OnePlus 13 review: A worthy rival to the big names

 I have been daily driving the OnePlus 13 for almost a month now. So far, it has received 3 major updates, especially camera-focused updates, and I think this is the perfect time for me to give you my full experience.  If you look at the latest flagships from Samsung and Apple, I think they have been super lazy – You will find very little innovation & they are quite boring upgrades if I am being completely honest.  Which means this is a Perfect opportunity for OnePlus to shine and I feel that’s what OnePlus did this year with this phone. In previous years, the gap between the OnePlus flagship, to from the iPhone and Samsung used to be quite big, but this year they have closed that gap quite well.  Plus, they haven't increased the price. It still starts at 70,000 rupees, which is almost half the price of the newly launched S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max.  And, if you look at this comparison between the OnePlus 13 and OPPO Find X8 Pro, you will see that these two phones are practically the same except that OnePlus doesn't have a dedicated 6X zoom lens. But the OnePlus 13 is like 30,000 cheaper. So, yeah, if you are thinking of getting the OPPO Find X8 Pro, just don’t! 

OnePlus 13 Specifications:

• Display: 6.82-inch BOE X2 OLED, 8T LTPO, 1-120Hz, Dolby Vision, 2160Hz PWM dimming
• Resolution: QHD+ 2K (3168 x 1440 pixels)
• SoC: Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm)
• OS: OxygenOS 15 based on Android 15
• Memory: Up to 24GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB UFS 4.0 storage
• Rear Camera: Triple
  • 50MP Sony LYT-808 primary, 23mm equivalent,  ƒ/1.6, OIS, PDAF
  • 50MP Samsung JN5 ultrawide, 15mm equivalent,  ƒ/2.2, AF
  • 50MP Sony LYT 600 Telephoto, 73mm equivalent, 3x Optical zoom, 120x Digital zoom, ƒ/2.6, OIS, AF
• Selfie: 32MP, ƒ/2.4
• Battery: 6000mAh Silicon Carbide cell
• Charging: 100W wired, 50W wireless, 10W wireless reversed
• Biometric: Fingerprint (ultrasonic), Face Unlock (2D)

OnePlus 13 Review

Design 

Anyway, with the OnePlus 13, I like the small improvements they have made this year. First of all, we get a proper IP68 / IP69 dust and water resistance which was missing in the last 3 generations of the OnePlus flagship phones.  There’s also this new Ceramic Guard Glass protection for display, which is OnePlus’s proprietary tech, but I am not 100% sure if this is more robust than Apple’s Ceramic Sheild or Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Jerry Rig says it still scratches at level 6 with deeper grooves at Level 7, so it's nothing new!  However, I like the overall design and the hands-on feel of the OnePlus 13. I found it to be very comfortable to hold and the side curves on the back help with a nice grip. It's not as heavy as something like the VIVO X200 Pro, and the weight distribution is fantastic here.   I also love this material on the back. OnePlus says they have used the industry's first microfiber vegan leather, which is typically found in high-end furniture and vehicle interiors.  OnePlus has also upgraded the fingerprint sensor from an optical one to a more secure & reliable ultrasonic sensor. And I like how fast it is and the position is also located in a perfect spot. So, yeah, overall, an A+ in terms of design and build quality. 

Display

The display of the OnePlus 13 is also an easy A+. Display Mate has rated this display with an A++ rating. And even in my use, I found this display to be on par with what you get with other flagships.  It has all sorts of HDR support, there’s High PWM dimming, it's super color-accurate with a fast touch response and the display works surprisingly well even if my hands are wet – OnePlus says its second-gen Aqua Touch and I found it to be more usable than what we found on last year’s OnePlus 12.   The OnePlus 13 is also plenty bright for both indoors and outdoors, although it's not as bright as my S25 Ultra or Pixel 9 Pro XL. Those are slightly brighter outdoors.  Regardless, the display experience here is top-notch. OnePlus has paired it with an excellent set of vibration motors; one of the things we often overlook. 

Audio and Haptics

I think it has the best haptics alongside the Pixel 9 Pro XL. So, typing on this thing, and interacting with the UI is so good.  I have also observed slightly better tweaks in the speaker department. It has very good loudness with a wider frequency range than what you get from a vivo and even an OPPO flagship. It's not better than the iPhone and Samsung, but close enough. 

Performance and UI

Another best thing about the OnePlus 13 is of course the performance. We all know how big of an improvement this new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip brings over last year’s SD 8 Gen 3, but the way OnePlus has optimized its UI and that perceived animation – everything just flows here.  For me, this is easily the fastest and the most optimized phone of 2025 right now!  There are also plenty of AI features now, which we used to only find on Samsung phones until last year.  There’s a circle to search, AI Eraser and a quick swipe from the right here will open a sidebar where I can use AI Summary, AI Speak, and AI Write. It's quite easy and intuitive. The only thing I wish the OnePlus 13 did when it comes to software is, maybe they could have provided 5 years of OS since we are getting 7 years of commitment from Samsung and Pixel, but 4 years is still not that bad.  By the way, the OnePlus 13 has one of the biggest vapor chamber cooling solutions on a smartphone and I have never found it to overheat or get warm. Even when gaming, I have never seen its thermals reach above 40 degrees, even after 40 minutes of PuBG or Genshin Impact. The average fps and stability are also so much better now, and by now I mean after all the updates. Especially if you are a pro-PubG player, you will notice that the rendering in tight areas is now almost as good as iPhones.  

