OnePlus 13 review: A next-gen tour de force

OnePlus has been quick off the mark launching its flagship phone for 2025. Officially announced in China on 31 October 2024, the OnePlus 13 has now launched globally, making it one of the first new phones of 2025 and one of the first devices to have Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon hardware.

OnePlus’ focus is on speed, offering plenty of customisation through OxygenOS 15, with a range of AI functions, while the camera experience remains a key priority for the company, as it does for all new devices. It’s a device of many firsts and that gives OnePlus an advantage, offering exciting new mobile tech.  

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The Disconnekt Downlow

The OnePlus 13 is one of the first of a new generation of phones and at the time of writing, one of the most powerful phones you can buy. With a great display, smooth software and a good overall hardware offering for the money, this latest OnePlus device offers a great overall experience. The camera is a little weak in low light and perhaps more complex than I’d like, while the 4 years of Android version support can’t keep pace with the likes of Samsung or Google. But when you consider things like the long battery life and the really fast charging, you might just be happy to compromise a little and enjoy the great Android experience that the OnePlus 13 offers.

Buy from £899 on OnePlus

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The reasons you should choose the OnePlus 13

You’d be forgiven for not instantly seeing the difference between the 2024 OnePlus 12 and the new OnePlus 13. The most distinctive design feature of both these phones is the large round camera array on the rear of the phone. There’s a quality finish, with the Black Eclipse pictured here offering a silky smooth finish, with a subtle patterning that looks like wood grain – which stays mercifully fingerprint-free.

OnePlus has kept the frame thin on this phone, so although squared off for flatter sides which is much the trend these days, it’s easy to handle, as the back and front still curve into that frame – unlike the Pixel 9 Pro XL or iPhone 16 Pro Max. It’s a high-quality finish with IP68 and IP69 protection, meaning it won’t just survive a dunking in water, but high-powered jets too.

This additional IP rating perhaps reflects how OnePlus is positioning this device: not that it’s for those working with pressure washers, but that it wants to go one better than most of its rivals. It makes for a compelling message on the spec sheet and gives owners something to shout about, in a market that’s almost unbearably competitive.

That lends some noteworthy characteristics to the OnePlus 13 that are worth knowing about. Launching as one of the first devices with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, it’s one of the most powerful phones you can buy at the time of writing. It’s effortlessly smooth, fast to start-up and set up and stays cool in long gaming sessions. I pushed the phone with plenty of Call of Duty Mobile and it barely warmed up.

But despite only being 8.5mm thick, there’s a huge 6,000mAh battery inside. That’s much more capacious than many rivals and it now embraces new carbon-silicon technology. This has boosted the energy density, so you’re getting greater capacity, but the 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging (with a compatible charger) also means that it recharges in a flash.

The good news is that the battery just seems to go on and on and I found the OnePlus 13 to last well beyond a day in normal use. This is the sort of phone that will see you through the day and night, or as I did, watching loads of movies on really long flights, without the worry that you’ll end up with a dead phone.

Top that off with a luscious AMOLED display – still at 6.82-inches but now with a slimmer bezel than the OnePlus 12 – and you have the makings for a great phone experience. I tested this display in bright sunshine in Australia and found that its impressive brightness helped it fend off reflections, while looking luscious and rich too.

What the OnePlus 13 could do better

Returning to 50W wireless charging and there are two sides to this offering. On one hand, there are plenty of good reasons for adopting a fast-charging wireless stand for your phone, so you can just drop it onto the cradle to charge, and grab it when you leave home. But arguably the biggest advent in charging in 2025 is Qi2, which is basically MagSafe for Android phones.

The OnePlus 13 doesn’t support Qi2 natively, instead wanting you to use a case to grant it magnetic abilities. One of the accessories is the AirVOOC 50W Magnetic Charger, which has a little fan it to keep it cool. At first I thought this was great fun, but in reality, there’s no real use for it. Unlike a stand, you’re not just going to drop your phone on this magnetic charger, so you might as well plug it in and charge at 100W wired instead.

