OPPO is now venturing into the performance-focused segment with its latest launch. The OPPO K13 Turbo series is a gaming-focused lineup with a built-in cooling fan, a large 7,000mAh battery, and a ‘Neon Turbo’ design with gamer-like aesthetics. It’s the first time OPPO is introducing a gaming phone series, especially in the mid-range segment. The series has two phones, starting from Rs 27,999. OPPO introduced the K-series in India last year with the K12x. It launched the OPPO K13 and K13x earlier this year in April. All three phones were launched under Rs 20,000, but the Turbo phones have been priced much higher.
What makes the OPPO K13 Turbo series stand out is its heat dissipation system, which goes beyond the regular hardware, according to OPPO. The K13 Turbo series features a cooling fan that directly cools the chipset, enhancing performance and allowing for longer gaming sessions. The cooling fan, however, is susceptible to water damage, so you’ll have to be careful with that. You still get IPX9, IPX8 and IPX6 ratings for protection against powerful and high-temperature water jets.
Both phones feature a 7000mm2 large VC cooling design. Additionally, the OPPO K13 Turbo series is said to utilise high-performance graphite (2000 W/mK) and a thermal gel (10 W/mK), enabling better heat dissipation compared to other phones in the segment.
In addition to all these cooling features, the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro also features a massive 7,000mAh battery. The 80W SUPERVOOC charger is said to get the phone from 1 percent to 100 percent in only 54 minutes. Both phones also feature a bypass charging option, which directs power from the charger directly to the phone’s components, reducing heat when you use it heavily, such as while gaming.
The OPPO K13 Turbo Pro is the more expensive model between the two, which is why it gets the more powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. The same chip is found in phones like the POCO F7 (review) and iQOO Neo 10 (review), although these rivals are priced under Rs 35,000. We have seen the two phones perform extremely well in benchmarks and real-world tests, so a similar experience is expected from the K13 Turbo Pro. OPPO claims the K13 Turbo Pro has scored over 22,00,000 in the AnTuTu benchmark, which is a staggering number for this segment. We’ll have a better idea once we review and test the phone.
The vanilla K13 Turbo is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8450, a new chipset launched in May this year. It’s an upgrade over the Dimensity 8400 with improvements for real-world gaming, HDR imaging, and generative AI. This phone is said to have scored over 17,00,00 in the AnTuTu benchmark. Since the K13 Turbo is the first phone to feature this chipset in India, we can’t do a direct comparison yet, but we will test it against similar phones in the same price segment.
The OPPO K13 Turbo devices share many similarities. Both feature a 6.8-inch 1.5K (2800 x 1280 pixels) AMOLED display with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, up to 240Hz touch sampling rate, and 1,600 nits peak brightness. They both come with a 50MP primary OIS + 2MP B&W rear camera system at the back, and a 16MP front camera. While the camera specs may seem underwhelming, there are AI features like AI Clarity Enhancer, AI Eraser 2.0, and AI Unblur/AI Reflection Remover that should help enhance the final image you capture.
The OPPO K13 Turbo series runs realme 15 OS out of the box, and OPPO is promising two years of OS upgrades (up to Android 17) and three years of security updates. This is again underwhelming, as rivals like the iQOO Neo 10R and Motorola Edge 60 Pro under Rs 30,000 promise 3+4 years of updates, while the OnePlus Nord 5 and POCO F7 under Rs 40,000 promise 4+7 years.
The OPPO K13 Turbo Pro comes in Silver Knight, Purple Phantom, and Midnight Maverick colours. The K13 Turbo has Knight White, First Purple, and Midnight Marvier as its colour options. All the colour variants have a gamer-like design but in a subtle manner, which adds a premium touch as well.
You can get the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro model in 8GB + 256GB (Rs 37,999) and 12GB + 256GB (Rs 39,999) options, and the K13 Turbo in 8GB + 128GB (Rs 27,999) and 8GB + 256GB (Rs 29,999), on August 15th and August 18th, respectively, from Flipkart.
OPPO has primarily focused on design and cameras when it comes to its phones. With the K13 Turbo series, OPPO has now entered the performance and gaming-focused categories. Both the K13 Turbo and K13 Turbo Pro seem promising with dedicated hardware for gaming and extensive usage. However, their prices may be difficult to justify since the POCO F7 and iQOO Neo 10, with the same chipset as the K13 Turbo Pro, start at Rs 31,999. The cooling fan does give the K13 Turbo series an edge, and it will be pretty interesting to see how it works out and if it makes any difference at all. We’ll reserve our judgment until our full reviews are out, so stay tuned!
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