OnePlus 13 evaluation: an act of refinement

After soft launching in OnePlus’ home market of China, the corporate’s flagship OnePlus 13 cellphone is lastly obtainable in Western markets. Serving because the direct sequel to final 12 months’s glorious OnePlus 12, the 13 builds on comparatively sturdy foundations.

With the OnePlus 13, we’re getting a large-screen gadget that is loaded with high-end tech parts, a software program bundle that promises to be leaner and meaner, and a bodily construct that pushes the bounds of water-resistant design.

With all this in thoughts, I jumped into the OnePlus 13 expertise head first — listed below are my ideas after having day by day pushed the handset, and after having examined out all its capabilities first-hand and in the actual world.

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Worth, availability, and specs

In its base configuration, the OnePlus 13 begins at $900 and ships with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of inner storage. A costlier $1,000 variant can also be obtainable for buy, which presents 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Past this, all different parts and options are an identical throughout each variations of the gadget.

No matter which configuration you spring for, the handset is out there in a single measurement class of 6.82-inches. This places the cellphone firmly within the XL camp, with a footprint that matches up intently to its Galaxy S24 Ultra, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and iPhone 16 Pro Max contemporaries. For the numerically inclined, the OnePlus 13 measures in at actual dimensions of 6.4 x 3.0 x 0.4-inches (162.9 x 76.5 x 8.9mm), and ideas the scales at 7.4oz (210g) in weight.

Tech specs are in step with what you’d count on from a flagship sweet bar-style cellphone in early 2025. The brains of the operation is Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Elite System on a Chip (SoC), and the gadget runs off of an enormous 6,000 mAh battery. All the most recent radios, sensors, and applied sciences are current and accounted for, barring one protocol particularly (extra on this later).

When it comes to shade, the OnePlus 13 is out there in certainly one of three distinct flavors: midnight ocean, black eclipse, and arctic daybreak. In layman’s phrases, this interprets to colorways of the blue, black, and white selection. Sadly, the bottom mannequin is simply obtainable in black eclipse — you will have to spring for the upgraded RAM and storage variant in case you’re eying one of many different two pallets.

OnePlus 13 construct and design

With the OnePlus 13, it is all about refinement of the slab-style type issue

I am a giant fan of the appear and feel of the OnePlus 13. Within the hand, the gadget feels each strong and premium, with no ugly creases or chassis creaking. A fairly massive digicam module dominates the gadget’s rear, however OnePlus has finished a superb job of reigning in its optical bundle from a protrusion standpoint. Mercifully, the cellphone does not wobble on tables when tapped and prodded at.

I do discover the gadget feels a tad large and unruly in my hands, however that is down to non-public choice. On the very least, the OnePlus 13 is a light-weight product that does not tire out my wrist after in depth use. However, a barely extra compact chassis would have hit a candy spot for me.

The cellphone’s aspect body is machined out of strong steel, whereas the rear panel materials varies primarily based on colorway. OnePlus seems to be notably keen on its new midnight ocean variant — it is the model of the cellphone seen most frequently in promotional artwork. I discover the actual shade of blue chosen right here to be a nice one, and its corresponding ‘microfiber vegan leather-based’ materials is remarkably mushy to the contact whereas retaining an expensive really feel.

For those who spring for both the black eclipse or the arctic daybreak mannequin, your OnePlus 13’s rear will probably be product of an etched glass materials. The previous is designed to really feel grained and textured to the contact, whereas the latter is silkier and extra frosted-like.

The massive headlining addition this 12 months is the inclusion of IP69 water and dust resistance certification. Most fashionable high-end smartphones goal IP68, which permits for the submersion of the product into contemporary water at a depth of 1.5m for as much as half-hour. With the OnePlus 13 and its IP69 score, OnePlus has gone a step additional — this cellphone can face up to scorching-hot 176-degree Fahrenheit (80-degree Celsius) water jets being sprayed at it from 4 separate instructions, every for 30 seconds at a time.

Reasonably, the IP69 certification is there for some much-needed further peace of thoughts. Within the occasion that you just drop the OnePlus 13 into your frying pan mid-cooking session, otherwise you neglect the cellphone in your pocket throughout a washer cycle, the cellphone ought to come away wholly unscathed.

