How do you create a heir to one of the full smartphone value in year ? That ’s the project OnePlus face up when create the OnePlus 13R. TheOnePlus 12Rwas one of 2024 ’s skillful smartphones by a long gibe — delivering potent specs , a premium design , and up to software at an unbelievable $ 500 price . It was one of my favourite telephone of last year , andI’ve been eager to see how the OnePlus 13R would succeed it .
I ’m well-chosen to report that the OnePlus 13R is every second as well as the 12R — and notably better in some key path . The higher Mary Leontyne Price means it ’s notquiteas immediately jaw - dropping , but after drop a couple of calendar week with the OnePlus 13R , I ’m shin to think of another $ 600 phone that ’s more worthy of your money .
OnePlus 13R specs
About our OnePlus 13R review
Our original OnePlus 13R review was published in January 2025 , and written by Joe Maring . We revisited the OnePlus 13R after using the phone again in April 2025 , and you could read Andy Boxall ’s opinion of the phone in the segment below .
Is the OnePlus 13R still the big value phone to buy?
I ’ve used the OnePlus 13R for a week and moot the phone a superb buy . It ’s a no - nonsense smartphone that follows the OnePlus - of - old playbook by delivering everything you need and little else , and not charging a fortune for it . OxygenOS 15 is the serious version of OnePlus ’s computer software in a while and its liquid , uncomplicated , and mostly devoid from the things that make me dislike the closely related ColorOS from Oppo .
I came to the OnePlus 13R after theTecno Camon 40 Premierand theSamsung Galaxy A56 , and I really welcome its uncomplicated nature . It quickly fitted into my life , and it has been wholly reliable , with the adult battery lasting two Clarence Day with my lowly enjoyment . During my time with it , Icompared it to the Nothing Phone 3a Pro , another great note value smartphone I ’ve enjoyed using in 2025 . The Nothing Phone 3a Pro kept up well , but lose out on overall performance , play up the OnePlus 13R ’s blaze as an all - debauchee .
It ’ll amount prison term for me to swap to another Android speech sound shortly , but I know that if my job did n’t demand that to happen , I ’d be perfectly satisfied with the OnePlus 13R. It ’s not a complex phone ( in a in force way ) , there ’s not much AI push upon you , the television camera ’s versatile and takes good exposure , and it ’s really well-situated to keep back and use . I do n’t even mind the 2-dimensional filmdom , even if it does emphasize the phone ’s plain design . Several months into its sack , the OnePlus 13R continues to be one of 2025 ’s best economic value smartphones .
The OnePlus 13R has a simple but effective design
The OnePlus 13R is very much a function over form smartphone . It ’s not the most visually striking handset out there , but it ’s simple , practical , and leaves you with very little to complain about .
A matte Al form is joined by a matte glassful stern , no matter which color you opt . I have Nebula Noir ( aka inglorious ) , though I ’d recommend getting the Astral Trail people of color if you may ; it has a lovely spiral pattern emitting from the camera that looks quite striking .
Even in the much less irksome Astral Trail color , the OnePlus 13R ’s hardware is undeniably impregnable . The matte close is classy and does n’t pick up fingerprints , all of the buttons palpate near to insistence , the awake slipper is as cheering as ever , and the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable . Once again , there ’s an IR blaster if you want to curb your TV , air conditioner , etc . , with your phone .
Samsung Galaxy S24 FEJoe Maring / Digital Trends
OnePlus also up its durability this year , increasing the IP64 evaluation from the 12R to IP65 for the OnePlus 13R. The master welfare here is that the 13R is now protected against urine jet , and while not as racy as the IP68 ratings we see on more expensive flagship phones , it ’s still a welcome advance .
The OnePlus 13R ’s hardware is undeniably telling .
There ’s not much more to say about the OnePlus 13R ’s hardware . Sure , it ’s a number irksome visually , but functionally , OnePlus nail everything . The OnePlus 13R is comfortable to hold , well - made , and feels every bit as agiotage as a $ 1,000 smartphone . This was a solid suit of the OnePlus 12R , and the OnePlus 13R continues its legacy without a problem .
Google Pixel 8aChristine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
A high-quality screen with one big change
The OnePlus 13R has an unbelievable display . It ’s high - quality in every sense of the countersign and far nicer than you ’d wait for a “ value flagship ” telephone .
Specs - wise , it ’s pretty much selfsame to that of the OnePlus 12R. You have a 6.78 - inch AMOLED dialog box , a 2780 x 1264 resolve , a varying 1 - 120Hz refresh pace , and incredible brightness layer — up to 1,600 nits in High Brightness Mode and up to an eye - scorch 4,500 nit for its highest peak cleverness . It ’s a shiny , colorful , sharp , and antiphonal display with which I ’ve had zero complaint .
The biggest change for the OnePlus 13R is that it has a bland cover compare to the curved edges of the OnePlus 12R display . I did n’t think the curving video display was a deal - breaker on the 12R , but I vastly opt the flat conception on the 13R this year . I find it more well-to-do to use , and it eliminates the possibility of accidental screen touches ( a modest issue on the 12R ) .
