OnePlus 13R Review: Great Phone, Excellent Price

It’s a brand new year and we’ve got brand new OnePlus number series phones. The OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R were launched in India earlier this week with the latest hardware and new design. OnePlus has managed to keep the pricing very competitive as well. Talking about being competitive, the underdog OnePlus 13R is once again looking to be a great package, at least on paper. I’ve been using the 13R for about two weeks to find out if the new mid-range flagship is a good upgrade from the OnePlus 12R.

The OnePlus 13R is priced at Rs. 42,999 for the 12GB + 256GB storage option, whereas the 16GB + 512GB model will cost you Rs. 49,999. It is available in Astral Trail and Nebula Noir colour options. We got the Astrail Trail variant for review in the top trim.

OnePlus 13R Design: Premium and flat

• Dimensions – 161.7 x 75.8 x 8 mm
• Weight – 206g
• Colours – Astral Trail and Nebula Noir IP Rating – IP65

OnePlus 13R gets a new design this year, with a flat frame and a flat display. You can still tell that it’s a OnePlus phone, thanks to the left-aligned circular rear camera module, which has been a staple since the OnePlus 11. The phone does have a slightly different implementation of the module, though, as it’s now not attached to the side frame.

The rear camera module is no longer attached to the side frame

The 13R feels very premium in hand, and the glass rear panel has a patterned matte finish to it. The Astral Trail version we got for review has a nice texture that’ll remind you of those cool star trail photos on the internet.

I really liked the star trail-like pattern on the back

The frame is aluminium, has a matte finish, and can be slippery. Luckily, it’s not a fingerprint magnet, though. OnePlus does provide a nice silicone case in the box, though. You’ll find the clicky volume and power buttons on the right side, with the left housing the iconic textured alert slider.

The alert slider is in the same position as last year’s OnePlus 12R

The SIM card tray, which can accommodate dual SIMs, is placed on the bottom alongside a loudspeaker, dual microphones, and the USB Type-C port. There’s a third microphone at the top, along with another speaker and the IR blaster.

The phone gets an IR blaster

Overall, the phone feels great to hold in hand, although the flat frame does tend to dig into your palm after a while. The OnePlus 13R gets an IP65 rating, slightly better than its predecessor.

OnePlus 13R Display: Quality of life upgrades

• Size and type – 6.78-inches LTPO 4.1 AMOLED, 1.5K resolution
• Refresh rate – 120Hz
• Protection – Gorilla Glass 7i

The display on the OnePlus 13R is now flat and uses a newer LTPO 4.1 AMOLED panel. The specifications are still the same as before, though, and you get a 120Hz refresh rate, 1.5K resolution, 19.8:9 aspect ratio, HDR10+ support, Dolby Vision, 10-bit colour depth, and 100 percent Display P3 support.

The phone gets slimmer bezels compared to last year’s model

The display is great for watching videos and streaming content on Netflix and other streaming services. It also gets quite bright, with a claimed high brightness mode of 1,600nits and a peak brightness of 4,500nits. Again, the same figures as last time, and it continues to be highly legible even under direct sunlight. The viewing angles are also quite good. The panel also supports Aqua Touch 2.0 and Glove Mode.

The panel offers HDR10+, HDRViVid support along with Dolby Vision

The phone’s colour reproduction was very true to life, especially in the Natural colour mode. It also offers Vivid, Cinematic, and Brilliant colour profiles. You can choose between a standard and high screen resolution, with the latter draining more battery. As for the refresh rate, you can toggle between auto (1 to 120Hz), 60Hz, and 120Hz.

The optical fingerprint scanner worked well throughout the review period

OnePlus seems to have also managed to slightly improve the screen-to-body ratio thanks to slimmer bezels all around. The display has a punch hole cutout at the top centre for the selfie camera and an under-display fingerprint scanner, which is of the optical variety. The scanner worked very well during the review.

OnePlus 13R Software: Clean with a touch of AI

• OS – Android 15
• UI – OxygenOS 15
• Latest security patch – December 5 2024

The OnePlus 13R comes with the latest Android 15-based OxygenOS 15, which is much better than previous iterations of OxygenOS. There’s almost no bloatware and I love the overall smoothness and animations when navigating the UI. You do get a few pre-installed apps, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Netflix, but these are apps that I’d download anyway. OxygenOS 15 is also claimed to be 40 percent lighter than previous versions, which means you get more storage for your apps and data.

The phone is confirmed to receive 4 years of OS updates

OnePlus has also included some AI features on the phone. You get AI-backed features in the Photos app, such as AI Detail Boost, AI Unblur, AI Eraser, and AI Reflection Eraser. There’s Circle to Search from Google, Google Gemini, AI Assistant for Notes, PassScan in Google Wallet, and Magic Compose for rewriting text. While some features such as AI Detail Boost and AI Unblur are hit-and-miss, I found the AI Eraser, Reflection Eraser, Magic Compose, and the AI Assistant for Notes quite useful.

A new Share with iPhone feature lets you easily share files with your iPhone friends. OnePlus also added the new Open Canvas feature for multitasking from the Open. I tried both of these features, and they worked quite well. However, Canvas is best suited for larger screens.

During the review period, the phone received two OTA updates and is currently on the December 5 2024 Android security patch. OnePlus has promised four years of OS updates and six years of security updates.

