20 Days With OPPO Reno14 5G: 5 Reasons Why It is a Daily Driver Delight
My smartphone is my co-pilot in life. It gets me from A to B when I’m lost, keeps me entertained on boring commutes, and helps me capture important moments in my life. I ask a lot from my phone, so my standards for a “daily driver” are, to put it mildly, demanding.
When I got my hands on the OPPO Reno14 5G in early July, its design immediately caught my eye. A little experimentation with its cameras and multimedia features followed, and I was left impressed. So, I decided to put it to the ultimate test: I swapped my trusty old phone for the OPPO Reno14 5G, making it my daily driver for the next 20 days.
How did it hold up? Let’s just say it’s been a grand time, and I’m ready to share exactly how the OPPO Reno14 5G proved itself.
1. A Versatile Camera System for Every Moment
The OPPO Reno14 5G’s camera specs at a glance:
- 50MP OIS Sony IMX882 primary camera
- 50MP OIS telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom
- 8MP AF wide-angle lens
- 50MP front camera with AF
I love capturing little moments of my life, not just in photos, but in video snippets. My biggest frustration, however, has always been the dreaded 30fps frame rate cap I come across on most phones. I’d end up with footage that didn’t quite match the energy of the moment, often forcing me into editing software to artificially smooth things out.
With the OPPO Reno14 5G, that problem is officially a thing of the past. The highlight feature for me is its ability to shoot in silky-smooth 4K at 60fps, not just on the main camera, but on the telephoto and even the selfie camera. My cooking videos, which I shoot constantly, are now incredibly fluid.
I often take my phone on bike rides, bracing myself for jittery footage. Yet, the OPPO Reno14 5G handled it with ease. With Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) on both the main and telephoto lenses, the shakiness that plagued my old videos was never an issue.
And the colours? They’re so vibrant and pleasing. The 4K HLG HDR support gives everything I shoot rich tones, and the colours have a true-to-life depth. I never had to worry about my videos looking washed out or flat; they just looked brilliant, straight out of a DSLR.
What about still photos? While the primary and wide-angle cameras consistently deliver vibrant, detailed shots in any lighting conditions, I have to admit, I played favourites. The telephoto lens quickly became my go-to for portraits.
The OPPO Reno14 truly works its magic with its built-in AI. I particularly loved AI Recompose, which automatically suggests better crops and framing for your pictures. It’s a brilliant touch that helped me turn my good shots into great ones.
The AI Perfect Shot was another impressive feature. We’ve all experienced the pain of taking what seems like a perfect group photo, only to discover later that someone blinked. This feature is the ultimate fix, intelligently correcting closed eyes or awkward expressions to rescue the moment. Beyond that, the camera is packed with other genuinely useful tools like AI Erase to remove unwanted objects, AI Reflection Remover, and AI Unblur to sharpen shots. With such a comprehensive suite of features, I can confidently say that the OPPO Reno14 5G has one of the most complete and versatile camera systems I’ve come across.
I’ve put together a few before-and-after examples so you can see the results for yourself below:
AI Recompose
Before
After
AI Perfect Shot
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After
AI Unblur
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After
AI Reflection Remover
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After
AI Eraser
Before
After
AI Flash Photography
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After
2. Style, Strength and a Stunning Screen
The first thing you notice when you pick up the OPPO Reno14 5G is just how incredibly light and slim it is. At only 7.42mm thin, it feels sleek, but it’s the way it sits in your hand that truly sells it. It is comfortable to hold for hours, and it fits into your pocket so easily.
I had the Pearl White model, which features OPPO’s Velvet Glass finish. The back is silky to the touch and is very resistant to smudges, keeping the phone looking pristine. It is a small detail, but one you appreciate every single time you pick it up. You also get a Forest Green variant with a reflective Luminous Loop design and a newly launched Mint Green variant with a calm, elegant aesthetic if that’s more to your fancy.
Don’t be fooled by its elegance, as the phone is extremely durable, inside and out. It is built with an aerospace-grade aluminium frame and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which offers a solid feel. What really gives me peace of mind, though, is its top-tier IP66, IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance. I got caught in a sudden downpour one afternoon and I just wiped the OPPO Reno14 5G off and carried on. Knowing it can handle rain, splashes, or an accidental spill without a second thought is a level of comfort I wasn’t quite used to.