Are the OnePlus 13R cameras any good?
You ’ll find three camera on the back of the OnePlus 13R : a 50 - megapixel principal television camera , a 50MP telephotograph tv camera with 2x optic zoom , and an 8MP ultrawide tv camera rounding thing out . The OnePlus 12R had a 50MP primary photographic camera , too , though the one on the 13R is a newer sensing element . The 50MP telephotograph camera is also a nice modification , as it substitute the useless 2MP macro camera that was on the 12R.
Overall , photo from the OnePlus 13R look honorable . Even without the same Hasselblad integration on the regularOnePlus 13 , the 13R still churns out pleasing images with nice colors . I ’ve been quite impressed with some of the pictures I ’ve gotten . The crashing waves against the rocks of CocoCay in the first photo above were capture perfectly . The black fur on my cat Minnie face great , too , as does the photograph of the wine glass in a dimly illumine barroom aboard the Allure of the Seas .
The 50MP telephotograph camera is solid , too . The 2x optic zoom range wo n’t give you like zoom capabilities as you ’d find on theGalaxy S24 UltraorOppo Find X8 Pro , but it is enough to get a bit near to your subject field and still get a well - looking shot . There ’s a obtrusive step down in resolving power with the 8MP ultrawide camera , but it does a good chore of capturing similar colour to the primary photographic camera ( something the OnePlus 12R struggled with ) .
Where the OnePlus 12R ’s television camera felt tolerable , the camera scheme on the OnePlus 13R is genuinely solid . It ’s far from the most exciting camera package available in 2025 , but there ’s also nothing instantly bad about it . So long as you do n’t require utmost soar capabilities on your next smartphone , I imagine you ’ll be pretty happy with what the OnePlus 13R delivers .
The OnePlus 13R’s performance is exceptional
power the OnePlus 13R is Qualcomm ’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip . It ’s not the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite , but it is the same chipping used in many of last year ’s flagships — such as theSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra , Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro , and OnePlus 12 . The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is pair with 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM plus 256 GB of UFS 4.0 warehousing .
Looking at Geekbench 6 results equate to the OnePlus 12R , the OnePlus 13R sees a substantial 38 % increase in single - core CPU operation , a 23 % increase in multi - core CPU carrying into action , and a monumental 73 % encouragement in GPU functioning . It trailsslightlybehind the Galaxy S24 Ultra , and the OnePlus 13 with its newer Snapdragon 8 elect silicon chip is faster yet , but the OnePlus 13R remains an unbelievably degenerate smartphone .
The GPU enhancement are even more apparent when running 3DMark ’s Wild Life Stress Test , which ply each phone through 20 instant of heavy - shipment performance benchmarking . In this test , the OnePlus 13R find about 36 % better performance with improved stability , too .
Although benchmarks only tell part of the story , real - world purpose affirm the 13R ’s upgraded performance . The phone is blazing - tight , care apps like Threads , YouTube , Duolingo , and Microsoft Teams with no issue . It ’s also done a fantastic job of powering through myPokémon TCGPaddiction , take on 30- and 45 - minute play session with no frame drop down and without any noticeable heat energy buildup .
Perhaps the best compliment I can give the OnePlus 13R is that using it has feel like using a flagship . It ’s handled everything I ’ve thrown at it , has n’t overheat at any level , and has just been a joy to utilize .
Excellent battery life, slightly disappointing charging
The OnePlus 12R set records with a 5,500mAh battery , the gravid barrage fire at the sentence for a OnePlus earpiece . The OnePlus 13R break that record just a year later , stepping thing up to a gargantuan 6,000mAh barrage . As you could believably guess , the OnePlus 13R has unbelievable battery life .
Just how incredible ? The OnePlus 13R is very firmly a two - day smartphone . And , with lighter use , it could probably even creep into three days of utilization before you necessitate to put it on the charger .
As an example , I started one day at 8 a.m. with a full charge . After most four time of day of screen - on time — including 1 time of day and 40 minutes of playingPokémon TCGPand frequent use of Telegram , TikTok , YouTube , and X — I had 61 % battery remaining at 11:25 p.m. that night . The next day , I waken up to 58 % stay at 7:45 a.m. and racked up over three more hours of extra CRT screen sentence . At the end of day two , tot 7 60 minutes and 13 minutes across both days , I still had 18 % battery will at 11:20 p.m.
I was only able to kill the 13R ’s battery in a single day once , and that was during a very busy travel day with lots of Uber , Google Maps , Telegram , X , the Fly Delta app , and taking tons of pictures . Even then , the OnePlus 13R still performed very well , get the day at 6:05 a.m. and end it at 9:45 p.m. with 7 % bombardment after 6 hours and 12 arcminute of screen meter . This isexceptionalendurance and even good than the already splendid battery public presentation of the OnePlus 12R.
The OnePlus 13R has incredible shelling life .
