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I am happy to share that I have joined the Green oops, the Red Cable Club. I have bought the OnePlus 13R on the first day of sale, 13th January 2025 and it was delivered on the 15th Morning. I bought the 12/256 variant which costs Rs.43,000. There was an instant card discount of Rs.3,000 and an exchange value of around Rs.8000 for my Moto Edge 30, hence the effective price was around Rs.32,000.
The box design is same as the previous number series with the bold 13R text on the top. The box has the phone (no surprises there), a useful protective case, I say useful because it is in good quality with ribbed design, fits the phone perfectly and had raised edges on all 4 corners for better protection when the phone is placed screen down, raised edge over the camera module as well to protect the camera glass. The box also has an 80W SuperVOOC charger, Type - A to C cable, and a sim ejector. It must be noted that the global edition does not ship with a charger, only the Indian version ships with it.
The previous few generations of the OnePlus number series boasted the same design which probably forced them to change it. There were some minor and major changes in the design of the 13 series. The major change was of course the display, they moved to a flat screen instead the curved screen on 12/12R and the camera module was changed as well. I personally welcome the flat screen display but I felt the camera module on 12R was better. Now it looks like a midrange Oppo/Realme mobile when looked at the back.
However, it really feels premium when held in your hands. The weight as per specs is 206g but it never felt heavy for a 200g+ mobile. The weight distribution is really good. It has a complete box design unlike its predecessor 12R which is curvier on all sides. The phone comes with an aluminium frame and Corning Gorilla Glass 7i at front and back as per the specs sheet.
It has the proprietary alert slider on the left and the power button and volume rockers on the right. At the top you have a speaker hole, a microphone and an IR blaster and at the bottom you have the sim tray with dual Nano SIM support, a speaker grill, 2 microphones and Type C charging port. OnePlus still has a Type-C 2.0 port on 13R, 3.0 or newer would have been better imo.
It comes with a massive 6000mAh Silicon carbon battery and an 80W SuperVOOC charger. The optical fingerprint sensor is fast enough but the 13 uses an ultrasonic sensor which is even more efficient and faster.
OnePlus 13R has a 6.78” 1.5K LTPO 4.1 AMOLED Display. It supports up to 120Hz varying refresh rate. Since it is a LTPO panel it can automatically go as low as 1Hz depending on the content on the screen and thereby saving the battery consumption. It has the Corning Gorilla Glass 7i for the protection. It is a downgrade from 12R which had Victus 2 protection. The display quality is very good with good vibrant colour reproduction and it is bright enough under sunlight as well, with it’s 1600 high brightness.
Some reviews on the YouTube says 13R do not have HDR10 or Dolby Vision support, but I have tested it myself and find they do support both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. We also have the option to select the screen resolution to be at Standard (2376X1080) or at High (2780X1264) or leave that to the device itself by choosing Auto.
As everyone knows the R series gets the previous generation flagship processor, and it did not change in 13R either and it boasts the Snapdragon 8Gen3 SoC. There is no introduction required for this SoC as we have seen it on many flagships last year and it is still good enough to perform any tasks thrown at it. As a moderate user, this SoC is actually a beast for me. The haptics are as good as you would expect on a OnePlus flagship.
The base variant which I bought comes with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS 4.0 storage. There is a 16/512 variant as well. The speaker is loud enough to hear even at 50% volume.
The device handled all the tasks I threw at it with ease. I am not a heavy gamer, but I did play CoD and Asphalt 8 for some time which was extremely smooth with no lags and the phone did not get hot while playing those games.
I would say the battery is the most highlighted spec of 13R because it has a massive 6000mAh battery and still they managed to bring a phone which is slimmer than many. The massive battery is backed by a 80W SuperVOOC charger which is said to charge the device from 0 to 100 in 50 minutes as per OnePlus claims. I am yet to test the battery consumption and charging speed extensively. The battery settings also offers to set the device at high performance or battery saver modes. There is a smart charging mode which claims to charge the battery faster, which is yet to be tested.
Although the battery is an upgrade from 12R which had 5500mAh battery, the 12R has a 100W charger in box which could charge the 5500mAh battery from 0 to 100 in 26 minutes while 13R takes around 50 minutes for a full charge.
