OnePlus 13 review: flawless flagship smartphone is battery champ at a highly competitive price
OnePlus 13 is the new No1 for performance and battery life and is packed full of high-end tech and clever features
OnePlus 13 is a flawless flagship smartphone armed with great cameras, insanely fast and fluid performance and the best battery life on any smartphone I’ve ever tested.
The shiny new device, which comes in black, white and stunning blue colours, exceeds even the amazing endurance of Apple’s iPhone 16 Plus which was my battery stamina king until now.
Battery champ
Starting at zero at 8am, OnePlus 13 regularly has more than 50 percent in the tank at midnight. Casual users would get two days of use from one charge quite easily with this device. Obviously battery stamina depends on how you are using the device.
READ MORE: Best Tech of 2024: the top 15 smartphones we tested this year
The phone uses the latest silicon-carbon battery tech to include a larger capacity power pack in roughly the same sized frame as its predecessor.
If and when the 6,000mAh power pack does run out of juice, OnePlus 13 can be recharged in just over a half an hour with a 100W wired charger. You can also refuel at up to 50W wirelessly with any compatible AirVooc charger such as the new OnePlus magnetic charger that pairs with the firm’s range of magnetic cases.
The firm’s magnetically detachable accessory ecosystem also includes a new 5,000 mAh power bank.
The design is compatible with the Apple MagSafe ecosystem too, expanding the range of compatible accessories hugely.
OnePlus 13 display
I love large screen devices and the 2K 6.82in OLED display here is a beauty. It is a joy to work or play on, and it has High Visibility certification and Smart Eye Protection 4.0 certification from TÜV Rheinland.
Peak brightness is listed as 4,500 nits (but this is only achievable in certain ultra-bright scenarios) while brightness for HDR content is 1,600 nits and the average brightness is 1,200 nits.
The PWM dimming is very high, 2160Hz, and means that health problems caused by the flickering of the panel should be limited even for people sensitive to flickering.
It’s a responsive touchscreen with animations displayed smoothly thanks to the fast 120Hz refresh rate. The latest LTPO 4.1 tech is employed. This means you get a dynamic refresh rate range of 1- to 120Hz (allowing for super-smooth visuals and better power management) along with support for two refresh rates, simultaneously. This reduces battery drain even more than a conventional 120Hz LTPO panel.
A new Live Alerts capsule mirrors the functionality of the iPhone’s Dynamic Island and works really well.
OnePlus supplied a set of gloves that work with the phone’s screen too, which was handy in the Arctic weather we have been enduring. The firm said you can use wool or cotton gloves up to 5mm thick.
The screen can also be used if it is wet thanks to a technology called RainTouch.
The display is not protected by Gorilla Glass, incidentally. Instead, the firm uses what it calls Ceramic Guard. A screen protector is pre-installed too.
Performance king
The performance is king thanks to Qualcomm’s highest end Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. It’s a veritable beast that can breeze through everything you throw at it, including graphically intensive games.
Even on the demanding Genshin Impact, you can enjoy high frame rates in the highest graphics settings.
In both benchmark tests and everyday use, the OnePlus 13 is a powerhouse that’s more capable than almost every other smartphone I’ve tested yet with the exception of the dedicated gaming handset, RedMagic 10 Pro.
But bear in mind, the Snapdragon 8 Elite flagships from Honor and Samsung are just around the corner and I’ve not yet completed testing on the Rog Phone 9 Pro which also employs that incredible chip. So OnePlus will not be alone as performance king for long.
However, be assured that the benchmark scores on this device indicate a level of performance headroom sufficient to deliver years of use in the same way that Apple’s own chips make the iPhone so reliable for so long.
OnePlus 13 runs Android 15 with the firm’s Oxygen OS15 over the top. And if you want heaps of AI features such as Circle to Search and Gemini, you got them too. The company said there is a 45 percent uplift in AI performance between generations, with features such as AI Eraser now carried out much more quickly.
My review unit had 512GB of superfast UFS 4.0 storage and a hefty 16GB of RAM.
It’s worth mentioning the Game Toolkit that frees up memory, manages power and touch performance and allows you to tweak settings, control notifications and capture your best gameplay moments.
Hasselblad camera system
The four Hasselblad-branded cameras are class, with a lot of help from the new Dual Exposure Algorithm that employs Apple and Google’s method of fusing a short exposure with a longer exposure to help freeze subjects in low-light conditions.
The main rear camera uses a 50MP sensor from Sony, the LYT-808, which is a reasonably large 1/1.4in format. It has an f/1.6 aperture and large pixel size. Images have strong dynamic range and are impressively sharp.
Equally impressive are the images from the 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera which uses an ISOCELL JN5 sensor. There is also a 50MP periscope telephoto lens that uses a Triprism lens to achieve a top notch 3x optical zoom by using a larger sensor without adding to the size of the camera module.
The front-facing camera is a most capable 32MP shooter. The phone delivers decent portraits and well-exposed lowlight images.
The camera system is not quite as refined as on sister company Oppo’s Hasselblad-branded Find X8 Pro but the OnePlus 13 sells at a much more competitive price point so I guess this is the compromise.
However, in everyday shooting scenarios, the OnePlus 13 does an excellent job and produces consistently pleasing images and videos. If there is room for improvement, it’s in the area of colour consistency between the wide and ultra-wide lenses.
The native Photos app’s AI Editor is useful too, enabling you to upscale shots using the AI Detail Boost feature, remove unwanted subjects or unblur others. You can also quickly remove reflections.
Videos, incidentally, can be recorded in 8K resolution at up to 30 frames per second (fps) and 4K 60fps with Dolby Vision. Slow motion is possible in full HD resolution at up to 240fps.
Design and build
OnePlus may have a huge display and battery but it is a relatively light and comfortable phone to hold and use, weighing 210g. It’s also superslim at 8.5mm thin.
The famed OnePlus alert slider is present and correct on the left side of the device, letting you switch between ring, vibrate and silent profiles.
Other OnePlus 13 features
OnePlus has introduced a fast and reliable ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on this year’s model.
One clever and rare feature on Android is powered-off Find My Device tracking which means you can locate your handset for hours after it is switched off. And you get a rare IP69 rating for dust and water resistance - the phone can withstand spray from high pressure water jets. You also get the more traditional IP68 rating too.
A brilliant and unique feature is Share with iPhone. This means you can wirelessly file transfer to Apple’s smartphones or tablets in an AirDrop style. It’s not quite as seamless as AirDrop but it is most welcome and most useful.
The phone has the latest Bluetooth 5.4, an IR blaster, Miracast, WiFi7 and NFC for contactless payments. The USB-C port is the 3.2 specification that enables high data transfer speeds. You get a dual speaker system and support for the latest LHDC 5.0 higher quality audio codec.
On top of all that, OnePlus 13 will get four major Android OS updates and six years of security updates, up until early 2031.
And do bear in mind that OnePlus now boasts a solid ecosystem that includes a fantastic tablet, brilliant earphones and a stylish smartwatch with the best battery life of any Wear OS 4 wearable at 100 hours.
OnePlus 13 verdict
Written off by some a few years back, OnePlus is now stronger than ever. Samsung and Google have a new rival. This phone offers lots of high-end tech for a highly competitive price point.
Pricing and availability
OnePlus 13 costs just €999 for a 256GB/12GB configuration but you can get €100 off the €1,149 512GB/16GB configuration if you buy before February 5. You can also get the 512GB/16GB configuration for €1,075 from Amazon currently, saving a further €75.
Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Related
Share this page
Guest Posts by Easy Branches
