January 2025 is filled with exciting launches all over the month, from the OnePlus 13 Series to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Series.
But before that, we have 2 contenders in the mid-range segment, from POCO and OPPO, both exciting phones. Both devices are launching simultaneously, on 9th January 2025 at 5 PM IST and 5:30 PM IST respectively.
As everybody knows by now, POCO is launching a performance-targeting device, whereas OPPO is catering to the offline market. OPPO has been a strong and big player in the offline space for years and their phones sell very well in offline markets.
On the other hand, POCO which is a sub-brand of Xiaomi, is more focused on Performance centric and value-for-money phones at aggressive pricing in the online market.
POCO is launching the POCO X7 and X7 Pro, out of which POCO X7 Pro is the rebrand of the Chinese model, Redmi Tubro 4. It is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultra chipset, which has an all-big-core design and is at the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 level. They are pricing it at under INR 25K, selling it exclusively online via Flipkart. It packs a 6550 mAh Carbon Silicon Solid State Electrode Battery.
OPPO is launching the OPPO Reno 13 and OPPO Reno 13 Pro. These phones are powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 which is a rebranded and exactly MediaTek Dimensity 8300 if you compare their specifications. The OPPO Reno13 has 50MP Main + 8MP UltraWide + 2MP Monochrome and OPPO Reno13 Pro has 50MP Main + 50MP W-Style 85mm (3.5x) Periscope + 8MP UltraWide, and both have a 50MP Front. Reno13 has a 5600mAh battery and Reno13 Pro has a 5800mAh battery. Reno13 is expected above 30K and Reno13 Pro is expected above 35K, close to 40K maybe.
Reno13 Series is more of an offline-centric phone, it will be sold online yes, but most of its sales focus and marketing are offline-centric.
Now let me paint a picture to make my point, as you read above, I established 2 different phones, focused on different things and different markets. On one side, POCO is online-focused and OPPO is an offline player.
As a consumer, you will see POCO providing much better value at its price point, compared to OPPO. You can see that Dimensity 8400 is a better chipset than Dimensity 8350, and POCO is giving UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X RAM, and it has decent cameras for its price, this is a sure hit under 25K, the price point it is launching at. On the other hand, if you look at OPPO, specifically Reno13, which will be above 30K for sure, offers a slightly inferior chipset but has good cameras, also Reno13 Series does not offer UFS 4.0 even in the highest-end model of Reno13 Pro.
OPPO Reno13 Series come with an Aluminium Frame and Glass back, which is a premium addition.
Now, the drawbacks of Reno13 make it seem, overpriced and inferior to POCO X7 Pro. I agree to overpriced as well as inferior, but it is not a bad phone. Reno13 is a good phone, at bad pricing. Otherwise the same thing, under 30K can make it an all-rounder type phone. This is the tale of the two different markets.
The online market has less to spend, it is a Business-to-consumer thing, whereas the offline market has the business, the warehouses, the marketing (online + offline), vendors, shops, middlemen and the commissions all they charge. In the online space, the middle, vendors and shops are not there, it is the brand, the selling platform, warehouses and consumers, of course, delivery and transport in both.
I am not justifying OPPO’s pricing, but saying, it became such for the market.
What I thought once, is why cannot an offline-centric phone which is sold offline at higher price tags due to the stated reasons, be sold cheaper and at fair prices online at the same time, because OPPO sells the Reno series online too. So, what if they sell it, in their online store at under 30K, and let offline be offline, as they are marketing it everywhere already?
This sounds so wrong, but it is just my uneducated opinion I have and thought to share, as I am not in the industry to properly judge and know all.
If that does happen, Reno13 is a really good, all-rounder under 30K, seriously, it has good performance (not the best but matches the POCO X6 Pro) and has good cameras (which both POCO X6 and X7 Pro lack, although both have decent cameras as per their price, no issues there).
But anyway, this is just the pure opinion of an outsider. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.
Signing off till the next time.
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OPPO Reno13 Specs: Here
OPPO Reno13 Pro Specs: Here
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