I did a full charge around 8pm yesterday and using the device since then. It has been almost 20+ hours since the charge and could have easily hit around 6+ hour SOT so far and it still has 51% left as you can see from the screenshot. The numbers are wrong in the screenshot because I briefly connected the device to my PC to transfer the data backed up from the old device and it considered that as a charge session.
The OnePlus 13R has a triple camera setup and it is one of the major upgrade from 12R. The main camera is a 50MP Sony LYT-700 sensor with OIS, it also has a 50MP 2X Telephoto and a 8MP Ultrawide camera. The 12R had a "not so useful" 2MP macro in place of the telephoto lens on 13R. I haven't taken much photos as I received the phone only yesterday and was busy with the Pongal Puja works. I did took few photos which were decent enough for this price range. I tested the telephoto lens and it also produced some good shots upto 5X. I can give more details after testing the camera in various conditions. It is worth noting that the Chinese variant still has the 2MP macro instead of the 50MP telephoto.
The 13R comes with Oxygen OS 15 based on Android 15 out of the box. OnePlus has promised 4 years of Android updates and 6 years of security updates, which is pretty good for this price range. Oxygen OS 15 is much more polished and refreshing than its previous versions. It brought lot of new features and AI tools including the live alerts. There are lot of customisations, inbuilt themes and icon packs which I am yet to explore. I also received an update of 900 MB
OnePlus has offered lifetime screen replacement for green line and other manufacturing defects. This is a masterstroke move to get back the trust which got messed up because of the green line issues with their smartphones. This move also puts other brands in a spot. In addition to this, they also offer 180 days device replacement warranty for those who buy 13 and 13R in the first 30 days of launch, i.e. upto 13 February 2025. You also get 3 months extended warranty as part of the Red Cable Club membership.
Overall, it looks like a value for money device with good cameras, great display and excellent performance. I would certainly recommend the device for gaming and multimedia usage. Of course, there are some downgrades from 12R like the protection glass is GG7i instead of Victus 2, 80W charger instead of 100W, full flat display instead of premium look and curved screen. But the upgrades are worth these sacrifice imo.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
The box design is same as the previous number series with the bold 13R text on the top. The box has the phone (no surprises there), a useful protective case, I say useful because it is in good quality with ribbed design, fits the phone perfectly and had raised edges on all 4 corners for better protection when the phone is placed screen down, raised edge over the camera module as well to protect the camera glass. The box also has an 80W SuperVOOC charger, Type - A to C cable, and a sim ejector. It must be noted that the global edition does not ship with a charger, only the Indian version ships with it.
DESIGN:
The previous few generations of the OnePlus number series boasted the same design which probably forced them to change it. There were some minor and major changes in the design of the 13 series. The major change was of course the display, they moved to a flat screen instead the curved screen on 12/12R and the camera module was changed as well. I personally welcome the flat screen display but I felt the camera module on 12R was better. Now it looks like a midrange Oppo/Realme mobile when looked at the back.
However, it really feels premium when held in your hands. The weight as per specs is 206g but it never felt heavy for a 200g+ mobile. The weight distribution is really good. It has a complete box design unlike its predecessor 12R which is curvier on all sides. The phone comes with an aluminium frame and Corning Gorilla Glass 7i at front and back as per the specs sheet.
It has the proprietary alert slider on the left and the power button and volume rockers on the right. At the top you have a speaker hole, a microphone and an IR blaster and at the bottom you have the sim tray with dual Nano SIM support, a speaker grill, 2 microphones and Type C charging port. OnePlus still has a Type-C 2.0 port on 13R, 3.0 or newer would have been better imo.
It comes with a massive 6000mAh Silicon carbon battery and an 80W SuperVOOC charger. The optical fingerprint sensor is fast enough but the 13 uses an ultrasonic sensor which is even more efficient and faster.
DISPLAY:
OnePlus 13R has a 6.78” 1.5K LTPO 4.1 AMOLED Display. It supports up to 120Hz varying refresh rate. Since it is a LTPO panel it can automatically go as low as 1Hz depending on the content on the screen and thereby saving the battery consumption. It has the Corning Gorilla Glass 7i for the protection. It is a downgrade from 12R which had Victus 2 protection. The display quality is very good with good vibrant colour reproduction and it is bright enough under sunlight as well, with it’s 1600 high brightness.
