OPPO launches new Reno13 series globally: Flagship-style phone that works under water

A new mobile phone has been launched overnight – and when it hits the shelves in Australia there’s one feature that’s sure to stun everyone.

The OPPO Reno13 is something special.

An affordable mobile phone jammed with high-end specs and cutting-edge artificial intelligence is arriving in Australia for the first time.

OPPO launched its new Reno13 series globally in an event in Milan overnight, a stylish new player in the increasingly crowded mid-range mobile market.

It’s essentially a flagship phone but at half the price.

There are three phones in the new Reno13 series: the Reno13 Pro 5G ($1299), Reno13 5G ($899), and Reno13 F 5G ($599).

Eyebrow-raising features include a monster battery with an insane charging speed, and AI-boosted cameras.

The Reno13 is also the first standard phone ever to be released in Australia that works under water.

Butterfly effect

The first thing that caught my eye about the new Reno13 series is the stunning shimmering effect on the back of the phone, made from one piece of sculptured glass. The plume texture is made through direct-write laser exposure and is meant to mimic a butterfly’s wings.

Specs

However, the biggest headline of the launch in my mind is the impressive specs on a budget phone. The Reno13 series is surely good news for consumers, forcing all players in the market to provide better tech at a cheaper pricepoint. Bear with me as I break down the main highlights of the newest phones on the block.

The new Reno13 series has an eye-catching, shimmering effect on the back of the phone.

Reno13 Pro 5G

The Reno13 Pro 5G has a new sculpted look and comes in purple and grey with an aerospace-grade aluminium backbone, meaning it is sturdy.

It’s also light at just 195g, despite housing a 5800mAh battery with 80W fast charging. A ten minute charge will get you 3.8 hours of YouTube streaming, and the battery is said to remain at 80% capacity after five years of use.

It runs the new MediaTek Dimensity 8350 CPU, an eight-core processor. Along with a new GPU, the phone has better performance and is designed for gaming, AI, and imaging performance, with less power consumption.

Speaking of gaming, there’s a new cooling rig to allow for longer sessions, an AI multi-cooling system with an expanded vapour chamber. It has AI-directed cooling dissipation and is designed so the heat stays away from hand contact during a long game of, say, PUBG Mobile.

The screen size is 6.83″ with thin bezels that give it an impressive 93.8% screen-to-body ratio.

All phones in the series run ColorOS 15 based on Android 15, OPPO’s operating system which is also packed with AI features.

On the back, there’s a 50MP main (Sony IMX890), 50MP telephoto (3.5x optical zoom) and 8MP ultra-wide camera. The selfie camera is also 50MP – and all support 4K ultra clear video recording (that’s four times better than the standard 1080P video).

RAM and ROM is a respectable 12GB and 512GB.

The Reno13 Pro 5G has three 50MP cameras.

Reno13 5G

The Reno13 5G comes in white and blue – the latter has already been flagged as likely to be very popular. It’s slightly lighter at 181g.

It has a 50MP main, 50MP selfie and 8MP wide-angle cameras, along with a 2MP monochrome camera.

The battery is 5600mAh and charges at the super-fast 80W. The screen is slightly smaller than the Pro at 6.59″ (93.4% ratio). It also runs the new MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chip and has the same RAM and ROM as the Pro.

Reno13 F 5G

The Reno13 F 5G is the phone for bargain-hunters. It comes in purple, grey and both skyline and luminous blue. On the back it boasts a 50MP main, 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro camera, while the selfie is 32MP.

It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Mobile Platform with 8 cores. The GPU is Adreno 710 676 MHz and it runs ColorOS 15.

The battery is 5800mAh which charges at 45W – good considering the price but not the insanely fast charging of the high-end models. It’s durable for four years, and 5 minutes of charge allows for about 1.2 hours of YouTube playback.

RAM and ROM is at the slightly lower 8GB and 256GB.