This smart design extends to the front, and the razor-thin bezels create a stunning visual experience, thanks to the wide 93.4% screen-to-body ratio. The 6.59-inch 1.5K AMOLED display is also technically brilliant, with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate that makes scrolling feel extremely smooth. There are also smart features like Adaptive Tone and 3840Hz PWM dimming that work behind the scenes to adjust the screen for you, making it comfortable to look at day or night and significantly reducing eye strain. It’s the complete package: a design that is beautiful to look at, comfortable to hold, and brilliant to use.
3. Performance That Never Skips a Beat
For me, great performance isn’t about benchmark scores. It is about how a phone feels when I’m juggling multiple apps or playing a demanding game. It needs to be effortlessly smooth, and the OPPO Reno14 5G delivers exactly that.
At its heart is the new MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chip, which brings some serious muscle when it comes to speed and efficiency. In simple terms, this means:
- Its “All Big Core” architecture provides a significant jump in multitasking performance and is 30% more power efficient.
- The GPU delivers a massive 60% improvement in graphics, making games look incredible while using 55% less power.
- A huge 3.3x boost in AI performance makes everything from system optimisation to the camera’s smart features feel incredibly responsive.
But raw power is only half the story, as the OPPO Reno14 5G is clearly built with gamers in mind. I was consistently impressed by how it remained cool to the touch even during marathon sessions, a credit to OPPO’s Nano Dual-Drive Cooling Architecture. A whole suite of AI-driven features also works behind the scenes to optimise the experience. AI Adaptive Frame Booster kept the gameplay incredibly fluid, while AI HyperBoost 2.0 ensured frame stability and a snappy touch response during fast-paced action.
Finally, the feature that saved me from countless moments of frustration is AI LinkBoost 3.0. It uses an upgraded antenna setup to keep my connection stable, preventing lag that can ruin an online match. It is this thoughtful combination of raw power and smart gamer-focused features that makes the performance very impressive.
4. Productivity Gets A Superboost With These AI Features
What I appreciate most in a daily driver is software that feels fast but also stays out of my way. The new ColorOS 15 on the Reno14 gets this balance right. Everything feels fluid, thanks to optimisations like the Trinity Engine and Luminous Rendering Engine working in the background. But the real long-term benefit for me is OPPO’s promise of 3 years of OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches, which is quite reassuring.
The big new addition this year is Gemini AI, which is integrated directly into the system apps. I was sceptical at first, worried it would be another gimmick, but I found it quite useful. For instance, I used it to summarise a long work email into a few bullet points right from the Notes app.
The communication tools are especially impressive. I used the AI Call Summary after a client call to generate a quick recap of the discussion. Similarly, AI Call Translator offers real-time, on-screen subtitles during a call, a feature with huge potential if you often communicate across different languages.
This focus on breaking down language barriers is everywhere. When watching a webinar, an Aqua Dynamics prompt appeared, offering to generate live subtitles with AI VoiceScribe. The dedicated Translate app also proved incredibly useful for translating text on a menu using the camera. These aren’t just flashy demos; they’re practical AI tools that I found myself using to simplify my daily tasks.
5. A Battery That Outlasts the Longest Days
If there’s one thing that gives me anxiety, it’s seeing my phone’s battery icon dip into the red before my day is over. Not with this device. This phone is an absolute powerhouse, with a massive 6000mAh battery. I usually ended my days with power to spare and was consistently getting close to two full days of use on a single charge.
On the rare occasion it did need a top-up, the 80W SUPERVOOC™ charging was incredibly fast, taking the phone from empty to full in just 48 minutes.
What I found even more practical, though, was the speed of a quick top-up. Just 10 minutes of charging was enough to give me over 6.5 hours of video playback. For days filled with back-to-back meetings and no time for a full charge, it’s the kind of reliable power that offers me peace of mind.
The Verdict: A Daily Driver Delight
I began this 20-day journey with high standards for a phone hoping to become my daily driver. It was refreshing to see the OPPO Reno14 5G meet all those expectations and, in many cases, exceed them. Its cameras won me over with their versatility and impressive video quality. The design gave me confidence that the phone could handle adverse weather with ease, and the battery consistently lasted me about two days.
After 20 days of constant use, I’m left thoroughly satisfied. What truly seals the deal, however, is the price. Starting at Rs 37,999, the Reno14 5G packs a remarkable number of premium features, from the versatile camera system to the top-tier water resistance, into a package that offers incredible value for money. The OPPO Reno14 5G is now available across mainline retail outlets, the OPPO e-store, Flipkart, and Amazon.
I can confidently say this is one of the best phones to consider if you’re looking for a smart, capable, and reliable daily driver.
