Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. OnePlus 13: Two paths to powerful performance

Competition between companies drives innovation and improvements as each looks to one-up the other and gain an edge in the market. Samsung has been at the top of the Android perch for what feels like forever, but it has begun to become very complacent, resting on its laurels and providing iterative update after iterative update.

Google is only now starting to push Samsung with the Pixel 9 Pro, which generated a ton of buzz at launch. With the launch of the OnePlus 13, Android fans officially have another device that has not only matured to the point that it matches the industry leaders, but has blown the door wide open and is firmly in the conversation for phone of the year.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is going to easily be one of the best small phones on the market, but did Samsung do enough to fend off the rising competition from OnePlus for another year? It’s going to be a close call, and I’m excited to see how it plays out.

Price, availability, and specs

Samsung announced the Galaxy S25 on January 22, continuing the company’s iterative update trend. It bumped the RAM up to 12GB this year, likely for its AI needs, but kept the storage options at 128GB and 256GB. Pricing has remained the same as the Galaxy S24, with the storage options costing $800 and $860, respectively. You get four colorways to choose from: Silver Shadow, Navy, Icy Blue, and Mint. Being a Galaxy device, you can expect to find the S25 from almost every carrier out there and any retailer selling smartphones.

The OnePlus 13 was first made available in China in November 2024 but hit the global marketplace on January 7, 2025. There are two variants of the OnePlus 13 available: a 12GB model with 256GB of storage and a 16GB model with 512GB of storage. The base model is available for $900 and comes in the Black Eclipse colorway. The higher-end version bumps the price to $1000 and gives you three color choices: Black Eclipse, Midnight Ocean, and Arctic Dawn. Finding the OnePlus 13 is a bit tougher than the Galaxy as OnePlus doesn’t offer their devices through carriers. You can get it directly from OnePlus or a retailer like Best Buy.

• 	Samsung Galaxy S25	OnePlus 13
  SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
  Display type	LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz	OLED, 120Hz
  Display dimensions	6.2″	6.82″, 19.8:9
  Display resolution	2340 x 1080	3168 x 1440
  RAM	12GB	12GB, 16GB, or 24GB
  Storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
  Battery	4,000mAh	6,000mAh
  Charge speed	25W	100W
  Charge options	USB-C Wired, Qi wireless	USB-C wired, Qi wireless
  Ports	USB-C	USB-C
  Operating System	Android 15 and One UI 7	Android 15 and OxygenOS 15.0
  Front camera	12MP f/2.2	32MP f/2.4
  Rear camera	50MP f/1.8 main, 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto	50MP f/1.6 main, 50MP f/2.6 3x telephoto, 50MP f/2.0 ultrawide
  Cellular connectivity	Sub-6 & mmWave 5G	Sub-6 5G
  Wi-Fi connectivity	Wi-Fi 7	Wi-Fi 7
  Connectivity	NFC	NFC
  Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.4	Bluetooth 5.4
  Dimensions	146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm	162.9mm x 76.5mm x 8.9mm
  Weight	162g	210g (leather), 213g (glass)
  IP Rating	IP68	IP69
  Colors	Silver Shadow, Navy, Icy Blue, Mint	Arctic Dawn, Black Eclipse, Midnight Ocean
  Stylus	No	No

Design

Flat edges are all the rage

The mobile phone space has become a copycat industry, with every company rushing to copy the latest industry trends. On the design side, the latest craze is to get rid of rounded edges and use flat edges on flagship phones. We saw Google move to a flat frame a few months ago, and now OnePlus has ditched the rounded edges of the OnePlus 12 for flat ones in the 13. To give Samsung credit, it was one of the earlier manufacturers to abandon rounded edges in favor of flat ones. Now that every company is going the flat edge route, it no longer feels exciting.

In terms of in-hand feel, the Galaxy S25 is far easier to hold one-handed thanks to its tiny 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2mm size. At 162.9 x 76.5 x 8.5mm (8.9mm for the Midnight Ocean), the OnePlus 13 is an absolute monster in comparison. The increased size also increases weight, with the OnePlus 13 clocking in at 210g (Midnight Ocean) and 213g (Arctic Dawn and Black Eclipse). The Galaxy S25 weighs considerably less at 162g.

