Oppo Reno13 launches in South Africa

There’s a new mid-range AI smartphone in the market, the Oppo Reno13 series. The 5G enabled smartphones will comes in two variants in South Africa, the Reno13 and the Reno13 F.

Previously, Oppo SA brought in three models in the line-up, including the top of the range Pro model, which has not made its way to SA this year due to price point.

The Reno13 will cost R18 999 and is currently available in white or dark blue, while the Reno13 F comes in next month at R14 999.

The phones are on the steep side for a mid-range handset, however it must be noted that the handsets now offer some level of AI, which is the reason mid-range phones have increased in price in the last year.

Reno13 AI features

Some of these AI features include AI Livephoto, that becomes a boomerang on Instagram; AI Editor to remove reflections from glass, AI Clarity Enhancer for clearer cropped photos; AI Unblur for those pet pictures; and AI Motion for turning static images into 3 second GIFs.

Other features include AI Night Portrait for low light images, and AI Reimage for fun effects like cartoon or paintings, etc.

Both phones offer an IP69 water and dust resistance rating, including temperatures up to 80°C and pressurised water. It can be submerged in 2 meters of water for up to 30 minutes.

According to Oppo, the phone has a mechanism for draining water from it, and with one tap, it is removed within seconds.

At the launch event in Johannesburg, Oppo’s Bradley Young demonstrated a feature on the Reno13 that is similar to Apple’s AirDop to share photos wirelessly with iOS users, through the O-Connect app.

Under the hood

The Reno13 is powered by an 8-core MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chipset and an ARM Turse G615 GPU, with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It weighs 181g.

It has a 6.59-inch 1.5K display, 1200bits brightness and a 120Hz adaptive screen refresh rate. Oppo claims it has the highest screen-to-body ratio on a phone of 93.4% and that it is HDR10 certified.

A closer look at the cameras

The phone features a 50MP main shooter with optical image stabilisation (OIS), an ultra-wide angle and portrait lenses, complemented by a 50MP selfie-cam with auto focus.

Both cameras shoot in 4K at 60 frames per second (fps), offer dual-view shots, and through its IP69 rating, can be used to record footage under water in fresh and salt water.

Its underwater mode allows for colour tuning for life-like shots and has a physical button dedicated for underwater use.

The Reno13 has a 5600mAh battery and comes with Oppo’s signature SuperVooc 80W Flash Charge for rapid charging. It also supports eSIM.

As mentioned, the Reno13’s prepaid price is R18 999 and will be available at all operators, with contract pricing starting at R799 x 36 months.

No additional information was shared about the Reno13 F and neither was the handset available at the Johannesburg launch event, but it will be released in March at R14 999 or R679 x 36 months.