At a time when premium flagship smartphones fetch an exorbitant amount of money, OnePlus continues to impress with its specced-out devices that don’t require breaking the bank. Although the new OnePlus 13 demands a premium of Rs 5,000 over its predecessor, it makes some key upgrades that secure its place in the upper echelon of smartphones. The display is brighter than ever, there’s IP69 protection onboard, and the new 6,000 Si/C battery can easily power the smartphone for an entire day and then some more. Not to mention, it runs on the new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which is Qualcomm’s flagship processor for 2025. We got our hands on the smartphone soon after it was launched and have been using it as our daily driver for the last 10 days. Here is our comprehensive review of the OnePlus 13.
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OnePlus 13 Review: Design and Display
Here’s what you’ll find inside the OnePlus 13’s retail box:
- Smartphone
- 100W power adapter
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- Opaque silicone case
- SIM ejector
- Phone seal stickers
- Quick guide
OnePlus has ditched the outer panel around the camera module for a cleaner and minimal look. The circular camera module sits on the top left section of the back panel, with the Hasselblad branding to its right. This positioning causes the smartphone to wobble when it is placed on a flat surface. A centrally aligned camera unit would’ve eliminated the wobble but it would’ve come at the cost of the smartphone looking more like its Oppo and Vivo counterparts. While we do like the minimal look, it doesn’t exactly ooze a lot of personality. We used the Arctic Dawn (White) colour variant for this review, but the Midnight Ocean (Blue) and Black Eclipse (Black) variants are more exciting options.
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The changes to the form factor are certainly more welcome. The aluminium rails are now flatter and have smooth curves around the corners. The back panel and display curve slightly towards the frame. The matte finish on the back is soft to the touch and lends the smartphone an exquisite in-hand feel. The tri-state alert slider sits on its traditional spot on the left edge of the frame. The right edge houses the volume rocker keys and the side button. Up top lie the secondary microphone and speaker along with an IR blaster. The SIM tray, USB slot, primary microphone, and speaker grille are positioned on the bottom edge.
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The familiar 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display remains largely unchanged from the previous iteration of the smartphone but it now packs an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor which is leagues ahead of optical units. A simple tap on the display is enough to unlock it – even when the lock screen isn’t active. The overall touch response of this display is very satisfying as it registers even the lightest of touches. The curves along the sides of the panel are very subtle compared to the OnePlus 12. We did not experience any accidental touches on the OnePlus 13 during the review period.
Out of the box, the display is set to an adaptive refresh rate. You can set it to 120Hz or dial it down to 60Hz from display settings. The resolution is set to 2,376 x 1,080p by default and can be taken up to 3,168 x 1,440p. There’s an option to set app-specific refresh rates as well. There are a couple of video enhancement features like Image Sharpener and Video Colour Boost to enhance the media-viewing experience.
We streamed numerous movies and TV shows across popular OTT platforms while reviewing the OnePlus 13. The smartphone delighted us with excellent image quality and vivid colours. It offers a wide range of viewing angles, which means you don’t need to prop the phone in awkward positions when you’re lying on the sofa and binging on content. The stereo speaker setup produces a well-rounded audio output.
An IP69 rating for dust and water protection is a very welcome change on the OnePlus 13. The smartphone can survive being underwater up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. This is a big improvement over the measly IP65 rating on the OnePlus 12.
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OnePlus 13 Review: Performance and Cameras
Powering the OnePlus 13 is Qualcomm’s most powerful chipset on the market right now – Snapdragon 8 Elite. We ran a couple of benchmark tests on the smartphone. Here is how it performed:
- Geekbench 6: 3,012 (single-core) | 8,901 (multi-core)
- AnTuTu: 2,274,509
OnePlus 13 is available in 3 RAM (LPDDR5X) and Storage (UFS 4.0) variants:
- 12GB + 256GB: Rs 69,999
- 16GB + 512GB: Rs 76,999
- 24GB + 1TB: Rs 89,999 (Available in the Black Eclipse colour scheme only)
The jump in performance facilitated by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is immediately noticeable on the OnePlus 13. The smartphone crushes any task you throw at it while juggling multiple things in the background. We ran YouTube and Reddit in multi-screen mode at the same time for an hour and did not hit a single roadblock. The performance remained smooth and jitter-free the entire time. The device does not break a sweat even with multiple apps running in the background. You can shoot an email while also using Google Maps navigation and streaming songs on Spotify without having to worry about any unexpected app crashes.
The gaming performance is top-tier as well, even though OnePlus does not market its flagship offering as a gaming phone. During the review period, we played titles like Call of Duty and BGMI on the OnePlus 13 and were pleased with the performance. While it may not have a 144Hz display as the iQOO 13 (our review here), the 120Hz panel offered a brilliant touch response and ensured that even the most subtle touches were registered in the game. The smartphone’s Cryo-velocity cooling system ensured that thermal throttling was kept to a minimum. We noticed a slight warmth on the camera bump after 40 minutes of gameplay.
