OnePlus 13 Review: Leader of the Pack

Though the OnePlus 13 initially launched in China in late 2024, followers internationally have needed to wait till the beginning of 2025 to get their palms on the corporate’s newest flagship cellphone. So the query is, has it been well worth the wait?

As is customized, OnePlus has clearly labored to make its newest flagship probably the most aggressive but, beating Samsung’s Galaxy S25 to the punch with the usage of Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, boasting cutting-edge silicon-carbon battery tech, the corporate’s fifth-generation Hasselblad digital camera system and a dressing of recent AI options.

The {hardware}/software program mix served up by the 13 seems to be aggressive by any measure however holds explicit clout within the US, the place lots of its most like-minded rivals – particularly Oppo, Vivo Honor and Xiaomi – don’t function.

The OnePlus 13 begins at £899/$899 so is it price your money?

Design & Construct

• World-first microfibre vegan leather-backed cellphone
• IP68 & IP69 rated
• New magnetic ecosystem appropriate with MagSafe

There’s no denying that the OnePlus 13 seems to be like a premium little bit of equipment, however I’d posit that the design succeeds regardless of itself.

It’s plagued by a number of high-end smartphone tropes, whereas additionally persevering with the aesthetic narrative the corporate first set out upon with the OnePlus 10 Professional, however the finish consequence simply isn’t as cohesive as I anticipated.

In isolation, the display screen, mid-frame and again are all well-executed. The entrance encompasses a predominantly flat show with evenly curved edges and balanced bezels, there’s a cultured metallic body with chamfered edges, and the again is both textured glass (with a wood-grain impact, for those who seize the Arctic Daybreak mannequin) or the world’s first rendition of microfibre vegan leather-based on a smartphone, for those who go for the Midnight Ocean model which I examined.

It’s the sheer quantity of various surfaces, radii and finishes at work that I believe over-complicate the OnePlus 13’s look, however when not beneath such scrutiny, it’s a beautiful cellphone.

Maybe extra importantly, regardless of its measurement, it’s surprisingly gentle within the hand (notably lighter than its predecessor, in addition to the likes of the Apple iPhone 16 Professional Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely), in addition to being pleasantly skinny.

The OnePlus 13 is without doubt one of the most practically-minded flagships on the market, proper now

All three colourways repel fingerprints nicely, and whereas I used to be fearful that fancy new microfibre materials would climate about as badly as Apple’s ill-fated FineWoven iPhone instances, it’s stood as much as the punishment of on a regular basis life over the month or so of testing, with none signal of apparent put on.

Offered you may get on board with the silver and darkish blue color scheme (which I additionally don’t suppose fairly works), the Midnight Ocean variant’s vegan leather-based again is softer and much much less vulnerable to thermal conductivity than the glass backs of the Arctic Daybreak and Black Eclipse fashions (to not point out metal-bodied OnePlus telephones, just like the OnePlus Nord 4).

Actually, the OnePlus 13 is without doubt one of the most practically-minded flagships on the market, proper now. In addition to high-end aesthetics, OnePlus has additionally pushed for IP68 and IP69 certification; that means it’s constructed to face up to mud ingress, in addition to being each submerged or subjected to pressurized jets (at as much as 80°C) of water. The addition of that IP69 score renders it hardier than massive rivals, like Apple’s, Google’s and Samsung’s newest, too.

The model’s signature three-stage bodily alert slider is current and proper on the left aspect of the 13, letting you turn between ring, vibrate and silent profiles (mirrored within the working system’s new Reside Alerts function – extra on that later).

Identical to the newest entries (the Oppo Discover X8 and Discover X8 Professional) from its sister model, the OnePlus 13 can also be the primary of the corporate’s telephones to undertake a brand new magnetically removable accent ecosystem.

By means of 4 new instances (in brown or black wooden grain finishes, in addition to a blue and pink aramid fibre, and a sandstone darkish grey case) you may connect a brand new magnetic 5000mAh energy financial institution or 50W AirVOOC wi-fi charger to the again of the OnePlus 13.

Higher but, the design is appropriate with the Apple MagSafe ecosystem too, massively increasing the accent marketplace for the corporate’s newest, a trait I hope continues with future iterations.

Display & Audio system

• 6.82-inch ProXDR LTPO 4.1 OLED show
• Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor
• Ceramic Guard

Persevering with the themes of sturdiness and practicality, the OnePlus 13 is fronted by an expansive 6.82-inch panel that, in contrast to its predecessors, is not protected by Corning-made Gorilla Glass, and as a substitute depends on what OnePlus manufacturers as ‘Ceramic Guard’, very like what’s discovered on the outer display screen of its OnePlus Open foldable.

