Earlier this month, OPPO launched three new mid-range Reno14 series phones, which include the OPPO Reno14 Pro and OPPO Reno14 F. The OPPO Reno14 F is the most affordable of the trio with a starting price of RM1399. We all know the mid-range phone segment is the most competitive, so is the Reno14 F the best option for you? Let's find out.

Design – Beautiful like a mermaid

The Reno14 F unit we received was the Opal Blue variant, which has an Iridescent Mermaid Design pattern. Its unique sheen is like gleaming silk cloth and can 'shift' when you tilt the phone, so it really stands out amongst the crowd of mid-range smartphones. Note that only the Opal Blue variants of the Reno14 series have this pattern. The Glossy Pink or Luminous Green variants only have a flat colour.

Mermaid Design pattern on the back

Thin camera bump

Screen with thin bezels

The right side houses the power and volume buttons

The bottom houses the SIM card slot, USB-C port and speaker

Like most mid-range phones, the Reno14 F has an average size and weight. The camera bump isn't too thick either, sitting almost completely flush when placed on flat surfaces. Its sides are equally flat, but feature rounded corners, so you can hold it comfortably.

At the bottom, you have the speaker, USB-C port and dual SIM card slot. The right side houses the power button and volume buttons. Another speaker can be found at the top. Overall, a standard layout with no extra buttons.

Another important feature of this phone is its waterproof rating of IP66, IP68 and IP69, which means that this phone can be submerged in water and will still function as usual. You will also receive a transparent case for this phone in the box for more protection, at the expense of putting a 'filter' over the Iridescent Mermaid Design's gleam.

Tech specs and features – Barely any change

Here are the full specifications for the OPPO Reno14 F:

• 6.57-inch AMOLED screen, 2372×1080 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,400 nits peak brightness
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset (4x 2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55)
• 8GB or 12GB RAM
• 256GB or 512GB internal storage
• 50MP main camera + 8MP ultra-wide camera + 2MP macro camera
• 32MP front camera
• 6000mAh battery
• 45W fast charging
• Android 15 operating system with colourOS 15, with five years of major colourOS updates
• IP66/IP68/IP69 waterproof rating
• Stereo speakers

The Reno14 F's tech specs are what you would expect from a phone at this price in 2025. Honestly, it's not significantly different from the OPPO Reno13 F launched in January. Just look at its chipset, which is the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 with the same clock speed on all cores. This means that there's no improvement in performance compared to its predecessor.

However, its screen is now smaller than the Reno13 F. The Reno14 F measures 6.57 inches, compared to the 6.67-inch Reno 13 F. In exchange, the peak brightness was lowered to 1400 nits (vs 2100 nits). The Reno14 F's screen remains visible under bright sunlight, but it's puzzling as to why OPPO reduced the brightness.

The screen is pretty good

Comparison of Reno13 F with Reno14 F specs

Anyway, this screen is an AMOLED panel, so the quality is good. It features Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, so videos look great and animations are ultra-smooth. Under the screen is a fingerprint scanner that scans fast, but the position is quite low and may feel awkward to use.

The OPPO Reno14 F also retained the same camera setup: A 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro camera on the rear. There's also a 32MP front camera. The operating system is also the same Android 15 with the colourOS 15 interface (UI), with OPPO promising five years of major Android updates.

Overall, colourOS 15 is a decent UI that's user-friendly UI, highly responsive, and offers several customisation options. As expected, it comes with a fair amount of bloatware, mostly apps you'll never use. Fortunately, most of them can be removed.

Original UI in Reno14 F

Where we finally see an upgrade is in the battery capacity. The OPPO Reno14 F's 6000mAh battery is an improvement over its predecessor's 5800mAh battery. However, it does have the same 45W charging rate, with the charger included in the box.

Performance – Enough for daily use

Here are the benchmark results performed on the OPPO Reno14 F:

Geekbench scores similar to flagship phones launched in 2020

Very stable performance in 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test

We had no problems with popular games like COD Mobile and PUBG Mobile. However, that's not the case for games featuring relatively high graphics requirements, such as CarX Street, Delta Force, Genshin Impact, and more. When playing such games, you either experience poor frame rates at higher graphics settings or unimpressive visuals at lower graphics settings.

The good thing about the processor is that it doesn't become too hot, with the temperature around 40°C. This is probably because the processor doesn't generate the amount of heat that a flagship chipset does. As a result, gaming on this phone was relatively comfortable.

CarX Street is only playable on lower graphics settings

The same case for Delta Force

For battery life, the 6000mAh capacity is enough to last for a day. If you use it lightly without using the camera or playing games constantly, it can also last up to two days. Having said that, we were able to play CarX Street for 30 minutes with 7% battery, so the battery's endurance is quite good. When charging, the 45W fast charger can fully charge the battery in about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Now, let's move on to the camera performance. With three cameras on the back, the Reno14 F offers good photography performance for its price category. It delivers balanced light control, bright colours, and a fairly wide dynamic range for a mid-range phone. Photos taken in bright conditions look great, while those taken in dim conditions don't have as much noise.

The lack of a telephoto camera means the phone can't take photos with long zooms, but that's to be expected for a phone in this price range. On the bright side, it does have digital zoom up to 10x in both photo and video modes.

Auto mode

2x zoom

Ultra-wide

Portrait mode

Videos can also be recorded in good quality, with optical image stabilisation (OIS), which is good if you're recording videos while moving. However, the front camera doesn't have good stabilisation if you want to record vlogs.

The rear camera can record videos in 4K 30fps resolution, while the front camera is limited to 1080p 30fps. It's worth noting that the ultra-wide camera doesn't support video recording, which definitely limits its videography options.

Conclusion – Just an update on the design

The OPPO Reno14 F does offer complete performance and functionality for all your basic needs, while featuring an attractive exterior design inspired by mermaid patterns. However, it offers no significant changes or upgrades over the Reno13 F launched earlier this year.

The only significant difference between the Reno13 F and Reno14 F is the back design. If the Reno14 F has a mermaid pattern, the Reno13 F has a butterfly pattern. So just choose the one you like the most. If price is the more important consideration, go for the OPPO Reno13 F because you can get it for a much lower price and still get a phone that's functionally 90% the same.

A suitable alternative is the Redmi Note 14 Pro (RM1299) if you want a camera with a 200MP sensor. You can also opt for the realme 14 5G (RM1199) if you want the more powerful Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chipset. The Samsung Galaxy A26 5G (RM1199) is another good option, as it offers six years of major Android updates.

So, did you find this review useful? Let us know in the comments on our Facebook page, and as always, stay tuned to TechNave for more reviews like this.