OnePlus 13 review

Design, build quality, handling

Over the past couple of generations, OnePlus managed to establish sort of a design personality among high-end phones, and the 13 follows in the footsteps of the 11 and 12. This latest model does change things a bit, but the continuity remains.

Most characteristic of the lineup is the camera island, the reasonably-sized circular assembly offset to the left, instead of being along the centerline like on most others. The previous two models did have an element that visually connected the camera to the frame, but that's gone now. The Hasselblad collaboration lives on, as indicated by the H logo to the right of the camera bump.

The OnePlus 13 can be had in one of three colors, our review unit being the hero Blue colorway, which has a faux leather back. OnePlus says it's the industry's first microfiber vegan leather, otherwise typically found in high-end furniture and vehicle interiors. The other two options, White and Black, feature glass rear panels.

OnePlus 13 in White • OnePlus 13 in Black

On the front, the OnePlus 13's display is protected by a sheet of Ceramic Guard - 'one of the most durable smartphone display glasses', the promo materials say. We're not exactly sure how it compares to more common Gorilla Glass brand solutions found on competing models, but it's probably plenty tough enough.

Whatever the make of the sandwich pieces, the OP13 is IP68 and IP69 rated - sort of a major development, coming from the OnePlus 12 that only carried an IP65 rating. So the 13 is good for submersion down to as deep as 1.5m of water for as long as 30 minutes, and you could blast it with 80-degree water jets - the hot new trend with flagships this year.

The dual nano SIM slot is protected by a red gasket (eSIM is available on some versions of the OP13)

The aluminum frame is polished to a shine and is home to the usual set of controls - the power key and the volume rocker are on the right, while the knurled alert slider is on the left. All of them have very reassuring clicky action.

Buttons on the right • Slider on the left

One of the changes this year is the move to an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from the optical ones of previous iterations. It's placed nicely high too, so operating it comes naturally and doesn't pose a threat to the handset's life, like some other, lower-positions implementations.

The OP13 itself doesn't really support Qi 2 and its Magnetic Power Profile (it does feature Qi 1.3.3 wireless charging), but OnePlus still made strides to offer magnetic charger attachment. The workaround is cases with magnets in them, like this Sandstone one (itself a throwback to the OG OP and its... polarizing back design.

Additionally, OnePlus says that the new Aqua Touch 2.0 capability improves on the previous iteration, making the 13 work well when you have water on the screen or when your hands are oily. They also promise trouble-free operation with wool or sheepskin gloves up to 5mm thick - in our brief tryout it didn't appear to work notably better than other phones that don't make a big deal out of it.