OPPO Reno 15 Pro review: Master of Some

The OPPO Reno 15 Pro isn’t the simplest phone to parse. It’s a little bit better than other phones in its price bracket in a handful of ways, and a little bit worse in others. For example, the Reno 15 Pro’s chipset isn’t on the same level as what you’d get in an iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25, but at the same time, the Reno 15 Pro is a better camera phone than the Galaxy S25 and more versatile than the iPhone 17. It’s not a jack of all trades, but it is a master of some.

Let’s start with the Reno 15 Pro’s strengths. Like recent OPPO devices, such as the Find X9 Pro, the Reno 15 Pro has been kitted out with a supersized battery. The phone features a 6,200mAh cell, while many Android devices still cap out at max of 5,000mAh or so. Specs don’t matter unless they translate into real-world performance, but the Reno 15 Pro delivers on the endurance front.

I was consistently able to get between seven and nine hours of screen time per charge. My shorter battery life days were from when I exclusively tested on 5G, but I got more screen time when I was connected to WiFi and on weekends when Slack wasn’t delivering a steady stream of notifications. Either way, the result is still fantastic - seven hours of screen time is still excellent, and should last almost everyone a full day with a comfortable buffer. Nine hours rivals what we were able to get from the Find X9 Pro and its 7,500mAh battery.

The Reno 15 Pro’s endurance is especially impressive given its smaller stature; its 6.3-inch screen is the smallest we’ve seen on an OPPO phone in years. Last year's OPPO Reno 13 Pro had a 6.83-inch display. Even much older OPPO devices like 2018's R17 Pro had a 6.4-inch screen.

While the 6.3-inch screen is similar to what you’d find on an iPhone 17, a Galaxy S25, or a Pixel 10, the Reno 15 Pro is the kind of device that has been missing from OPPO’s portfolio. It’s nice that people who want a smaller phone can now also have OPPO to choose from.

When it comes to photo quality, all four of the Reno 15 Pro’s lenses range from “pretty good” to “great”. Fast motion can trip up the primary camera sometimes, but the results are solid otherwise. The secondary lenses - especially the ultra-wide - can be a little soft in low light, but the 3.5x telephoto lens is much better than what Google and Samsung have at this price point. (Apple doesn’t do a dedicated zoom lens on the entry-level iPhone 17.) And there’s not much to note about the selfie camera - it does a good job!

OPPO Reno 15 Pro camera samples

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Check out these camera samples taken on the OPPO Reno 15 Pro. Click or tap on any photo to see a larger version. 

There are a few other odds and ends that make the Reno 15 Pro feel like it’s punching above its asking price. To start, the phone has 512GB of storage, rather than 256GB on the entry-level iPhone 17 and Galaxy S25, or 128GB on the Pixel 10. OPPO still includes a fast charger in the box with the Reno 15 Pro, which could save you a bit of cash if you need a new (or better) one. You’ll also find a basic case included. It’s not the nicest option for protecting your Reno 15 Pro, but free is free.

The Reno 15 Pro’s build quality is also great. It feels as high-end as what you’d expect from a $1,399 phone, and there’s a nice matte texture on the back. The device is also rated IP69 for dust and water resistance, which is a step above most other devices. In addition to being built to survive submersion, the Reno 15 Pro is also protected against high-pressure water jets. Most of us aren't subjecting our devices to high-pressure water, but extra protection is rarely a bad thing.

Build quality is, however, where we start to get into where the Reno 15 Pro falls short of similarly priced rivals. To start, the phone only has Gorilla Glass 7i, rather than Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is the standard on the Galaxy S25 and Pixel 10. In real-world terms, Gorilla Glass 7i is rated for drops of up to one meter on asphalt, compared to the two meters you get on Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Most of us are going to put a case on our phone anyway, but it’s still worth being aware of.

Similarly, the Reno 15 Pro has a shorter software life than its key rivals. OPPO is promising five years of major operating system upgrades and six years of security updates. That is genuinely great, but it is shorter than the seven years of both operating system upgrades and security updates Samsung and Google promise.

The biggest compromise made by the Reno 15 Pro is its MediaTek Dimensity 8450 chipset. This is the kind of processor you’d expect to see in a phone in the upper part of the mid-range, rather than one squarely in flagship territory. I’ve got no complaints about how the Reno 15 Pro performs day-to-day, with the phone consistently delivering a smooth experience, even if apps do open just a touch slower than rivals. It can even handle demanding games like Destiny Rising, for example, but I could noticeably feel the device warming up throughout a single level.

While the performance on offer here is unlikely to be an issue right now, it’s worth understanding the limitation. On paper, the iPhone 17 and Galaxy S25 benchmark between 50% and 100% faster. Even if most use cases don’t push these devices to the extremes here and now, the Reno 15 Pro may feel slower in the future as everyday apps continue to get more demanding.

OPPO Reno 15 Pro - Final Thoughts

It’s hard to call the Reno 15 Pro an all-rounder, in the same way other phones in this price bracket often are. While it over-indexes on battery, camera, and storage, there are trade-offs in performance and durability. These compromises are unlikely to affect your day-to-day experience with the Reno 15 Pro, but they’re still worth understanding. The Reno 15 Pro is great - it just might not be for everyone.