Oppo’s much acclaimed Reno series saw new additions in India recently, and out of the two, we’ll be checking out the Oppo Reno 14 5G in detail. Here’s everything you’d want to know about the device, from how it feels in hand to how its optics perform. Is it worth considering for Rs 37,999? Let’s find out.
Design & Display
The Reno series has always been built well according to our previous experiences with these devices and this time it’s no different. The Oppo Reno 14 5G is built impressively in every way. The shape, size, and the in-hand feel are perfect. It’s rounded off enough at the corners for good appeal and in-hand grip.
The flat aluminium frame makes it feel like a flagship in hand while the weight distribution is great, too. The buttons are tactile when clicked while the rear panel’s matte finish of the newly announced Mint Green version further adds to the premiumness. While I personally prefer the Forest Green shade, Mint Green also looks clean and minimal.
The camera module is similar to what we have seen on the OnePlus 13s in terms of looks, but again, the device looks as good as it feels in the hand. While it can feel a little slippery in the hand, the grip is still decent for one-handed uses. Overall, we have no complaints with regards to design. To top it off, it is also IP68/69 rated so water and dust aren’t an issue for it to handle.
The Haptics are tight and strong enough to give it a premium feel. The stereo speakers offer balanced audio with ample loudness. However, don’t expect a lot of bass in the sound. Despite that, the experience of listening to music through these speakers was great.
Coming to the display, the Oppo Reno 14 5G features a 6.59-inch AMOLED flat screen with a 1.5K Resolution of 2760 x 1256 pixels, 1200 nits of peak brightness, HDR10+ support, 460 ppi, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, 3840Hz PWM dimming, Gorilla Glass 7i protection, and a 120Hz refresh rate.
As much as it looks like a great panel on paper, it is so in real life, too. The content being shown is sharp with vivid colours and excellent viewing angles. While outdoor brightness can leave you desiring for more in some scenarios, it is still decent for the price.
The slim and even bezels around the panel are a cherry on top. The touch sampling rate is high enough for quick actions in games, while a 120Hz Refresh Rate provides a fluid experience for daily use. Even the Netflix App shows that it supports HDR 10, which resulted in an excellent viewing experience on the device. Again, there’s nothing to complain about with this panel.
The in-display optical fingerprint sensor works nicely. It’s fast and accurate to recognise the fingerprint without any issues as such.
Software & Performance
The Oppo Reno 14 5G is powered by the Dimensity 8350 chipset, paired with LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. While these may not be the highest-end specs out there, they are quite decent for the price. While my experience with the device in terms of performance was largely positive, there were some downsides involved as well.
Upsides first, the animations and the overall fluidity are top-notch, as has been the case with ColorOS for the past couple of years. Paired with a decent chip, ColorOS can handle anything you throw at it and in the Reno 14 5G, it did that, at least for the most part.
RAM management is impressive, even on our 8GB model. Switching through apps was a breeze and multitasking wasn’t an issue either.
However, my main issue with the device was heating, where it could heat up unusually without any demanding tasks running in the background. Like when on 5G, I could feel it getting a little hot and even while gaming, at times, it could get hot to the touch, but most of the time, it remained cool.
It handles gaming well and can run titles like Call of Duty and BGMI at impressive graphics and frame rate, but again, the heating, at times, causes the frame rates to drop and cause lag.
The inconsistency across the UI was another issue, as I occasionally encountered minor stutters while quitting some apps, such as the Camera app, or when opening an image from the camera app, or when quitting an app while YouTube was in PiP. There was another major issue with the camera about which I’ll talk in the camera segment.
There was a considerable amount of bloatware present; however, all of it was removable, so that wasn’t an issue.
Aside from that, you get a plethora of features, both in terms of customisation and convenience. Customisation includes fully implemented AOD with flux themes, fingerprint animations, the ability to change colours, and more.
You can change the speed of the app closing and opening animations. Aside from that, there are AI features too, such as the AI studio, AI features in the gallery to increase resolution, remove objects, etc., AI VoiceScribe, AI search, and Mind Space as well. AI VoiceScribe wasn’t of much use for me, but AI search works well for searching for stuff across Oppo’s own apps, including File Manager, Settings, Notes, Calendar, and Mind Space.
