OnePlus 13R review

Competition

There's no change in the OnePlus 13R's US price this year, and it remains $599 for the base 12GB/256GB variant, while European and Indian variants get a small price hike to €769/INR 42,999. Notably, there's no 8GB/128GB version available, which lowered the entry cost last year. Still, the 12GB/256GB one is priced adequately and should be competitive, particularly in the US.

There are a handful of direct rivals in the Indian and European markets, namely the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, Xiaomi 14T Pro, Motorola Edge 50 Ultra and vivo V40 Pro. They are all priced similarly and offer roughly the same screen size.

Among these offers, the OnePlus 13R seems to be the top performer with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and has the best battery life. We were particularly impressed by the loudspeakers' loudness too, albeit we've heard better sounding output elsewhere.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE • Xiaomi 14T Pro • Motorola Edge 50 Ultra • vivo V40 Pro

But while the 13R doesn't necessarily disappoint in terms of camera quality, it fails to stand out either. The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra and the vivo V40 Pro both offer slightly better camera quality, mostly due to their superior ultrawide and selfie cameras. The Motorola and Samsung Galaxy S24 FE have further zoom reach. The Xiaomi 14T Pro is perhaps the best choice camera-oriented choice of them all, though.

Even though the 13R is no slouch when it comes to charging, it's easily outpaced by the 14T Pro and the vivo V40 Pro.

All of the 13R's competitors seem to be offering slightly brighter displays and higher ingress protection too, so keep that in mind when choosing.

Verdict

All in all, the OnePlus 13R is a capable all-rounder with excellent performance, long battery life, dependable camera hardware, fast enough charging and exceptionally loud speakers. The 13R easily covers all bases without necessarily breaking the bank too.

Having said that, the ultrawide and selfie cameras keep us from giving the 13R an excellent score in this department and alternatives seem to be better at taking stills and videos. Also, even if the maximum brightness is sufficient, most other displays in this price bracket are brighter.

At the end of the day, if you are willing to make a small compromise in the camera department, you probably won't find a more powerful handset for the asking price while delivering excellent battery life.

Pros

• Standout design, IP65 rating.
• Long battery life, decently fast charging.
• One of the most powerful handsets in its class.
• Very good camera performance.
• Very loud stereo speakers.
• 256GB base storage, IR blaster, UFS 4.0, BT 5.4, Wi-Fi 7.
• Feature-rich and smooth software experience, 4 years of major updates.

Cons

• Selfie cameras is underwhelming.
• Ultrawide camera lacks AF and 4K video.
• Very few markets get a charger in the box.