Oppo Reno14 review: Reliable performer with gorgeous design

Last week, Oppo launched the new Reno14 series in India. It comes in two variants—a standard Reno14 and a top-end Reno14 Pro.

It is slated to hit stores on Tuesday (July 8) with prices starting at Rs 37,999 in India. Here are my thoughts on the latest Android phone from the house of Oppo.

Design, build quality and display

Though Oppo Reno14 retains almost the same design elements, such as the chocolate bar-like structure with curved corners, screen size, and aluminium-based frame. The camera module on the back has undergone a minor cosmetic change.

But the most notable change we see in the Reno14, in particular the pearl white model, is that it is a gorgeous phone. It has a silky smooth glossy back called velvet glass, and underneath, there is a beautiful flower with fire flame-like petals, and it changes colour from blue to light orange when viewed from different angles.

Oppo Reno14 5G.

The company also offers a forest green variant with a minimalistic design. But, there is no artistic design on the back panel like the white pearl model.

It measures just 7.42mm in thickness and weighs just 187 g. It is very easy to carry around, and one barely notices its weight in the pocket.

The gorgeous phone may look fragile, but it is made of high-quality, premium materials. The aerospace-grade aluminium mid-frame is solid and comes with sponge bionic cushioning, an Oppo velvet glass panel on the back, and Oppo Crystal Shield on the display, which ensures the device can survive not just accidental falls and even prevent the phone from getting scratched easily when kept with coins or keys in the close confines of the pant pocket.

Further, the device comes with an IP67/68/69 water-and-dust-resistant rating, meaning it can survive high water pressure and also when dropped in a freshwater body such as a swimming pool, a lake, or a river up to a depth of 1.5 metres (around five feet) for close to 30 minutes.

Oppo Reno14 5G with silicone case, which comes free with the retail box.

Also, the company is offering a soft translucent silicone cover with the retail box of the device. It features thick edges at the corners to offer cushioning and sustain the impact of the fall, and protect the display from cracking and also safeguard the metal-based mid-rail from getting any dents.

On the front, it houses a high-quality 6.59-inch 1.5K (2760 × 1256p) flat OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, pixel density of 460 ppi (pixels per inch), offers up to 1,200 nits peak brightness and has a screen-to-body ratio of 93.4 per cent. It supports HDR10+ content.

Oppo Reno14 5G.

The Oppo phone is great for multimedia consumption, both indoors and outdoors under the shade.

Also, with Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) 3840 Hz, it ensures there is less flickering. And, with the dynamic adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, the phone supports smooth transition of animation on the display, be it a website or while playing games or video content.

It also supports reading mode, and this feature reduces the emission of blue light and lessens the damage to the eyes during long e-book reading or video consumption sessions at night.

Oppo Reno14 5G.

The device also comes with an infrared sensor, dual SIM slots, stereo speakers and a Type-C port. The in-display fingerprint sensor works smoothly without any issues.

Performance

Under the hood, it comes with a 4nm class 3.35GHz MediaTek Dimensity 8350 octa-core processor with Mali-G615 MC6 GPU, the same chipset used in the predecessor Reno13.

That said, it works smoothly without any issues. Be it graphics-heavy games or while running generative Artificial Intelligence features, it doesn't show much sluggishness as such.

Oppo Reno14 5G 's CPU and GPU Performance score on Geekbench 6.0.

It supports several gen AI features, including AI Voice Scribe, AI Translate, Camera-based translation, split-screen conversation mode, Personal AI Call Assistant, AI Call Translator, AI Eraser, AI Studio, AI Mind Space, in addition to Google's Gemini AI chatbot and Circle to Search.

Initially, two Indian languages-- Hindi and Tamil--are supported in the translation feature, which by the way supports a little more than 20 languages, including Spanish, French and Chinese.

Oppo Reno14 5G supports several gen AI features.

More Indian languages will be added in the future software update, the company confirmed to DH.

It should be noted that to run Oppo's propreitary AI feature, the user has to create an Oppo User account similar to an Apple ID while setting up an iPhone. For Gemini AI and photography tools such as AI Eraser and all, it can work with just the Google account linked to the device.

It comes in multiple configurations-- 8GB LPDDR5X RAM + 256GB storage UFS 3.1, 12GB LPDDR5X RAM + 256GB storage UFS 3.1, 16GB LPDDR5X RAM + 512GB UFS 3.1 storage.

Oppo Reno14 5G comes with Android 15-based ColorOS 15.

Oppo Reno14 runs Android 15-based ColorOS 15. It comes pre-loaded with third-party apps and games in addition to core Google apps. That said, the device comes with 256GB base storage, which is more than enough to install hundreds of new apps and also store thousands of videos and photos captured on the phone.

Oppo Reno14 series phones will get three Android OS updates up to 2028 and four years of software security patches up to 2029.

The device also supports the O+ Connect app, which allows owners to wirelessly share and receive files, video or photos instantly with Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads.

Oppo Reno14 5G.

It houses a big 6,000mAh battery, 400mAh more than its predecessor. During the review period, it consistently delivered more than one and a half days with Wi-Fi connectivity at home and the office. When fully dependent on the cellular network, the device can easily last a whole day.

With 80W SuperVOOC Flash fast charging, the device can reach zero to 50 per cent in 20 minutes and can hit the 100 per cent mark within 40 minutes.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

Photography

One of the biggest upgrades we see in the Reno14 over its predecessor is the photography hardware.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

It houses a feature-rich triple camera module-- a main 50MP (f/1.8, OIS) camera with an 8MP 112-degree ultra-wide camera (ƒ/2.2) and a 50MP 3.5X periscope camera (with Samsung JN5 sensor, OIS, f/2.8 ) with LED flash on the back.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

It takes nice pictures in all light conditions. The flowers and human faces come off more vibrant and photogenic, worthy to be shared on social media platforms.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

Even at night, it takes pretty sharp photos. However, it uses some software tricks to reduce the grains in the frame. For instance, check out the 120X zoom photo of the moon. You can see craters on the surface. It works well.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple with 120X zoom.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

With ultra-wide angle photo mode, it can take pretty decent photos and covers a wide area in the frame.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

Even at close-up range, the macro photos come off neat and capture the minute details pretty well.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

With portrait mode, the device does a good job of nearly capturing the subject with nice edge detection and blurring the background to get that perfect bokeh effect.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

It supports AI Eraser, which can help with removing unwanted objects without any trace. It also offers other AI features to enhance the photography experience.

On the front, it houses a 50MP (with Samsung JN5 sensor, f/2.0). It takes fantastic selfies in the sunlight. There are also several filters and tools to make the face more photogenic as well.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

Both the front and the back cameras can record 4K videos at 60 frames per second (fps). The video quality is on par with rival brands in its price segment.

Oppo Reno14 5G's camera sameple.

Final thoughts

Oppo Reno14 is not just good in aesthetic design elements, but also a top-class workhorse.

Even though the device has the same chipset as the predecessor, it excels with smooth, lag-free performance, even while running gen AI apps.

It also has an amazing camera and offers a full day of battery life. Fast charging is another plus point for the device.

Oppo Reno14 5G.

The device comes in three configurations-- 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, 12GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 512GB storage-- Rs 37,999, Rs 39,999 and Rs 42,999, respectively.

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