Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs The OnePlus 13 is the first true flagship phone of 2025 and there’s plenty to like. From its powerful performance to its fast charging and vibrant display, it has much of what we expect from a top-end phone right now. It looks good too, has great waterproofing, a scattering of new AI skills and a reasonable six years of security support. 7.5 OnePlus 13 Like
Powerful performance
Classy design
Fast charging
Don’t like
Disappointing cameras
Rivals offer longer support periods
Battery life could be better
But I said basically the same thing about the 2024 OnePlus 12 when it launched. That phone also had solid overall specs and lightning-fast performance and while it scored well on our review, it didn’t do a lot to stand out against competitors like Samsung and Google. It was just “fine.” The OnePlus 13 costs the same, has the same security support period and, while many of its specs have been given a boost, it feels more like a formulaic revision of last year’s model than an attempt to create something new and exciting. As a result, the OnePlus 13, while accomplished in some respects, feels more like a “pretty good” 2024 phone, rather than kicking off a new year of tech with any kind of fanfare.There’s nothing glaringly wrong with the phone as such. However the camera performance is a definite letdown and battery life could be better, but I’ve seen worse. It’s just that the phone doesn’t offer a specific reason to choose it over any of its rivals. At $900 it is cheaper than most of its competitors, but only by a small amount. Frankly if you’re at all keen on photography then spend the extra $100 and get an iPhone or Pixel 9 Pro.
The Sleek, White OnePlus 13 Is Great for Gamers, but Its Battery Disappoints
See all photos Its new Qualcomm processor is bonkers fast, which should tempt mobile gaming enthusiasts among you, but bear in mind that almost all top-end Android phones this year will launch with that chip, so the OnePlus’ high performance only stands out as impressive right now because it’s the one of the first in a new generation.The OnePlus 13’s appeal is complicated, even at its $900 price, and maybe that changes if you can pick it up with a discount later in the year. But it’s not a phone I expect I’ll remember in six months time. What it needs is a better reason to exist; either a killer feature that can’t be found anywhere else, or a price tag closer to $800 or less. Also, check out: OnePlus 13 vs. OnePlus 13R: Here’s What To Know About Their Specs and FeaturesThree cameras, too much processingThe OnePlus 13 packs a triple rear camera setup with a 50-megapixel standard lens, 50 megapixel telephoto lens (with 3x optical zoom) and 50 megapixel ultrawide lens. Shots from the main camera look okay, with decent overall exposure and in low light situations the wide aperture helps keep images looking bright and sharp. But I found that using the regular “Photo” mode resulted in images suffering from an over-processed look with unnaturally lightened shadows, weirdly toned-down highlights and a lot of added clarity that made the shots look poor.
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OnePlus 13, main camera, standard Photo mode. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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OnePlus 13, main camera, standard Photo mode Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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OnePlus 13, 3X optical zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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OnePlus 13, main camera, standard Photo mode. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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OnePlus 13, main camera, standard Photo mode. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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OnePlus 13, main camera, standard Photo mode Andrew Lanxon/CNETI switched to “Master mode” — but still left all settings on automatic — and the phone produced much more authentic-looking images that I greatly preferred. Color tones looked better, the shadows and contrast looked more natural and the nasty-looking added clarity was gone, giving the images a much more realistic look overall. I don’t know why there’s such a big difference between the two modes, but if you’re into photography my advice is to use Master mode and just leave all the settings on auto. Whatever the standard Photo mode is doing is quite frankly ruining the images.
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Shot on the OnePlus 13 main camera, Master mode. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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Outdoor scene taken in the Master mode (left) and regular Photo mode (right). Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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Outdoor scene taken in the Master mode (left) and regular Photo mode (right) using the ultrawide lens. Andrew Lanxon/CNETWorse still is that it does the same whether you’re using the main, telephoto or ultrawide cameras. While I didn’t mind it as much on zoomed-in shots, ultrawide images looked horribly over-processed in the main Photo mode, but didn’t look as bad in Master mode. The camera can take decent looking images, but they’re ruined by over-zealous image processing which seems hell bent on destroying the natural look of your shots. The telephoto lens offers a maximum 3x optical zoom, which falls short of the 5x zooms offered by both the iPhone 16 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro. While there is an on-screen button to zoom further to 6x on the OnePlus, it uses digital cropping to do so and the drop in quality is noticeable, with fine details looking fuzzy.
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OnePlus 13, 3X zoom lens. Notice the blurred motion, despite the bright scene. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
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OnePlus 13, 3x zoom. Notice how the figure standing up is very blurry, but the scene should be bright enough for the phone to capture this properly. Andrew Lanxon/CNETI also found the zoom lens often used a slower shutter speed, even in bright daylight situations, resulting in blurry motion in quite a few of my images. Again, it’s just not something I expect to see in a top-end camera phone.