Unfortunately , compared to the 12R , the OnePlus 13R takes an awkward step backward with its charging . Where the OnePlus 12R substantiate 80W charge speeds , taking the phone from 0 - 100 % in about half an hr , the OnePlus 13R has been downgrade to 55W.
On its own , 55W is a very good bit — outperforming the charge speeds of the latest flagship from Samsung , Apple , and Google . A full recharge from 0 - 100 % take just under an hour , and you could go from 14 % to 54 % in 15 minutes . That ’s great ! But I ca n’t aid but still have a morose taste in my sass experience that OnePlus can ( and has ) done well . There ’s also no wireless charging , which , while not a deal - breaker , is less well-to-do to overlook when the wire tear speeds have decreased and the price has increase compared to the OnePlus 12R.
OxygenOS 15, AI, and software updates
The OnePlus 13R ships with OxygenOS 15 , OnePlus ’ impost interface for Android 15 . And you know what ? It ’s kind of great .
OxygenOS run low through a metamorphosis in 2022 , alternate from the “ stock ” Android UI it had used for years and take on a more stylize UI interchangeable to what was found on phones from its sister brand , Oppo . And I hat it . OnePlus made some progress with OxygenOS 14 , and OxygenOS 15 is even good .
A meat focus of OxygenOS 15 is being as fast and responsive as potential . OnePlus spent an excruciating amount of sentence explain this in my briefing , but I ca n’t abnegate how big of a divergence it cause . There ’s a level of fluidity and snappiness to the OnePlus 13R ’s software that ’s really , really skillful .
OxygenOS 15 also adds the Open canvass multitasking organisation introduced on theOnePlus Open . It ’s a unique take on snag - screen multitasking where you may easily bounce back and forth between two apps in mostly full - screen window . It ’s much more useful than Android ’s default multitasking system , and I really love it . I ’m also a devotee of OnePlus ’ customization tools , which give you copious controller over your always - on display , app icons , accent coloring , etc .
There ’s also a smattering of AI features included , and it ’s about what you ’d expect — including unblur and solvent promote photo redaction tools , notes summarization , and Google’sCircle to Search . It ’s nothing you have n’t seen before , and I ’ve largely ignored most of it , but it ’s there if you want it .
Finally , software updates . OnePlus promises four years of Android OS rising slope and six age of security updates . That ’s trail the seven years of OS / security updates promised by Samsung and Google , but for most multitude , it should be utterly okay . I ’d love to see OnePlus eventually match the seven - year hope of its competitors , but this is a dead acceptable grade of funding .
OnePlus 13R price and availability
The OnePlus 13R is available in one configuration ( 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of computer memory ) and costs $ 600 — a $ 100 price increase compared to the OnePlus 12R. Rising toll are never fun , but in this case , I think it ’s fairly well justified .
For setting , the $ 500 OnePlus 12R fall with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of memory , while the $ 600 model included 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage . Compared to the base 12R , the OnePlus 13R has more RAM and double the repositing , not to mention a profligate processor , flat display , improved cameras , longer electric battery living , and more years of software updates .
The OnePlus 13R is also very well - price when put against the contest . Its closest competitor in the U.S. is theSamsung Galaxy S24 FE . It costs $ 650 and has a regretful excogitation , fragile - feeling hardware , a less telling display , and slower charging . There is n’t any real benefit to it over the OnePlus 13R ( unless youreallycare aboutGalaxy AI ) , and it costs $ 50 more .
TheGoogle Pixel 8ais a better alternative . It costs $ 100 less than the OnePlus 13R but also brings a longer list of via media — admit flimsy - notion hardware , one - day bombardment life-time , slow charging speeds , a less capable processor , and less random-access memory and storage . It ’s a good $ 500 phone , but there ’s a very well-off argument to make for spending $ 100 extra for the OnePlus 13R. You may also want to look at theSamsung Galaxy A56and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro as alternatives . The OnePlus 13R has been usable since January 14 . It ’s useable at OnePlus.com and Best Buy .
Should you buy the OnePlus 13R?
The OnePlus 12R revitalize the value flagship scene last class , and the OnePlus 13R does an unbelievable job of carrying its torch forward for another year . Yes , it ’s more expensive , but the new $ 600 cost is easily justified by the ( very meaningful ) upgrades .
The level display is fantabulous , the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a serious operation boost , the camera are considerably serious , and the stamp battery lasts even longer . Pair that with a good software update policy and well - made hardware , and the OnePlus 13R leaves you with very little to complain about . The slower charge focal ratio are annoying , as is the continued lack of wireless charging , but they ’re underage inconvenience rather than serious drawbacks .
The OnePlus 13R result you with very little to plain about .
My ending for the OnePlus 13R is standardised to mine for the OnePlus 12R. you could absolutely spend more money on smartphones with more bell and whistle — the $ 1,100 Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and $ 1,300 Galaxy S25 Ultra are sit there waiting for you . But when the OnePlus 13R isthisgood and so much less expensive , why would you ?