Software duties on the OnePlus 13 are handled by the Android 15-based OxygenOS 15. OnePlus has promised 4 major OS upgrades (which will take it up to Android 19) and 6 years of security patches. While this doesn’t match up to Samsung’s 7-year OS upgrade policy for its flagships, it is acceptable nonetheless.
OxygenOS 15 offers a clean and snappy software experience on the OnePlus 13. There are a wide range of customisation options for the lock screen, home page, Always On Display, app layout, wallpaper, fingerprint sensor, and more. Privacy features like app lock, private safe, and system cloner put OxygenOS 15 ahead of its peers.
While OxygenOS 15 has not taken a massive leap in terms of AI features, the ones that are present on the OnePlus 13 have been executed tastefully. There is no central hub for AI on the smartphone – the features are intricately woven into the software and are presented whenever necessary. For instance, you can pull out the sidebar while reading an article and use AI to summarise or dictate it. If you’re texting on WhatsApp, the ‘AI Reply’ feature on the sidebar reads the conversation and comes up with suitable replies. While it is quite neat to see a smartphone do this, it feels invasive.
The native photo editor can boost the details and enhance the clarity of images while also getting rid of unwanted objects, blur, shadows, and reflections. While AI removal works great for small objects, the results are inconsistent when the object is large or against a busy background. Google still leads the pack with its Magic Eraser.
However, when it comes to battery performance, the OnePlus 13 is several leagues ahead of the flagship phones offered by Apple, Samsung, and Google. The fact that OnePlus was able to pack a 6,000mAh battery in this smartphone while also making it thinner than its predecessor is a testament to its excellent engineering. The Silicon-carbon battery in the smartphone is smaller than the Li-Po units and holds more charge.
During the review period, we pushed the OnePlus 13 to its limits. This meant pinning the refresh rate at 120Hz, dialling up the screen resolution to 3,168 x 1,440p, using Always On Display, and applying the video-enhancing features. The smartphone coasted an entire day with ease, even after racking up a screen time of almost 9 hours. With a 4-hour screen time, we were left with a 40% charge at the end of the day. It is safe to say that OnePlus 13 is easily a 2-day phone. The 100W power adapter provided in the box can fully charge it in just over 30 minutes.
OnePlus 13 delivers a solid camera performance that is consistent across all 4 lenses on this device. The rear camera array comprises a 50MP Sony LYT-808 primary shooter, a 50MP ultrawide lens, and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Up front, the 32MP selfie camera is housed inside a punch-hole cutout.
The 50MP primary shooter captures sharp, detailed images in outdoor daylight conditions. The images are bright and showcase balanced colours. The dynamic range and contrast levels are on point. The smartphone preserves the natural look of the scene in the pictures. We like that the results don’t look overprocessed. However, when it comes to exposing the sky, we felt this sensor could have done a better job. The hues and the tones of the sky feel ever-so-slightly washed.
In limited lighting conditions, this camera does a good job of brightening the subject and removing the grain from the images. It assigns accurate colours to the objects and the scene. However, in certain scenarios, it can overbrighten the areas with external light falling on them.
The 50MP ultrawide lens matches the performance of the primary shooter. The colours remain natural and the images pack a lot of detail. There is no visible softness in the images. However, in limited lighting, the images are a little grainy and dark.
The 50MP telephoto lens produces excellent results at 3x optical zoom. The images are sharp, detailed, and vivid. Zooming in further produces good results as well. Even at the 20x mark, the images do not lose a lot of detail and maintain good composition. You quickly hit the point of diminishing returns around the 30x mark. The smartphone can zoom up to 120x and relies on AI processing to resolve the images.
Portrait shots taken with the OnePlus 13 are well-focussed and showcase a good depth of field. The smartphone does a great job of separating the subject from the background and applying the appropriate level of background blur. Portraits taken at 3x zoom have incredible depth of field, as you can see in the images below.
The 32MP front-facing camera takes good selfies in a range of lighting conditions. The smartphone limits skin smoothening and tone correction in the processing phase, which is good to see. The selfie camera can shoot 4K videos at 60 and 30fps. The primary shooter can record in 8K at 30fps. Meanwhile, the ultrawide and telephoto lenses can record 4K footage.
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Verdict
It may be early in the year to make this call, but the OnePlus 13 is one of the finest smartphones we’ll see in 2025. Its well-rounded performance along with an attractive price tag makes it a very easy recommendation from us. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset delivers a phenomenal performance on this smartphone. It can carry out any task you throw at it, no matter how power-intensive it may be. The software experience is clean and intelligent, the latter largely due to the tasteful AI features on offer.
We found the design of the smartphone a little underwhelming, but that’s always a subjective aspect. The triple rear camera setup produces good results in a wide range of lighting conditions, but it remains a step behind the likes of Vivo and Google. This seems like a decent tradeoff when you take OnePlus 13’s pricing into account. However, what seals the deal for us is the smartphone’s battery performance. Its 2-day power backup will put your battery anxiety to rest.
OnePlus 13: Pros
- Great hardware
- IP69 rating
- Smooth display (with ultrasonic sensor)
- Powerful performance
- 2-day battery life
OnePlus 13: Cons
- The design could’ve been more exciting
