Oppo Reno 13 5G has finally been officially launched in Malaysia on 7th January, marking the first Oppo smartphone model in 2025. After its previous model last year (Oppo Reno 12), I’m genuinely excited to see what Oppo Reno 13 has to offer in particular.
I’ve had the opportunity to test the phone out, which is always a lovely experience. After nearly a month of using it, there are things I’d love to highlight when making this my primary smartphone.
Let’s Talk about the Camera First
There are three lenses on the camera (four if you include the selfie camera):
- A 50MP main camera
- An 8MP ultra-wide angle camera
- A 2MP monochrome camera
- A 50MP selfie camera
I primarily use telephoto cameras for my everyday shooting, so it’s a bit of a bummer that it’s not on the model I received. Oppo Reno 13 Pro 5G has it, however, so if you’re looking to use telephoto lenses for portrait shots, I’d recommend going for that model instead.
Generally for everyday shots, the camera does a good job of capturing images and using AI processing power to enhance the photos taken. The photos do look great, even under low-lighting conditions. With the lens, combined with a powerful AI processor, the phone does decently in taking pictures while minimising blur and noise.
I’m not sure if I can say the same for selfies or pictures of people, however. The image processing affects the skin tone slightly too much, to the point that it looks jarring at times. I’ve had noticeable contrasts on my skin sometimes when taking pictures of myself in the mirror—something I didn’t experience when using last year’s flagship model (Oppo Find X8 Pro 5G).
In essence, I do appreciate natural image processing more than overly compensated processing to make the colour pop in images. Whilst I see some really beautiful shots of sunsets, buildings, gardens, and roads using this phone, I can’t find myself getting used to the processed images of people on this phone. It’s not bad per se; it’s just jarring to me personally.
Video-wise, the phone is capable of recording up to 4k with 60fps with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS). I did some test runs with the recordings, and the results turned out well. It’s something I can get by.
Oh, here are some samples of the shots taken using this phone throughout my time using it:
Needless to say, the phone excels in taking some shots, provided that there are no harsh or contrasting light sources when you take the pictures.
Oppo Reno 13 5G Specifications
All right. As always, we’ll list down the specs for tech nerds first:
Design
- Plume White: 157.90*74.73*7.24mm
- Luminous Blue: 157.90*74.73*7.29mm
- Weight: about 181g
- Rated IP66, IP68, and IP69
Screen
- Size: 6.59″
- Screen Ration: 93.4%
- Resolution: FHD + 1256x 2760 Pixels
- Refresh Rate: Maximum 120Hz
- (60/90/120Hz)
- Colour Depth: 1.07 billion colours
- Pixel Density: 460 PPI
- Panel: AMOLED (Flexible)
Storage
- RAM and ROM Capacities: 8GB+
- 128GB/8GB + 256GB/12GB +
- 256GB/12GB+ 512GB
- RAM Type: LPDDR5X@3750MHz 4 x 16 bits
- ROM Specifications: UFS 3.1
Selfie camera
- 50MP Selfie Camera
- f/2.0
- FOV 90°
- 5P lens
- AF supported
Rear cameras
- 50MP Main camera
- f/1.8
- FOV 79°
- 5P lens
- AF supported
- OIS supported
- 8MP Ultra-wide-angle Camera
- f/2.2
- FOV 116°
- 5P lens
- AF supported
- 2MP Monochrome Camera
- f/2.4
- FOV 89°
- 3P lens
(Note: All specs are subject to the product specifications listed on OPPO’s official website.)
Performance
- MediaTek Dimensity 8350
- CPU: 8 cores
- GPU: ARM Turse G615
- ColorOS 15.0 based on Android 15.
Battery & Charging
- Battery capacity: 5,600mAh
- 80W SUPERVOOCTM
Connectivity
- WLAN: WiFi 2.4G, WiFi 5G, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), WiFi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11b/g/a/n WLAN 2.4G, WLAN 5.1G, WLAN 5G, WLAN 5.4G, WLAN 5.8G
WLAN Display, WLAN tethering Wi-Fi 2.4GHz 20M, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz 40M, Wi-Fi 5GHz 20M, Wi-Fi 5GHz 40M, Wi-Fi 5GHz 80M, Wi-Fi 5GHz 160M
2×2 MIMO - Bluetooth® Version: Bluetooth 5.4, Low Energy
- Bluetooth® Audio Codec: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX-HD, LDAC, LHDC 5.0
- USB Interface: USB Type-C
- Earphone Jack: Type-C
- NFC: Supported
When I unboxed Oppo Find X8 Pro previously, I was genuinely surprised to see an 80W power brick; something that is absent in most flagship models nowadays. It’s nice to see that it’s not absent in this model, too — the box came with an 80W power brick, a data cable, a SIM ejector tool, some manuals and guides, and a protective case for the phone.