Read More: Oppo K13 Turbo 5G Series Launched in India: Everything to Know
Mind Space is similar to Nothing’s Essential Space and can store memories (screenshots) you save in it, as they are automatically tagged and summarised. Again, I hardly used the feature as it didn’t have enough utility factor for my usage.
Features like Live Alerts, which work similarly to the Dynamic Island, various gestures and motions, icon customisation, App lock, hide apps, Private Safe, System Cloner, etc., are all here that further add value to the operating system.
The device received the July patch on time, but we haven’t received the August 2025 security patch so far. The device is set to receive five major Android OS updates and six years of security patches so that’s an advantage for those who plan to keep it for long.
The device’s connectivity performance, including that of the IR blaster, Wi-Fi, 5G, and Bluetooth, remained optimal. Surprisingly, the device lacks NFC support at this price point and that is a major disappointment.
Battery Life
The Oppo Reno 14 5G features a 6000mAh battery and supports 80W fast wired charging. The battery backup I was getting with the device was exceptional. It could get me through 2 days of normal use without breaking a sweat.
I was getting close to 7 hours of screen-on time with more than 3 hours of gaming and without gaming, I have also touched the 9-hour mark with my day-to-day usage with about 1.5 days of total use.
My regular usage patterns include chatting on social media apps, taking a few calls, listening to music through the speakers, scrolling through Instagram, and watching videos on YouTube.
On days when I pushed it to its limits, such as gaming, shooting outdoors, or using Google Maps with wireless Android Auto, I still wasn’t able to kill it in a day. By the end of such days, I still had about 10 to 20% left.
As for charging times, the device took about 52 minutes to charge from 5% to 100% with the included 80W charger which isn’t bad by any means.
Cameras
The rear-facing triple camera system of the Oppo Reno 14 5G features an OIS-enabled 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 f/1.8 primary camera, an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 50MP f/2.8 telephoto sensor with OIS, 3.5x optical zoom, and up to 120x digital zoom.
The Reno 14 5G’s cameras perform impeccably outdoors under bright sunlight. The shots are well-detailed with vivid colours and a highly impressive dynamic range. The photos appear sharp and are well-suited for use on social media.
The only complaint I have regarding the camera is that it fails to capture shots at times. You’ll press the shutter button once or even twice at times, and the device won’t shoot anything, which is a major flaw. It can result in poor timing for certain types of shots and also raises questions about the camera’s reliability. Again, this can be fixed with a software update, but one wouldn’t expect such an issue to exist in the first place, especially in a camera-centric device.
Coming to ultra-wide-angle shots, again, these are nothing short of impressive. Most sensors I have tested always show poor detailing, and while the detailing of such shots in Reno 14 5G also need a little improvement, they’re still far better than some of its competitors. The dynamic range stays on point and so do the colours. The photos appear sharp even when zoomed in.
Speaking of the telephoto sensor, it does help in zoomed photos and portraits. Shots at 2x zoom appear decent enough but are using a crop from the main sensor so the details take a slight hit. At 3.5x, these details come back into the shot and the photos begin to appear sharp. At 7x, the shots start looking a little soft again, followed by 30x and 120x zoomed shots which are barely usable as they look like an oil painting.
Portrait shots are a hit or miss with these cameras, as the device keeps telling you to move away from the subject for an ideal bokeh effect. However, it then captures a wide scene where the subject is not clearly identified sometimes, and EDGE detection goes for a toss, as you can see in the image above. If you like to shoot portraits of close-up subjects, it’s better to use the regular and telephoto sensors and shoot a normal photo than switching to the Portrait mode which was essentially useless to me.
Shots under artificial lighting are, once again, not disappointing at all. The colours remain natural and there’s a good amount of sharpness and detail in the photo. Under low lighting, while the photos look slightly soft, they don’t have any amount of noise, which is good. Turning on Night mode doesn’t help much with image sharpening either.
When it comes to selfies, the Reno 14 5G performs reliably well. Skin tones look true to life, colours stay natural, and the dynamic range is handled impressively. While a touch more sharpness would have been welcome, the overall results are pleasing, making it a dependable option for selfie lovers.
