OnePlus 13 launches globally with more promised updates

OnePlus is starting 2025 with a bang. The company has just launched the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R globally, alongside a new Sapphire Blue color of the OnePlus Buds Pro 3. With this, the company has put its best foot forward to give us a contender for the best Android flagship that users can buy this year.

When you pick up the OnePlus 13 right after the OnePlus 12, you will immediately notice that it feels different in the hand. The OnePlus 13 has a more substantial and flatter mid-frame and a flatter back and front. This gives the 13 a boxier appearance and grants it a feeling of heft, compared to the svelte feeling of the 12 owing to its curves. The camera island also looks cleaner, and if you compare the two phones side by side, the camera module sticks out a tiny bit less on the newer 13.

The big change with the OnePlus 13 is that it comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. The US market gets options of 12GB LPDDR5X RAM with 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage and 16GB RAM with 512GB storage, whereas some other global markets also get an option of 24GB RAM with 1TB of storage but only in the Black Eclipse color variant.

The OnePlus 13’s 6.82-inch 120Hz OLED display can now accept touch input through some gloves (up to 5mm thickness) and is usable in the rain. The more noticeable change is that the BOE X2 display is much flatter, although the glass has a 2.5D curve on all four edges. The display also offers 1,600 nits of brightness in high brightness mode and 4,500 nits of peak brightness.

OnePlus has also swapped out the in-display optical fingerprint reader for an ultrasonic fingerprint reader by Goodix, and it works really well without needing to partially illuminate the display. OnePlus also says that the OnePlus 13’s fingerprint sensor’s sensitivity and compatibility are optimized to work best with the company’s official tempered glass screen protector.

Another big highlight of the OnePlus 13 is that it is rated IP68 and IP69 for dust and water resistance. This means it can withstand deeper immersion and high-pressure and high-temperature freshwater jets, and is a big upgrade over the OnePlus 12’s IP65 rating.

The cameras have also been changed with this generation, as the OnePlus 13 opts for a Hasselblad-tuned triple 50MP rear camera setup. This is headlined by the returning Sony LYT-808 primary camera but flanked by the newer 50MP ultrawide and 50MP Sony LYT-600 telephoto camera for 3x optical zoom. The front is still a 32MP selfie camera.

Other OnePlus 13 features include an IR blaster and a new BeaconLink functionality that allows the phone to function similarly to a Walkie-Talkie over Bluetooth, with a range of up to 200m. We also get a larger 6,000mAh silicon-carbon battery with 80W (US)/100W (global) wired and 50W wireless charging. The phone doesn’t have any magnets on its back, but OnePlus is selling first-party cases that do, so you can use MagSafe accessories with the phone.

The phone ships with Oxygen OS 15, based on Android 15, out of the box. OnePlus is also promising four Android platform updates and six years of security updates for the OnePlus 13, which is one more year of security updates over the OnePlus 12.

The phone also comes with a “Share with iPhone” feature that works for sharing files wirelessly, as long as you can convince your iPhone buddies to download another app. Unfortunately, in some regions like India, OnePlus has added bloatware apps like “APP Picks,” likely as a monetization strategy to keep costs low, but it sours the flagship experience.

The OnePlus 13 is available in the US for $899.99 for the 12GB+256GB variant and $999.99 for the 16GB+512GB variant. However, the lower RAM and storage option is available only in the Black Eclipse color, and you’ll have to jump to the higher variant if you want to choose between Black Eclipse, Midnight Ocean, and Arctic Dawn colors.

The OnePlus 13 is already available to purchase in the US, and you can get the phone from OnePlus.com across all colors and storage. For the first month of sale, i.e., up until February 7, 2025, you can save up to $899 with an eligible trade-in. OnePlus is also offering a guaranteed $100 instant credit when you trade in any phone in any condition. There’s also a free memory upgrade in the first month of the sale, so you effectively get a $100 instant discount on the higher storage variant.

To make life a little more complicated, you can get the higher storage variant from Best Buy, but only the Black Eclipse color is available in-store, while the Midnight Ocean color can be bought online. Either way, you can get a free memory upgrade and receive a $100 gift card. Amazon US availability will be announced at a later stage.

The OnePlus 13 costs the following in Europe, UK, and India:

• 12GB+256GB: €999/£899/Rs. 69,999
• 16GB+512GB: €1,149/£999/Rs. 76,999
• 24GB+1TB: Rs. 89,999

OnePlus is also selling the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 in Sapphire Blue color, available from OnePlus.com in the US. This color complements the Midnight Ocean color of the OnePlus 13.