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OnePlus 13, XPan mode. I like this aspect ratio on Hasselblad’s proper cameras, but it’s appeal is more limited on a phone. Andrew Lanxon/CNETOnePlus has continued its partnership with iconic camera manufacturer Hasselblad and you will find some Hasselblad branding scattered about the camera interface, along with some color filters and the XPan mode which shoots wide and narrow panoramic images — but that actually just crops your photo through the middle to achieve the effect. I actually loved the XPan look when I shot with Hasselblad’s 907X camera last year, but then I had a 150-megapixel medium format sensor to play with so I wasn’t concerned about the loss in quality. Here, I think I’d rather keep my JPEGs as they are and apply a crop later should I want to. I don’t really understand what Hasselblad gets from this partnership. Nobody will be looking at this phone’s image quality and splashing out $13,000 on a Hasselblad as a result. Xiaomi’s partnership with Leica, on the other hand, hits different. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra delivered some of the best images I’ve ever seen from a camera phone. I can absolutely imagine Leica fans wanting the phone, and vice versa. Andrew Lanxon/CNETA classy white designI like the look of the phone. Side by side, there’s not a huge change from the last one, which itself wasn’t much different from the one before it. But Apple barely changes its designs and people still buy its phones, so why should OnePlus?But I do think it looks quite smart, especially in the bright white variant I was sent. The glossy chrome trim looks stylish and it’s comfortable to hold. Better yet, OnePlus says it has its toughest glass ever on the front, so you can worry less if you drop it and it has IP69 water resistance to keep it safe from water damage. It also uses the same “wet touch” screen tech seen on the OnePlus 12 that makes the screen responsive even if you’re trying to type out a text message with rain drops splashing on it. Andrew Lanxon/CNETSpeaking of the screen, the 6.8-inch display provides tons of room to enjoy full screen videos or games, while its high resolution means everything looks pin sharp. Colors are extremely vibrant and its 1 to 120Hz refresh rate keeps everything looking nice and smooth. You can adjust the color intensity and temperature too if you find the default settings a bit overwhelming.Blistering performanceThe OnePlus 13 is among the first Android phones to run the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which together with the 16GB of RAM on my test model, allowed it to put in some stellar results on our benchmark tests. In fact, its scores are some of the highest I’ve ever seen from any phone.Needless to say then, the OnePlus 13 is a powerhouse, with games like Genshin Impact playing gloriously, and general navigation of the interface feeling smooth. There’s very little you could throw at this phone to slow it down. We expect to see this chip inside most flagships launching this year and this sort of performance will be expected across the board. We’ve seen it in the Asus ROG Phone 9 already, which delivered a similarly stellar set of benchmark scores. OnePlus 13 performance comparison OnePlus 13 3,091 9,362 6,762OnePlus 12 967 4,717 5,066Google Pixel 9 Pro XL 1,926 4,633 2,530
Geekbench 6 (Single core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-core)
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Note: Longer bars equal better scores
The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip isn’t just there for raw power though, it’s designed for better on-device AI tasks, so it’s no surprise you’ll find a host of AI tools on board. Chiefly, Google’s Gemini and Gemini Advanced for conversational AI fact finding and Circle to Search, which work just the same as they will on any other Android phone that supports Gemini. But OnePlus has sprinkled some of its own AI features in too. Andrew Lanxon/CNETThey’re largely image-focused, with the AI detail boost adding extra resolution to your photos while the AI unblur mode aims to bring back detail to blurry images. I’ve actually been quite surprised at how well it works, too. It’s rescued shots that I’d definitely have expected to simply delete due to motion blur. The results can look a bit fake, especially if you run the unblur tool on the same image multiple times. But if I only got one snap of an important moment, I’d rather it looked too digitally sharpened than blurry and unusable. Circle to Search, Notes expander and Unblur AI tools on the OnePlus 13. Screenshots by Andrew Lanxon/CNETYou’ll also find AI skills baked into the Notes app to help tidy up or expand written ideas. OnePlus hasn’t gone all in on AI in the way that Google did with its Pixel 9 Pro and I quite like that. There are AI tools if you want to dip your toe into the mobile AI waters, but they’re certainly not the reason to buy this phone. The AI Unblur tool has definitely done a good job of rescuing this image, despite the obvious digital artefacts in the dog’s fur. Andrew Lanxon/CNETIt runs Android 15 at its heart, with a light-touch software skin over the top which makes the phone easily usable to both Android veterans and smartphone newbies. OnePlus says the phone will receive four years of software updates and an additional two years of