In essence, the phone kind of brings back what customers would love seeing in a phone box when purchasing their new phone: the essentials.
Let’s Take a Look at The Design for Oppo Reno 13 5G.
The first thing I noticed when I was unboxing the phone was the texture on the back cover. At first, I thought it was the paint, but it’s not exactly it. Oppo Reno 13 5G (and 13 Pro 5G), as it turns out, has a unique plume texture on the back of the phone, and it’s purposefully designed so that it has this butterfly shadow effect when shunned directly.
My best guess is that Oppo tries to distinguish the new models with a new look on the back. That’s the reason why Oppo Reno 13 5G (and 13 Pro 5G) has a different look this time around compared to the “Futuristic Fluid” look on Oppo Reno 12.
Not exactly a huge design change per se, but it does look cool. A transparent casing would look the best to showcase the unique back design of the phone for others to see.
Oppo Reno 13 5G Best Features: Underwater Photography
If there’s anything this phone deserves praise for, it’s definitely underwater photography.
When Oppo boasts about this phone being able to be submerged underwater for taking pictures and videos, I knew I had to test it out. The phone definitely did not disappoint. With IP69 waterproof and dustproof ratings, there was no need for waterproof cases for this phone; the phone was responsive when taking pictures or videos when I was diving in the pool.
The videos and pictures came out crystal clear, too. Take a look at some of the snapshots of the videos taken below:
I have to say though, you do need to get the water out of the speakers after fiddling with it in the water. But it hardly took a few hours before the phone returned to normal again, so you don’t have to worry about the speaker experiencing water damage.
Needless to say, I’m satisfied with using the phone for underwater shots. I could make some really cool-looking montages with them.
As Always, the Battery Performs
I genuinely love the silicone-carbon batteries that recent smartphones use and this one is definitely no different. I swear the battery lasts forever.
Obviously, that’s an overstatement, but I can’t find a day where I would struggle with the phone running out of battery, thanks to the new battery type and the Oppo AI Phone Performance that analyses everyday usage behaviour. There are even times when I charge the phone in the morning and go to bed with spare batteries to last for the next day. It’s just that good.
Of course, my usage varies from the others. My average screen on time is roughly about 3 to 4 hours a day, with the phone lasting for almost 11 hours since the last charge and still has about 61% battery remaining. This is without relying on the power saving mode, mind you—I’m using the phone at regular capacity.
It’s genuinely impressive, I’d say. I wish my current phone lasted this long.
Performance of Oppo Reno 13 5G
Of course, a device is nothing without a performance test, and this phone isn’t excluded from the list.
The AI HyperBoost and AI Multi-Cooling System help decently in improving performance, particularly when playing resource-intensive games. I tried Fortnite mobile to gauge the performance of this phone and to see if it was capable of running for an extended period of time. As it turns out (expectedly), the phone did extremely well. The game ran at a constant 30fps with no stuttering frames, and the phone didn’t heat up after a prolonged session of playing the game.
Too bad I didn’t win the game, though. But I enjoyed playing the game on this phone.
For everyday tasks, this phone does a good job too. From the very start of the day I used this phone until the very day I needed to return it, I had no issues whatsoever with the phone slowing down or freezing regardless of how intensive some apps could be.
I tried switching from Instagram while the camera was active to the native camera app to see if there would be any visible slowdowns (usually phones would take some time to switch from one camera app to another). To my surprise, that’s not the case with this phone. And for that, I’m confident enough to say that this phone is capable of having whatever’s thrown at it, thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 platform this phone uses.
Let’s Touch on Oppo’s AI Tools
I think every new smartphone release has AI tools integrated with it, and the Oppo Reno 13 5G (and 13 Pro 5G) is no exception. This phone boasts two main features of its AI capabilities: AI Summary and AI Writer.
In essence, it does what you would do with ChatGPT to complete your English homework. But of course, there’s more to what you can do with the phone with integrated AI.
There’s something I genuinely like about this phone. As I scroll through some posts on social media, for example, I would come across some unknown slang or language I have no proficiency in (e.g. Tagalog post). So what I would do is I would quickly swipe up from the bottom corner of the phone to launch Gemini AI to ask about what is being said in the post (all whilst I was still on the post).
Needless to say, the AI translated the post for me almost instantaneously whilst also providing the context based on the post. I like it, really.
My Take on Oppo Reno 13 5G
It’s definitely a nice phone to have. While I wish that Oppo would slightly reduce image processing, the phone does offer a very decent job at pretty much everything else. The display is crystal clear, the audio runs loud and clear, the battery lasts longer than I anticipated, and the performance of this phone is definitely unmatched.
I’m satisfied with the phone overall. Everything it does is suitable for your daily personal needs. Gone are the days when Android phones used to slow down and have issues with constant freezing.
As always, I write plenty of other review articles if you wish to read more. Otherwise, feel free to check out our main page for more! I’ll see you in the next entry.
