The first month of 2025 is still underway, and the OnePlus 13R has emerged as a strong contender for the best mid-range phone of the year. Like 2024’s OnePlus 12R, the OnePlus 13R sits below the OnePlus 13, making a few compromises to reach an affordable price point. Still, for most users, these compromises don’t matter, with the OnePlus 13R delivering a great all-around flagship experience at a flagship killer price.
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The OnePlus 13R is not perfect. It has some drawbacks. If you plan to buy the phone, check out where the OnePlus 13R excels and where it falls short compared to its competitors.
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The OnePlus 13R will make you forget you’re using a sub-$600 phone
Impressive performance at great value
What I love about the OnePlus 13R
Incredible value for money
The OnePlus 13R costs $600, making it $100 more expensive than the base variant OnePlus 12R. Yet, it provides more value for money than its predecessor, improving almost every aspect.
Compared to the OnePlus 12R, the OnePlus 13R packs a faster and more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. It also ships with a speedier 256GB UFS 4.0 storage. While not the best, OnePlus promises four years of OS updates and six years of security patches. The phone will get Android 19 and receive security updates until 2031.
The Google Pixel 8a and Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy flagships offer longer software support. The OnePlus 13R provides a respectable software support timeline. It is also better than the OnePlus 12R, which is only slated to get three years of OS updates and four years of security patches.
There isn’t an Android phone in the US at a price similar to the OnePlus 13R that offers the same performance and features. Some phones might pack better cameras, while others offer longer software support. However, as an overall package, the OnePlus 13R trumps them all.
Long battery life
Until a couple of years ago, only thick gaming phones packed 6,000mAh+ batteries. Thanks to the advent of silicon-carbon batteries, device makers can now build denser batteries with higher capacities. Unlike Google, Samsung, and Apple, OnePlus quickly jumped on this trend, using a silicon-carbon battery inside the OnePlus 13R.
Thanks to this technology breakthrough, the OnePlus 13R packs a massive 6,000mAh cell, which is a sizable bump in capacity from the OnePlus 12R’s 5,500mAh battery. This ensures the phone can last all day, even with heavy gaming and usage.
Even better, despite the beefier battery, the OnePlus 13R is 0.8mm thinner and 1gm lighter than its predecessor. This is complemented by 80W fast charging support, ensuring you can top up the battery from 0 to 100% in less than an hour.
No Android phone on the market for under $600 packs a battery as big as the OnePlus 13R while supporting fast charging speeds.
Fixes (almost) all the shortcomings of its predecessor
When we reviewed the OnePlus 12R in 2023, we called out the phone for its IP64 build, curved OLED display, and three years of OS upgrades. The OnePlus 13R improves on these issues, featuring an IP65 body, a flat OLED panel, and longer software support.
Almost all mid-range phones carry an IP68 certification. The OnePlus 13R’s IP65 build is not as good as its competitors. Still, it is good enough that you won’t damage the phone if you spill water on it.
Similarly, while the OnePlus 13R uses a 6.78-inch OLED panel like its predecessor, it is now completely flat. This makes a difference in daily use, reducing unwanted touches.
The software support scene is also (somewhat) better. OnePlus promised three years of OS updates and four years of security patches for the 12R. With the OnePlus 13R, it is doing better by promising four years of OS updates and six years of security patches. It’s not the best, but it’s still great for a $600 phone packing such powerful internals.
Where the OnePlus 13R falters
Disappointing secondary cameras
The OnePlus 13R features a triple rear camera, including a 50MP 1/1.56″ primary shooter, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro. There’s also a 16MP selfie snapper at the front. Thanks to processing improvements, the primary camera can take better pictures than the 12R. While it doesn’t match the OnePlus 13, it represents a considerable improvement.
The problem is that the same improvements do not carry over to the OnePlus 13R’s other three cameras. They do an average to below-average job, especially struggling in indoor and low-light situations.
Ideally, OnePlus should have ditched the 2MP macro shooter due to its limited usefulness. Instead, it should have used that money towards a better selfie or ultrawide snapper.
If you care about the selfie shooter or want a phone with decent all-around cameras, the OnePlus 13R is not the right choice.
No wireless charging
Like its predecessor, the OnePlus 13R misses out on wireless charging. With all-day battery life and 80W fast wired charging, you won’t miss wireless charging much. Still, it would have provided a convenient way to top up the phone’s cell in your car, bike, or work desk.
More importantly, the lack of wireless charging means the phone is incompatible with MagSafe/Qi2 accessories, which makes connecting useful accessories and mounts a breeze.
You can work around this limitation by getting a MagSafe case for the OnePlus 13R after it hits the market. The case will help magnetically attach the phone to an accessory, not wirelessly charge it.
The OnePlus 13R is the best affordable flagship you can buy
Despite some shortcomings, you won’t find a better Android phone that delivers an almost flagship-like experience, like the OnePlus 13R. Its strengths outweigh its (limited) downsides, with speedy performance, a decent primary camera, and an all-day battery life, leaving little room for complaints. Plus, OnePlus’ software support is no longer as shabby as before, with OxygenOS providing a stable and bug-free experience.
OnePlus 13R
The OnePlus 13R builds on its predecessor, the OnePlus 12R, in all the right ways. It packs a 6.78-inch OLED panel, a big 6,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging support, and a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. This is backed by four years of software updates — all for $600.