The corporate claims that it’s “one of the crucial sturdy smartphone show glasses” on the market, and reportedly presents superior drop and scratch safety, in comparison with Gorilla Glass Victus. Add to {that a} pre-fitted display screen protector out the field, and it’s no marvel that – past the count on micro-abrasions – the panel on my OnePlus 13 has no apparent injury or put on to talk of.

In true OnePlus type, the corporate has thrown virtually every part on the show on its newest flagship, and because of this, it’s the primary smartphone to bag DisplayMate‘s A++ score.

You’ll discover comfort aids like a Glove Mode and its newest Aqua Contact 2.0 algorithm (making certain dependable operation even with water droplets hitting the display screen or moist palms), in addition to the newest LTPO 4.1 OLED tech, which not solely helps a dynamic refresh fee vary of 1- to 120Hz (permitting for super-smooth visuals and higher energy administration) but additionally helps two refresh charges, concurrently; additional decreasing battery drain, in comparison with extra conference 120Hz LTPO panels.

Despite that display screen protector, the OnePlus 13 additionally sees the corporate lastly make the transfer to an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, rather than the optical choices it’s used for the reason that OnePlus 6T.

In addition to being safer (because it accounts for depth) and sooner (by as much as 35%, in accordance with OnePlus), it doesn’t require a brilliant gentle under-finger when pressed and bolsters that Aqua Contact 2.0 tech by additionally proving useful with moist fingers. It’s an improve we’ve solely seen a number of different cellphone makers flip to on higher-end handsets, with Samsung being one of many longest-standing customers of the tech throughout its Galaxy S collection.

there’s no denying that the OnePlus 13 is a feast for the eyes

As for OnePlus’ ProXDR viewing expertise, the {hardware} on supply is phenomenal, as anticipated. The 2K OLED panel presents nice distinction with true blacks and vibrant color output, plus a typical brightness output of 1600 nits and a peak of a whopping 4500 nits.

That interprets to a considerably sharper and brighter viewing expertise than any of the 13’s most outstanding rivals.

Add to that extra in depth color calibration than the business customary, and a wealth of instruments to customize your viewing expertise on the software program aspect, and there’s no denying that the OnePlus 13 is a feast for the eyes.

The cellphone’s default ‘Pure’ color area needs to be excellent for many customers, nevertheless it’s good to know there’s fine-grain management over color temperature, in addition to two extra color profiles to select from, in ‘Professional’ and ‘Vivid’.

As for eye consolation, in addition to staples like Adaptive Tone, which alters color temperature relative to your environment, OnePlus has taken a leaf out of the likes of Honor’s guide and added new 2160Hz PWM dimming into the combo too; to raised scale back show flicker at totally different brightness ranges and thus eye pressure.

In addition to Bluetooth 5.4 and help for wi-fi high-res audio over the likes of LHDC 5.0 (as supported by the latest OnePlus Buds Professional 3), the 13 additionally packs a pair of stereo audio system, which ship clear sound all through their vary.

I’d have appreciated higher bass response and higher general loudness too, however what you get is serviceable loudspeaker audio for those who worth readability over physique, in the case of output.

Specs & Efficiency

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
• As much as 16GB RAM & 512GB storage
• RAM Enlargement as much as a further 12GB

Even with the staggered rollout of the OnePlus 13 (following its preliminary launch in China, in late 2024), the cellphone’s early January 2025 international launch means it’s one of many first telephones to the worldwide stage rocking Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship silicon (coming in simply behind the likes of Asus’ ROG Telephone 9 Professional).

For tech-savvy early adopters, unwilling to attend for Samsung’s Galaxy S25 collection, its launch timing offers the 13 an simple edge; to not point out the clout to overshadow virtually each different cellphone presently available on the market.

OnePlus has clearly labored arduous to enhance facets like sustained efficiency and cooling

OnePlus 13 benchmarks

In testing, it bested MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 – which powers the latest Oppo Discover X8 Professional – and even outpaced Apple’s A18 Professional, discovered inside the newest iPhone 16 Professional and Professional Max.

Past the benchmarks, which spotlight the bountiful headroom (splendid for years of use), OnePlus has clearly labored arduous to enhance facets like sustained efficiency and cooling, by means of the usage of a fair bigger pair of vapour chambers (9925mm2, versus 9144mm2 within the OnePlus 12); making this an amazing low-key gaming cellphone too.

