OnePlus 13 review

The design on typical smartphones doesn’t change much, given the requirements of users and how we’ve collectively gotten used to big devices for the sake of more screen real-estate. Indeed, the OnePlus 13 isn’t a big change in any way; if anything, it’s going back to a more traditional look and feel without taking away too much in terms of hardware capabilities.

Curved screens are a touchy topic, and while I personally quite like them, many people find heavy curves to be inconvenient because of the tendency to cause more accidental touches. The OnePlus 13 has a quad curved screen as before, but the curves are considerably less prominent. Usefully, the signature alert slider remains in place as well, and everything else is fairly standard in terms of ports, speakers, microphones, and more.

 

 

 

 

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It’s the same story at the back, and as a result, the OnePlus 13 feels flatter and has wider sides, even if the overall thickness doesn’t change much. I don’t mind it, and if anything the phone sits a bit better in a protective case because of it. If you aren’t using a case (or if you opt for a transparent case) you’ll also be able to see the Hasselblad logo alongside the triple-camera module at the rear.

The OnePlus 13 is available in three colours at launch - blue, white, and black - with the former featuring a microfibre vegan leather finish and the latter two getting classic solid matte finishes. The OnePlus 13 is also the first device from the brand to get a proper IP rating for dust and water resistance (even if previous phones were technically up to those rating levels anyway), and is rated for both IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance. This means that it can handle not only full water immersion (IP68) but also high-pressure water sprays at high temperatures (IP69).

There isn’t a major change in the display on the OnePlus 13 as compared to the OnePlus 12 when it comes to the core specifications. You get a 6.82-inch 3168x1440 pixel (QHD+) ProXDR OLED display on the new phone, with an aspect ratio of 19.8:9; this is the same as the display on the OnePlus 12. However, the 13 looks and feels a bit wider than the 12, and this is because of the difference in the curved edges.

ALSO SEE: OnePlus Pad 2 review

While the OnePlus 12 has a much more pronounced curve, the OnePlus 13 gets a very mild curve that makes the phone look a bit wider and flatter. It’s not a bad thing, since it gives the user a bit more grip on the edges and reduces the chances of accidental touches at the edges of the screen. If you’re using a protective case (which you probably will be doing), the flatter screen makes it a bit easier to use edge gestures on Android.

The display itself is among the best you can get on an Android smartphone right now, in terms of resolution and sharpness, brightness, and colours. Peak brightness is a pretty wild 4500 nits (achievable in certain situations when auto-brightness is on), while LTPO tech lets the refresh rate range between 1-120Hz, which allows for low-energy always-on mode during standby. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support means that it’s a great option for on-the-go content viewing as well.

OnePlus flagship devices always run the latest and greatest from Qualcomm, and that’s the Snapdragon 8 Elite for 2025. Needless to say that this is a powerhouse chipset that delivers top-tier performance on the OnePlus 13, especially when you combine it with plenty of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.

On the review unit sent to me, I got 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage - both more than enough for most requirements on a flagship smartphone even in 2025. However, if you want to be suitably future-proofed or have a tendency to keep a lot of local data (such as images and high-res videos) on device, you can opt for the super-powered 24GB RAM and 1TB variant. In terms of connectivity, you get full-fledged 5G with two nano-SIM slots as well as eSIM compatibility. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 are supported as well.

The OnePlus 13 comes with OxygenOS 15 (based on Android 15) out of the box. It’s among the best custom overlays for Android you can get right now, not only in terms of features but also when it comes to performance and stability. 

OxygenOS adds some rather useful features that you don’t typically see on stock Android, and there’s also very little bloatware to bother you. Some of the notable ones that I’ve found rather useful are the ability to pause recurring alarms for just one day rather than turn them off entirely (and then potentially forget to turn them back on), OnePlus’ excellent Clone Phone tool, and the useful set of always-on display themes, including the ‘seamless’ option which smoothens the animations when waking the phone. 

ALSO SEE: Google Pixel 9 Pro review

You’re also assured reliable software updates, and the OnePlus 13 comes with a promise of four years of software updates and six years of security updates. OxygenOS 15 also looks great, when it comes to design, layout, and icons.

OnePlus hasn’t typically been at the lead of the camera charge in the smartphone space, and most people will agree that there are a handful of brands that do camera performance better. However, that’s not to say that OnePlus is bad at the camera game. There have been continuous attempts to improve, and while earlier devices relied on subsequent software updates to improve camera performance, the OnePlus 13 is fairly well-set in this department already.

The Hasselblad camera system returns, and indeed the camera performance on the OnePlus 13 is  slightly better than on the OnePlus 12. It’s still not quite at the level of the key competition in the flagship smartphone space, but it’s almost there. Those who choose OnePlus for the performance, software, and competitive pricing (as compared to the much more expensive flagships from competing brands) won’t mind the camera performance at all.