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OnePlus 13 show

It is massive, it is vibrant, and it is lovely

Dominating the entrance aspect of the OnePlus 13 is its expansive show, which measures 6.82-inches diagonally. It is protected to say it is a high-end smartphone panel in nearly each metric. It makes use of OLED tech for vibrant and contrast-filled colours, it helps Dolby Vision HDR video playback, and it presents a pointy QHD+ decision of 3168 x 1440 (510 pixels per inch).

The LTPO expertise used throughout the OnePlus 13’s display permits for a dynamic refresh fee of between 1 and 120 Hz, which makes scrolling really feel extremely clean and aware of the contact. Peak brightness reaches a powerful 4500 nits, and I discover its sustained brightness of 1600 nits to be greater than enough for visibility below direct daylight.

In brief, this all interprets right into a show that is massive, vibrant, and delightful. It is also properly protected by a Ceramic Guard tempered cowl glass resolution, but it surely sadly lacks the wonderful anti-reflective properties of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Armor discovered within the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely.

On one other notice, OnePlus’ choice to step away from the ‘edge’ or ‘waterfall’ show development is one I respect drastically. The corporate as a substitute employs what it calls ‘quad-curved glass’, which is a throwback again to the times of subtler 2.5D glass curvature (suppose: iPhone 6).

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OnePlus 13 digicam

Shutter lag is a factor of the previous

The OnePlus 13 is kitted out with a triple rear digicam setup, along with a single front-facing selfie shooter. Beginning with this user-pointed sensor, it supplies a large 21mm focal size, a 90-degree subject of view, and a 32-megapixel decision. Different notable specs embody a sensor measurement of 1/2,74″, and an f/2.45 aperture.

In my testing, this front-facing digicam is about common. By default, OnePlus is glad to use facial smoothing, which I promptly turned off. It does not embody autofocus, which another flagship cellphone makers have begun to embrace, which is a bummer.

Flipping over to the opposite aspect, the OnePlus 13’s triple 50-megapixel digicam setup is fairly nice. The principle wide-angle shooter clocks in at f/1.6, with a sensor measurement of 1/1.4″. The telephoto lens punches in at 3x zoom, and measures in at f/2.65 and 1/1.95″. As for the ultra-wide lens, which includes a 120-degree subject of view, it ships with specs of f/2.05 and 1/2.75″ for f-stop and sensor measurement, respectively.

The images converse for themselves — they’re vibrant and vivid, although maybe considerably synthetic trying. As ever, it is solely a matter of private choice whether or not you are a fan of OnePlus’ picture processing pipeline and the outcomes that it spits out.

OnePlus’ new Clear Burst function intrigues me probably the most; it makes use of the corporate’s Twin Publicity Algorithm to raised freeze fast-paced frames of motion. I examined it out by snapping images of waves crashing towards a shoreline, and the cellphone effortlessly captured the scene, water droplets and all.

The cellphone’s telephoto lens works properly sufficient, however its 3x optical zoom vary is noticeably extra limiting than the 5x zoom lenses more and more being shipped on flagship handsets. That being mentioned, 3x stays a terrific focal size for portrait photographs, and the addition of optical image stabilization (OIS) ensures clear photographic outcomes.

When it comes to video, the OnePlus 13 is able to recording at 4K decision at 60 fps, together with within the Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR format. The truth is, all 4 cameras are ready to take action, which is a pleasant (if fairly area of interest) addition to the general camcorder bundle.

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OnePlus 13 efficiency

The tech specs are top-of-the-line in each sense

As we have come to count on with regard to OnePlus smartphones, the 13 is a monster within the efficiency class. Operating the present is the highly effective Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is blazing quick each in day by day operation, and whereas taking part in video games or performing different graphically intensive duties.

The Geekbench 6 benchmarking app nets a results of 3,121 in single-core and 9,498 in multi-core, which places efficiency solidly up there with the perfect of the present Android competitors.

Battery efficiency can also be top-notch. Wired charging reaches an upward restrict of 80W, which is the equal of juicing from 1 to 100% in roughly 26 minutes. The wi-fi charging entrance is equally spectacular, with help for 50W top-up speeds.

OnePlus does not less than present an influence brick within the field, which I respect, however its antiquated USB-A socket feels very a lot out-of-place in 2025. For those who do not plan on buying one of many firm’s AIRVOOC wi-fi charging equipment, the OnePlus 13 can also be appropriate with the usual Qi inductive charging protocol.

