Everything we know so far and what we want to see

Update: October 28, 2024 (06:55 AM ET): We’ve updated the OnePlus 13 rumor hub with confirmed information about the phone’s chipset, battery, charging speeds, and cameras. We’ve also added official information about magnetic wireless charging and an image showing magnetic cases.

Original article: April 24, 2024 (5:17 AM ET): The OnePlus 12 launched globally back in January, but we’ve already seen some OnePlus 13 leaks and rumors start to trickle in. So, what do we know about the upcoming flagship phone? Read on to find out all the major details and leaks we’ve managed to gather.

OnePlus has confirmed on Chinese social media that there will be a OnePlus 13. That’s not a surprise at all as the company has offered at least one flagship phone in the series each year since 2014.

• OnePlus 10 Pro — January 11, 2022 (China) / March 31, 2022 (global)
• OnePlus 11 — January 4, 2022 (China) / February 7, 2023 (global)
• OnePlus 12 — December 5, 2023 (China) / January 23, 2024 (global)

OnePlus has been launching its flagship phones earlier and earlier. A Weibo post in August by the reliable tipster Digital Chat Station suggests that OnePlus might reveal the OnePlus 13 even earlier this year, specifically before China’s Singles Day festival on November 11. Considering that Singles Day is the country’s largest shopping event, launching the OnePlus 13 ahead of the festival would be a strategic move for the company to maximize sales.

OnePlus China president Li Jie Louis confirmed in early September that the next OnePlus flagship device (expected to be the OnePlus 13) would launch in October. The company later revealed on October 21 that the OnePlus 13 would launch on October 31.

So the phone is indeed launching earlier than expected. We’re guessing a global launch is on the cards for December 2024 or January 2025.

We didn’t see any leaked OnePlus 13 renders for a while, at first. Tipster Digital Chat Station claimed in an early leak that the phone will have a new design with a ceramic body — real ceramic, not ceramic-like glass. Another earlier claim was that the rear camera housing could get a substantial change for the first time since the OnePlus 11. This was echoed by tipster Yogesh Brar on April 17, who said we should expect a new rear camera design and arrangement.

Brar also asserted in early April that the OnePlus 13 (and OPPO Find X8 Ultra) could debut a “micro quad-curved panel.” That ostensibly means a quad-curved screen with subtle curves rather than anything approaching a waterfall display. Digital Chat Station shared similar details in June hinting that the phone could feature a “straight screen” with a “micro-curved glass cover design.” The information implied that the OnePlus 13’s display may be flat but with glass that curves on all four sides, creating a symmetrical, bezel-less look.

Brar also shared an early outline of the camera deco of the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R in May, and the sketch suggested that the camera housing for the 13 has moved to the center. This was an early sketch, and the device was still in its development phase at the time.

OnePlus China president Li Jie Louis shared an image on September 30 showing the OnePlus 13’s screen, if not the phone itself. The company added that this was BOE’s second-generation screen and that it should offer superior performance compared to the first-generation display on the OnePlus 12.

Digital Chat Station posted some apparent OnePlus 13 specs on July 2, and one notable assertion was that the phone would have an IP68 and IP69 rating. The latter would be better than most mainstream flagship phones, including devices from Samsung, Google, and Apple.

The leaker then posted a few apparent OnePlus 13 renders on October 17 (seen above), showing off a circular camera bump and redesigned edges. It’s also interesting to note that the camera bump is off-center.

OnePlus itself then posted a video on Weibo on October 21 (see above), showing off three color schemes. The clip also confirmed an alert slider, flat edges, and Hasselblad branding. Furthermore, it looks like we’ve got a flat display here.

OnePlus later posted a gallery of images (seen above) and noted that these colors are White Dew Morning Dawn, Blue Moment, and Obsidian Secret Realm. At least that’s what machine translation tells us. The blue variant, in particular, brings a pleather back.

If that’s not enough, reliable leaker Evan Blass also posted OnePlus 13 images on October 21 (above), giving us another look at the flagship phone ahead of its release Needless to say, we now have a good idea of what the OnePlus 13 actually looks like.

Every OnePlus flagship phone in recent years has come with the latest and greatest Snapdragon flagship processor and we expected the OnePlus 13 to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite (then informally known as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4). Leakers Digital Chat Station and Yogesh Brar initially pointed to this upgrade as well. OnePlus China’s president also suggested in September that an upcoming flagship would be powered by the new chip.

The two leakers asserted that the phone will offer a 2K screen, which would be in line with recent releases. Digital Chat Station specifically claimed the phone will pack a 6.8-inch 2K LTPO “micro-curved” screen, which will “look better than this year’s one.” OnePlus would go on to confirm in October that the OnePlus 13 would offer a BOE X2 screen, featuring local refresh rate technology and a so-called sun display for better, more accurate outdoor visibility.

Yogesh Brar had reported in April that the OnePlus 13 packs a 5,400mAh battery and 100W wired charging — in line with the OnePlus 12. However, Digital Chat Station suggested in May that the OnePlus 13 will skip wireless charging in favor of packing a bigger 6,000mAh battery. The leaker then noted in July that wireless charging is back on the table.

Staying with charging details, OnePlus China president Li Jie Louis suggested on October 7 that the OnePlus 13 could get cases with magnetic functionality. The company announced on October 20 that the OnePlus 13 would get a 50W AirVOOC magnetic wireless charger (seen below). This confirms that the phone will get magnetic accessories.

