I have spent the better part of the last three months using the OnePlus 13 daily, and it
has only impressed me more the longer I have used it. You can read my review of the
OnePlus 12 from last year to get an idea of where OnePlus is today as a brand and a
smartphone manufacturer. The short version: it is abundantly clear that the brand is on
the upswing, even though the company seems uninterested in updating its OnePlus
Open foldable to match the upcoming Oppo Find N5 from its sister company under the
BBK Group umbrella. That aside, OnePlus has become a manufacturer that can both
deliver quality and performance; the theme with the OnePlus 13 has been to improve on
both of those dimensions while also adding durability to the equation.
OnePlus 13 specs, design, and camera
While the overall design of the OnePlus 13 remains the same as the 12, the new model
features significant upgrades across the board. While the display size remains 6.8
inches, there is a BOE X2 OLED panel with 33% more brightness than the OnePlus 12
(800 nits compared to 600). Both offer peak brightness of 4500 nits as well. The
OnePlus 13 also upgrades the SoC to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is a huge leap
over the OnePlus 12’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, delivering 25% better performance and 20% better power efficiency. OnePlus has maintained 12GB as the standard RAM
capacity, but now offers the option of up to 24GB on the OnePlus 13. All of this is
powered by a 6000 mAh silicon-carbon battery, which represents 30% more capacity
than the battery in the OnePlus 12, all while fitting in a slim body thanks to using a much
more efficient processor. OnePlus also accomplished this while making the OnePlus 13
lighter and thinner than the OnePlus 12. While I admire companies that try to make
phones slimmer and lighter every generation, hitting that goal should never be at the
cost of innovation — and clearly OnePlus has been able to achieve the right balance
with the OnePlus 13.
OnePlus also upgraded the cameras for this generation, following a common formula
across many Android OEMs of using 50 MP sensors across ultrawide, wide-angle, and
telephoto lenses. The front-facing camera is a 32MP Samsung IMX615, while the main
wide-angle camera is a Sony LYT-808 sensor with quad Bayer pixel binning. The
ultrawide sensor is a Samsung S5KJN5, and the telephoto is a Sony LYT-600. The LYT-
600 is a resolution downgrade from the 64MP sensor in the OnePlus 12, but it also has
much better low-light performance, making up for the loss in resolution.
Overall, these camera specs are quite decent, although I believe that a second 5x
telephoto would really round out the camera in a way that would compete directly with
other flagship Android phones. Where this phone pulls away from the pack is with 4K60
Dolby Vision HDR on all cameras; this even works when video stabilization is enabled,
which is something I have never seen on any other phone except the Oppo Find X8
from OnePlus’s sibling company.
The OnePlus 13 also comes with industry-leading durability with an IP69 waterproof
rating, which is increasingly becoming a standard feature for new smartphones. This
means that the phone is sealed even from water jets, which the company demonstrated
for a group I was in at the OnePlus Offshore event using a portable dishwasher. IP69
does have limitations, however, since it does not apply to saltwater or above certain
temperatures (170 degrees Fahrenheit). While I am not confident enough to use my
phone without a case, this phone does also come with some really nicely manufactured
matching cases, including the very nice blue carbon fiber case that matches my blue
OnePlus 13 review unit.
OnePlus 13 experience and performance
As I have used it over the past few months, the OnePlus has delivered an incredible
experience. I began using the OnePlus 13 on a cruise through the Bahamas organized
by OnePlus. OnePlus worked closely with Google to implement the latest version of
Gemini AI that also runs on Pixel and Samsung devices. It has upleveled the AI
experience on the device and, during the period I was testing it, OnePlus added real-
time translation as a feature. There are plenty of AI enhancements to the camera, although those have been present in many phones for a while and don’t deliver anything
particularly new other than continually improved camera quality. That said, OnePlus is
deploying a pretty advanced AI zoom enhancement to sharpen low-resolution digital
zoomed photos beyond 30x. On the audio side, there is also summarization for
recordings and a clever directional recording mode designed to eliminate noise based
on where the phone is pointed.
The phone’s strong AI performance is a testament to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite,
which is by far the fastest processor I have tested on Android and even competes with
Apple’s A18 Pro. In comparison to the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16, single-core
performance is 10% slower and multi-core is about 5% faster, per GeekBench 6 CPU
benchmarking. I would consider that to be competitive.
