OnePlus 13R Review

The debate of curved screens versus flat screens will continue on, and most flagship devices tend to go with the curved approach. While the OnePlus 13 does get the slight curved edges all around, the OnePlus 13R goes with a more traditional flat-screen approach. Many users actually prefer this, and a high-end phone with this design definitely has some appeal.

The flat screen comes with the appearance of the phone being wider for the screen size, even though the aspect ratio is the same 19.8:9 as on the slightly larger OnePlus 13. The edges are thicker and easier to grip, and the slab-like form factor has some old-school charm. Classic OnePlus elements such as the alert slider and round camera module are firmly in place, so this definitely does look and feel like a OnePlus device.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Ali Pardiwala (@alipardiwala)

The smartphone is available in two colours - Nebula Noir and Astral Trail. While I didn’t mind the design and textures of the back panel of the Astral Trail variant sent to us for review, the Nebula Noir black looks quite a bit better in my opinion. The metal frame might inspire some confidence, but it’s likely you’ll be putting the OnePlus 13R into a protective case anyway.

The OnePlus 13R has nearly as well-specced a display as the OnePlus 13, save for a couple of minor differences. You get a 6.78-inch ProXDR OLED display with a resolution of 2780x1264 pixels - both counts are slightly less than what you get on the OnePlus 13, but not to a point where it makes even a noticeable difference in the experience. 

Other key specifications are the same, making the OnePlus 13R’s display top-notch and on par with what you’d expect to see on devices that cost a lot more. The refresh rate can dynamically adjust between 1Hz and 120Hz thanks to LTPO 4.1, the peak brightness maxes out at 4500 nits under specific conditions, and there is support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats. Even beyond the specifications, this is an excellent screen in practice, and won’t leave you wanting.

Powering the OnePlus 13R is the excellent Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which was introduced to the OnePlus range on the OnePlus 12. It’s a generation old, but it’s still an entirely capable chipset in its own right, and arguably a better performer than most others on the market, including some newer alternatives.

This is combined with 12GB or 16GB of RAM (LPDDR5X) and 256GB or 512GB of storage (UFS 4.0) - both the current flagship standards. Notably, there’s no 8GB RAM and 128GB option on the OnePlus 13R as was the case with its predecessor, although this does mean that the starting price of the product lineup goes up a little bit.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Ali Pardiwala (@alipardiwala)

Coming to connectivity, there’s dual-SIM 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, and Wi-Fi 7 support. On the software front, the OnePlus 13R gets the excellent OxygenOS 15 (based on Android 15) out of the box. These minor step-ups mean that the only thing that is previous-generation on this device is the chipset itself, and even that isn’t something you should be bothered by at this price.

The OnePlus 13R gets a triple-camera setup at the rear, but it’s quite different from the one on the OnePlus 13, even if the megapixel counts seem to match. There’s also so Hasselblad branding and features here, with the 13R sticking to the basics in terms of camera setup and optimisations. That said, it’s a decent camera setup for the price, but not even quite as good as on the similarly-priced Oppo Reno13 Pro.

The 50-megapixel primary camera (Sony LYT-700) is supported by a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (JN5, 2x optical zoom) and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera (112-degree field-of-view). At the front is a 16-megapixel camera. Video recording at up to 4K at 60fps is possible with the rear camera, but unlike on the OnePlus 13, ultra-steady mode drops the resolution and frame rate, and there’s no HDR video recording capability.

Performance itself is decent in well-lit situations, but the OnePlus 13R is a bit iffy in low-light scenarios just like the 13. There’s no action mode, and optical zoom caps out at 2x, so you’ll have to put a bit more effort into getting good shots on this device. The point-and-shoot capabilities are reliable in most scenarios, but you’ll find the OnePlus 13R falling a bit short in even slightly challenging situations, unless you really work at getting the shot right.

ALSO SEE: Oppo Reno13 Pro review

Pictures are sharp and with a decent amount of pop and drama, and fortunately it’s a fairly well-baked experience already. Software updates could improve the overall photography experience over time, but for now you’ll get a fairly reliable photography experience - minus any of the feature frills or above-and-beyond level of performance you can expect on flagship devices.

OnePlus smartphones are known for performance, thanks to fine tuning of the software to the capabilities of the hardware, as well as using excellent hardware to start with. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is an excellent mobile chipset in its own right, and the fact that it’s a generation old doesn’t really make much of a difference in the larger scheme of things, especially at a starting price of under Rs. 45,000. 

Combined with the current-generation RAM and storage standards, and the excellent OxygenOS 15 and Trinity Engine software optimisation suite, the OnePlus 13R is geared for top-notch performance from the get-go. App loading times are negligible, processes and frequently used apps are kept ready to go thanks to enough buffer RAM, and you’ll get a bit of a boost when needed, such as when loading up resource-heavy games.

This level of performance would cost you close to Rs. 60,000 not even a year ago, so the fact that it’s available at this price now makes this a great value proposition. The OnePlus 13 is obviously better, but for most things you’ll get a similar level of capabilities and performance on the OnePlus 13R at a considerably lower price. The 16GB RAM and 512GB storage variant is my recommendation for appropriate future-proofing, but the 12GB RAM and 256GB option should also be fine and is arguably better value for money.

ALSO SEE: Google Pixel 9 Pro review

The OnePlus 13R gets a 6000mAh battery like the OnePlus 13, but the big difference here is that it’s a single-cell configuration. This makes for slightly better battery life than on the 13, which is obviously helped along by the fact that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be slightly more energy efficient than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. It was fairly easy to get over a day of use between charges even with moderate use, stretching to around two days with light use.

The drawback of a single-cell design is that charging isn’t as fast, for the safety of the battery. While the OnePlus 13R gets 80W SuperVOOC fast wired charging, a full charge without smart rapid charging would still take a bit over an hour. Burst charging is a bit slower, but not significantly so; it’ll still charge faster than most similarly-priced phones, and do so safely as well. No wireless charging is a bit disappointing on a device at this price in 2025, though.

The OnePlus 13R is, like its predecessor, an extremely sensible smartphone to buy. It isn’t expensive, but it’s not really a mid-range device either; you get almost everything you’d expect from a flagship device in 2025. The differences between the OnePlus 13 and 13R aren’t massive either - step up to the flagship only if you want a better camera and the current-generation Qualcomm chipset.

If value-for-money is the priority, you won’t find a better device than the OnePlus 13R in 2025. This is a true all-rounder of a smartphone, held back only by the lack of camera frills and the absence of wireless charging. The flat-screen design will also appeal to many who want it that way, giving this phone a lot of solid reasons to be bought right now.