OnePlus 13R Review: Is OxygenOS Losing Its Charm?

The OnePlus 12R left a sour taste for many, especially with its lackluster camera performance and UFS 3.1. But OnePlus is back with the OnePlus 13R, sporting a new telephoto lens and a more powerful chipset. Gamers loved the 12R, so expectations are high this time—especially at a ₹45,000 price point. 

Let’s dive into the OnePlus 13R to see if it can live up to the hype, address those pesky green line issues, and deliver the overall experience users expect.

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OnePlus 13R Review: Design & Build

The OnePlus 13R features an aluminum frame and is available in two colors: Astral Trail (a creamish tone) and Nebula Noir (black). It comes with a larger vapor cooling chamber, measuring 9925 mm2, to help manage heat. 

However, the device only has an IP65 rating, which falls short compared to other smartphones offering IP68 or IP69 ratings—meaning it can only withstand minor splashes.

The phone includes a familiar Alert Slider, and at the bottom, you’ll find a USB-C 2.0 port (not good), primary speaker, dual nano SIM card slot, and microphone. The top houses the IR blaster and earpiece. 

As for the design, the OnePlus 13R sports a flat body with a circular camera module. The design looks incomplete and very boring. The OnePlus 12R looked much better.

Nonetheless, weighing in at 206 grams and with a thickness of just 8 mm, the phone feels comfortable in hand and is not too heavy, despite housing a large 6,000 mAh battery.

OnePlus 13R Review: Display

The OnePlus 13R features a flat 6.78-inch 1.5K display with a resolution of 2780 x 1264 and LTPO 4.1 technology for a smoother 1–120 Hz refresh rate. It’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i and delivers impressive brightness levels—1600 Nits HBM and 4500 Nits peak. Although I found the display to be a little less brighter.

The display includes a punch-hole cutout and has good viewing angles. While it supports AquaTouch 2.0, the feature feels more like a gimmick, as it still registers ghost touches. 

Still, the flat design ensures practicality, especially when it comes to applying screen protectors. Overall, it’s a solid, vibrant display with excellent clarity and usability.

OnePlus 13R Review: Speakers and Haptics

The OnePlus 13R features a stereo speaker setup that delivers an average audio experience. While the sound profile is balanced and works fine for gaming, I’d recommend using wired earphones instead.

On the other hand, the haptics on the OnePlus 13R are excellent. Like other OnePlus phones, the haptic feedback is well-integrated, providing a satisfying feel when unlocking the device, using the volume slider, or performing various actions.

OnePlus 13R Review: Software

The OnePlus 13R runs on OxygenOS 15, built on Android 15, bringing a lot of new features to the table. It has a sleek and elegant UI, with also a focus on AI-driven enhancements. You’ll get features like AI Detail Boost (or 4K Enhance), AI Unblur, AI Eraser, and AI Reflection Eraser. 

There’s also Intelligent Search using Gemini models to help you search through your on-device files. However, the AI search can be a mixed bag—sometimes working flawlessly and at other times, not so much.

The device also offers some neat features like Circle to Search, AI Notes, Pass Scan for Google Wallet integration, and Magic Compose to rewrite text (though the latter isn’t perfect). 

In terms of software support, OnePlus promises 4 years of major updates and 6 years of security patches, which is a solid commitment. However, OnePlus’s updates lately have been causing issues, especially on older devices. 

OxygenOS 15 is smooth in day-to-day use, with excellent lock screen customization options (Flux Themes) and a lot more. However, now here’s the ugly part about OxygenOS 15 on the OnePlus 13R.

OnePlus has always been known for a clean software experience, with no bloatware or ads. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. The OnePlus 13R is stuffed with bloatware apps like App Picks, Browser, Fitbit, and more. 

The story doesn’t just end with the bloatware, the OnePlus 13R’s Global Search feature (one that’s actually useful) is filled with ads and recommendations of all sorts. The Lock Screen Magazine is another hiding place for ads.

Yes, all of this can be disabled but this shouldn’t have been there in the first place. It’s not good to see OnePlus, once known for its clean and smooth software experience, is now just smooth and not clean.

OnePlus 13R Review: Performance

The OnePlus 13R is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 12/16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256/512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a tried and tested chipset from last year.

In benchmarks, the OnePlus 13R scores 1,708,877 in AnTuTu, and 2,194 in Geekbench 6 single-core and 6,551 in multi-core Geekbench tests. In a 20-thread, 15-minute CPU throttling test, the device scored an average GIPS score of 327,520 with a stability of 70%.

In gaming, the OnePlus 13R shines, offering smooth 120 FPS gaming for BGMI, aided by frame interpolation for enhanced frame rates. Even without frame interpolation, gameplay remains smooth. While the device does heat up slightly with frame interpolation, the overall thermals remain well-managed.

For Genshin Impact, the OnePlus 13R handles even the highest settings without any performance issues. After 30 minutes of gaming, the device reached a temperature of 30°C. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is really powerful and efficient, so it’s no surprise the OnePlus 13R performs well. 

OnePlus 13R Review: Cameras

The OnePlus 13R features a triple camera setup: a 50MP Sony LYT 700 main camera, a 50MP 2x telephoto Samsung JN5, and an 8MP ultrawide. The front camera is a 16MP shooter, capable of recording in 4K at 30fps and 60fps with the main and telephoto cameras. Stabilization is limited to 1080p for both rear and front cameras.

Specifications

• Main: 50 MP LYT-700, 1/1.56-inch, f/1.8, 24 mm, OIS PDAF, 4K30/60
• Ultra-wide: 8 MP Sony IMX355, 1/4-inch, f/2.2, 16 mm, 1080p30
• Telephoto: 50 MP Samsung JN5, 1/2.76-inch, f/2.0, 47 mm, AF 4K30/60
• Front: 16 MP 1/3.09-inch, f/2.4, FF, 1080p30

In daylight, the main camera delivers solid performance, with good HDR, contrast, and detail, though highlights can sometimes be overblown. Low-light performance is average, with noticeable light control issues and soft details. 

The 2x telephoto lens performs well in daylight and even at 4x digital crop, but the lack of OIS results in shaky images, especially in low light.

Portraits at 1x and 2x are very average, and there’s noticeable EIS shake and missed edge detection. Skin tones are also way off.

The 16 MP front camera captures decent selfies but lacks autofocus, resulting in average quality.

Videography is decent overall, with solid performance in daylight, but low-light stabilization and exposure control could use improvement. 

The ultra-wide camera struggles with soft details at the edges, with low-light performance being inadequate, and the 8 MP 1/4-inch sensor feels outdated.

The OnePlus 13R’s camera is decent, but there’s room for improvement, particularly in low light, ultra-wide performance, and stabilization.

OnePlus 13R Review: Battery Life and Charging

The OnePlus 13R is equipped with a single-cell 6,000 mAh battery. You can expect around 7-10 hours of screen-on time, even with gaming, in Balanced mode. Battery performance is excellent for regular use and gaming.

When it’s time to charge, the 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging gets you from 0 to 100% in about an hour. While there’s no wireless charging support, the wired charging performance is quick. 

Due to the single-cell design, it does take slightly longer compared to dual-cell batteries, but overall, the battery and charging experience on the OnePlus 13R is satisfactory. One annoying thing is that it’s 2025 and OnePlus is still using USB-A for its chargers.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the OnePlus 13R?