With OnePlus’ number series of flagships, the company pours their heart out in terms of hardware. And, the OnePlus 13 is no exception. To give you an idea, it comes with up to 24GB RAM and 1TB storage, there are laptops in the market that don’t have this kind of headspace. The battery also gets an upgrade this time, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite at the heart of the phone spearheads performance. The cameras still get the Hasselblad treatment, but there’s more to it. So, how does the OnePlus 13 fair against stiff competition from the Realme GT 7 Pro and the iQOO 13? And, more importantly, should you consider buying it? I have been using the phone for two weeks, here’s my review.
OnePlus 13
Rs 69,999
What Is Good?
- Gorgeous colour, good form factor
- Vivid, bright, and fast display
- Exceptional battery life, fast charging
- Great overall performance
- 120fps support in BGMI
- IP68 and IP69 rated
- Smooth software experience
What Is Bad?
- High competition for cameras
- Wireless charger requires a magnetic case
- Low-light photography can still be better
Pricing and Availability in India
With its highest available variant, the OnePlus 13 can give laptop specs a run for their money. The phone is available on the OnePlus Store, Amazon India and other retail stores.
| Variant | Price in India |
| 12GB RAM + 256GB | Rs 69,999 |
| 16GB RAM + 512GB | Rs 76,999 |
| 24GB RAM + 1TB | Rs 89,999 |
Design and Display
The OnePlus 13 opts for some quality-of-life design changes, giving it a more refined and premium look. And, this can be experienced best if you opt for the Midnight Ocean colourway. The vegan leather finish at the back helps with the grip and the dark shade of blue looks gorgeous. This finish keeps dust and fingerprint smudges at bay. The edges have a slight curvature, but the frames are flat. This is a big departure from the OnePlus 12 and helps massively in the ergonomics department. The chassis is now wider but fits the hand easily.
| Design | Specifications |
| Colours | Midnight Ocean (Reviewed), Arctic Dawn, Black Eclipse |
| Thickness (in cm) | 0.89cm |
| Weight | 210 grams |
| IP rating | IP69 and IP68 |
| Port and button placements | Top: IR Blaster and secondary microphones
Right: Volume rocker and power button Bottom: Speaker grille, primary microphones, USB C port, SIM tray Left: Alert slider |
Despite the bump in battery capacity, the OnePlus 13 shaves off 10 grams from its weight, compared to last year. The circular camera module does not see any major changes, besides the Hasselblad branding given a lonely placement.
Better late than never would be the best way to commend the OnePlus 13’s IP69 and IP68 rating. This is a step up from last year’s IP67 rating. The OnePlus 13’s ultrasonic fingerprint sensor works exceptionally well even if you have just stepped out of a swimming pool. It’s placed slightly above what is traditional, so I had to spend a couple of days to get accustomed to that.
| Display | Specs |
| Size | 6.82-inch |
| Type | AMOLED (ProXDR with LTPO 4.1) |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3168 pixels |
| Pixel Density | 510ppi |
| Refresh Rate | 120Hz |
| Peak Brightness | Claimed: 4500 nits, Tested: 1767nits (HDR) |
| Minimum Brightness | 08 nits |
| Display protection | Ceramic Guard |
The display on the OnePlus 13 has subtle curvature around all sides, making it easier to avoid accidental touches. This also makes it easier for one-handed usage. It’s a gorgeous, vibrant, and bright display. Legibility outside is not an issue at all, even under the sunlight. The display settings allow you to tweak the colour mode.
I’ve set it to Natural, but you can choose between Vivid and Pro. You can also switch between resolutions to opt for a sharper image or better battery life. The 120Hz display also makes sure the entire experience is smooth and the LTPO panel lets it drop to 1Hz to save up on battery.
The display produces the vibrant and punchy colours of Squid Game’s playground well without any colour banding. Darker scenes in movies like The Platform 2 were also portrayed properly without any noise or grey tones. The entire experience is further elevated with the stereo speaker setup. It can get quite loud with good control over the depth. It’s great for movies as well as gaming.
Performance and Software
Snapdragon 8 Elite smartphones like the Realme GT 7 Pro and iQOO 13 have set a benchmark for 2025. And, the OnePlus 13 looks to continue on the same wavelength. Calling it fast would be an understatement. Using the phone for daily life usage felt like playing with Real Madrid’s current front three. Switching between multiple apps or even multitasking was a cakewalk for the phone.
| Hardware | Specifications |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| RAM | Up to 24GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | Up to 1TB UFS 4.0 |
| Storage Test | 221983 |
| CPU Throttling Test | 73 per cent of its max performance |
| Software Version | OxygenOS based on Android 15 |
| Connectivity Details | USB 3.2 Gen 1, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC |
This also translates into synthetic benchmarks like AnTuTu. With high-performance mode, it gave us the below numbers. However, in balanced mode, we could only achieve 2.2 million. Both of these numbers are not close to Qualcomm’s original claim, but the daily life use cases are not hampered because of this.
While it falls behind Realme and iQOO’s flagship, the OnePlus 13 manages to maintain a decent lead over the Dimensity 9400 found in the Vivo X200 Pro. That said, the read and write speeds on the OnePlus 13 are slower than those on the Find X8 Pro and the Realme GT 7 Pro.
The OnePlus 13 provides slightly better and stable performance in gaming as compared to the iQOO 13. The phone can play BGMI at 120fps without any major noticeable stutters. The same performance trickles down to Call of Duty: Mobile. That’s still not the awe factor — the thermal management is. The dual vapour chamber cooling system in the OnePlus 13 makes sure that the performance does not throttle under heavy load. Compared to the iQOO 13, this phone manages to dissipate heat better, which in turn helps keep the side frames cooler.