Battery and Charging

OnePlus 13’s battery life is also amazing. OnePlus is working with EV battery tech giant CATL to bring a Si-Ca battery with high-energy density, meaning the 6000mAh cell that the OnePlus 13 has, is smaller than the 5500mAh one we found on last year’s OnePlus 12. With this bigger 6000mAh battery, I am constantly getting 9 to 10 hours of SOT Vs like the 7 to 8 hours I used to get before with OP12. Even on days when I am clicking a lot of photos, the OnePlus 13 still gave me like 7 to 8 hours of SOT.   OnePlus also offers a 100W charger inside the box which can go from 0 to 100% in just 35 minutes. And even using my 65W PD charger from U-green, it's not too slow. It can go from 0 to 100% in about 50 mins.  A small announcement guys – I am coming up with an in-depth battery comparison involving all the flagship phones of 2025 – So I know you are interested in that video, so do subscribe and hit the bell icon!  Ok, now let's look at the scoreboard, here the OnePlus 13 has an A+ design, A+ display, A+ performance, A+ Haptics, and A+ battery, but how about cameras? That has always been like a B for OnePlus flagship in the past.  But after receiving a total of three camera-focused updates, I can rate the photography side of the OnePlus 13 as a solid A-. Yes, it's not quite as reliable as the other expensive flagship phones, but what I CAN tell you is, that OnePlus has put in a lot of energy in making the camera better this time. 

Camera

Now, if you look at the specs, things might not look particularly interesting because the OnePlus 13 comes with the same Sony LTY 808 sensor and the same Ultra-wide camera as before. The only thing that’s changed is the 3x zoom lens which is now a Sony sensor Vs Omnivision on the OnePlus 12.  As an outcome, the photos I am getting from this new 3x periscope camera are quite impressive – be it the portraits, the 3x zoom shots or macros. They have nice background blur, nice details, and most importantly good highlight management.  I even compared the 3X portraits to the more expensive OPPO Find X8 Pro and to my surprise, OnePlus’s portraits come out quite comparable. The only difference is a little variation in colors and that’s it! Details are better on OnePlus!  The one thing this 3X camera lacks is, it can’t go too close for those close-range macro shots.  Anyway, Normal daylight photos from its main camera look better optimized in terms of details, highlights and colors than before. Previously, OnePlus always used to make the photos too bright, so yeah it looks like OnePlus’s collaboration with Hasselblad is finally seeing the light of day.  And the good news is, there isn’t that big of a difference in colour processing from its 3 lenses either. Oh, and the ultra-wide photos also have decent details. Dynamic range and highlights are on point with fairly well-preserved details too.    However, there are 3 things I will complain about in the photography aspect. First, the OnePlus 13 sometimes tends to be inconsistent with colours during nighttime. The details are good, the exposure maintenance and all is good but just the colours get messed up sometimes, like in this picture where the reds are unnecessarily red.  Second is, since it does not have a dedicated 6x lens, 6x zoom photos and beyond that are quite average. Third, I think the selfies could have been better. The colors and dynamic range are pretty decent, but you don't get autofocus here and the details are not that amazing.  Other than that I am more than happy with the camera results on the OnePlus 13. You also get decent videography prowess, at least from the main lens. You can shoot nice videos with decent stabilization at 4k 60 fps from the rear camera and even the selfie camera.  I wouldn’t say the ultra-wide videos are very impressive at 4k though, the camera struggles with dynamic range and sharp details.  There is a small test I always do to check how good the Ultrawide lens is on a flagship phone. I click nighttime ultra-wide videos at 4K 60fps, which, as i feel is not the best from the OnePlus 13.  I also found it very strange to see the OnePlus 13 lacking some other modern-day video features like Portrait videos or Log videos. So, yes, OnePlus has improved the photography side with the OnePlus 13 – jumping from B to A-, but the videos are still like “B” in my opinion. 

OnePlus 13 Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Premium design
• A++ display
• Strong performance and great UI
• Long-lasting battery and fast charging.
• Improved camera
• Great haptics and audio.

Cons:

• Inconsistent low-light color accuracy.
• No 6x zoom, average selfie camera.
• Weak ultra-wide video in low light.

OnePlus 13 Review Conclusion

But despite the obvious disadvantages in a couple of areas, the OnePlus 13 is a solid all-around flagship phone, costing almost half the price of the flagship. It's so good & matured now that I think you should avoid getting the regular S25, the iPhone 16, Pixel 9 and even their BBK siblings like the IQOO 13, OPPO Find X8 or VIVO X200.  So yes, I really think OnePlus has closed the gap with the Ultra and Pro Max this year.  Next year, I however do want to see OnePlus improve the videography side and bring that 200MP 3.7X Samsung HP9 telephoto lens from VIVO X200 Pro, copy and paste it into the OnePlus flagship, which would genuinely make OnePlus the ultimate flagship killer! 

• Meanwhile, check out our review of the Realme 14 Pro+