I ’ve been using , and very much love , theOnePlus 13Rfor the last week . But it get me thinking , I spent several weeks with theNothing Phone 3a Prorecently too , and it ’s cheaper to buy than the OnePlus earpiece . This was a chance to look tight at two earphone which I ’ve care very much to find out if it ’s deserving buy the more expensive one , or if you may spare a minute of money and piece up a buy . What ’s more , the two phone also portion out a common , but unusual link between them , just to spice up thing up even more .
What’s the connection?
The strange connection yoke the two together is Carl Pei . Pei co - establish OnePlus , and after moving on from the society he establish Nothing . The Nothing Phone 3a Pro is the trade name ’s most recent release , sitting slightly gamey in the range of mountains than theNothing Phone 3a . The brand thrives on brilliant marketing , some of it straight out of the original OnePlus playbook , and goes to great efforts to builda healthy , vivacious communityaround its products .
OnePlus was once quite a mess like Nothing , but today it ’s is a far more mature , corporate being . Much of this is due to its cheeseparing workings relationship with Oppo . This transformation changed OnePlus a lot , and it was a stony meter early - on , but with theOnePlus 13and OnePlus 13R we ’re see a lot more of the old OnePlus we all knew and loved .
Pei patently had nothing to do with the OnePlus 13 machine , and I do n’t think the ship’s company itself is the same one that he would remember either , but I ’ve seen more of the core of the Pei - epoch OnePlus in its latest releases . It ’s fascinating to compare two smartphones connected , even if it ’s now slackly , by a single somebody , and I ca n’t reckon of many other current instance where we can do this in Mobile River .
OnePlus 13R 2x zoomAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
Maturity versus flamboyance?
The OnePlus 13R I ’ve been using is in the Nebula Noir color , which is black to you and me , and it ’s a very serious front phone indeed . The round camera mental faculty in the top street corner signify business sector , the flat rear panel is devoid of any frivolous design point , and it leads into very iPhone - like flat sides . Yes , OnePlus makes a different color , but the OnePlus 13R looks sedate and ordinary next to the Nothing Phone 3a Pro .
The jarring tone of the Nothing Phone 3a Pro ’s television camera mental faculty and incredibly interfering rear panel design , has damp the more I ’ve looked at the phone . Do n’t misconstrue me , it ’s still insane , and can never be described as moderately , but it ’s far more unequalled and characterful than the OnePlus 13R. The Glyph Lights can be useful , and add even more style to the phone . The weight and thickness of the two phones is essentially the same , as is the overall size of it , so both take up the same amount of space in your hand and pocket . The IP65 dust and piddle impedance rating on the OnePlus 13R is n’t that much different to the Phone 3a Pro ’s IP64 paygrade , realize durability about the same too .
I love the Nothing Phone 3a Pro ’s sore intention , and that it now has an aluminum chassis and glass rear panel , just like the OnePlus 13R. However , I ca n’t help but think the someone look at the OnePlus 13R from a strictly design point of aspect is n’t going to be immediately drawn to the Nothing Phone 3a Pro . They may both be very different visually , but are very exchangeable in basic size and flesh , and because of this you plausibly should be considering both . One is to live life safely , while the other is to live lifespan dangerously .
OnePlus 13R Portrait modeAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
Taking photos with the cameras
What about the camera ? Neither are going to challenge big - name phones like theSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra , but the specification of the OnePlus 13R and Nothing Phone 3a Pro ’s cameras are basically the same , with the pair using a 50 - megapixel main tv camera , a 50MP telephoto camera , and an 8MP panoptic - slant camera . The Nothing Phone 3a Pro ’s telephoto shoots 3x ocular slam , while the OnePlus 13R takes 2x ocular zoom photograph .
Despite the specs , the two main cameras take quite different photos . The OnePlus 13R ’s camera is brighter and more dynamic , while the Nothing Phone 3a Pro keeps colors and photo under control , which often results in setting lack some vibrancy . For example , the OnePlus 13R ’s photo of the lake seen above is far more representative of the Clarence Day , and the one I ’d probably choose to share .
However , the Nothing Phone 3a Pro ’s telephoto camera is superb , pack in a hatful more particular than the OnePlus 13R ’s camera , which can bungle colors out and in good order expose the picture , as you’re able to seen in the photo of the flower . However , I ’ve also conduct some other shots with the OnePlus 13R ’s telephotograph that have do out really well . The function are reverse when using the wide - angle camera , where the Nothing Phone 3a Pro amps up the color , and the OnePlus 13R fails to get the pic justly in most cases .
OnePlus 13R main cameraAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
What about the software?