Regrettably, there is no Qi2 right here, and due to this fact no ring of magnets constructed into the cellphone’s chassis. Whereas that is definitely unlucky, there is a silver lining: OnePlus has included magnets into its lineup of first-party instances for the 13, which unlocks compatibility with the best MagSafe chargers and accessories in the marketplace.

Placing apart Qi2, nearly each different high-tech specification and normal you’d hope to see in a 2025 flagship Android cellphone is current right here. The USB-C port is speedy with USB 3.2 Gen 1 switch speeds, and inner storage is equally zippy with UFS 4.0 expertise backing it up. Even the fingerprint sensor is performant, with OnePlus having opted for an ultrasonic module (versus a much less superior optical sensor) this 12 months.

The OnePlus 13’s endurance can also be predictably strong, with its 6,000 mAh cell commonly lasting me all through the day after which some. My day by day use case includes a mixture of searching the online, streaming YouTube movies, taking some images, and leaping between messaging platforms. With this average workload in thoughts, I am constantly capable of eke out a day and a half earlier than having to prime up.

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OnePlus 13 software program

OxygenOS 15 focuses on velocity, fluidity, and slenderness

Relating to software program, OnePlus’ historic observe document has been considerably of a blended bag. The corporate’s customized Android pores and skin, which it calls OxygenOS, has suffered from function creep through the years, and its interface has more and more deviated from that of the ‘inventory’ Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

With OxygenOS 15 — which ships on the OnePlus 13 and runs atop Google’s Android 15 platform — OnePlus has taken measures to enhance its overarching software program expertise. Particularly, effort has been positioned on making the OS clean and responsive, with revitalized animations and ‘Parallel Processing’. This latter function is technologically sophisticated below the hood, however all that issues is that it makes app launching and rapid-fire multitasking as clean as butter.

OnePlus additionally boasts of OxygenOS’s smaller digital footprint this time round, which it cites as being 20% extra compact than its earlier incarnation on the OnePlus 12. Basically, this implies much less pre-installed cruft working within the background, and extra room for downloading your apps, video games, and media information.

Synthetic intelligence is in vogue lately, and the OnePlus 13 joins in on the enjoyable. Quite a few AI-based images instruments are on provide, akin to a picture decision upscaler and a mirrored image/glare eraser. Productiveness options are aplenty as properly, together with generative writing instruments, a extra superior system-wide search perform, and entry to Google’s options. Personally, I have never discovered a killer app but in terms of AI, however your mileage might differ on this entrance.

I stay a fan of Google’s strategy to the Android person interface design, which manifests itself in the Pixel line. That being mentioned, I really feel that OnePlus has finished a superb job of balancing a feature-rich software program pores and skin with the perks of a clear and easy UI. I really like the added degree of customization on provide in OxygenOS, and its flexibility suits in properly with Android’s mantra of openness and person empowerment.

Most significantly, OnePlus guarantees to stay dedicated to Android on each the function replace and the safety patch entrance. The corporate says the OnePlus 13 will profit from 4 years of platform updates along with six years of safety updates. This does not prime the spectacular seven-year lifespan pledged by each Google and Samsung, but it surely positive beats the likes of Motorola, Asus, Sony, and numerous different OEMs.

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Must you purchase the OnePlus 13?

Going into 2025, it is exhausting to seek out a lot fault in OnePlus’s newest flagship sweet bar-style cellphone. The corporate continues to solidify its place as a {hardware} specification trailblazer, and the OnePlus 13 is about as feature-packed because it will get.

The product line’s OxygenOS software program pores and skin has been one thing of a sore spot in recent times, however the OnePlus 13 advantages from a noticeably refined user experience with this newest model working atop Android 15. I nonetheless choose Google’s explicit tackle the general Android feel and appear, however I respect the wealth of choices discovered inside OnePlus’ OS.

I am so keen on the OnePlus 13, actually, that my solely main grievance is that the handset is not supplied in a smaller measurement variant. I are likely to gravitate in direction of extra compact telephones, and a non-XL variant of OnePlus’ newest and biggest would be a nearly irresistible prospect.

For those who’re available in the market for a brand new Android handset, the OnePlus 13 sits up there with the cream of the crop. Some minor software program quibbles however, the gadget supplies a wonderful person expertise, and is properly value its worth of entry in my eyes.

This gadget was offered to Pocket-lint by OnePlus.

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OnePlus 13