Both devices feature an aluminum frame with flat edges and rounded corners. The power and volume buttons can be found on the right edge of both devices. OnePlus offers a mute switch on the upper part of the left edge. Ignoring the size difference, the front of both devices are very similar, including the placement of the hole-punch camera in the upper middle of the screen.

Flipping the devices over reveals the biggest difference between the Galaxy S25 and the OnePlus 13. The camera assembly is quickly becoming the easiest way for phones to separate themselves from the pack. The Galaxy S25 has three lenses protruding individually from the back. It’s an effective, but boring design. OnePlus uses a large round camera in the upper left corner, which I have grown to like over the years as it provides a unique look in the smartphone landscape.

The back of both devices is made from glass, except for the Midnight Ocean colorway of the OnePlus 13. The Midnight Ocean model comes with an eco-leather back, helping to further separate itself from most other premium devices on the market. The Galaxy S25 comes with an IP68 rating, which the OnePlus 13 matches and exceeds with its IP69 rating.

Display

Gorgeous panels for different needs

One area where Samsung routinely delivers exceptional quality is with the displays that it puts on its flagship devices. The Samsung Galaxy S25 comes with a 6.2-inch, Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and a 120Hz refresh rate for a buttery smooth feel. You can expect punchy colors and inky blacks thanks to Samsung’s continued use of its AMOLED panel. With a resolution of 2340 x 1080, graphics and text will be nice and sharp. At the time of writing, the display brightness hasn’t been revealed, but I can guarantee it will be easy to see in bright conditions no matter how many nits it ends up having.

The OnePlus 13 also comes with a stunning display that will bring a smile to your face if you’re into big phones. With a large, 6.82-inch LTPO, AMOLED display, and a 120Hz refresh rate, giving it that smooth feel when scrolling through the menus. Text is going to be very sharp on this panel thanks to its 3168 x 1440 resolution, and it will be easy to see outdoors with 1600 nits in high brightness mode.

Both devices are near the top of the pack in display quality and which size you prefer is purely personal preference.

Software

An even playing field

Software performance plays a large part in your everyday life and if it’s not up to snuff, you’ll likely end up with a frustrating experience. The Galaxy S25 ships with Android 15 and One UI 7, the latest and greatest Android skin that Samsung offers. You know what to expect if you’ve used a Galaxy in the past couple of years, including its plethora of customization options, and Galaxy AI. It also features a lot of productivity features like running multiple apps at the same time, or DeX, which allows you to connect your phone to a hub or docking station to turn it into a desktop experience.

One UI 7 brings a few tweaks and additions compared to previous iterations. You get the Now Bar, which is a Dynamic Island-like replacement that Samsung uses on the lock screen to control various things such as music playback. There are Live Notifications, a return to the vertical app drawer, new animations, and revamped icons.

In the past, OxygenOS was not up to par with the likes of Samsung’s One UI, but that all changed this year. The OnePlus 13 comes with Android 15 and OxygenOS 15, a major overhaul of the custom OnePlus skin. Where most skins feel increasingly bloated, OnePlus slimmed down OxygenOS by removing unneeded software. It managed to remove 5GB in total, or about 20% of the bloat from previous generations.

It upped its productivity game by bringing over the Open Canvas feature from the OnePlus Open, which lets you run two apps side-by-side. You also get revamped animations that make the phone feel much smoother. There’s also Flux Themes, which works to smooth the transition from the lock screen to the home screen. OxygenOS 15 also includes many of the same style AI features that One UI incorporates, aimed at helping users boost productivity.

OnePlus also went with a few iOS-inspired software updates of its own. It also built a Dynamic Island feature into OxygenOS 15 to help see and control various applications. The most controversial aspect added to both One UI 7 and OxygenOS 15 is the splitting of the notification and settings panels. Instead of accessing both with a simple swipe from the top, you now get one or the other depending on which side of the screen you swipe down from.

Samsung is an industry leader with software support and that continues with the Galaxy S25. The Galaxy S25 is going to receive seven years of Android and security updates. The OnePlus 13 will receive four Android upgrades and six years of bi-monthly security updates. While OnePlus upped its software support, it does lag behind Samsung’s promised support.

