OnePlus 13 Phone Review

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 7, 2025 3 Views 14 Min Read
OnePlus 13 Phone Review

After giving the device its initial outing overseas, the OnePlus 13 is making its way to the West in 2025. With a new camera system, a high-performance chip, and some smart features, OnePlus’ latest offering is making a play to sit alongside some of the bigger names stateside. It’s a smartphone that has a unique look, but if you’re looking for excellent performance to battery life, and want a high-quality camera system for a variety of situations, OnePlus has ticked a lot of the important boxes and more.

A Familiar Yet Elegant Look for OnePlus 13

OnePlus hasn’t changed too much about the design of its 13th gen flagship phone. The Hasselblad camera array is still the most striking element of the device, with some new accents and texturing on its back. The OnePlus 13 features a microfiber vegan leather that feels sturdy and has just enough grip to make it nice to hold in your hands. It’s not necessarily something you would notice from a distance, but still adds a little bit of personality to the phone.

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OnePlus 12 Phone Review

The OnePlus 12 packs an eye-catching camera system and snappy hardware to make for a solid daily driver of a smartphone.

The Black Eclipse model I reviewed has a wood grain-esque texture that helps give the phone elegance without being overly flashy. In some respects, it looks very similar to the OnePlus 12 that I took a look at in 2024, but OnePlus seems to have honed in on a design that it likes and isn’t venturing too far from that. It really is that camera system that gives the OnePlus its distinct look, and the company has kept that relatively the same.

On the screen side, the OnePlus 13 features a 6.8-inch QHD+ 120Hz ProXDR display with LTPO 4.1. It’s a beautiful 3168×1440 screen that can reach a peak brightness of 4,500 nits and is plenty vibrant and delivers rich and accurate color. As OnePlus’ flagship, the display is just as crucial as anything else, and the company has once again outfitted its latest mobile phone with everything users will need.

The OnePlus 13 display also has a few fun bells and whistles, including two modes that allow for use in typically-limiting situations. With Glove Mode, you can use the OnePlus 13 even while wearing non-conductive gloves of a certain thickness. And the Aqua Touch 2.0 mode fights through condensation or oil that may be on your screen and fingers to ensure accurate touches and swipes.

There’s an ultrasonic fingerprint reader under the screen for added security, as well as a new feature called RadiantView that adjusts the display based on ambient brightness (specifically sunlight). It doesn’t just boost the device’s brightness to compensate, either, but it also adjusts visual qualities like contrast and saturation to ensure the display meets the same presentational standards in an optimum setting.

Personal preference plays a large part in how appealing the OnePlus 13 design is, but I like the latest profile that the company has used over the last few iterations. The camera system helps give the phone a professional look, the texture work on the back is tactile and makes it feel refined, and there is a great display for doing anything from random Internet browsing to watching movies.

OnePlus 13’s Camera System is High Class

It’s no secret that OnePlus prides itself on its camera offering and its 5th-gen Hasselblad camera system is the best yet and can compete with some of the top names in the smartphone industry. The OnePlus 13 is outfitted with three 50MP cameras: a main, a 3X telephoto, and a 120-degree ultra wide. All three of the cameras will deliver high-quality photos in their respective best use-cases, capturing a ton of detail in a variety of situations. OnePlus has struggled with low light photography in the past but the OnePlus 13 is an improvement this year. There are still moments where photos can look grainy or lose detail depending on the situation, but overall I was impressed with OnePlus’ offering yet again.

The telephoto lens is arguably the most exciting of the three rear-facing cameras. Using a Triprism lens, the OnePlus 13 is able to give the high focal length images that you expect from a telephoto but without that extreme periscoping lens.

Outside of those tricky low-light situations that many cameras struggle with, the OnePlus 13 exceeded expectations with photos that were crisp and clear. OnePlus also offers a variety of modes that improve picture quality in unique scenarios. Perhaps the most interesting is the Dual Exposure algorithm that takes a short and a long exposure photo and merges them together to create a clean image. It’s perfect for those situations where you want the detail and responsiveness of a quick snap but a longer exposure might distort the subject due to motion. It’s a really clever way of handling a moving subject and keeping things sharp.

