OnePlus 13R Hands-On: Better Cameras & Giant Battery for $600

Oppo is bringing its mid-range phones back for 2025, with the OnePlus 13R — on sale from January 14 — unquestionably a significant improvement over its 12R predecessor.

Techopedia had some hands-on time with the new OnePlus 12R at CES 2025, and it should be on your shortlist if you’re a cost-conscious shopper.

The top features include a tangibly better camera system and a huge 6,000mAh battery that can keep it running all day.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. OnePlus 13R Hands-On: Design, Specs & Features
3. FAQs

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Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. OnePlus 13R Hands-On: Design, Specs & Features
3. FAQs

OnePlus 13R Hands-On: Design, Specs & Features

While the 13R’s 6.8-inch, 120Hz screen is similar in size (if a lower resolution, at 1.5K) to the flagship OnePlus 13, you might actually prefer its design over the premium model in one main respect.

The aluminum rails are more smudge- and scratch-resistant, not to mention flatter. They’re easier to grip than the rounded 12R, and I personally prefer this look — particularly in the white-and-silver Astral Trail color scheme.

The new Gorilla Glass 7i sits on the front and back and should help reduce the chances of cracks and scratches, and a slightly improved IP65 water resistance should help it survive basic water jets (but not hot or powerful jets, and no immersion).

You don’t have to fret if someone accidentally sprays you with a garden hose, but you won’t be taking the 13R into the pool.

The hardware upgrades revolve around the updated camera system. The primary 50-megapixel camera uses a newer Sony sensor that promises better low-light photography.

More importantly, OnePlus has dropped the frankly unusable 2MP macro camera in favor of a 50MP telephoto with 2X zoom. The 8MP ultrawide also persists.

I had the chance to test the OnePlus 13R camera array. It’s clearly not as good as the new Oppo 13 in most shooting situations, particularly the dark, but it’s now considerably more viable for day-to-day photography, including moments when a 2X digital crop wouldn’t quite cut it.

I’d only call the ultrawide camera workable, though, as you won’t go out of your way to use it.

Like the 12R, the 13R uses last year’s high-end Qualcomm chip (in this case, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), albeit with 12GB of RAM compared to the prior model’s maximum of 16 GB. I don’t have any complaints about responsiveness or memory-related behavior.

The battery is the most important internal change, as it jumps from 5,400mAh to 6,000mAh — and should comfortably last at least a full day, as it did in my hands.

There’s no wireless charging, although you get walkie-talkie-like Beacon Link voice communication at distances up to 656ft away. OnePlus promises the same four years of OS updates as it does for the 13.

You can pre-order the OnePlus 13R with 256GB of storage for $600 starting today. General sales begin January 14.

That pricing could make it a better buy than Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE and Google’s Pixel 8a, both of which have slower chips and less flexible (if still sometimes better) cameras.

From my hands-on experience, the OnePlus 13R is the phone you want if you’re concerned about performance and battery life but still want decent cameras.

FAQs