Some reviews on the YouTube says 13R do not have HDR10 or Dolby Vision support, but I have tested it myself and find they do support both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. We also have the option to select the screen resolution to be at Standard (2376X1080) or at High (2780X1264) or leave that to the device itself by choosing Auto.
PERFORMANCE:
As everyone knows the R series gets the previous generation flagship processor, and it did not change in 13R either and it boasts the Snapdragon 8Gen3 SoC. There is no introduction required for this SoC as we have seen it on many flagships last year and it is still good enough to perform any tasks thrown at it. As a moderate user, this SoC is actually a beast for me. The haptics are as good as you would expect on a OnePlus flagship.
The base variant which I bought comes with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS 4.0 storage. There is a 16/512 variant as well. The speaker is loud enough to hear even at 50% volume.
The device handled all the tasks I threw at it with ease. I am not a heavy gamer, but I did play CoD and Asphalt 8 for some time which was extremely smooth with no lags and the phone did not get hot while playing those games.
BATTERY:
I would say the battery is the most highlighted spec of 13R because it has a massive 6000mAh battery and still they managed to bring a phone which is slimmer than many. The massive battery is backed by a 80W SuperVOOC charger which is said to charge the device from 0 to 100 in 50 minutes as per OnePlus claims. I am yet to test the battery consumption and charging speed extensively. The battery settings also offers to set the device at high performance or battery saver modes. There is a smart charging mode which claims to charge the battery faster, which is yet to be tested.
Although the battery is an upgrade from 12R which had 5500mAh battery, the 12R has a 100W charger in box which could charge the 5500mAh battery from 0 to 100 in 26 minutes while 13R takes around 50 minutes for a full charge.
I did a full charge around 8pm yesterday and using the device since then. It has been almost 20+ hours since the charge and could have easily hit around 6+ hour SOT so far and it still has 51% left as you can see from the screenshot. The numbers are wrong in the screenshot because I briefly connected the device to my PC to transfer the data backed up from the old device and it considered that as a charge session.
CAMERA:
The OnePlus 13R has a triple camera setup and it is one of the major upgrade from 12R. The main camera is a 50MP Sony LYT-700 sensor with OIS, it also has a 50MP 2X Telephoto and a 8MP Ultrawide camera. The 12R had a "not so useful" 2MP macro in place of the telephoto lens on 13R. I haven't taken much photos as I received the phone only yesterday and was busy with the Pongal Puja works. I did took few photos which were decent enough for this price range. I tested the telephoto lens and it also produced some good shots upto 5X. I can give more details after testing the camera in various conditions. It is worth noting that the Chinese variant still has the 2MP macro instead of the 50MP telephoto.
Regular Shot (1X)
At 4X Zoom
At 20X zoom
SOFTWARE:
The 13R comes with Oxygen OS 15 based on Android 15 out of the box. OnePlus has promised 4 years of Android updates and 6 years of security updates, which is pretty good for this price range. Oxygen OS 15 is much more polished and refreshing than its previous versions. It brought lot of new features and AI tools including the live alerts. There are lot of customisations, inbuilt themes and icon packs which I am yet to explore. I also received an update of 900 MB
ONEPLUS GUARANTEE:
OnePlus has offered lifetime screen replacement for green line and other manufacturing defects. This is a masterstroke move to get back the trust which got messed up because of the green line issues with their smartphones. This move also puts other brands in a spot. In addition to this, they also offer 180 days device replacement warranty for those who buy 13 and 13R in the first 30 days of launch, i.e. upto 13 February 2025. You also get 3 months extended warranty as part of the Red Cable Club membership.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, it looks like a value for money device with good cameras, great display and excellent performance. I would certainly recommend the device for gaming and multimedia usage. Of course, there are some downgrades from 12R like the protection glass is GG7i instead of Victus 2, 80W charger instead of 100W, full flat display instead of premium look and curved screen. But the upgrades are worth these sacrifice imo.