Speaking of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, this is the first phone I have tested that has it, and
the performance has been absolutely unreal. This chip is truly the mobile chip that
Qualcomm promised it would be, taking full advantage of the Oryon CPU cores that
came from Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia. The Snapdragon 8 Elite uses second-
generation Oryon CPU cores, a follow-on to the PC Snapdragon X Elite chips that had
first-generation Oryon. Qualcomm is already teeing up third-generation Oryon cores for
use in PCs later this year.
Getting back to the camera, one of my favorite ways to evaluate a camera is by how
good it is at capturing children. I used this camera extensively while trying to photograph
my now one-year-old daughter and it produced super sharp images, which is hard to
accomplish with babies that are always moving. The OnePlus 13 is also the first phone
that has a long-exposure mode that actually lets me choose the length of the exposure
rather than having the device select it automatically. I was also able to use the action
mode of the phone paired with the slow-motion capability to capture some incredible
belly-flop images at the pool, among other really sharp images that I’m not sure I’d get
on any other phone. I deeply love this camera, and the only thing really holding it back
in my opinion is the previously mentioned lack of a good 5x optical (or more) telephoto
lens. I like to zoom a lot in my smartphone photography, which is why I like the
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra so much. Unfortunately, the 3x zoom with 6x sensor crop on
the OnePlus just isn’t good enough for me. Even with the AI-enhanced zoom,
sometimes it comes off as very fake and washed out.
While I never fully submerged the phone, it did survive numerous splashes during the bellyflop contest, and I wouldn’t really worry about dunking it in water, considering its IP69 rating. If anything, I would probably just make sure to get a case for it, even though the design of the phone is gorgeous, especially if you get the matching blue earbuds from OnePlus. I’m a big fan of OnePlus’s first-party cases, especially since it’s not as big of a brand as Samsung or Apple, so the available third-party cases aren’t as good. There is also a matching blue carbon-fiber aramid case, and even a matching band for the new Watch 3, if you really like that navy color scheme.
Battery life and charging
I did not run a proper battery-life test on this phone because typically I just use a phone as I normally would and review it based on that experience. However, this phone’s battery life is so incredibly good that I wasn’t able to kill it over the course of a day. Every time I tried to use it for a full day, let’s say about 12 hours, I would end up with around 55% to 60% battery left at bedtime. Other reviewers have tested it using battery-life benchmarks and, while benchmarks do vary, it finished in the top three of almost everyone’s testing, even winning in the Tom’s Guide assessment against the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The OnePlus 13 also has among the best wired and wireless charging performance of any phone in the U.S. market — basically triple the speed for both wireless and wired charging compared to most devices, and still twice as fast as the 45W charger on the Samsung Galaxy S series. OnePlus supplies an 80W charger (100W on 220V) for U.S. customers and also offers a 100W charger for U.S. 110V plugs for an extra $50. These are great specs and reasonable prices for the U.S. market, especially when you consider how few companies include any chargers — let alone fast chargers — in the box. If you broaden that to the world, the OnePlus is still fast, but there are many others with more than 100W charging for wired and more than 50W for wireless.
OnePlus also bundled a 50W magnetic charger with my review unit, which is an $80 accessory that allows you to comfortably charge the device and actively cool the wireless charging while you use it; this enables unlimited gaming without worrying about battery life. That said, the battery life on this phone is so absurd that this add-on is almost unnecessary. The downside is that these are all proprietary chargers, which is a bummer in my opinion. But if you’re solidly into the OnePlus ecosystem, it does deliver a great experience. That said, I would’ve liked to have Qi2 charging compatibility, but it seems like lots of manufacturers are holding off on that for some reason.
Conclusion: The OnePlus 13 is a great phone
The OnePlus 13 is no longer a flagship-killer but rather a flagship standard-setting phone across the board, with world-class specs, performance, battery life, and design. I was already impressed with the OnePlus 12 last year, but the company really upped the ante with the new model’s improved durability, Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, and silicon-carbon battery. The camera is truly world-class, produces gorgeous images, and shoots some of the best-looking video with 4K60 HDR across all sensors and camera modes.
The OnePlus 13 truly has set the bar for Android phones in 2025 and has proven that sometimes incremental improvements can make all the difference when compromises aren’t made. This might be the first time that OnePlus’s “Never Settle” motto really sticks in my mind when reviewing a OnePlus phone. At this point, I just feel like we’re nitpicking about things like Qi2 charging and an additional 5x telephoto to find room for improvement.