OnePlus also gave us our first look at the OnePlus 13’s magnetic cases in a post on Weibo on October 28. The image, seen below, confirms two wood grain finishes, the aforementioned wireless charger, and two magnetic power banks.

Other than that, there were initial claims that the new phone will reportedly have the same camera sensors as the OnePlus 12 too. That means a 50MP main camera, a 64MP 3x periscope camera, and a 48MP ultrawide lens. Digital Chat Station corroborated some of the camera claims, asserting that the phone will have a large 50MP main camera and some improvements to the periscope lens.

However, Digital Chat Station later claimed in June that all three lenses could be 50MP instead. The rumor also says that the telephoto lens will maintain its 3x optical zoom. The tipster added context to this rumor in a follow-up Weibo post in June, claiming that the periscope and ultrawide cameras may use a new Sony sensor, specifically the 50MP IMX882. The sensor is used on the main cameras of the POCO F6 and the China-only OnePlus Ace 3V.

Tipster Yogesh Brar took to X on July 1 to claim that the OnePlus 13 would feature a 50MP LYT-808 main camera and two 50MP LYT-600 sensors. For what it’s worth, the LYT-600 seems identical to the aforementioned IMX882 sensor, as both feature a 1/1.95-inch sensor size and 0.8-micron pixels.

OnePlus finally confirmed the OnePlus 13’s camera specs in a Weibo post on October 25. The phone will pack a 50MP LYT-808 main camera, a 50MP ultrawide lens (120-degree field-of-view), and a 50MP 3x periscope camera (f/2.6, 1/1.95-inch sensor). This seems like a sideways move compared to the OnePlus 12.

Google and OPPO/OnePlus announced in April that AI features powered by Gemini would be coming to OPPO and OnePlus phones later this year. OnePlus then went on to announce several Google-powered features in Oxygen OS 15, including an AI Notes tool for note summaries, writing assistance, and recorder summaries.

There are still a few unanswered questions regarding the OnePlus 13 specs, such as RAM/storage details. But we’ll undoubtedly see more details leak.

• OnePlus 10 Pro — $799.99
• OnePlus 11 — $699.99
• OnePlus 12 — $799.99

OnePlus has generally been all over the place regarding pricing in recent years, so it’s not easy to predict a price point. Nevertheless, the OnePlus 12 matched the base Galaxy S24‘s price tag. It, therefore, seems like a safe bet that the OnePlus 13 could match the base Galaxy S25.

We wouldn’t rule out a slightly cheaper OnePlus 13, though. A cheaper price tag would be possible in theory if the phone is indeed an iterative upgrade rather than a significant step up from the OnePlus 12.

One big issue is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is expected to be significantly more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in the OnePlus 12. So don’t be surprised if we see a price hike in some markets.

The OnePlus 13 is days away from its expected release, although this will likely be a Chinese launch first. But the OnePlus 12 ($899.99 at Amazon) can be found at a cheaper price nowadays if you look around, and it’s still worth a look if you want a high-end OnePlus device. It’s also expected to get some nifty Google-powered AI features.

Alternatively, you should consider the Galaxy S24 ($859.99 at Amazon) if you want a well-rounded Android flagship phone. It doesn’t have blazing-fast charging speeds or a huge battery, but the S24 brings Samsung’s Galaxy AI features, brisk performance, water resistance, and seven years of updates.

Another phone worth considering over the OnePlus 13 is the Google Pixel 9 ($799 at Amazon). It brings seven years of updates, premium extras (wireless charging, IP68), a pocket-friendly size, and AI-driven features like Best Take and Add Me. You do lose out on performance, zoom quality, and charging speed by opting for the Google phone, though.

OnePlus 13: What we want to see

That’s all we know about the OnePlus 13 for now, but we’ve also got our own wishlist of features we’d like to see on the upcoming flagship phone.

OnePlus has had a complicated relationship with IP ratings. The OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 9 Pro, and OnePlus 10 Pro only had an IP68 rating for full water resistance if you bought them via T-Mobile — no rating for unlocked variants. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 12 offer splash resistance, only.

We really hope OnePlus gives the OnePlus 13 an IP67 or IP68 rating for water resistance, bringing it in line with Google and Samsung’s flagships. And this IP rating should be available on all variants rather than just being restricted to carrier models.

The good news is that a leaker claimed in July that the OnePlus 13 could pack IP68 and IP69 ratings. But will this come to all phones or just carrier variants? That’s the real question.

The alert slider has been available on OnePlus flagships since 2015’s OnePlus 2, so it stands to reason that the OnePlus 13 will retain it. Nevertheless, we’re still adding this to our wishlist just in case OnePlus is thinking about ditching the feature. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that the company skipped the slider on the OnePlus 10T.

The slider is perhaps the most recognizable thing about OnePlus phones, so removing it would be a major step in the wrong direction for the brand. Fortunately, official images and a video released in October show that the alert slider is still intact.

OnePlus already delivers a very respectable update commitment, with the OnePlus 12 scheduled to receive four major OS updates and five years of security patches. That’s pretty good, but it’s not quite best-in-class.

Samsung and Google both offer seven years of updates these days, including seven years of OS upgrades. It would be great if OnePlus could match this commitment. We’d also like the brand to offer ready access to spare parts, such as batteries, over those seven years, so users can keep the hardware running for the support period.