OnePlus recently announced the OnePlus 13 and this might just be the best value flagship of 2025. While the global release is expected in early 2025, the Chinese variant provides a clear picture of what to expect.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Design and Build
OnePlus made a smart move by switching to flat sides on the 13, ditching the curved edges from the OnePlus 12. You can pick from a blue version with a faux leather finish, a sleek black glass model, or a clean white glass variant.
The phone keeps the fan-favorite Alert slider, and at 210 grams, it’s noticeably lighter than rivals like the iPhone 16 Pro Max which tips the scales at 230 grams.
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As for the front of the phone, it has tiny curves on all four edges, and a punch-hole camera at the top.
OnePlus went above and beyond with water protection this time. The IP69 rating means your phone can handle water jets and hot water – perfect if you’re caught in heavy rain or want to take photos near a waterfall.
Display
The OnePlus 13’s screen sets new standards for phone displays. The 6.82-inch AMOLED display runs at 1440 x 3168 resolution and hits an incredible 4,500 nits peak brightness – making it one of the brightest phone screens available.
You can use it with gloves on or even when the screen is wet, which adds real practicality to the specs.
OnePlus also added a smart feature that’s new to Android phones: split refresh rates. This means different parts of your screen can run at different speeds at the same time.
Text can stay at a battery-saving 10Hz while your video plays smoothly at 120Hz in another part of the screen. This clever approach should help extend battery life without affecting how responsive the phone feels.
The new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display marks a big improvement over the OnePlus 12’s optical sensor. It reads your fingerprint faster and works better with wet fingers or in bright light.
Performance
Under the hood, the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip brings serious power. We’re talking about a 40% jump in both CPU and gaming performance compared to last year.
The base model comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but you can go all out with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage if you need more power.
Battery Life and Charging
The massive 6,000mAh battery in the OnePlus 13 is a game-changer. You can expect about two days of use between charges – OnePlus puts it at 1.93 days to be exact.
When you do need to charge, the 100W fast charging fills up the phone in just 35 minutes. Wireless charging runs at 50W, which doubles what the latest iPhones can do.
Cameras
Photography gets an upgrade with three 50-megapixel cameras. The main, ultra-wide, and zoom cameras all use the same resolution now, which helps keep quality consistent.
The telephoto camera gives you 3x zoom, but can shoot clear shots up to 6x thanks to sensor cropping. OnePlus stuck with Hasselblad for color tuning, and added new filters that mimic Fuji cameras.
Software
The phone runs OxygenOS 15, built on Android 15. You get some handy AI features like removing unwanted objects from photos, with more AI capabilities coming soon.
OnePlus guarantees four Android OS upgrades and five years of security updates. This means the OnePlus 13 will get Android 19.
Price and Availability
As earlier mentioned, the OnePlus 13 is only available in China right now, starting at 4,499 yuan (~$632) for the 12GB/256GB model all the way to 5,999 yuan (~$843) for the 24GB/1TB variant.
By contrast, the OnePlus 12 had a starting price of 4,299 yuan (~$604) for the 12GB/256GB model. When the global version arrives, expect slightly price points for the various configurations.
The OnePlus 13 packs top-tier features at a price that undercuts many competitors. It fixes the small issues from last year’s model while adding meaningful improvements to the screen, battery, and cameras.
If you’re shopping for a high-end phone in 2025, the OnePlus 13 deserves your attention.
