Just after the New Year arrived, Oppo launched three Reno15 models globally and in India. We got a chance to spend some time with all three, though note that there are some regional variations in the naming. Globally, they are known as Reno15, Reno15 Pro and Reno15 Pro Max.
What we have here is the vanilla model, the Oppo Reno15, which is right in the middle in terms of size – it has a 6.59″ display, which is larger than the 6.32″ Pro/Pro Mini display, but smaller than the 6.78″ Pro Max display. However, the battery is the same size as the Max with a 6,500mAh capacity.
Reno15 family: Reno15 Pro (left), Reno15 (center) and Reno15 Pro Max (right)
Not being a “Pro”, the Reno15 only gets a 50MP main camera (instead of 200MP). It’s a Sony IMX882 sensor that sits behind an f/1.8 lens with OIS and supports 4K video recording at 60fps. The second downgrade is the ultra-wide camera – it only has an 8MP OV08D sensor (versus 50MP on the Pros).
It’s a different story with telephoto and selfie cameras. The 3.5x/80mm tele module houses a 50MP Samsung JN5 sensor with an f/2.8 OIS lens. This is very similar to pro telephoto cameras. As far as we can tell the 50MP selfie camera (also JN5) is identical – it has the same 100°/18mm ultra-wide lens and the same 4K @ 60fps video recording mode.
The other “non-Pro” component on board is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset – it’s no match for the Dimensity 8450 that both Pro models are equipped with. What’s worse, the 7th Gen 4 Reno14 inside may perform worse than the Dimensity 8350 – this is something we’ll take a closer look at in the future. Anyway, all three models have non-expandable UFS 3.1 storage (256GB or 512GB).
oppo reno15
Our Oppo Reno15 is Glacier White variant. It has a special coating that makes it shiny and gives it a ceramic feel. Beneath that, the glass has a fine texture that is visible from some angles but disappears from others.
The frame is made of aerospace-grade aluminum. Its thickness is 7.7 mm and weight is 197 grams. Note that the Aurora Blue model is 0.2mm thicker than the other two due to the different coating on the back.
The USB-C port at the bottom has been made corrosion-resistant by applying platinum coating. The phone is rated for IP66 (splash), IP68 (dip) and IP69 (water jet). There’s no headphone jack, but there are stereo speakers on board.
oppo reno15
All three Reno15 models use an optical under-display fingerprint reader. After a brief test, we found them to be quite fast and accurate. There are three buttons on the side – a volume up/down rocker and the power button, which have a nice, satisfying click.
As mentioned above, the Reno15 packs a 6,500mAh battery. It supports 80W fast charging and the essential SuperVOOC charger is included in the retail package. With this, Oppo says you can get a full 0-100% charge in just 50 minutes. However, we don’t know if the charger will be included in all regions or not. If you use a USB PPS charger instead, you can charge up to 55W. It’s an upgrade from the Reno14, which also had 80W SuperVOOC charging but topped out at 33W with PPS.
Here’s something we’re looking forward to trying out – ColorOS 16 supports O+ Connect, which works with Windows PCs and Apple devices (iOS, iPadOS, and macOS). This enables easy file transfer and even controlling your PC remotely. Note that Oppo is promising 5 major ColorOS updates and 6 years of security patches for the Reno15.
Now that we have the Reno15 in the office, we can start work on more detailed testing. And this wasn’t the only new device we got from Oppo – stay tuned for updates.