Oppo Reno 15 Pro review: compact, stylish and loaded with apps

Oppo Reno 15 Pro review

The Reno 15 Pro has a 6.32-inch screen, which is smaller than many competitors in the same price range. That's a striking choice, but not a bad one. For Oppo, the Reno series is the centrepiece of their line-up, positioned below the high-end Find X series but above the budget-friendly A series.

Unboxing

Inside the box, apart from the Reno 15 Pro itself, you'll find a USB-C cable, some paperwork and a SIM needle. A charger is not included as standard, although Oppo does supply one in some bundles. If you want to use the full 80 watts, you'll need an Oppo SuperVOOC charger. A universal PPS charger will get you up to 55 watts. A case or screen protector is missing.

Design and interface

This is perhaps the first thing you notice when you get your hands on the Reno 15 Pro: the design. The Aurora Blue variant we tested has a back inspired by the northern lights. A different pattern is visible each time the device is moved. The result is a device that not only looks beautiful, but also really stands out among today's mostly boring smartphones. Besides the blue version, there is a Dusk Black variant that is not so pronounced.

The aluminium frame is very reminiscent of an iPhone, with sleek straight sides. The finish feels solid and the device is light at 188 grams. The compact dimensions mean you can comfortably operate the smartphone with one hand. On the right side, you'll find the power button with the volume buttons above it. At the bottom is the USB-C port next to the speaker and the dual nano-SIM tray, which also supports eSIM. The device is IP68 certified, meaning it is resistant to dust and water.

The 6.32-inch AMOLED display delivers a resolution of 2640 x 1216 pixels and supports a refresh rate of 120Hz. The colours are vibrant, the blacks deep and the brightness proves more than enough in the outdoors to read everything clearly. The screen bezels are thin, giving it a modern and premium look.

Interface

The Reno 15 Pro runs on Android 16 with ColorOS 16 over it. That software experience is recognisable if you've used an Oppo or OnePlus device before. ColorOS looks sleek with nice animations and translucent elements. Again, it is occasionally reminiscent of Apple's Liquid Glass interface. You can control the device with swipe gestures or the classic navigation buttons.

What is unfortunately noticeable is the amount of pre-installed apps. You'll find TikTok, some games, AliExpress and Amazon, among others. Fortunately, most of them are uninstallable, but you could do with a bit less! Oppo promises five years of Android upgrades and six years of security updates. That's nothing special, Samsung and Google offer seven years of full updates for devices in this segment.

Communication and multimedia

Calling with the Reno 15 Pro is fine. Call quality is clear and we experienced no problems with reception. The device offers space for two nano SIM cards and also supports eSIM, useful if you are travelling and want to use a local data bundle. In terms of connectivity, the Reno 15 Pro offers 5G, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 and NFC. WiFi 7 is missing, although as a regular user you will notice very little difference there versus WiFi 6.

The Reno 15 Pro's stereo speakers deliver fine sound quality. The sound is clear and there is enough volume for watching videos or listening to music in between. The screen supports HDR10+, which makes content on Netflix and YouTube look nice with deep contrasts.

Camera

The camera is a major selling point of the Reno 15 Pro, and that is reflected in the specifications. At the back, you'll find three lenses: a 200-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilisation, a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom. On the front is a 50-megapixel selfie camera with a 100-degree field of view, which is ideal for group selfies and video calls.

The camera app offers the usual modes such as photo, video, portrait, night and panorama. There are also some nice extras like Dual-View Video, where the front and back camera record simultaneously.

But how is the photo quality in practice? We put the Reno 15 Pro through its paces during our weekend in Stockholm. The main camera shoots nice, detail-rich photos with natural colours. During the day, you get sharp images with a good dynamic range. The colours are a little more subdued than some competitors, but that does make for a more realistic image. The night mode performs reasonably well, although you notice that the software has to step in considerably to suppress noise. The telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom is a nice addition and the wide-angle lens delivers good results during the day, but loses focus in the dark.

What we noticed is that consistency is sometimes variable. One picture is beautiful, while the colours turn out slightly different in the next. Sometimes we see some digital shake in photos. Very strange! Hopefully Oppo can improve this further via software updates. You can check out the photos we took with the Oppo in the digital photo album.

Video

The video camera is a pleasant surprise. You can film in 4K at up to 60fps and the image stabilisation works excellently. At 1080p resolution, the zoom also delivers good quality, which is useful if you want to film a bit closer to a subject. In 4K resolution, however, the zoom quality is a bit disappointing. And especially in dark or a dynamic environment like a concert arena, the results were very variable. If you zoom a lot when filming, it is recommended to stick to Full-HD. HDR video mode provides extra dynamic range, but requires a compatible screen to see the difference properly.

Performance and battery life

Under the bonnet is a MediaTek Dimensity 8450 chipset, combined with 12GB of working memory and 512GB of storage. That ample storage is nice and more than enough for most users. In day-to-day use, the Reno 15 Pro performs fine. Apps open smoothly, switching between apps is smooth and we didn't experience any crashes or stuttering.

MediaTek's Dimensity 8450 chipset is not the most powerful, especially if you like playing heavier games on your phone. For most users, however, it won't be a problem and you can get along very well with the Reno 15 Pro.

Battery

The battery is where the Reno 15 Pro excels. The 6200 mAh battery combined with the relatively compact screen and economical chipset delivers excellent battery life. During our weekend in Stockholm, full of photographing and navigating with Google Maps, the device effortlessly lasted all day. We noted a screen-on-time of around 7 hours, which is impressive. With normal use, you really don't have to worry about the battery giving out before bedtime. With light use, even two days is achievable.

Charging is done with up to 80 watts, although as mentioned earlier, that's only if your adapter supports SuperVOOC. Wireless charging is missing.

Update policy

Oppo promises five years of Android updates and six years of security updates. That means updates until early 2032. That's neat, but as mentioned earlier, competitors often offer seven years. Nevertheless, with the Reno 15 Pro, you'll be fine for quite some time.

Review

The Oppo Reno 15 Pro has proven itself to be a stylish and enjoyable smartphone in recent weeks. Its compact size combined with its impressive battery life is perhaps its biggest selling point. You get a device that can last all day without having to worry about the battery.

The northern lights-backed design is an eye-catcher and the build quality feels solid. The camera delivers nice photos in most situations, though consistency could be a bit better. There are side notes, though: the chipset is not the fastest in this segment, wireless charging is missing and the bloatware could have been left out as far as we are concerned.

The Oppo Reno 15 Pro has a recommended retail price of €799 and is now available separately for a little less than that! Interested? You can find it at Coolblue, Belsimpel, Mobiel, MediaMarkt, Bol.com and at providers Odido and KPN, among others.