OnePlus 13 review: OnePlus is so back, finally

When OnePlus came into the smartphone scene, they were known as the ultimate "flagship killer" brand — offering top-tier specs at unbeatable prices. But for all their value-packed releases, there was always a catch — usually the cameras. Then came the missteps: the disappointing OnePlus 9 and 10 series, plus the dreaded green line issues that left users frustrated.

But now? OnePlus is quietly making a comeback.

With the OnePlus 11 and 12, it seemed like OnePlus had found their lost track — and with the latest OnePlus 13, they finally managed to put together a proper flagship that has everything a flagship requires, including a solid camera setup.

Reviewers from around the world equally praised the prowess of the OnePlus 11 & 12, however, I do not think any of us were ready for what OnePlus's new flagship would be like. Quarter 1 of 2025 is not over yet, but I think we already have a contender for "phone of the year" if price to performance ratios are considered.

Design and build quality

OnePlus 13 comes at 210g for the glass back variant or 213g for the vegan leather back variant with a slightly curved back which helps with the grip. This weight is not initially surprising, but if you take into account the aluminium frame and a whopping 6,000mAh battery inside, it becomes so.

Gripping the device is comfortable even if you use it for long hours at a stretch due to its excellent weight distribution. Unlike the current trend of boxy edged phones nowadays, this design was refreshing to hold.

Display

OnePlus 13 features a large 6.82-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1,440 x 3,168px and 510 ppi pixel density. Thanks to the LTPO panel, it can switch from 1-120Hz refresh rate range. What really impressed me was this display also has a 2,160Hz PWM frequency for screen dimming to reduce eyestrain in dark environments.

As for a high brightness sunlit environment, this display can crank up to 4,500 nits of peak brightness, so you will not have any problems viewing the display outdoors. One feature that is underlooked in this display is the fact that the panel is a 10-bit panel — something even the much more expensive Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra does not come with.

Performance

Powered by the latest and greatest Qualcomm has to offer, the Snapdragon 8 Elite needs no introduction, being the flagship chip of Android for 2025. The 8 Elite blazes through tasks without any lag or stutter no matter what you throw at it.

Now, despite it being a 3nm-process chip, some 8 Elite phones did struggle to keep their device cool, however there were no such issues in our testing with the OnePlus 13 largely in part due to it having one of the biggest vapour chamber coolings installed on any phone to dissipate heat. Point to note here is that the 8 Elite will be a blazing fast processor for many years to come, and hence, longevity should not be an issue.

For RAM, the 13 starts at 12 gigabytes and goes up to 24 gigabytes, and the storage options start at 256 gigabytes of UFS 4.0 memory for the base variant and goes up to 1 terabyte.

Software

Despite providing excellent software for the past 2 years, OxygenOS has been criticised for being too Oppo-fied. However, that is not always a bad thing, especially if the software ensures blazing fast and reliable performance with tons of features.

Running on OxygenOS 15 and based on Android 15, it closely resembles Oppo's ColorOS 15, with minor stylistic differences like fonts and accents. OnePlus promises 4 years of software updates up to Android 19 and 6 years of security patches, ensuring decent future-proofing.

AI features, shared with Oppo and Realme, including tools like AI Summary (text condensing), AI Speak (text-to-speech) and AI Writer (text generation), are all present and  accessible via the Smart Sidebar. Google's Circle search feature and the Gemini AI assistant are also integrated natively. 

While the AI Studio app for photorealistic shots is absent, the gallery includes photo editing tools like AI Eraser, AI Unblur, AI Reflection Eraser, and AI Detail Boost (renamed from Oppo's AI Ultra Clarity), plus an AI Editor for automated suggestions.

Camera

Packing a 50-megapixel Sony sensor for the main camera, another 50-megapixel Sony sensor for a 3X optical zoom, and one more 50-megapixel Samsung sensor as the ultra wide camera, the OnePlus 13 has a standard set of cameras.

Photos taken by the device come out rich and sharp with some of the most natural looking colors, even while switching lenses. Just like any other flagship, the ultrawide shots did not come out as sharp as the primary lens shots, however, OnePlus and Hasselblad have tuned the photo processing to perfection — something that the results showcased. The outputs were consistent across the cameras.

The most impressive aspect of the camera system would have to be its portrait shots. With the help of the 3x Zoom lens, photos come out aesthetic yet very natural looking.

Battery and charging

The OnePlus 13 is powered by a 6,000mAh battery, a significant bump over its predecessor's 5,400mAh battery which even back then was one of the largest. The reason the OnePlus 13 weighs less than the OnePlus 12, despite packing a significantly larger battery, is due to its switch to a silicon-carbon battery. This battery will easily last you 2 days on light usage. It is next to impossible to kill this battery on regular day to day usage with screen times of up to 10 hours.

Samsung and other OEMs are still stuck at a max 4,500 to 5,000 capacity on the older lithium-ion battery technology, despite costing significantly more, so OnePlus deserves some applause for this.

If the battery backup is yet to impress you, the charging surely will. With the bundled 100W charger, the OnePlus 13 can go 0% to 100% in just around 35 minutes, which is just insane given its humongous battery.

Who should buy the OnePlus 13?

The OnePlus 13 is a phone built for geeks,  phone enthusiasts, people who want the best bang for their buck, and gamers alike. However, this is also a phone I would recommend to anyone looking for a flagship phone to use over 5 years easily.

Pricing and availability

The phone is available at most of the renowned shops at the Bashundhara City Shopping Complex and Jamuna Future Park. The prices may fluctuate but currently the base 12/256 variant is available at around Tk93,000 and goes up to Tk130,000 for the maxed-out version.