OnePlus 13R review: Flagship goes affordable

3.5/5
OnePlus 13R, launched in India in January with a starting price of Rs 42,999, targeting users who want a premium smartphone experience without breaking the bank. Positioned as a more affordable option in the OnePlus lineup, it aims to offer high-end features with a more accessible price tag. The smartphone comes equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and a 6,000mAh battery. OnePlus has also tweaked the design to combine premium aluminum with Gorilla Glass 7i. But with a slightly lower cost, does the OnePlus 13R manage to maintain the performance and feel that fans expect from the brand? Let’s dive into what this device offers.

OnePlus 13R is a device that catches the eye, with a premium design that strikes a balance between elegance and functionality. Crafted from an aluminum frame and finished with Gorilla Glass 7i, the phone feels incredibly solid in hand, yet not overly heavy. This ensures it holds up well in daily usage, offering a comfortable, secure grip.
The matte finish on the back resists fingerprints, making it less prone to smudges, which is a nice touch for those who want to keep their phone looking clean throughout the day. The curved edges add to the ergonomic feel, making it easy to use with one hand. At 8mm thickness and 206g, it feels just right in hand – not too thin, nor too bulky either. Though if you put a back cover (which most of us do), it feels a bit heavy.

The OnePlus 13R’s display is one of the standout features of this phone. The smartphone sports the same display as its more expensive counterpart, the OnePlus 13. It sports a 6.74-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2772 x 1240 pixels, delivering sharp and vivid visuals that are a treat for the eyes. The 120Hz refresh rate gives it a buttery smooth performance, perfect for both high-speed gaming and everyday tasks like scrolling through social media or web browsing.
Colour reproduction is excellent, offering rich, vibrant tones that pop in both bright and darker settings. HDR10+ support takes it a step further by enhancing the clarity and contrast of supported content, making watching videos or playing HDR games a more immersive experience.
OnePlus has done a great job of keeping the bezels slim around the display, giving it a more modern and sleek look. The hole-punch camera cutout at the top-left corner is unobtrusive, ensuring the screen takes center stage. This minimal bezel design adds to the overall premium feel of the phone and allows the display to feel larger than it actually is.

Under direct sunlight, the OnePlus 13R’s display performs impressively well. The peak brightness ensures that you can still clearly view the screen outdoors. When you’re indoors or in low-light environments, the display adjusts automatically to the ambient light, ensuring comfort for your eyes. You’ll also appreciate how responsive the touchscreen is — it’s quick to register inputs and swipe gestures, providing a smooth interaction throughout.
One area where the OnePlus 13R shines is in its smooth, fluid touch experience, thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate and AMOLED technology. This ensures that every swipe, tap, or scroll feels precise and fast. It also helps keep lag to a minimum during gaming or multitasking, which is crucial when using the phone for anything more demanding.

Under the hood, the OnePlus 13R is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a processor that promises flagship-level performance. This comes coupled with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, paired with 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
In everyday use, the OnePlus 13R delivers a smooth and responsive experience across all kinds of tasks. Apps open quickly, scrolling through social media feeds feels fluid, and there’s no noticeable lag, even when multitasking.
For casual users, the 13R handles routine activities like texting, web browsing, and streaming videos with ease. Switching between apps is instantaneous, and the OxygenOS 15 software ensures a clutter-free interface that doesn’t feel bogged down with unnecessary apps. The RAM management is also spot-on, allowing you to keep multiple apps running in the background without them reloading when you switch back.


It is capable of handling a wide range of tasks with ease—from running graphics-heavy games like Call of Duty: Mobile at max settings to juggling multiple apps without any stutters. The phone comes with 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, paired with 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, ensuring lightning-fast load times and smooth multitasking. Whether you're editing videos, streaming in 4K, or using productivity apps, the 13R doesn’t break a sweat.
When it comes to productivity, the 13R proves its worth. Whether you’re using Google Docs, handling emails, or joining video calls, the phone remains snappy and reliable.
For gamers, OnePlus has included features like HyperBoost Gaming Mode to enhance performance during intensive gaming sessions. Frame stability and touch latency are good, ensuring a competitive edge.

OnePlus 13R brings notable improvements to its camera system, addressing some of the concerns users had with its predecessor, the OnePlus 12R. One of the most significant upgrades is the removal of the less-useful 2MP depth/macro sensor, which has been replaced with a far more practical 2x optical zoom camera.

There is a 50MP Sony LYT-700 sensor with f/1.8 aperture, OIS and Autofocus. Under daylight conditions, the primary camera truly shines. Photos are rich in detail, with vibrant yet natural colors and excellent dynamic range. The updated sensor also ensures accurate white balance, making it a reliable option for most lighting scenarios. Compared to the 12R, the improvement in detail and color accuracy is noticeable, particularly in scenes with challenging lighting, such as harsh sunlight or shadows.






The 50MP Samsung S5KJN5 2x telephoto camera is a welcome addition, delivering sharp and detailed results in daylight. Colors are consistent with the main camera, which ensures a uniform look across your photo gallery. Portraits taken with this lens are particularly impressive, offering excellent edge detection and natural background blur. You can choose between 1x and 2x crop options in Portrait mode, giving you more flexibility for framing.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera, while carried over from the 12R, continues to perform well in bright conditions. Images exhibit good detail, although the colors tend to lean toward saturation, making them appear slightly punchier than those from the primary sensor. While it doesn't match the level of the main camera, it still captures impressive shots for landscapes or group photos.
In low-light situations, the primary camera maintains its solid performance. Photos retain good detail, with natural colors and accurate white balance. The improved Night mode enhances clarity and reduces noise, producing well-lit and balanced images even in challenging scenarios. However, the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras are less impressive in low light.
The 16MP front camera is dependable in daylight, producing selfies with accurate skin tones and sufficient detail. However, its performance dips in low-light conditions, where noise and softness dominate the images. It’s adequate for casual use but doesn’t deliver the best results in challenging lighting.
The OnePlus 13R supports video recording at up to 4K 60fps, and while videos from the primary sensor boast sharp details and slightly vibrant colors, stabilization is only available at 1080p 60fps. Videos recorded in low light exhibit reduced detail and noticeable noise, but the Ultra Steady mode in 1080p does a decent job of keeping footage smooth.

OnePlus 13R features a 6,000mAh battery, which is a modest upgrade compared to the 5,000mAh battery of its predecessor. During regular usage, which includes activities like social media browsing, video streaming, casual gaming, and photography, the OnePlus 13R easily lasts an entire day with some charge to spare. For lighter users, the phone can even stretch into the second day.
The phone comes with an 80watt SuperVOOC charger. It takes about one hour and 30 minutes to charge the phone.

OnePlus 13R offers a balanced mix of performance, design, and features, making it a compelling choice for users seeking a premium smartphone experience at a slightly more affordable cost. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset ensures smooth multitasking and gaming, while the 6.74-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate delivers good visuals.
The 6,000mAh battery provides impressive longevity, easily lasting a full day of moderate to heavy usage. The camera system, though improved with a useful 2x optical zoom, performs well in daylight but leaves room for improvement in low-light conditions, especially for the ultra-wide and selfie cameras. At a starting price of Rs 42,999, the OnePlus 13R hits most of the right notes, making it a strong contender in the premium segment, especially for those who value performance, design, and battery life over top-tier photography.