You get a 50-megapixel primary camera with the Sony LYT-808 sensor, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. At the front is a 32-megapixel single camera

In most situations - when there’s enough natural light - the OnePlus 13 will deliver decent pictures. There’s a definite tendency to add a bit of drama in the form of extended dynamic range, but that’s not a bad thing in my opinion. Don’t expect serious accuracy, but it does make for some artistic flair that will work well for your Instagram posts.

A key new feature on the camera setup of the OnePlus 13 is Action Mode, which helps to photograph fast moving subjects, and also enables panning photography to capture focused shots of the subject while blurring the background for artistic effect. The mode worked well for the few shots that I tried it, but the reduction of shutter speed in this mode means that’s it’s best used in good natural light.

Low-light photography on the OnePlus 13 is still a bit of a hit-or-miss situation. If there’s a bit of artificial light to work with, or if you’re shooting into the distance, you might still get somewhat acceptable results. However, if you’re shooting in relative darkness, the camera tends to over-brighten the image through extended exposure and post-processing, and typically turned out results that didn’t look much like the original scene at all. There’s still some room to improve here.

Where the OnePlus 13 delivers reasonably well is zoom photography. The 3x optical zoom gets you close enough when shooting from a distance, but you can go higher while still getting decent shots. Beyond 10x zoom, the AI telephoto functionality kicks in, which attempts to stabilise and correct images that would otherwise be shaky or grainy. It works well enough if you see yourself going that far into the zoom often.

For video recording, the OnePlus 13 can use all that processing power for plenty of shooting modes and resolutions. You can record 8K video at 30fps, 4K video at 60fps (even in the ultra-steady shooting mode), and even Dolby Vision HDR at up to 4K at 60fps. If you’re a fan of slow-motion video clips, you can go as high as 480fps at 720p, while Timelapse videos record at 4K. As such, there’s plenty you can do with the cameras, and you get decent results most of the time.

The chipset powering a smartphone largely dictates how it will perform with most tasks, and it’s safe to say that smartphones running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset will be among the best performing devices in 2025. The OnePlus 13 sticks to tradition and adopts the flagship Qualcomm chipset for smartphones again, delivering top-tier performance in the process.

Combined with the efficiency of OxygenOS and plenty of available RAM, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite helps drive the OnePlus 13 through just about anything you’ll need. It’s fast, efficient, good at multitasking and app switching, and does all of this without any noticeable stutter. 

Improvements to the Trinity Engine system for process handling also seem to help speed things up, especially switching quickly between multiple apps. App loads are near-instant on the OnePlus 13; if anything, it’s the data or Wi-Fi connection taking a while to load actual content which holds the device back most of the time. It’s more than enough to handle most apps and even resource-heavy games or graphics processes.

ALSO SEE: Vivo X200 Pro review

The OnePlus 13 has a 6000mAh dual-cell battery (3000mAh each), and supports 100W fast wired charging (the right SuperVOOC adapter is included in the box). There is also support 50W wireless charging when using the optional AirVOOC charger, which interestingly has a built-in fan system to keep the device cool while charging. The battery itself can last a full day even with heavy use, and even longer on days that you don’t use the phone too much or skip any process-heavy functions like gaming.

The convenience of fast 100W charging, especially when combined with the software-based smart rapid charging feature, is a game-changer. While a full charge would take a bit over an hour, it usually helped to go from around 30-40 percent to a full charge, which usually took no longer than 40 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

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This burst charging technique meant that I could usually get to a safe point quickly before any outing, and even if I forgot to charge, even a 30 percent battery level would be enough to last 5-6 hours on the go. The dual-cell design lets the battery charge quickly and safely, with bearable heat generation.

Smart rapid charging essentially decides how fast to charge the phone, depending on the time of day. A charge in the middle of the day will usually be quick since the OnePlus 13 figures that you need a burst of charge, while overnight charging is typically slower and safer for the battery. It does get a bit warm when fast charging, but it isn’t anything to worry about; the phone cools quickly once off the charger and doesn’t run hot for most day-to-day tasks.

OnePlus has been in the news for bad reasons of late, and has definitely suffered at the hands of the trust deficit created by the green-line issue. However, the solution has now been implemented, and the OnePlus 13 rather conveniently comes in soon after - fully baked, with practically no bugs and issues to be seen, and with the benefit of the already-tested OxygenOS 15. 

It’s a reliable and formidable package on the whole, delivering handsomely when it comes to design, display, performance, charging and battery life. The camera, while still not quite matching up to the flagship-tier competition, is improved nonetheless, and will provide decent results most of the time. At Rs. 69,999 onwards, the OnePlus 13 is also sensibly priced, and the kind of phone you can count on to serve you reliably for a few years.