Upgrades to the corporate’s Trinity Engine (a {hardware}/software program interface layer which OnePlus developed in collaboration with Qualcomm), paired with performance-specific additions throughout the newest launch of OxygenOS (particularly a part known as Parallel Processing), assist ship a fair snappier feeling and looking consumer expertise; from UI animations, to app opening speeds, to multitasking efficiency.

AI-based options are extra prevalent than ever on the OnePlus 13, so the truth that the Elite additionally packs in a stronger NPU (neural processing unit) in comparison with the one contained in the 8 Gen 3-powered OnePlus 12, is vastly appreciated too.

OnePlus cites a forty five% uplift in AI efficiency between generations, and established options like AI Eraser are actually as much as 3 times faster.

The unit I examined got here backed by 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a peak 512GB of UFS 4.0 (each the quickest and most energy environment friendly reminiscence requirements generally in use within the cellular market, proper now), however 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage variants are additionally accessible in choose markets.

As with most different latest OnePlus telephones, you even have the choice to reallocate a few of that speedy storage (as much as 12GB) as extra RAM as a substitute, serving to additional enhance duties like resuming suspended apps.

This was one thing that stood out while utilizing the 13 greater than different latest flagship Android telephones. I used to be capable of return to apps after far longer durations of time than on rival units, and the given app would merely be prepared and ready for me to select up the place I left off.

Cameras

• 50Mp primary, ultrawide and 3x telephoto sensors
• 32Mp selfie digital camera
• Triprism folded telephoto optics

Whereas a well-recognized 50Mp Sony LYT-808 sensor leads the OnePlus 13’s digital camera array – simply as on its predecessor – it’s now accompanied by two extra 50Mp sensors (rather than the the OnePlus 12’s 64MP telephoto and 48Mp ultrawide).

Equally to the Discover X8 Professional, the 13’s 3x telephoto depends on a brand new triprism part that’s allowed OnePlus to squeeze in a bigger sensor, with out including bulk to the cellphone’s digital camera bump.

The ‘Fifth-gen Hasselblad digital camera system for cellular’ ups the ante on the prevailing standout options of the OnePlus 12’s system, with portrait capturing now accessible throughout 1x, 2x and 3x magnification, and 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient video recording throughout the entire cellphone’s sensors (together with the selfie snapper), together with the power to maneuver between the entire cellphone’s rear sensors, while capturing 4K HDR video; a function with restricted availability throughout lots of immediately’s rival flagships.

While there are new sensible scenes (Stage, Fireworks and Silhouettes), which routinely tailor ISO to finest match a situation (successfully taming the difficult lighting of London’s numerous Christmas shows, throughout testing), the OnePlus 13’s customary color science clothes pictures with a typically interesting, albeit particular look.

Whereas there’s no denying that the newest Pixels and iPhones are among the many finest digital camera telephones presently on the market, immediately’s HDR algorithms have gotten excellent at brightening darkish areas in a scene; maybe too good. The resultant impact can depart pictures trying just a little flat, with much less distinction leading to much less dynamism.

The OnePlus 13, doesn’t undergo from this impact. The corporate has ensured that even with burst pictures, their Twin Publicity Algorithm works to maintain topics sharp, whereas nonetheless with the ability to apply the complete picture processing pipeline, and usually, outcomes are pleasing. Shadows are the place they’re meant to be, with out leaving contained particulars under-exposed, giving extra drama to most scenes than you’d get out of the likes of a Pixel 9 Professional.

That heavier distinction does typically damage color replica, with greens and yellows, specifically, skewing darker than true-to-life, and oversharpening rearing its head beneath scrutiny, particularly previous 3x magnification.

It’s odd that the cellphone’s AI Zoom doesn’t kick in till 10x magnification, that means it’s nothing however lossy zoom between the sensor crop-based 6x magnification and 10x, however element in long-range pictures is in any other case higher than anticipated till you progress previous 20x, at which level the optical and digital stabilisation can’t sustain for those who’re capturing handheld, and post-processing oversharpens in an try to compensate.

Low-light capturing impressed, as regards to gentle seize and shutter pace, whereas the processing and publicity compensation on selfies felt extra in step with that particular HDR look talked about earlier, that means well-exposed however much less natural-looking snaps.

