13 reasons why it’s a great phone

Within the smartphone warfare for the 2025 crown, OnePlus is beginning us off sturdy with the OnePlus 13. The OnePlus 13 is a stellar flagship in all of the ways in which matter. Slim construct with a stable design, a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor that retains the cellphone chugging, a big 6,000mAh battery with 80W wired charging, and three cameras that take exemplary footage — I tip my hat to the model. Whereas Oxygen OS 15 is a reasonably heavy Android working system, it was enjoyable to find new options and fascinating methods to customise and use the handset.

That is my first time reviewing a OnePlus gadget, so I lack some baggage and points that my co-worker Brad Bennett skilled with the model. One of the vital important points Bennett confronted was that OnePlus didn’t replace the units sufficient. Whereas it provided many customization choices, some fundamental methods to personalize your gadget weren’t obtainable. When it comes to updates, I’ll should maintain my eye out for this whereas I proceed to make use of the OP13; up to now, we had an replace after we first turned on the gadget and nothing afterwards. Nonetheless, this is smart, contemplating the gadget isn’t obtainable to the general public but. Bennett’s customization points are warranted — for example, with the Clock Widget, at any time when there’s the primary, it’ll present up as crimson, and you may’t change that. OnePlus does this for branding causes, but it surely doesn’t hassle me as a lot because it bothers Bennett.

I needed to say this as a result of I’ll say many good issues in regards to the OnePlus 13, however I need to remind you that this handset isn’t good.

Microfiber vegan leather-based

The OnePlus 13 isn’t the primary handset with microfiber vegan leather-based, however bringing it to a flagship was a stable selection. It helps the cellphone stand out, and it feels nice to carry. The handset’s rear is fingerprint- and smudge-proof, and the cellphone is fashionable. It’s value mentioning that solely the Midnight Ocean variant presents this microfiber materials. The Black Eclipse variant presents a black rosewood grain glass course of and resembles a sensible wooden grain texture. It additionally feels good to carry and resists fingerprints. Plus, it sparkles within the gentle, it’s stunning and may be the best-looking possibility, for my part. There’s additionally Arctic Daybreak, a enjoyable white color with a glacial texture.

The design of the OnePlus 13 has modified fairly a bit in comparison with its predecessor and has pushed it extra in step with different flagships just like the Pixel 9 Pro XL and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. As a substitute of the curved sides we’re used to, the handset presents a flat silver mid-frame to assist with grip and quad-curved glass. There are additionally accents across the digicam bump and silver accents with the Hasselblad branding.

The OnePlus 13 weighs 210g, which is a bit heavier than the Pixel 9 Professional XL however lighter than the OnePlus 12, iPhone 16 Professional Max and the S24 Ultra. It’s 8.5mm thick, which isn’t the thinnest gadget available on the market, however thinner than its predecessor and the S24 Extremely. Most likely the largest fault of the OnePlus 13’s design is its completely enormous digicam bump. It’s very apparent and stands out, however not in one of the best ways.

The quad-curved 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED show presents a 120Hz refresh charge, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and a formidable 1440 x 3168-pixel decision, giving it a pixel density of above 500ppi. Photos, movies, video games, and extra all look nice on the show and match handsets just like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely. I hoped the cellphone would supply a better refresh charge just like the Asus ROG Phone 9 sequence, however 120Hz is certainly adequate.

Animal Kingdom

Digicam-wise, the OnePlus 13 presents optimum photographs in darkish and light-weight environments. The handset includes a 50-megapixel main shooter with an f/1.6 aperture, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide shooter with a 120-degree subject of view and a 50-megapixel telephoto with a 3x zoom lens.

I don’t suppose they’re the perfect cameras available on the market, however I went to Disney World’s Animal Kingdom with the handset, and I didn’t really feel the necessity to take out my iPhone or Pixel till I needed to take an image of one thing distant. I want the OnePlus 13 had a 5x zoom lens to match up towards the iPhone 16 Professional or the Pixel 9 Pro.

I obtained a stellar picture of an elephant, one other with the attractive and vibrant plumage of a macaw and an ideal close-up shot of an unique chook in unbelievable element. I used to be fairly impressed by the photographs I took within the day. Lowlight imagery seemed good, however the OnePlus 13 isn’t the perfect at taking footage in low gentle, as different flagships have it beat. Nonetheless, I wasn’t dissatisfied once I took photographs at night time, however I observed these pictures had much less element. Don’t get me unsuitable, some night time photographs look phenomenal, however the handset is inconsistent.

Take a look at among the photographs beneath and let me know your ideas on how the OnePlus 13 did.

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6,000mAh battery

The OP13 is a powerhouse with the Snapdragon 8 Gen Elite. The cellphone can run all kinds of video games. I’ve no difficulty with a number of apps operating within the background; all the pieces is extremely snappy.