The OnePlus 13 runs on Oxygen OS 15 based on Android 15. It offers four years of software updates and six years of security. The emphasis this year is on smoother animations. This can be experienced when opening and closing apps, scrolling down the notification bar, and more. You’ll also find Fluid Cloud, which is just another name for Dynamic Island. While OnePlus claims that support for Swiggy and Zomato is available for Fluid Cloud, this wasn’t available to us during our review period. It works well with the clock app, but it still misses out on YouTube Music’s integration, hopefully, this will be added later on. It also skips out on adding any kind of bloatware app, which is commendable.
Besides this, the focus on AI is further pushed with Intelligent Search. This is a feature that can be enabled in the settings. It essentially makes searching the web and your device much easier. Besides this, you also get the usual barrage of AI eraser, AI detail boost, AI unblur, AI reflection eraser, and more. While it’s great to have these tools, it’s inconsistent in some scenarios.
Cameras
While the Hasselblad treatment remains the same, the cameras also get an upgrade from the outgoing model. It flaunts a triple 50-megapixel camera setup at the back, with a telephoto lens that can do 3x optical zoom and up to 120x digital. The Sony LYT-808 used in the main camera is the same as the OnePlus 12 and the Find X8 Pro. In fact, this entire setup is essentially the same as the Find X8 Pro, minus the second telephoto camera to keep the prices reasonable.
| Cameras | Specifications |
| Wide camera | 50-megapixel, Sony LYT-808, 1/1.4’’, 23mm, f/1.6 (OIS) |
| Ultra-wide camera | 50-megapixel, Samsung 5KJN5,1/2.75’’, 15mm, f/2.0 |
| Telephoto camera | 50-megapixel, Sony LYT600, 1/1.95’’, 73mm (3x), f/2.6 (OIS) |
| Selfie camera | 32-megapixel, Sony IMX615, 1/2.74’’, 21mm, f/2.4 |
| Video capabilities | 8K at 30fps for the rear and 4K at 60fps for the front camera |
The primary camera clicks photos with good detail and balanced dynamic range while maintaining the natural colours. The quick shutter speed is helpful when capturing photos of your friends playing table tennis. But, in challenging lighting conditions, the cameras tend to introduce a halo effect around the human subject. This is something we’ve seen with the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 12, too. Sadly, it’s a problem that still persists. Keeping this issue aside, the phone still captures photos that are reliable and ready for social media.
The ultra-wide camera gives you a wider perspective and captures more vibrant photos compared to the primary camera. There are no distortions at the edges and photos have good details. The 3x telephoto camera has been my go-to choice for portrait photography. It’s also perfect for capturing yawning teddy bear dogs. The edge detection keeps the little furry hair strands in focus. Human portraits are also on the same wavelength with the post-processing also maintaining the skin tone.
The lower aperture of the main camera lets more light in, so photos in low light also come out bright. But, I’ve often noticed that the slightest of hand movements can cause blurriness. So, patience and deep breaths are key. The camera struggles to handle bright lights during the night, causing the exposure levels to reach sky-high. But, in dimly lit conditions, it manages to maintain a balance. It manages to keep the noise at bay, which is good.
The 32-megapixel selfie camera also does a neat job of capturing sharp and detailed photos. The skin tones are also maintained well, even if it’s a group selfie. The dynamic range when shooting against the light is also splendid. Photos retain the highlights and shadows without introducing any grains.
Battery and Charging
This is where the OnePlus 13 hits it out of the park. With the 6,000mAh Silicon Carbon battery, the OnePlus 13 easily lasts two days of usage. The phone consistently produced screen-on-time numbers of eight hours and above. This also translates to the PCMark Battery Test which returned 18 hours and 28 minutes.
| Battery | Specifications |
| Capacity | 6000mAh |
| PCMark Battery Test | 18 hours and 28 minutes |
| Charger support | 100W SuperVOOC (in the box) |
| Charging time (0-100%) | 31 minutes |
| Wireless charging | 50W AirVOOC |
The icing on the cake is the 100W charger that you get in the box. It barely takes the phone 30 minutes to fully charge from the dead. With the OnePlus 13, the company has achieved a major feat in the battery department, making it one of the phones to beat when it comes to this regard. If you have battery anxiety, this is the phone to go for.
The OnePlus 13 also supports wireless charging. In fact, this method is faster than wired solutions for some other smartphones. But, the 50W AirVOOC charger requires the official magnetic case for the charger to stay in place.
Verdict
OnePlus has gone through a rough patch in the past few years. But, the OnePlus 13 might just be the smartphone that brings back its crown. It’s a flagship that ticks all the necessary checkboxes and offers a little extra. But, the upgrade also comes with a price, with OnePlus slowly climbing the pricing ladder.
The minor refinements in the design approach give it a better and more sophisticated look. While the display does not get any major upgrades, it’s still a fantastic panel. The 6,000mAh battery is a game changer, and it sets a benchmark for the rest of the year. The Snapdragon 8 Elite continues impressing us with its raw power on tap. And, this also translates into high-intensive gaming. So, if that’s on your priority list, the OnePlus 13 is a splendid choice. The iQOO 13 and Realme GT 7 Pro are other options you can consider for performance at a lower price. But, the OnePlus 13 manages heat slightly better.
Moreover, if the green line issue is something you are worried about, the OnePlus 13 falls under Project Starlight, so a free lifetime warranty is also granted in case a mishap occurs.
While the OnePlus 13 offers a good and balanced camera setup, it’s not a major upgrade from last year. And, with its current price, the phone also faces competition from the Vivo X200 and the Find X8. If you want exceptional cameras for photos, maybe these two options will give you a better output. And, if you have more money to shell out, the X200 Pro and Find X8 Pro can also be considered.
All that said, the OnePlus 13 is a great choice if you want an ultimate all-round flagship.