Higher color consistency is required, particularly between the primary and ultrawide, which might be fastened by way of a software program replace, whereas the oversharpening difficulty will be triaged in publish, because of the ever-expanding suite of AI photograph modifying instruments OnePlus places at your disposal.

Inside the native Images app AI Editor, you may upscale pictures utilizing the AI Element Enhance function, take away undesirable topics and unblur meant ones, in addition to take away reflections. Every thing works as marketed and works nicely, with the reflection removing instrument maybe being the weakest of the lineup, at launch.

Battery Life & Charging

• 6000mAh battery
• 100W wired + 50W wi-fi charging
• No energy adapter in-box

As talked about earlier, the OnePlus 13 feels deceptively gentle for its measurement. That’s made all of the extra spectacular if you be taught that this cellphone conceals a large 6000mAh battery; a capability sometimes solely reserved for specialised gaming telephones (the latest Purple Magic 10 Professional really pushed previous 7000mAh, whereas rivals such because the Galaxy S24 Extremely prime out at simply 5000mAh).

OnePlus has achieved this feat by switching from standard lithium-ion (Li-ion) to way more energy-dense silicon-carbon (Si-C) battery tech. Actually, OnePlus claims that the ability plant contained in the OnePlus has the “highest vitality density in a serial dual-cell design,” of any smartphone, proper now.

From the battery standpoint, there’s little else that may match the OnePlus 13

As you may think about, this results in outrageous batter benchmark scores – notably for a non-gaming cellphone – with real-world utilization clocking in at an astounding 13 hours of screen-on time, guaranteeing a day of intense utilization, two days of regular use, or probably much more, for those who’re sparing.

Add to that OnePlus’ ongoing dedication to granting its telephones a few of the quickest charging within the enterprise, and from the battery standpoint, there’s little else that may match the OnePlus 13.

Try our rundown of the perfect battery life telephones for extra.

100W wired charging is blisteringly quick, surpassing 50% cost in simply quarter-hour and refilling fully, constantly, in 36 minutes. OnePlus’ battery tech additionally permits for Sensible Charging and Cost Limiting to 80%, making certain higher long-term battery well being with decreased degradation.

These new magnetic equipment embrace a 50W AirVOOC wi-fi charging puck (with an built-in fan), which as you may count on takes about twice as lengthy to refill the cellphone in comparison with its 100W wired charging (hitting 50% cost after 34 minutes). That’s nonetheless considerably snappier than something the likes of Apple, Google or Samsung supply.

The one actual caveat is that you just’ll must fork out additional to cost the OnePlus 13 at its quickest, as neither an influence adapter or wi-fi charger comes within the field.

Software program & Apps

• OxygenOS 15 atop Android 15
• AI options and Circle to Search
• 4 years OS + 6 years safety replace help

One of many firm’s first telephones to return working its newest OxygenOS 15 customers expertise (atop Android 15) out of the field.

Though the melding of Oppo’s and OnePlus’ interfaces has taken away a few of OxygenOS’ individuality, it’s nonetheless an undeniably glorious remodeling of Android that manages to stroll the road between being feature-rich and intuitive to make use of.

There’s minimal bloat, with extras you’re unlikely to show to usually, like OnePlus’ personal browser, Retailer and Neighborhood apps, however past that, the corporate’s flavour of Images, the IR Distant app, Recorder and so forth, are welcome inclusions.

Avid gamers will admire the Sport Toolkit: an in-game overlay that frees up reminiscence, manages energy and contact efficiency, in addition to granting extra management over notifications and different system behaviours, whereas additionally letting you seize your finest gameplay moments.

By no means has AI performance been extra prevalent inside OnePlus’ consumer expertise

OxygenOS already served up snappy interactions, however the extra animations that gown OxygenOS 15 add a degree of polish and element that helps the expertise stand out in opposition to competitors.

It seems to be as if Oppo and OnePlus have been paying notably shut consideration to Apple too, with the brand new Reside Alerts capsule unapologetically mirroring the performance of the iPhone’s Dynamic Island. I do prefer it although, granting fast visibility or management over media playback and the like, with out taking you out of the expertise you’re already interacting with on-screen.

A strong new function that you just gained’t readily discover on every other Android cellphone is a brand new ‘Share with iPhone’ wi-fi file switch function, with those that additionally use Apple’s smartphones or tablets, will undoubtedly take pleasure in making use of. It’s not as seamless or as dependable as Apple-to-Apple AirDrop transfers nevertheless it’s a bridge few others have tried to construct, and that offers these units with it, an edge.

