OnePlus 13 will get the inevitable worth hike — do you have to nonetheless purchase it?

The OnePlus 13 made its international debut, and it’s now out there for $899 within the U.S. and ₹69,999 ($815) in India. It was all the time a provided that the cellphone would get a worth hike — the Chinese language mannequin was costlier by $80 than the OnePlus 12, so it was apparent that the worldwide mannequin would additionally observe go well with.

That is the second yr the place OnePlus elevated the price of its machine by $100; the OnePlus 11 debuted for $699, and the OnePlus 12 for $799 final yr. Even in India — the place OnePlus continues to promote a majority of its telephones — the machine is costlier by ₹5,000 ($58). With the hike comes the inevitable query: do you continue to purchase the OnePlus 13, or pay extra and get the Pixel 9 Professional XL or the upcoming Galaxy S25 Extremely? That is what I am right here to reply.

Regardless that the OnePlus 13 prices $100 greater than final yr, you get appreciable upgrades; the cellphone has significantly better sturdiness, a much bigger battery, higher cameras on the again, and the most recent Qualcomm silicon. Out of all these adjustments, the one which I like essentially the most is the design. OnePlus overhauled its design language this yr, shifting to an aesthetic with flatter sides.

Whereas I am not normally a fan of this design model, OnePlus added beveled edges to the edges to make holding and utilizing the OnePlus 13 rather more snug, and it has higher in-hand really feel than the Discover X8 Professional or the Vivo X200 Professional. The OnePlus 13 is in some way lighter than final yr — and different telephones with 6,000mAh batteries — and the burden distribution is about the very best of any cellphone I used not too long ago.

When you’re eyeing the cellphone, I extremely suggest getting the Midnight Ocean variant; the blue coloration seems to be incredible, and the microfiber vegan leather-based again has a tender texture that is not like some other leather-backed cellphone. OnePlus additionally switched to a Goodix ultrasonic fingerprint module this time, and fortunately, there are not any points with positioning — it’s excessive up on the panel, and I did not have any issues with authentication or accessing the sensor.

Then there’s the {hardware}. OnePlus all the time does a great job on this space, and the OnePlus 13 continues that heritage, delivering the most recent {hardware} coupled with glorious optimization. The interface is noticeably quicker than final yr, and the fluidity is among the many better of any cellphone at present.

It is nonetheless annoying that 120fps gaming is proscribed to only three video games, however in most titles I examined, the cellphone delivered regular framerates with none overheating points. I did not have any issues with the fundamentals — mobile connectivity was nice, and it had a powerful sign all through. Whereas I do not use eSIM but, the cellphone would not miss out on the function, and that is good to see.

One other large improve is across the battery tech, with the machine getting a much bigger 6,000mAh battery that lasts a day and a half. The battery makes use of silicon-carbon tech and has 10% silicon within the anode to ship higher density, and an added bonus is the power to make use of the cellphone in freezing climate with none detriment to battery life.

Apparently sufficient, OnePlus retained the dual-cell configuration even with a silicon battery, and it’s the solely producer to take action — OPPO and Vivo switched to a single-cell design this time round. The benefit with a dual-cell design is that you may simply cost each batteries on the similar time, and consequently, the OnePlus 13 takes 38 minutes to completely cost through the 80W normal; in contrast, the X200 Professional takes 12 minutes longer.