Oneplus 13 Review: Finally, A Flagship That Can Hang

At nan extremity of nan 2nd afloat clip of usage connected a azygous artillery charge, I genuinely grasped it: nan OnePlus 13 is simply a damn bully phone.

I liked it correct disconnected nan bat. I’m a sucker for a soft-touch backmost panel, and nan acheronian bluish “vegan leather” had maine from nan infinitesimal I unboxed it. “Touch this phone,” I commanded my friends arsenic we gathered for picnic drinks. The OnePlus 13 isn’t conscionable a looker, either. In 2 weeks of testing, it has proven itself again and again, pinch top-tier capacity and artillery life for days. Literally.

Most nights I group nan OnePlus 13 connected my bedside wireless charger. New Year’s Eve was different; fireworks threw disconnected my routine, and I coiled up camping retired connected nan pull-out furnishings adjacent to my fireworks-averse toddler. Sleep was fitful and my telephone charger was retired of reach.

I could personification plugged successful nan telephone nan adjacent morning, but it didn’t moreover transverse my mind. In fact, I forgot wholly astir nan missed overnight title until I group it connected my charger that evening pinch 40 percent left. Sure, it was a ray clip spent connected Wi-Fi, but to cruise done 2 days connected a azygous title without a care? That’s beautiful special.

There were plentifulness of moments for illustration that arsenic I tested nan OnePlus 13 — things that made maine beryllium up and net attention. I snapped a bid of portrait-mode photos of my kiddo moving astir successful dim lighting, and each model came backmost sharp. I spent 30 minutes playing my mini games while nan telephone only grew somewhat warm. I carried it successful immoderate highly linty pockets and bags, and nan vegan leather looks arsenic bully arsenic it did erstwhile it came retired of nan box.

This is simply a existent flagship phone, and it comes pinch a flagship worth starting astatine $899. That’s a jump up from nan $799 OnePlus 12, but crucially, nan 13 comes pinch everything I’d expect from a telephone astatine that price: a precocious opinionated for particulate and h2o resistance, wireless charging, support from each 3 awesome US wireless carriers, and a beardown package support argumentation (four years of OS updates and six years of accusation support). These are precisely nan things that OnePlus hasn’t gotten correct successful its erstwhile attempts astatine a existent flagship device. It took a less tries to get here, but OnePlus has done it. This is simply a damn bully phone.

The OnePlus 13 is simply a bully phone, but it is by nary intends a mini phone. It’s each spot arsenic ample arsenic its 6.82-inch aboveground suggests it will be. It’s a tight caller getting it into nan mini outer pouch of my motorcycle bag, and it sticks retired nan apical of nan broadside pouch connected my yoga pants. It’s tall, truthful it’s reasonably comfortable successful 1 hand, but reaching nan acold area of nan aboveground is each but intolerable without 2 hands connected nan device. Also, this telephone is lighter than its size implies, and overmuch than 1 personification who handled it told maine they thought it felt light. 

The slim aluminum obstruction that runs connected nan separator of nan OnePlus 13 is level alternatively than curved this time, which I find easier to grab. I admit it each clip I premier it up disconnected a table. The telephone itself carries an IP69 rating, meaning it tin withstand spray from h2o jets. I don’t often find my telephone subjected to spray from h2o jets, truthful I’m not judge really valuable that opinionated is.

More importantly for astir people, nan telephone is too rated IP68 for guidance against h2o immersion, an area wherever erstwhile OnePlus phones personification recreation up short. Personally, I slumber amended astatine nighttime knowing that my telephone will apt past a dip successful a assemblage of water.

The OnePlus 13 uses Qualcomm’s latest, fanciest chipset: nan Snapdragon 8 Elite. The type I’m testing comes pinch 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which costs $999 and too comes successful arctic dawn (white-ish) aliases achromatic eclipse (it’s black). There’s a 12GB / 256GB type too, but it only comes successful black. Bummer. In immoderate case, nan strategy handled each task I threw astatine it pinch ease, including 30 minutes of tooling astir my Pocket City 2 metropolis successful nan 3D-rendered free roam mode which will usually make a telephone beautiful toasty. The OnePlus 13 was hardly warm.

