OnePlus 13R review

OxygenOS 15 + Android 15

The OnePlus 13R runs on the company's latest OxygenOS 15 based on Android 15, which is pretty much identical to the latest version of ColorOS from Oppo and Realme UI from Realme. The company promises 6 years of security patches and "4 years of major software updates", with the exact number of expected Android updates a bit unclear.

In more recent times, OxygenOS has become just another reincarnation of Oppo's Color OS, with only minor stylistic tweaks here or there - a brand-specific font and some red color accents. The AI features are also largely shared between the brands (Realme included, to some extent).

OxygenOS 15

The OnePlus 13 comes with Google's Circle to search feature built-in. Also included is the Gemini AI assistant.

Settings menu

An AI toolbox of sorts includes a set of utilities to help make your life easier - AI Summary will attempt to condense a text into a numbered list of key points, AI Speak will read a text out loud and AI Writer will try and write a text for you. These are all accessible from the Smart Sidebar when applicable, and you may not be able to find them directly with a search on the phone as standalone apps.

AI toolbox and AI Speak

The AI Studio app that we saw on the Find X8 Pro isn't here, though - you'll need to find a third-party solution to come up with AI-generated photorealistic shots of yourself.

AI Summary and AI Editor

Sure enough, there's a handful of AI-based photo editing tools in the gallery. We're familiar with some of those from previous Oppo Color OS versions, plus we recently saw them on the Find X8 family. AI Eraser, and AI Unblur are more or less self-explanatory, as is AI Reflection Eraser, while the AI Detail Boost was found on the Oppos as AI Ultra Clarity. The AI Editor can also be set to automatically suggest one of its tools when it sees fit.

Benchmark performance

The OnePlus 13R, like its predecessors, relies on a generation-old top-tier Qualcomm SoC, which in this case is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a known quantity, of course, found in the bulk of top-tier Androids in 2024. It's the AB variety and not the 'special' AC version of the Qualcomm chip that has slightly higher frequencies for this or that bit. Then again, it's not like the Z Fold6 stands out with extreme performance with its 'for Galaxy' chip (essentially the AC version).

So the AB version we got here runs on an octa-core CPU with the following clusters: 1x3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3 GHz Cortex-A520. The GPU tasks are handled by the Adreno 750.

The memory variants are two in India - 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB, while Europe and North America are getting only the 12GB/256GB variant. No 128GB configuration this year, and that's good. In either case, you will get fast UFS 4.0 storage.

The OnePlus 13R seems to be outperforming most of its peers with its powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, which has dominated the market for the better part of 2024. However, it looks like OnePlus managed to put it in a relatively affordable package since most of the direct rivals rely on less powerful solutions like the Dimensity 9200+ and 9300+ or the toned-down Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 inside the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra.

Sustained performance

The OnePlus 13R maintained high CPU performance in the first ten minutes or so but then dialed down to around 70% of the CPU's theoretical performance on average, with a few spikes here and there. All in all, the the handset could have done better in the CPU stress test, but we've seen way worse too.

CPU and GPU stress tests

The GPU stability during the GPU stress test showed similar performance - just about acceptable given the device's powerful chipset.