There’s also a Clear Burst mode for taking multiple photos of a moving subject or an Action Mode that ups the camera’s FPS to capture more rapid movement. Basically, OnePlus wants you to have the tools to meet the challenge of unique photographic situations and capture essential moments without sacrificing the quality of your images. In most cases, you won’t even realize what the mode is doing to improve the image, but you can’t deny the results.

The OnePlus 13 supports up to 4K60fps video recording including Dolby Vision HDR support.

If you are a tinkerer, the Master Mode presents all the settings and optimizations a professional photographer might need. This is arguably where the phone shines the brightest but it also isn’t going to be for everyone. The different picture modes will do a lot of the work for you and give you those stunning photos, but folks who want to dial in a specific look can do that as well.

The OnePlus 13 Combines Power with Longevity

As with most 2025 Android-based phones, the OnePlus 13 boasts the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. It’s snappy and responsive, and for daily use, it might even be overkill. Navigating apps is lightning fast, loading up the camera happens instantly, and it’s all done without the phone getting noticeably warm or with any performance slowdown over time.

OnePlus doesn’t market its phones as gaming phones – they are more focused on power users – but performance is strong enough that most of your basic games are going to see a tangible benefit over last year’s model. And if you just want to load up Pokemon TCG Pocket to open some packs, the OnePlus 13 is going to breeze through that process.

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High performance typically comes at a cost, but OnePlus has given the 13 a 6,000 mAh battery that will easily give you a day’s worth of high usage. On moderate usage, the OnePlus 13 can get closer to a day and a half of battery life without needing a charge. OnePlus has always impressed me with its battery optimization and the 13th gen model is no different.

The OnePlus 13 supports 80W wired charging that can get you from 0-100 in around 36 minutes, as well as 50W wireless charging using the company’s AIRVOOC charger. In my testing, I rarely needed to worry about the battery on the OnePlus, either during daily use or in those situations where I just needed a little extra juice for a few hours. It’s a great daily driver for that performance-to-battery life ratio.

OnePlus 13 Brings AI to OxygenOS and Camera

AI continues to be a big buzzword in mobile phones and the OnePlus 13 is no different. Alongside the latest OxygenOS 15 operating system and Google’s Gemini AI, One Plus leverages AI to benefit the user experience, for those who so choose. On the camera front, there are AI tools to remove blur and reflections from photos, or boost the quality of a cropped image.

Other AI features are typical for today’s phones like circle to search, note refinements, and message composition. It’s not something that I personally would use in my day-to-day life, but with OnePlus promising 6 years of OxygenOS support, the AI feature list is likely to grow over time.

OxygenOS itself gets a bad rap, but I have found it to be plenty capable as an Android-based platform. Jumping between apps is snappy, the layout is clean and has its own little distinct touches. A feature I really like that’s new for OxygenOS 15 is the ability to share files with iPhone users similar to AirDrop.

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OnePlus 13 Review: Final Thoughts

OnePlus has fast crept into the conversation alongside the high-profile names in the smartphone industry and the OnePlus 13 further highlights what the company brings to the table. It all starts with the camera system, which is once again top tier and made better by smart and unexpected improvements with a focus on delivering better photos out of the box and using specific modes to meet differing needs. The latest Snapdragon chip ensures the phone is plenty fast and the sizable battery makes this an easy recommendation for a daily driver.

AI is not something that I look to as a benefit, but it’s there for those who expect a certain suite of features, as well as some photo-specific ones. I’m more impressed with the elegance of the OnePlus 13’s design and what it offers in terms of traditional use. Just the faster chip alone is enough to make this a great phone, and when you need to snap a picture, it can capture those moments in vivid detail. The OnePlus 13 deserves a place alongside other top-tier smartphones.

The One Plus 13 is available in two configurations: a 12GB Memory/256GB storage version for $899 and a 16GB Memory/512GB storage version for $999. The 256 version is only available in Black Eclipse while the 512 is available in Black Eclipse, Midnight Ocean, and Arctic Dawn. Game Rant was provided the 512GB Black Eclipse version for this review.

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