security support beyond that, meaning that the OnePlus 13 will remain safe to use until around 2031. While six years of total support is better than OnePlus used to offer, both Samsung and Google offer seven years of support on their phones and it would be nice to see OnePlus attempting to remain competitive here.Disappointing battery, lightning-fast charging Andrew Lanxon/CNETPowering the phone is a huge 6,000-mAh battery, which to be honest, I expected more from. It didn’t perform especially well on our battery rundown tests, which took me by surprise after last year’s OnePlus 12 did so well. It’s a demanding test though, and in general use I wasn’t left with any strong concerns about its battery. You shouldn’t struggle to get through a full day of mixed use, and if you’re careful you’ll likely find there’s enough power to take you into a second day. As with all phones, I recommend you give it a full charge each night. If you do get into your evening with the juice running low, topping it up is no great hassle as the OnePlus 13 supports 100W fast charging. With a compatible charger connected (one does not come in the box, so you’ll need to factor that in), the phone will go from empty to full in around 36 minutes, which is significantly speedier than the iPhone 16 Pro, which can take around 2 hours to fully recharge. It also supports fast 50W wireless charging, again, using a compatible wireless charging pad.OnePlus 13: Should you buy it? Andrew Lanxon/CNETIf you’re looking for a high performance Android flagship for mobile gaming then the OnePlus 13 is worth considering. It’s an absolute powerhouse in everyday use, while its sleek design and fast charging are welcome cherries on top. But it’s let down by camera performance, which falls far behind its competitors. I’d like to have seen better battery performance too.At full price, the OnePlus 13 does slightly undercut its main rivals, but not by much, and it requires some sacrifices to get there. I’d like to see another $100 off the price, at which point this phone suddenly makes a lot more sense. If you can pick it up with a carrier discount, or with bundled extras thrown in, it’s certainly worth your time and as long as you’re not a keen photographer I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. OnePlus 13 specs vs. OnePlus 13R, OnePlus 12, Samsung Galaxy S24 OnePlus 13OnePlus 13ROnePlus 12Samsung Galaxy S24 Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate 6.82-inch AMOLED; 3,168×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,780×1,264 pixels, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate6.82-inch AMOLED; 3,168×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate6.2-inch AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh ratePixel density 510ppi450ppi510ppi416ppiDimensions (inches) 6.41×3.01×0.33 in. (arctic dawn/black eclipse); 6.41×3.01×0.35 in. (midnight ocean)6.36×2.98×0.32 in.6.5x3x0.36 in.5.79×2.78×0.3 in.Dimensions (millimeters) 162.9×76.5×8.5mm (arctic dawn/black eclipse); 162.9×76.5×8.9mm (midnight ocean)161.72×75.77×8.02mm164.3x76x9.2mm147 x 71 x 7.6 mmWeight (grams, ounces) 213g (7.51 oz.) — arctic dawn/black eclipse; 210g (7.4 oz.) — midnight ocean206g (7.26 oz.)220g (7.8 oz.)168g (5.93 oz.)Mobile software Android 15Android 15Android 14Android 14Camera 50 megapixel (wide), 50 megapixel (3x telephoto), 50 megapixel (ultrawide)50 megapixel (main), 50 megapixel (ultrawide), 8 megapixel (telephoto)50-megapixel (wide), 48-megapixel (ultrawide), 64-megapixel (3x telephoto)50-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto)Front-facing camera 32 megapixel16 megapixel32-megapixel12-megapixel Video capture 8K at 30fps; 4K at 60fps 4K at 60fps8K8KProcessor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 EliteQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3RAM/storage 12GB + 256GB; 16GB + 512GB12GB + 256GB12GB RAM + 256GB; 16GB RAM + 512GB8GB RAM + 128GB, 256GBExpandable storage NoNoNoneNoneBattery 6,000 mAh6,000 mAh5,400 mAh4,000 mAhFingerprint sensor Under displayUnder displayUnder displayUnder displayConnector USB-CUSB-CUSB-CUSB-CHeadphone jack NoneNoneNoneNoneSpecial features 80W SuperVooc wired charging, 50W AirVooc wireless charging, alert slider, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, IP68 and IP69 certified, Ceramic Guard, Aqua Touch 2.0, 4 years software updates, 6 years security updates, LTPO 4.1 display55W SuperVOOC wired charging with included power adapter, alert slider, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, IP65 certified, Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, Aqua Touch 2.0, 4 years software updates, 6 years security updates, LTPO 4.1 display4,500-nit peak brightness; 4 years of software and 5 years of security updates; 80W wired charging (100W wired charging outside US); IP65 water and dust resistance; 50W wireless charging with fan dock; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover glass; Gorilla Glass 5 back glass2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; 25W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 6EUS price starts at $900 (12GB + 256GB); $1,000 (16GB + 512GB)$600 (12GB + 256GB)$800 (256GB)$800 (128GB) How we test phonesEvery phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET’s initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.
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