OnePlus 13R Performance: Buttery smooth

• CPU – Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• RAM – 12/16GB LPDDR5X
• Storage – 256/512GB UFS 4.0

OnePlus phones are known for their smooth performance, and the 13R doesn’t disappoint. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a flagship chipset from last year, so you’ve got nothing to worry about. The phone performed extremely well in all our synthetic benchmark tests, and I faced no lag or stutter during daily or heavy usage.

The phone also runs quite cool, and I hardly faced any heating issues during the review. This is largely thanks to the 9,925mm square vapour chamber, which kept the heat away even during heavy gaming sessions. Regarding gaming, I played BGMI on the highest settings available, and the phone handled it with ease. Genshin Impact also ran smoothly without any hiccups. It’s definitely a great phone for gaming.

Gaming is super smooth on the phone, and it doesn’t heat up much either

You get dual speakers on the phone, and they can get quite loud. There’s also some bass, which is nice. The earpiece and microphone also worked well during phone calls.

OnePlus 13R Cameras: Better than before

• Main rear – 50-megapixel Sony LYT-700, f/1.8, OIS, Autofocus
• Telephoto – 50-megapixel Samsung S5KJN5, 2x Optical zoom, f/2.0, Autofocus
• Ultrawide – 8-megapixel, f/2.2, 112 degree FoV
• Front – 16-megapixel, f/2.4, Fixed focus

The OnePlus 13R has an improved camera setup. The company listened to users and reviewers and got rid of the 2-megapixel depth/macro sensor. You now get a useful 2x optical zoom camera. The primary camera has also been updated, but the ultra-wide sensor appears to be the same. Nevertheless, the phone does see much-needed improvements.

The 2-megapixel macro camera is finally gone

The camera app is simple and has several modes, including Time-lapse, Hi-Res, Long Exposure, and Pro. You also get dedicated Portrait and Night modes.

Plenty of modes are available in the Camera app

Coming to camera performance, I noticed improvements in photos taken from the main camera in daylight conditions. The colours are on point, there’s plenty of detail, the dynamic range is wide, and the white balance is also good.

Photos shot from the main camera in 1x [Tap to expand]

This year, the new telephoto camera is a nice addition and produces very good results in daylight conditions. Once again, there are lots of details, the colours closely match the primary sensor, and the image has a good dynamic range.

Samples shot using the 2x telephoto camera [Tap to expand]

Next, the ultrawide camera, which remains the same as last year, takes good photos when there’s plenty of light. The images have good detail, but the colours are more saturated than photos from the other cameras.

Camera samples from the ultrawide camera [Tap to expand]

The 2x telephoto camera is also pretty decent when it comes to Portrait photos. You get 1x and 2x crop in the camera app, and the edge detection is not too bad either. However, the images tend to have plenty of noise and softness in lowlight conditions.

Portrait photos with the 2x telephoto; Daylight (Top), Lowlight-indoors (Bottom) [Tap to expand]

Talking about lowlight conditions, the main sensor continues to perform well, with images offering good detail, natural colours, and a pretty accurate white balance.

Lowlight camera samples from the primary rear camera at 1x [Tap to expand]

However, ultrawide and telephoto cameras aren’t very good when there’s not enough light. You’ll notice a lot of noise and softness in images.

Lowlight samples: Ultrawide (Top 3); 2x Telephoto (Bottom 3)

The front camera on the OnePlus 13R produces pretty good photos in daylight conditions. There are good details, and the skin colours are pretty accurate. However, the camera doesn’t perform well in lowlight conditions. There’s a lot of noise and softness in selfies taken with less light.

The OnePlus 13R can record videos at up to 4K 60fps, and you do get optical image stabilisation, but it only works in 1080p 60fps. Videos taken on the phone, using the main camera in 4K, have a good amount of detail with slightly boosted colours. Lowlight videos lack the same amount of detail, and you’ll start seeing some noise and darker shadows. Stabilisation is good when using Ultra Steady video mode in 1080p resolution, but you’ll see some shakiness and sudden jumps when running or panning.

OnePlus 13R Battery: Massive in all ways

• Capacity – 6,000mAh
• Charging speed – 80W
• Charger – 80W (In the box)

The OnePlus 13R uses a new Silicon-Carbon battery that is denser and larger than before. Despite packing a larger 6,000mAh cell, the 13R is slimmer than the 12R. In my daily usage, the phone consistently delivered over 7 hours of screen-on time. Most of my days usually ended with over 40 percent of battery still remaining. In our HD video loop test, the phone lasted 32 hours and 16 minutes, which is quite impressive but not surprising.

A full charge takes about 1 hour 30 mins

OnePlus provides an 80W SuperVOOC charger in the box, which can charge the phone from 0 to 100 percent in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. I ran some more tests and found that you can get about 40 percent charge after 30 minutes of being plugged in and about 60 percent in 45 minutes. Overall, I’d say this is an excellent performance.

OnePlus 13R Verdict

Is the OnePlus 13R a great package? Yes. Is it complete value for money? Yes. Has it improved over last year’s 12R? Yes. The new OnePlus 13R is definitely worth the upgrade. It gets better cameras, a larger battery with longer life, better build quality, longer software support, and other minor improvements.

As for alternatives, I can only think of a few. There’s the newly launched Oppo Reno 13 Pro (Review), which costs higher but lacks in key areas such as performance and battery life. There’s also the Xiaomi 14 (Review), which gets the same chipset, offers better cameras, a compact design, and also costs about a little higher. You can also go for the iQOO 12 (Review), which, although older, still offers great performance and a decent camera setup.