I accept that you can fix this charger in place when gaming as the fan still runs, but it does make the phone a little heavy. Indeed, you can also use this accessory like a stand to prop the phone up, but it’s perhaps a little noisy if you planned to do that.

That’s a minor gripe about an accessory that you don’t have to buy and that’s perhaps a reflection of what little bad there is to say about the OnePlus 13. The level of customisation means that if there’s something you don’t like, you can often change it.

There’s some bloatware, with OnePlus putting its own browser in place and a couple of other apps, but there’s little here to offend. If there’s a weakness, the commitment to 4 years of software updates is it: Samsung and Google both offer 7 years, so OnePlus is behind the curve.

OnePlus is offering 6 years of security updates, however, so even though the phone isn’t as well supported, it’s going to stay protected for a decent length of time.

Let’s talk about the camera experience – and the AI skills in place to support it

Smartphone cameras range from the simple to the complex – and OnePlus offers a camera experience that’s popular, but a little more involved than you’ll find on the Google Pixel. I use the Pixel as a benchmark, as I find it one of the most straight-forward and consistently good cameras.

The OnePlus 13 has a triple camera arrangement, using three 50-megapixel sensors on the rear, covering the main camera, ultra-wide and a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. OnePlus is at pains to point out that this is a triprism telephoto camera, meaning that the light path bends three times, making it more compact. That has allowed a larger sensor to be used, with a slightly wider than average aperture, but you’re still only sitting at 3x magnification.

There’s access to 120x digital zoom which is of questionable use, but having the flexibility to zoom in quite a long way is fun. Sure, lots of phones do this, but at least the quality out to about 30x zoom is pretty good. There’s a lot of processing happening here and that can also see fine detail processed away, but it also can clean up a lot of the noise and softness from digital zoom.

In good lighting, there’s little to complain about: the OnePlus 13 will deliver some great images in good conditions, but the low light performance remains a weakness. OnePlus bumps the ISO high in dimmer conditions. Compared to the Google Pixel 9 Pro – a strong performer in low light – the OnePlus might jump to an ISO level that’s 5 or 6x higher. That can lead to a change in the overall colour balance and sharpness of details in an image. That’s especially true of pictures of people in low light, where the softer details are more noticeable in faces and skin.

While the daylight images are generally good, they can be really contrasty. This is particularly evident in these scenes of Bondi Beach (above). These photos have real character, more like an old film camera because of that high contrast. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just a style that’s come out in those images. Perhaps a nod to Hasselblad?

When it comes to AI, you’ll get access to Google AI through Google Photos, but in OnePlus Photos you’ll also find an AI Editor. This gives access to AI Detail Boost, AI Eraser, AI Unblur and AI Reflection Eraser. Of these, the AI Eraser is basically like Magic Editor or Magic Eraser that Google already offers, and the real unique offering is in AI Reflection Eraser.

This will cut down some of the image ghosting you’ll get shooting through glass, something that Galaxy AI offers on Samsung phones. Finally, the AI Detail Boost basically scans and aims to bring more detail to images that are a lower resolution. It can work pretty well, too – in each case you can tap to see the before and after, so it’s all great fun to use.

Arguably, OnePlus isn’t doing as much as you’ll find elsewhere when it comes to generative AI image creation. Yes, it will create content when you erase something, but OnePlus isn’t talking about complete image generation like you’ll find in Google’s Pixel Studio or Apple’s Image Playground. That’s perhaps a moot point, as Gemini will do that for you, but it’s interesting that OnePlus hasn’t made this the focus of AI.

Should I buy the OnePlus 13?

The OnePlus 13 sets out a compelling case for alternative flagship phones. It offers power and performance that will match the best phones out there which I say with trepidation, because at the time of writing, there’s very little to directly compare the OnePlus 13 to.

It’s a familiar story for OnePlus fans: strong design, good overall specification, good value for money and nice clean software experience. There’s a slightly downside in the software updates being limited to 4 years, but at least you have 6 years of security updates.

There’s a comprehensive camera offering, with a full selection of lenses and good performance, but the low light results aren’t the best out there. That’s perhaps acceptable in a phone that does so much, while remaining a little more affordable than some rivals.

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