OnePlus ’s OxygenOS 15 is a breath of fresh aura , if you ’ll apologize the paronomasia . It ’s a slick , logical , and well designed piece of package , which avoids many of the unpleasant pitfalls of Oppo ’s ColorOS , to which it ’s intimately touch . There ’s less bloatware , fewer annoying interruptions from system notifications , and more of a OnePlus look to it . It ’s what I think of about OnePlus return to its old ego , as OxygenOS was always a big draw to its phones and has now begun to tame its individuality over ColorOS .
NothingOS is really dissimilar . Like the phone ’s innovation , it ’s unequaled and remarkably Nothing . Choose the pixel - art way Nothing theme and it barely even seem like Android . There ’s a lot more going on inside NothingOS , with all kinds of characteristic and widgets to play around with , rate from an Asteroids - style secret plan and a pedometer thingumabob , to the Essential Space button on the side of the sound , which unfold up Nothing ’s AI feature .
AI is n’t Nothing ’s nidus , but OnePlus is making even less of a deal out of its AI efforts . It ’s fresh and welcome , after wranglingApple Intelligenceand Samsung’sGalaxy AIfeatures , yet recover very little of time value . NothingOS and OxygenOS are far from simple , but compared to One UI 7 the lack of over - complication is obvious when you get get . I ’ve been using NothingOS ’s pixel - artwork theme , but it ’s well swap to something more mechanical man - like if you want a more received appearance .
OnePlus 13R 2x zoomAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
One UI 7 is the best edition of Samsung ’s Android interface yet , but both OxygenOS 15 and Nothing OS 4 are less complex , yet still liquid , fast , and pile enough feature to keep them interesting and useful . We ’re spoiled with Android software at the moment , and these are all excellent examples .
What about the battery and performance?
Since using the OnePlus 13R I ’ve found it returns longer stamp battery life than the Nothing Phone 3a Pro . The larger capacity 6,000mAh battery barely reduces to 50 % after my common three hours screen fourth dimension per day , but the Phone 3a Pro ’s 5,000mAh assault and battery was down to around 30 % . The OnePlus 13R has easy lasted two full Clarence Day of my even use on a single charge , while the Nothing Phone 3a Pro will only make it with low-cal use .
The OnePlus 13R is also a far dependable performing artist , which should n’t come as a surprise given the dispute in central processor . The OnePlus phone is essentially a 2024 flagship phone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 , while the Nothing Phone 3a Pro ’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 ca n’t keep up if you require to represent some of the top games .
guide the 3DMark app ’s Steel Nomad Light Stress Test bench mark on both phones highlighted the divergence between them for gaming . The OnePlus 13R runs the examination with few issues and at an norm of 12 frames - per - second , but the Nothing Phone 3a Pro chugs along at less than four frames - per - sec . Benchmark tests are a good indicator of gaming functioning , and if you require to wreak the top game on your telephone set , the OnePlus 13R is the one to get .
OnePlus 13R main cameraAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
Which phone to buy?
The OnePlus 13R has been a delight over the preceding week , deliver long assault and battery life history , a fun camera , plus lucid and quiet software in a convenient software package . Yes , it ’s dull to look at , but it really fork up where it counts . For $ 600 it ’s a great purchase , and alongside the even better OnePlus 13 , we ’ve been process to the best telephone set OnePlus has made in a while . It gets even best if you desire a smartwatch , as theOnePlus Watch 3is the best Android smartwatch out at the second .
Where does this leave the $ 459 Nothing Phone 3a Pro , and would I switch back to it after using it alongside the OnePlus 13R for a daytime or so ? No , I would n’t trade the OnePlus 13R for the Nothing Phone 3a Pro . The unique design is brilliant , the software system rivals OxygenOS , and the solid tv camera and battery life mean it will satisfy a luck of hoi polloi . But the additional performance and great master camera make the OnePlus 13R an excellent all - libertine that ’s worth the extra money .
What ’s going to be really intriguing is what Nothing does with the highly anticipatedNothing Phone 3later this year . The Phone 3a Pro is n’t really designed to take on the OnePlus 13R , and did pretty well to keep up at all , but the flagship Phone 3 is likely to cope with or even exceed the OnePlus phone ’s ability . We love what Carl Pei is doing with the Nothing make and its sound , but are also so proud of to see OnePlus is becoming its own mark once again . If the additional money for the OnePlus 13R is within budget you ’ll be really proud of with the headphone , but every bit , the Nothing Phone 3a Pro is so alone it ’s insufferable to ignore , and it ’s a great value purchase .
OnePlus 13R 2x zoomAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
OnePlus 13R main cameraAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
Nothing Phone 3a Pro main cameraAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
OnePlus 13R wide-angleAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
Nothing Phone 3a Pro wide-angleAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
