Following in the wake of new smartphones from Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi and Vivo, it is OPPO turn with the launch of the Reno13 series locally. The company believes the phones' AI capabilities and the ability take photos underwater without requiring a case will attract South African customers.

The OPPO Reno13 5G is available in South Africa for all operators, with a RRP of just under R19k or R799 pm x 36 months. The OPPO Reno13 F is set for release in March.

All Reno13 models feature an IP66 / IP68 / IP69 rating for water and dust resistance. This allows them to withstand splashes of water up to 80°C and to be submerged in water up to two metres for 30 minutes, according to OPPO. Moreover, the Reno13 can be used to take images underwater and thanks to the phones’ underwater mode, it automatically adjusts lighting, contrast and colour correction to produce detailed images when shooting underwater, the company says. 

The Reno13 5G also features a mechanism for draining water from handsets, with OPPO noting to also rinse the phone with normal water after using it in the sea.

As we’ve started seeing on the previous Reno12, OPPO includes AI functionality to enhance the user experience. The latest AI-powered photography features offer an upgraded AI Editor that can enhance shots with intelligent improvements. There is also an AI Clarity Enhancer for sharper distant objects and AI Unblur for restoring clarity to blurry images.

We like the AI Reflection Remover which eliminates unwanted glass reflections, while AI Livephoto uses generative AI to transform static images into dynamic three-second videos that can also be saved as GIFs.

As far as specs are concerned, the Reno13 5G provides a 6.59” AMOLED display (FHD+ 1256 x 2760 Pixels) with a 120 Hz refresh rate, powered by a customised MediaTek Dimensity 8350 platform with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.

The Reno13 5G has a decent 5600 mAh battery and 80W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge, which can fully charge your phone in only 48 minutes.

Finally, the Reno13 5G is offered in Plume White and Luminous Blue, retailing for a bit under R19k. We do not yet have a price on the OPPO Reno13 F yet, which is set to be released in March locally.