By no means has AI performance been extra prevalent inside OnePlus’ consumer expertise, with the aforementioned photograph instruments being simply one-half of the story. Machine-wide semantic search makes discovering photographs, recordsdata and accessing info inside these recordsdata simpler and extra pure than ever earlier than.

In the meantime, AI Reply can generate responses based mostly on the context of a message thread on-screen, AI Author can generate full copy, based mostly on a immediate of your individual composition, and the AI Assistant in OnePlus’ native Notes app is nice for refining, formatting or remodeling your copy to raised match a unique tone.

Whereas not an AI function in its personal proper, it was the ever-present Sensible Sidebar that I discovered made accessing and leveraging the 13’s AI options enjoyable and helpful. If I used to be on an internet web page, the Sidebar would supply up the AI Reader instrument, if I used to be responding to a pal on Instagram, AI Reply would immediately be made accessible and AI Author popped up at any time when I opened the Notes app.

This dynamic surfacing of AI options is one thing I haven’t readily seen from different cellphone makers and it’s an implementation that I believe finest balances accessibility, with out detracting from present performance; suppose Microsoft’s Clippy, however much less pervasive.

A dedication to 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of safety updates isn’t class-leading, nevertheless it ought to show lengthy sufficient for the typical smartphone consumer, based mostly on immediately’s knowledge surrounding how lengthy individuals hold their telephones earlier than upgrading.

Value & Availability

The OnePlus 13 launched internationally on 7 January 2025, costing £899/$899 for the 256GB mannequin and £999/$999 for the top-tier 512GB variant.

Regional availability comes courtesy of OnePlus instantly, in addition to choose retailers like Amazon UK. Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem like accessible with any service companions at launch, that means it’s finest paired with a SIM-only deal, for those who’re in search of a whole switch-up.

It’s good that OnePlus hasn’t included a generational price-hike, regardless of all that’s new contained in the OnePlus 13.

The beginning worth means it undercuts the likes of the iPhone 16 Professional, Google Pixel 9 Professional and now year-old Samsung Galaxy S24+ (all of which begin at £999), to not point out it’s cheaper than its most like-minded various the Oppo Discover X8 Professional (which begins at £1049).

Try our rankings of the perfect telephones to see the highest choices.

Must you purchase the OnePlus 13?

Regardless of a full month residing with the OnePlus 13, I nonetheless haven’t fallen in love with its seems to be. That’s private and whereas the digital camera wants some work by way of software program updates (a attribute for a lot of OnePlus telephones), the general bundle marks simple worth within the flagship cellphone area.

Its AI implementation is among the many most participating and pleasing to make use of immediately, the efficiency and snappy software program are higher than ever, and outlandish battery longevity, paired with versatile quick charging, places virtually each different cellphone to disgrace.

If you need a greater digital camera expertise, Vivo and Xiaomi ship whereas providing up equally compelling {hardware} when it comes to uncooked efficiency and fashionable battery tech, whereas Samsung, Google and Apple supply totally different and fascinating AI experiences all their very own, for a barely larger worth.

The OnePlus 13 is a wonderful all-rounder that ought to final for years, supplied nerdy-level digital camera efficiency isn’t on the prime of your listing.

Specs

• OxygenOS 15 atop Android 15
• 6.82-inch, 19.8:9, 1440 x 3168, LTPO 4.1 OLED, 1-120Hz
• Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
• 12GB or 16GB RAM (LPDDR5X)
• 256GB or 512GB (UFS 4.0)
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp 1/1.4-inch f/1.6 Sony LYT-808 primary sensor w/ OIS
  • 50Mp 1/2.75-inch f/2.05 Samsung ISOCELL JN5 ultrawide
  • 50Mp 1/1.95-inch f/2.65 Sony LYT-600 3x telephoto w/ OIS
  • 32Mp 1/2.74-inch f/2.45 Sony IMX615 selfie digital camera
• As much as Dolby Imaginative and prescient 4K @ 60fps video recording
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/7
• Bluetooth 5.4
• 6000mAh battery
• 100W SUPERVOOC wired charging
• 50W AIRVOOC wi-fi charging
• Magnetic accent ecosystem
• 162.9 x 76.5 x 8.5mm
• IP68/IP69 licensed
• 210g (Midnight Ocean), 213g (Arctic Daybreak/Black Eclipse)
• Colors: Midnight Ocean, Arctic Daybreak, Black Eclipse