Oppo Reno 14 review: stylish design and fine performance

Oppo Reno 14 review

With the new Oppo Reno 14, Oppo aims to cater to the lower segment of high-end smartphones. Or should we say, the upper mid-range segment? In terms of price, it is on the edge in both cases. The new smartphone is characterised by a stylish design, which makes the phone stand out immediately. According to the manufacturer itself, the design is inspired by mermaids. We don't see it in there, but maybe with a lot of imagination, you can recognise something from it?

Unboxing and design

Oppo delivers the new smartphone in an eye-catching glittery packaging. Apart from a USB-C cable, some paperwork and a SIM needle, nothing comes with the phone. The back is what catches the eye most with the Reno 14. Although it looks like the area under the camera module is luminous, it is not. The back feels somewhat matte, and while it is comfortable to hold, it is scratchy. In terms of design, the Reno 14 feels really premium. We received the device in the colour 'Luminous Green', which is a really cool colour though, with a bit of a matte effect.

The 6.59-inch AMOLED screen offers a refresh rate of 120Hz and a resolution of 2760 x 1256 pixels. On the screen, Oppo has pre-applied a screen protector for you. The screen is of fine quality with excellent readability on sunny days. The fingerprint scanner embedded in the screen does its job well. On the bottom, the aluminium bezels provide space for the USB-C port, SIM tray and speaker. On the right side, you can find the volume key and the power button.

Interface

Oppo's ColorOS skin is very present. Whether that's a bad thing is personal, but this is how each manufacturer chooses its own sauce over Android. Samsung, for instance, with One UI, also provides a distinct design with its own skin. The ColorOS skin corresponds to OnePlus' OxygenOS and is well put together. However, we do see a more playful look at Oppo. The interface settings offer quite a lot of freedom.

Communication and multimedia

Calling and texting are done via Google's own apps. These apps have recently been given the Material 3 sauce and therefore look nice and fresh. Operation is self-explanatory and call quality is good. The smartphone offers support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC and, of course, the 5G network. There is room for dual-sim and you can also add an eSIM on the Reno 14.

In terms of multimedia, the Oppo Reno 14 is satisfactory in its job. The sound tends very much towards the shrill side as you increase the volume. This makes listening at full volume very unpleasant. The screen is of fine quality for watching movies.

Camera

Oppo has equipped the camera module with three lenses. These are a 50-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel wide-angle and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens. The latter allows you to zoom 3.5x without losing quality. Furthermore, the camera app comes with various features and functions. What is irritating about the app is that it keeps asking for your location, even if you refuse every time. Other than that, the camera app is self-explanatory and you can use various filters and options.

We collected photos you take with the Oppo Reno 14 in the digital photo album. Photo quality is generally of high quality. However, we do sometimes find the photos a bit on the cool side, missing the warmth in an image, but this could also be personal taste. Zoomed-in images also look good and overall we can say that the Reno 14 lets you take good pictures. This is also the case in the evening, but if there is really little to no light, the phone has a bit more trouble with it.

The video camera can film in up to 4K quality at 60fps. You can also opt for a lower resolution. In terms of video quality, the Reno 14 is fine and you'll capture perfectly sharp images. Even zoomed in, the quality is not bad at all! You can watch the video sample below.

Performance and battery life

Remarkably, Oppo equips the Reno 14 with a chipset that has been on the market for a while anyway. It is the MediaTek Dimensity 8350; whose successor is already being used in a more expensive Oppo model. Probably to keep the price down, the Chinese chose this processor. For everyday use, the processor is fine, but if you are looking for a device for really heavy tasks, you will find that the Reno 14 may fall a bit short in this.

Bloatware

Thought phones don't come with that many pre-installed apps these days? Here is the Oppo Reno 14 proving that those days are not over yet. In the menu, you come across an incredibly long zip of bloatware. This really goes nowhere. More than ten games, Amazon Shopping, TikTok, Temu and many more apps, it's all right there on the Oppo Reno 14. You pay hundreds of euros for a smartphone, and get a whole load of apps. Not only is it unnecessary clutter, it also takes up a lot of space. In fact, an apparently simple game is already nearly 400MB in size.

Battery

Battery is an important feature of phones today. A hefty capacity does not automatically mean longevity. In the case of the Oppo Reno 14, there is a 6000 mAh battery in the device, which can be charged at 80W. This so-called SuperVOOC charging does require a supportive charger.

We tested the battery for you, of course, and come to the conclusion that the endurance is fine. With mainly use on the 5G network, we achieve a screen time of around 5 hours, which is more than decent. If you use the device less often, or more often just on WiFi, you can get much longer use out of this. On average, you will need to look for the charger after 1.5 - 2 days.

Update policy

Oppo promises five Android updates and six years of security updates. While there are manufacturers that keep (even cheaper) devices longer with updates; it's not a bad promise and you can rest assured that you'll be fine for the next few years. At the time of writing, the Reno 14 runs on Android 15 with July's security patch.

Energy label

The mandatory energy label is also there for the Oppo Reno 14. The smartphone achieves energy score A with a battery life of 64 hours and 36 minutes. There is an IP68 certification. In terms of both drop and repair, the Reno 14 gets a B rating.

Review

The Oppo Reno 14 is a particularly beautiful device, where you really have something beautiful in your hands. The phone sits well in the hand, although the casing is sometimes a bit prone to scratches. For a price of around 500-600 euros, you get a device with a good screen, fine camera and good battery life. Updates will also be fine for the next few years. The amount of bloatware is really absurd though, although you can remove it. In addition, the Reno 14 is less suitable for really heavy tasks, but for normal use, the phone more than suffices.

Want to buy the Oppo Reno 14? You can go for it at Belsimpel, MediaMarkt, Bol.com and Coolblue.