What's special about OnePlus 13? Not much more than a large battery. That's one reason to consider the OnePlus 13, but that means ignoring other key features that Samsung and Google do better at similar prices. The truth is, there's nothing special about the OnePlus 13. It's just that.
That's not to say it's not a solid choice for everyday carry. But you miss out on what everyone else is doing, like a digital lens that looks into the distance. and design that shows personality The circular camera system on the back loudly indicates you're holding a OnePlus device, but what does that mean when Google and Samsung's backs carry additional holsters? You must have something special that stands out. And with excellent but mediocre camera performance And with its underwhelming interface, OnePlus doesn't do enough to turn heads.
Opel 13
The OnePlus 13 is a solid device, even if it's nothing to write home about.
strength
- Long battery life
- It's so waterproof you can throw it in the washing machine.
- fast charge
weakness
- It runs on its own update schedule.
- Proprietary fast charging
- Nothing exciting except a giant battery.
OnePlus 13 review: Design
Looking at the OnePlus 13, I feel like I've written about this phone a few times already. The design is similar to Opel 11 and Opel 12Except for some minor differences. The phone comes in three colors: Artic Dawn, Midnight Ocean, which has a “vegan” leather back.and the Black Eclipse you see here. The large round camera button contrasts with the brushed “grain glass” design on the back. The shock absorber includes a 50-MP main camera, a 50-MP telephoto lens with up to 3x optical zoom, and a 50-MP ultrawide lens.
OnePlus 13 is the first brand truly The smartphone is waterproof. It is IP69 rated, which means it can withstand a standard immersion in water for up to half an hour. And it can withstand water pressure and water temperatures of up to 80 degrees Celsius. Good news for people with hot tubs. OnePlus claims you can sterilize the OnePlus 13 in a dishwasher if the setting isn't hot, of course. I want to try this. But I didn't for this review. (My friend Jason Howell Do that on YouTube– The phone still works for him, so)
The edges of this OnePlus 13 model look much more square than before. They are sharper than Apple's. iPhoneGoogle Pixel 9 and coming soon Samsung. But it's not One Plus. It moves to the rhythm of its own square pattern.
OnePlus 13 comes with a 6.82-inch 2K display. The company is making big things. about their scores as well Display Mateand in terms of pixels per inch Maximum brightness and color gamut OnePlus 13 works well, but I mention this just because. it was mentioned in I briefing– Ordinary people will not be able to You can immediately tell the difference in color accuracy between this phone and the Pixel 9 Pro's Super Actua. That's good news for everyone.
I'm switching between smaller devices with sub-6.3-inch screens, so the OnePlus 13's larger size feels enormous in comparison. The only thing that helps me hold it is MagSafe compatible cases Sold by OnePlus, which I was able to use with various PopSocket accessories, bigger phones get you a 6,000 mAh battery pack, which is where this phone comes from.
OnePlus 13 review: Battery life
The battery lasts a long time. for a long time, after not using the charger for six days Still hovering around 22% as well. Pokemon Go It made noise in the background so I could log into Community Day. I also watched the live show on YouTube several times to kill the battery and edited some of the video for future meme posts.– I use Google Chat on this particular phone, leaving the OnePlus 13 buzzing every time I receive a message.
I also had to run the phone through Gizmodo's complete battery benchmarks to see how the larger battery performed against the iPhone 16 Pro, the reigning champion on this site. I don't think it's because Apple's hardware is in lockdown. OnePlus's performance is promising, though. I'll update this section when I'm done.
Like its predecessor, the good thing about the OnePlus 13 is that it supports 100W fast charging as long as you use a proprietary red charging cable and a charging brick that allows for such speeds. OnePlus promises a full battery in 36 minutes with this method. That compares to two hours on the iPhone 16 Pro. But that's if you have all the right equipment, otherwise the OnePlus 13 will charge like everyone else. I got the phone down to 13% before charging with a regular 30w charger. It only took an hour to fully charge.
OnePlus 13 review: Software
I don't like the style of OxygenOS 13, and it's not because Oppo is taking over from OnePlus. OxygenOS used to closely resemble stock Android. But now it looks like it's a mix of what used to be and ColorOS that's now on Oppo devices overseas, which is Oppo's version of iOS slapped on Android's menu screen. The Android bones are still on the OnePlus 13, but you One must navigate through the interface carefully to avoid accidentally opening something, such as a separate Quick Settings menu. This will split the Notifications and Quick Settings window into two sections. So you will have to drag down from left or right to access/or. I don't like change. especially in posture So I stuck with classic mode: a dropdown for quick settings and another for everything else.
OnePlus offers some iOS-like styles if you want to create your own wallpaper or change the look of your icons. You can also download icon packs from the Play Store for further customization. Although this is good But it's not a reason to buy this device. However, it sets the tone for what OnePlus is all about. It's still a very niche device and I appreciate its usability. However, I still miss OnePlus. The old UI is still there.
OnePlus 13 review: Camera
The OnePlus 13 is a great camera for people who don't want to think about anything before posting it on the internet. I also like that there Built-in “Beauty Mode” in the camera app I don't care who knows. Photos taken with the OnePlus 13 have a slight action angle. This is thanks to the main camera's 85-degree field of view. Always bright colors This bodes well for golden hour landscapes and people. The Pixel 9 Pro's algorithm is much more tempered in its attempt to produce natural-looking photos.
I like the OnePlus 13's bright visuals, except it's too much. And that's when I had to decide if I wanted my smartphone to produce images that I could blend through third-party filters to make it look the way I wanted. Instead create an image with the filter intact. This makes it difficult to correct after the fact. The OnePlus 13's camera algorithm was sometimes too aggressive and things looked more saturated and yellow than in real life.
Dawn. The optical zoom is enough to distinguish things in the distance.
I'm pleased with the OnePlus 13's up to 3x optical zoom, even though it advertises up to 6x in the camera app. I saw snow on the mountains about 150 miles away. It has 120x digital zoom if you have your phone on a tripod. I'm waiting for the next Samsung Galaxy Ultra to test zoom. That is what I am curious to see the difference.
OnePlus 13 Review: Verdict
I'm not talking too much about the OnePlus 13's internals, because for most people It's how it works as a day-to-day device. It's not a figure released from a set of benchmarks. As you can imagine This is a new phone from a brand that produces new devices every year. The OnePlus 13 is made according to my instructions. From chopping Joost Klein video clips with InShot to catching Pokémon. go-I plan on using it to run games in the next month or so as it packs in more memory. It worked last Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and has up to 16GB of memory with up to 512GB of storage, which is the model OnePlus ships with. This is the first device to launch in the US with the Snapdragon Elite platform, but we'll have more smartphones to compare this year. Feel free to give OnePlus kudos for being the first one out of the gate.
The OnePlus 13 is worth considering for those sick of Samsung and Google's race to be number one Android, but it comes with a caveat. The bottom line is that you're not on Google's timeline for software updates. This might become annoying as Google introduces more Gemini features to Pixel and other Samsung devices that play nice, but maybe it'll also be a selling point for you. With prices starting at $900, you can buy an Android phone that doubles as a smartphone. Instead of driving the future with artificial intelligence This utility is required by this phone. which makes it a solid piece of equipment. Nothing makes me do it the way other flagships do, though.