I’ve performed video games like Pokémon TCG Pocket, Useless Cells, Grimvalor, Haak, Marvel Snap, ScourgeBringer, Blasphemous, and League of Legends: Wild Rift on the gadget. All of those video games run easily, and I by no means had any considerations. I pushed Wild Rift to its highest settings, and the framerates didn’t drop. Pretty much as good because it was, although, the Snapdragon 8 Gen Elite surprisingly might have carried out higher contained in the OnePlus 13.

For comparability, the ROG Cellphone 9 featured a single-core rating of three,156 and a multi-core rating of 10,002 in Geekbench 6, which is insane. Even the iPhone 16 Professional sequence doesn’t match these scores. Nonetheless, the OnePlus 13 solely scored a single-core rating of 2929 and a multi-core rating of 8944. Benchmarks don’t essentially equate to real-life experiences, however I used to be nonetheless just a little shocked by these numbers, in comparison with the ROG Cellphone 9.

As for the cellphone’s battery, the OnePlus 13 presents a 6,000mAh energy cell that may survive as much as two days. It’s probably the greatest batteries in a smartphone that I’ve used lately. It will depend on what you do throughout the day; nonetheless, I’ve by no means had the cellphone die on me inside 24 hours. I used to be impressed by this, as most handsets can survive as much as a day and a bit, however the OnePlus 13 at all times did. Typically, the handset wouldn’t die till the next night time. Paired with 80W charging, the handset costs to one hundred pc in lower than 40 minutes. It’s fairly superior; I can completely overlook to cost my cellphone at night time and the next day have my handset charged to 100 earlier than I go away my home.

Oxygen OS 15

I wrote quite a bit about Oxygen OS 15 in my review of the latest update to the Oxygen operating system; nonetheless, there are some further options that I like about it. As an illustration, I appreciated the Clever Search, which helps you to rapidly search via something on-device, together with even information. It’s not at all times essentially the most helpful, as I feel it wants to have the ability to entry your e mail and Google Calendar like Gemini; nonetheless, I used to be in a position to ask Clever Search, “When is RuPaul’s Drag Race Stay?” And I used to be capable of finding the date and time on my ticket.

I additionally like that Gemini is entrance and centre, as it could be on a Pixel handset. The ability button prompts the assistant, who is able to observe instructions.

IP69

Let’s speak about IP69, which makes the OnePlus 13 very particular. Most flagships supply IP68, which permits your gadget to be submerged at a depth of 1.5m for half-hour. IP69, then again, is just a little totally different, and it implies that the gadget can survive in water as much as 80 levels Celsius with water jets from 4 instructions, and the handset ought to survive 30 seconds in every course. This definition is a bit complicated, however primarily, OnePlus says that if the cellphone is left in your pocket and you set your pants within the wash, it ought to survive. Additionally, if you wish to disinfect your gadget, you possibly can stick it within the dishwasher (relying on whether or not it’s in excessive warmth mode). I believed these examples made sense, however the perfect use-case is that if I’m in a freshwater sizzling tub, the OP13 should not have any drawback if it falls in.

In the course of the OnePlus press occasion, the corporate had a demo for us to check out. We put the OnePlus 13 in a conveyable dishwasher and a conveyable washer, and in each situations, the cellphone survived with none issues.

The OnePlus 13 additionally has Aqua Contact 2.0, which lets you simply use your gadget even when it’s moist, making it the last word gadget for the bathe.

It’s value noting that the OnePlus 13 doesn’t assist MagSafe, however you should purchase MagSafe circumstances for the gadget and use MagSafe via the case.

13 isn’t dangerous luck anymore

The OnePlus 13 has been a delight to make use of over the previous month. I haven’t discovered myself lacking my iPhone and even my Pixel. I just like the person interface, the digicam capabilities, the long-lasting battery and the snappy processor.

The OnePlus 13 is now obtainable in Canada and you will get it from Greatest Purchase Canada or OnePlus’ web site. The 16GB of RAM/512GB of storage mannequin prices $1,399.99 and in the event you don’t want all that RAM and storage, the 12GB/256GB mannequin prices $1,249.99.

In case you don’t thoughts buying a tool outright (and also you completely ought to; the carriers are robbing you), then the OnePlus 13 is certainly value the fee.

13 Causes Why 

1. Design is fashionable.
2. Vegan Leather-based and Wooden Grain textures are each fairly and fingerprint-proof.
3. Snappy expertise.
4. Gaming is dope on the gadget.
5. Oxygen OS 15 is quick and easy.
6. Oxygen OS 15 has plenty of enjoyable and hidden mechanics to discover.
7. IP69.
8. Aqua Contact 2.0 is nice if you wish to use your cellphone within the bathe or within the pool.
9. The 6,000mAh battery can survive effectively over a day.
10. 80W charging can prime up your handset extraordinarily rapidly.
11. The digicam expertise is top-notch.
12. Pricing in Canada is fairly good in the event you don’t thoughts spending the money outright.
13. Six years of safety updates and 4 years of software program updates.