Performance

Blistering fast speeds for all

From a performance perspective, there’s not much more that you could ask for from either of these devices. Both the Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13 come with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. The Galaxy pairs the Snapdragon 8 Elite with 12GB of RAM, while the OnePlus 13 comes with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM. 12GB of RAM should be enough for most people, but the extra RAM in the higher-end OnePlus 13 is nice to have for power users.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite processor features an 8-core CPU, two prime cores run at 4.32GHz, and six performance cores run at 3.53GHz. You’re also getting the latest Adreno GPU that, on paper, is up to 40% stronger than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. What does it all mean? In a nutshell, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a beast of a chipset that is sure to make short work out of any task that you throw its way. Everything from routine activities to more complex tasks won’t pose an issue for either of these devices.

Battery life

OnePlus for the win

The base Samsung model has taken a backseat to the phones with the best battery life for a couple of generations now and that isn’t changing with the Galaxy S25. Samsung has once again gone with a 4,000mAh battery that can be charged at up to 25W using a USB-C cable. The S25 has a small body, so increasing the battery capacity is going to be tough, but the 25W charging speed pales in comparison to the competition in 2025. The S25 can also be charged wirelessly and has wireless PowerShare capability. We need to get more hands-on time to get accurate battery numbers, but a solid day’s use is likely here.

Where Samsung falters a bit with battery life, OnePlus dominates. The OnePlus 13 features a 6,000mAh battery that can easily make it two days on a single charge with regular use. In our review, it was able to hit over 10 hours of screen time, which is just insane. When it does need to be charged, it only takes about 35 minutes to go from zero to 100 using the 100W wired charger. It also supports 50W wireless charging, 10W reverse wireless, and 5W reverse wired charging.

Camera

Samsung is falling behind

Samsung continues to stick with its tried and true lens setup for the base Galaxy S25. You’re getting a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 50MP, f/1.8 primary lens, a 12MP, f/2.2 ultrawide lens, and a 10MP, f/2.4 telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The S25 also comes with a 12MP, f/2.2 front-facing camera.

The primary lens is going to be capable of some good-quality shots in a variety of conditions with the other two lenses dropping off a bit in quality in comparison. Samsung has struggled with capturing images of fast-moving subjects, often resulting in a blurry shot. Based on historical evidence, this will likely persist for another year, but stay tuned for the official review to make sure.

OnePlus, on the other hand, has been tweaking its setup, consistently improving it each year, and has finally caught up and surpassed the base Galaxy phone. The OnePlus 13 comes with a 50MP, f/1.6 primary lens, a 50MP, f/2.6 periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP, f/2.0 ultrawide lens. The OnePlus 13 also comes with a 32MP, f/2.4 front-facing camera.

With colors tuned by Hasselblad, you can expect vibrant and beautiful images taken from this device. It’s not a perfect camera setup, but OnePlus is edging towards having one of the best cameras on the market. The OnePlus 13 will provide comparable images from the primary lens, but shots taken with the telephoto and ultrawide lenses should push its image capabilities past the S25.

Which is right for you?

It’s a shame to see Samsung starting to fall behind the competition after ruling the Android landscape for so long. I understand that we are comparing the base Galaxy S25 with the premier flagship from OnePlus, but with such similar pricing, I stand firm by my statement. I would have reached the same conclusion if this comparison was with the more similarly priced Galaxy S25 Plus.

The OnePlus 13 is the overall winner in this head-to-head battle. With a gorgeous display, an improved design, blistering fast performance, and mind-blowing battery life, there’s not a lot to love about this device. OnePlus even improved its OxygenOS software by a considerable margin and increased its software support. No, it’s not a perfect device, but it’s the first device in quite some time that has me genuinely excited.

That’s not to say there isn’t a market for the Samsung Galaxy S25. The base Galaxy S25 is guaranteed to sell like hotcakes and most people will enjoy their purchase. I can’t stand that Samsung has rested on its laurels for so long, and it needs to take a hard look at itself. As it stands, the S25 is better suited for people who want a smaller phone. Outside its size and software support, the S25 only manages to match the OnePlus 13 in a couple of categories, while falling behind in a few others.