The screen is 6.67″ OLED (92.2% ratio) and operates at 1080P.

New standard

Michael Tran, OPPO Australia’s Managing Director, who delivered the global keynote, summed up the new Reno13 series by saying: “This is the Reno Series like you’ve never seen it before. With the technology inside, there’s absolutely nothing ‘mid’ about these smartphones.

“We’re packing 5800mAh and 5600mAh batteries, up to 80W flash charging, an IP69 rating, advanced camera systems, and an entire suite of AI features. This isn’t just a new era for the Reno Series; it’s a new standard for the mid-range category.”

Making a splash

All the phones are capable of underwater photography as they are IP69 water resistant.

As mentioned, these are the first standard phones with good enough specs to allow for underwater photography (fresh water only).

You can immerse the phones in water at a depth of 2 metres for 30 minutes. Even scalding water of 80C doesn’t damage the phone (in case you drop it in a newly-brewed pot of tea). They are also IP69 water and dust-resistant, meaning they can run in extremely harsh environments. The Reno13 F 5G, in particular, is the only phone in its price range with a proper underwater camera system. A specialised underwater photography mode means the phone makes colour adjustments to deliver clear photos. This feature was a major surprise and definitely something I’m keen to check out. Bear in mind that it’s fresh water only!

At the launch, OPPO’s Roberto Mauro successfully pulled off the always-risky live demo of the underwater capabilities, and afterwards demonstrated how a drainage function expels water from the device.

OPPO AI

AI was a big focus of the launch, and a question I often get is: “What can it do for me?”

Well, these are the best AI functions announced at the launch that stood out to me as actually being useful.

First of all, there’s a whole suite of AI tools under the AI Photography umbrella, designed to help people use the mammoth camera system. You can use these functions in the AI Editor after taking the image.

AI Livephoto takes video from 1.5 seconds before and after you press the shutter. This means you’re less likely to miss that key image you really wanted to take. This has been upgraded on the Reno13 from 1080P to a 2K-level, and with EIS stabilisation and dynamic frame expansion tech, it’s much better than before. You enable Livephoto by pressing a circle icon at the top of the camera screen, then afterwards you can choose the best frame from the gallery.

AI Clarity Enhancer converts blurry or low-quality images into high-res pics. It helps to rescue a dodgy image from the delete button and makes faraway landscapes seem crystal clear.

AI Unblur restores details, colours, and clarity to blurred images. It’s particularly handy for saving blurry images of playful animals on the move.

There’s a suite of AI tools under the AI Photography umbrella.

AI Reflection Remover does what it says on the bottle and removes annoying reflections, glare and interference caused by mediums like glass.

AI Night Portrait uses generative AI to improve the definition of faces, cut down image noise and generally provide clearer images in dark environments. It’s helpful for recording antics while on a night out in town.

Also, located in the AI Studio, there’s AI Portrait, AI Reimage and AI Motion.

AI Portrait uses generative AI to transform your photos. You can use it to create group photos from individual images, choosing different styles and themes. For example, I created an image of myself and my wife in the theme of a spy movie. It only takes a few seconds to generate and is lots of fun.

AI Reimage works in a similar way to AI Portrait, but transforms images to make them look like cartoons, oil paintings and watercolours, among other options.

AI Motion allows you to create animations from still images, including short videos of an ocean wave, or a pet.

What makes it stand out

It’s the high-end specs and AI at a cheap price point that really grabbed my attention. The Reno13 series is great for teens, uni students and anyone looking to save a dollar while still getting what’s essentially a flagship.

I think gamers will also be interested in the quick charging, long battery and cooling system.

It’s also cool to see the design on phones get to such a high level that it becomes possible to do underwater photography.

The Reno13 series will be available in Australia from March 27.

Andrew Backhouse travelled to Milan as a guest of OPPO

Originally published as OPPO launches new Reno13 series globally: Flagship-style phone that works under water