daylight. The sharpness is high. The clarity is good. The colors are slightly too contrasty, without being too jarring. The autofocus isn't particularly fast, but it's fast enough to capture moving objects. In backlighting, the Reno13 Pro handles the influx of light well. Finally, the dynamic range is wide, revealing details in the shadows. Macro mode is supported by the ultra-wide-angle sensor. Since this one has a fixed focal length, you have to focus with your arms...
Note, however, the significant impact of AI on the composition (and even the reconstruction of photos). What cannot be perceived optically, AI offers artificially. Zooms are affected, but not only: night photos and portraits are also affected. As with the Find X8 Pro, the algorithm adds extra details, brightens subjects, removes blur, and adds grain to the texture.
In the evening, a "night" mode is automatically activated to extend the exposure time. But you can deactivate the function if necessary. The main sensor is bright enough to not need it. This is not the case for the other two modules. The digital zoom goes up to 100x, but this is only useful for impressing friends. Portraits are handled by the main sensor and the telephoto lens. The former is the most relevant, especially with the 2x lossless zoom. Selfies are also good, but they are darker in the evening.
In video, the result is quite decent during the day, with natural colors. However, it suffers from very cold colorimetry in the evening, whether with the main sensor or the telephoto lens. With the latter, we also notice numerous artifacts in video, whether in 1080p or 4K, and a lack of sharpness as soon as the digital zoom is used. This blur is more pronounced at 60 frames per second than at 30 frames per second. The ultra-wide-angle module, unsurprisingly, is very dark, but benefits from more accurate colorimetry in the evening.
Finally, the Reno13 Pro's audio configuration is very classic, with a main speaker housed in the lower edge of the phone and a secondary speaker hidden in the earpiece. This asymmetrical configuration offers an unbalanced experience, as the secondary speaker is much less powerful. The bass is, as always, recessed. And the treble lacks presence. The crackling is 100% controlled. In terms of codecs, the Reno13 Pro benefits from aptX-HD, LDAC, and LHDC. Finally, the interface includes profiles for content types, but no full equalizer.
So, should we buy it?
The Reno13 Pro is a pleasant smartphone to use, despite its few flaws, notably the commercial pressure of its interface. It's a shame to see, on an 800 euro phone, that there are almost more ads here than on a model two to three times cheaper. On this point, it's better to turn to Samsung, for example. The few improvements made to this phone partly explain the price difference with the Reno12 Pro. But compared to the competition, this inflation is not necessarily justifiable. Even more than the Honor 200 Pro, the Reno13 Pro is much more recommendable during a promotional period than at its recommended retail price.
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