Battery life is different strength, and it’s nary wonderment why nan OnePlus 13 tin spell truthful agelong connected a azygous charge: it has a 6,000mAh compartment inside. That’s huge, considering astir different Android phones apical retired astir 5,000mAh. It would return a batch to drain nan afloat constituent successful a azygous day; I judge didn’t while I was testing it. I turned connected each battery-draining characteristic I could find: high-performance mode, always-on display, and maximum settings for aboveground solution and refresh rate. 

Even pinch each that enabled, nan artillery was typically betwixt 60 and 70 percent by nan extremity of nan day. Using nan default “balanced” capacity mode sewage maine done a clip pinch 80 percent to spare. This is simply a multiday telephone artillery nary matter really you trim it.

Despite its monolithic battery, recharging is accelerated because, well, that’s OnePlus’ thing. The telephone supports 80W charging pinch nan included charger (the past in-box charger you’ll find pinch a flagship telephone these days) and 50W wireless charging if you premier up OnePlus’ $49 compatible wireless charger. The telephone doesn’t support Qi2 charging, but OnePlus has a fistful of cases for nan OnePlus 13 that spot Qi2- and MagSafe-compatible magnetic rings, truthful you’ll astatine slightest beryllium tin to usage magnetic accessories and title (slowly) connected a Qi2 charger.

The OnePlus 13’s rear camera array is broadly nan aforesaid arsenic nan OnePlus 12’s: a 50-megapixel main camera pinch stabilization, a stabilized 3x camera, and an ultrawide. You tin grounds up to 8K/24p video pinch nan main camera, and there’s a 32-megapixel selfie camera pinch fixed attraction connected nan front.

The Hasselblad-branded colour calibration that’s been a fixture connected OnePlus’ high-end phones complete nan past less years is here, and it’s mostly good. It tends to pump up reds and oranges, peculiarly successful indoor lighting, to nan constituent of transmission clipping — you’ll cognize that’s happening erstwhile reddish tones commencement looking pink. But it handles mixed lighting bully and knows precisely what to do pinch lukewarm aureate hr sunlight. Overall, I for illustration nan colour treatment: punchy without going complete nan top. 

The OnePlus 13’s camera uses a caller Dual Exposure Algorithm that merges a short vulnerability pinch a longer vulnerability to thief frost subjects successful low-light conditions — nan perpetual smartphone camera problem. This is nan benignant of onslaught Apple and Google personification been taking for years now, and it’s a invited betterment successful nan OnePlus 13. I’m decidedly seeing little blurry images indoors successful dim lighting than I sewage pinch nan OnePlus 12, peculiarly pinch nan telephoto and nan cropped 2x focal length. It yet feels for illustration OnePlus has created a camera that tin bent pinch nan best.

The OnePlus 13 is simply a spot overmuch costly than its predecessor. But it’s a amended telephone successful immoderate ample ways: nan camera is meaningfully improved, nan h2o guidance opinionated is higher, and it’ll personification package support for longer. Battery life wasn’t a liking connected nan OnePlus 12, but it’s class-leading connected nan 13. OnePlus is asking flagship money, but for nan first time, it has created a telephone that feels worthy of that price. 

That said, nan title is strong. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Pixel 9 Pro XL — nan different starring Big Android Phone candidates — are $999 and $1,099 respectively. And honestly? I don’t deliberation there’s a clear victor betwixt nan 3 of them. 

That’s benignant of a caller situation, wherever Samsung’s S-series instrumentality has been nan go-to premium Android telephone for alternatively a less years running. Google played immoderate awesome catch-up pinch nan Pixel 9-series, and now OnePlus is successful nan conversation, too. That’s awesome.

Samsung and Google would personification you judge that nan AI features exclusive to their phones are indispensable, but I don’t deliberation that’s existent — not yet, anyway. The OnePlus 13, of course, offers each nan AI features disposable to high-end phones done Android, for illustration Circle to Search and Gemini, which is plenty. I’d liking that overmuch group attraction astir amended artillery life than AI tricks correct now, and that’s wherever nan OnePlus 13 delivers.  

Google and Samsung immoderate relationship richer ecosystems than OnePlus, which is still successful nan early stages of building retired its family of earbuds, wearables, and tablets. That could beryllium a deciding facet betwixt this trio for immoderate people. But mounting that aside, we’ve sewage 1 overmuch action for a high-end Android telephone successful nan US now, and it’s a damn bully 1 astatine that.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge