First Impressions of the OnePlus 13: Does It Live Up to Expectations?

I’ve been using this phone as my daily driver for the past three weeks, and I have to say, it’s been a great experience. What makes it even more exciting, though, is that it’s packed with three features that are going to shape the smartphone landscape in 2025. Even if this phone isn’t the one for you, there are going to be plenty of others with similar standout features, which is pretty awesome.

The three key highlights are the exceptional battery life, the powerful chip, and the record-setting display. Let’s dive straight into the battery. It’s an easy one to start with. This is the OnePlus 13, and it comes with a 6,000 mAh battery. For a phone that’s reasonably slim without feeling overly bulky, that’s impressive. To put it into perspective, it’s literally double the size of the battery in the Galaxy S8. Pretty wild, right?

If you’ve been following battery trends in smartphones, you might be wondering what’s going on here. How did we suddenly see this leap in battery sizes across multiple new devices? For instance, last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, a major flagship, had a 5,000 mAh battery, but now we’re seeing a wave of phones with 5,500, 6,000, and even 7,000 mAh batteries without added thickness. What’s behind this sudden shift?

The answer is silicon carbon. These are still lithium-ion batteries, but they now feature a new silicon-carbon anode or a blend of silicon and graphite. This upgrade is already making a noticeable difference: more energy density, faster charging, and wider operating temperature ranges. It’s a win all around. And since this technology is still relatively new, it’s a bit on the expensive side, so for now, you’ll mostly see it in flagship models. However, this is just the beginning of a new wave of phones adopting this technology.

I’ve been using this phone as my daily driver for about three weeks now, and it’s honestly been a great experience. What’s even more exciting, though, is that there are three features in this phone that are going to set the trend for smartphones in 2025. So, even if this particular phone isn’t your thing, there are definitely going to be more devices like it that are just as good, which is awesome.

The three standout features are the amazing battery, the chip, and the incredible display. Let’s kick things off with the battery. This is the OnePlus 13, and it has a 6,000 mAh battery. For a phone that’s slim and not too thick, that’s seriously impressive. To put it into perspective, this is literally double the size of the Galaxy S8’s battery. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it.

If you’ve been paying attention to smartphone battery sizes over the last few years, you might be asking, what’s going on here? How are we suddenly seeing phones with much bigger batteries without getting any thicker? For example, last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is a huge flagship device, had a 5,000 mAh battery, but now we’re seeing a lot of new phones with 5,500, 6,000, or even 7,000 mAh batteries—and they’re not any bulkier. So, what’s behind this?

The answer is silicon carbon. These batteries are still lithium-ion, but with a new silicon-carbon anode, or a blend of silicon and graphite. This innovation is already showing impressive results: more energy, faster charging, and a wider range of temperatures. It’s a pretty solid all-around upgrade. Since it’s still new, though, this tech is a bit pricey, so for now, you’ll mostly see it in flagship devices. But this is just the beginning—soon, we’ll be seeing more and more phones with this kind of technology.

This chip has been a standout in a few phones that dropped late last year, like the ROG Phone 9 Pro and Red Magic 10 Pro. Both are fantastic performers and great for gaming. But now, it’s about to make its way into regular flagship models. I’m betting the Galaxy S25 series will feature this chip, and it’ll be just as impressive. So, more phones with this chip are coming soon.

Now, let’s talk about the important stuff. First, the battery. It’s excellent. Second, the chip. Again, great performance. And third, we’ve got the display. Wow, this thing is gorgeous.

I called it a record-breaking display earlier, and I wasn’t kidding. Sure, every year we get a new phone that claims the highest peak brightness, but this one is in that same league. It hits 1,600 nits in high brightness mode and a peak of 4,500 nits. It’s also apparently the world’s first display to get an A++ rating from DisplayMate (whatever that really means). Honestly, I get some DXOMark flashbacks here, but what you need to know is this screen looks amazing, all the time. On paper, it ticks all the boxes: 6.82 inches, QHD+ resolution for sharpness, and a smooth 120 Hz LTPO refresh rate. It’s mostly flat with just a slight curve at the edges, which I can easily forgive. The viewing angles are great, too.

The real kicker is the brightness. This screen can get super bright from edge to edge, but it can also dim down when you need it to. Plus, if you’re sensitive to light, it has 2,160 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming. The ultrasonic fingerprint reader is super fast, and it even has a glove mode for better sensitivity when you’re wearing thin gloves. Plus, Aqua Touch 2.0 keeps the screen responsive when there’s water on it—something older phones can’t always do.

The 4,500 nits peak brightness is impressive, but keep in mind that’s not the full screen at once. The OnePlus 12 had the same figure. The real takeaway here is the brightness consistency. Whether you’re taking photos outside or using the phone in your car, this display gets incredibly bright and looks great, thanks to its near bezel-less design. Honestly, what more could you want from a display?

I’m excited for the other phones that’ll be coming out this year with these same three standout features: a great battery, a powerful chip, and an amazing display. But as you probably noticed, those are three of my five key factors for a great smartphone. The other two? Build quality and cameras. And this phone does pretty well in those areas, too.

The design and build quality of this phone are really solid—it’s clear they put some thought into it. There are three colors to choose from, but the base version, which costs $900, is only available in black. The $1,000 upgraded version, though, gives you the option of a few different colors, including a really nice blue vegan microfiber leather that feels soft to the touch, and I like it a lot. There’s also the alert slider on the flat sides, which has become a fan favorite. Personally, I use it every day. The vibration motor is impressive too—it’s super precise.

OnePlus has also taken a big step forward with its IP rating for water and dust resistance. It’s no longer just IP68—now it’s IP69. That means it can handle not just being submerged in water, but also high-pressure jets of water at extreme temperatures. It’s pretty wild, especially when you think back to just a few years ago when OnePlus wouldn’t even pay for IP certification. Now, this phone could survive a run through the dishwasher if that’s something you accidentally put it through.

Now, there aren’t any Qi2 magnets built into the phone itself, but what OnePlus has done with its cases is pretty cool. They’ve designed official cases that have magnetic rings in them that match the size of MagSafe. This means that with the case on, the phone works with all my MagSafe accessories—chargers, docks, even phone mounts for the car. I know this might not be a huge deal for everyone, especially if you’re not already invested in the Apple ecosystem, but it opens up a ton of accessory options for the phone, which I think is pretty smart.

The only design flaw I’d point out is the camera bump—it’s slightly off-center, which feels a bit odd, but it’s not a huge issue. As for the cameras themselves, they’re fine, but not the phone’s strong suit. It’s the same story you often see with OnePlus: fast performance, smooth experience, great charging, but the cameras don’t quite measure up to other flagship devices. It’s not a bad camera by any means, but if you’re paying flagship prices, it’s clear that OnePlus cut a corner or two to keep the price down.

The OnePlus 13 comes with a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-808 sensor for its main camera, which has an f/1.6 aperture—pretty much the same setup as the OnePlus 12. It gathers a lot of light, so pictures taken in good conditions, especially during the day, look really nice. The camera even does a good job with close-ups, giving a soft blur to the background. Autofocus is quick and it can capture fast-moving action well. But, when the lighting drops, it’s where things start to get a bit worse compared to other flagship phones.

In low light, the images become softer, HDR processing happens more often, and it falls into the same trap many phones do by brightening dark areas too much. As a result, there’s not much in the way of true shadows. The OnePlus 13 also has a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 50-megapixel 3X tri-prism telephoto camera. While this telephoto setup saves space over a periscope zoom, it’s not much better than the main camera, especially when the light dims.

Video quality is decent, though. I like how pretty much all new flagships now support 4K at 60 fps on all their cameras. The OnePlus 13 can even shoot 8K at 30 fps from the main camera. This phone is also the fifth generation of the OnePlus/Hasselblad partnership. When it first launched, people were curious to see if it would be anything special, like Sony and Zeiss or Xiaomi and Leica’s collaborations. Honestly, it hasn’t really changed the game—it’s just a slight improvement over previous models, which is fine, but nothing groundbreaking.

So, while the camera is solid and will do the job, it’s not the main reason to buy the OnePlus 13. It won’t disappoint, but it’s not something to rave about either.

As for AI, it’s not a huge factor for me when it comes to choosing a great phone, and it’s still not a big focus here. That said, there are a few AI-powered features in the camera and the OS. But really, the OS is the standout. OxygenOS 15 remains fast, smooth, and brings a lot of the new Android 15 features, along with a little bit of a design refresh. It still keeps that familiar OnePlus feel. Some people might actually buy this phone just for the software experience, and honestly, I can see why—it’s that good.

They’ve added this feature that’s basically a copy of Apple’s Dynamic Island. So if you’re a fan of that, you’ll probably feel right at home with the OnePlus 13. It’s called Live Alert Capsules, though if you search for “Island” in the settings, it pops up there too. (Laughs) I guess they know exactly what they’re doing.

Whenever music is playing, you’ve got a hotspot on, or screen recording is active, a small bubble appears around the selfie camera. You can tap it to bring up controls for whatever you’re doing, or long-press to jump straight into the app. I mean, if you’re going to take inspiration from something, it might as well be the good stuff, right?

I also want to talk about something I’ve been noticing lately. There’s this trend, mostly on Twitter, where people test phones by opening and closing apps as quickly as possible to test the animations. And honestly, I don’t get it. Who even uses their phone like that? Does it really matter? I wouldn’t have known if my phone passed or failed that kind of test.

That said, OnePlus has clearly seen these tests and optimized the phone to perform well in them. So, here’s the Galaxy S24 Ultra versus the OnePlus 13. I wouldn’t personally base my phone choice on this, and I don’t think I’d notice it in daily use, but it’s still kind of impressive that they’ve fine-tuned the animations. Thanks, I guess?

Overall, OxygenOS on this phone feels familiar if you’ve used a OnePlus or Oppo device before, but now with a few AI-powered features. I still love Circle to Search. The camera app also has an AI editor with tools like AI Unblur, Reflection Eraser, and Detail Booster. Some of these work really well, but other times, it’s clear that they’re AI-driven, and the results can be a bit hit or miss. Plus, they all require an internet connection to function.

There are also writing features like summarizing, tone adjustment, and proofreading text, but they’re limited to the OnePlus Notes app. It’s a fine app, but it would’ve been nice if those features worked in other apps too. Again, it needs an internet connection. I’m generally a bit skeptical about how useful these AI features really are.

But overall, the software is smooth, fast, and really solid. That alone might be enough for some people to pick this phone over a Vivo flagship. Well, that and the price. OnePlus is still sticking to their strategy of undercutting other flagship phones by being slightly cheaper, and it works.

What’s exciting is that this year, it seems like everyone is sticking to their formula, which means we’ll see better batteries, chips, and displays all around. So yeah, I think we’re all winning here.