The OnePlus 13 series just dropped, and you may be wondering whether the OnePlus 13R is a fine choice or the OnePlus 13 might be worth the higher price tag.
After all, the difference isn’t trivial. We are talking about a few hundred bucks of a difference in the US and Europe.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the text below.
Size comparison
The OnePlus 13 and 13R have similar design traits but feel quite different in hand. The 13R adopts a flatter design with a completely flat back and side frame, while the 13 proper has a slightly curved back, and the side frame isn’t entirely flat either.
Additionally, the 13 arrives in two variants – glass back and vegan leather option. The latter is not available on the 13R.
When it comes to build quality, the two are pretty similar. The 13R uses a Gorilla Glass 7i protective sheet on the front, while the standard 13 uses something called Crystal Shield Ultra-Ceramic Glass with improved drop and shock resistance. The OP 13R also has a lower ingress protection rating – IP65 vs IP68/IP69.
Aside from the outlined differences, the two handsets are very similar in terms of dimensions. No meaningful difference.
Display comparison
The two devices share largely the same OLED displays. They both achieve similar levels of brightness (around 1,200 nits) and support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision content.
The only difference is that the 13 proper has a slightly higher resolution and is 6.82″ compared to the 6.78″. In either case, there is not a meaningful enough difference to tip the scales in either direction.
Battery life
The two handsets feature different chipsets but the same battery capacities, and the overall endurance is largely the same. As you can see, the Active Use Scores are not too far apart, but there is some nuance to be discussed.
For instance, the OnePlus 13 seems to fare better during calls and video playback, while the 13R scores higher in the gaming endurance test. Keep that in mind when picking either of them, depending on your usage habits.
Charging speed
When it comes to charging speed, the OnePlus 13 is the clear winner. The device adopts a 100W proprietary charging protocol and can complete a full charging cycle in just 35 minutes, compared to the 48-minute charging cycle on the 13R with its 80W-rated charging. The difference isn’t huge, but you also get significantly more juice in the first 15-30 minutes with the OnePlus 13 if you are in a hurry.
Additionally, the standard OP 13 supports wireless charging. It can also do 10W reverse wireless charging and 5W reverse wired.
Speaker test
The 13 and 13R share the same speaker setup and score similarly in our loudness test too. You can expect a good-sounding stereo speaker setup in either case, with clean vocals and prominent bass.
Performance
As is usually the case, the chipset is one of the most significant differences between the regular OnePlus and the R series. The 13R adopts last year’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, while the vanilla 13 gets the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
OnePlus 13R memory variants are quite limited, though. You can only get 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB configurations, while the flagship 13 adds a beefed-up 24GB/1TB option as well.
Benchmark performance
Unlike previous generational upgrades, this one is pretty substantial. The Snapdragon 8 Elite shows a significant leap in multi-core CPU performance and just as meaningful performance improvement in the GPU department.
Camera comparison
The 13 and 13R have little common ground when it comes to camera hardware. The 13R has a 50MP main camera, a 50MP zoom camera with 2x optical zoom, an 8MP ultrawide unit and a 16MP selfie.
The flagship 13, on the other hand, has a 50MP main shooter with a larger sensor and a wider aperture and a 50MP ultrawide camera. The telephoto unit reaches 3x optical zoom and is also 50MP. The selfie is 32MP.
Image quality
Expectedly, the OnePlus 13 delivers better picture quality overall. Its main cam is markedly better during the day. We couldn’t find any meaningful advantage in nighttime photography, though.
The photos from the 13R 8MP ultrawide aren’t too far off compared to the OP 13 50MP ultrawide.
OnePlus 13R: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x
OnePlus 13: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x
At first glance, the 2x crop zoom samples from the 13 deliver similar quality to the 2x optical zoom shots from the 13R, but upon closer inspection, you’d notice more fine detail from the 13R.
The difference is more prominent at 3x zoom where we have a crop zoom from 13R vs. optical zoom from 13.
OnePlus 13R: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x
OnePlus 13: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x
Video quality
Below, we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it’s easier to compare to one another.
Surprisingly, the 13R takes better-looking videos with its main camera than the 13. The 13R’s video has better contrast, and it’s much sharper. The same holds true at night as well.
Of course, when comparing the ultrawide cameras, the opposite is true. Especially when you factor in that the OP 13 ultrawide shoots 4K video, whereas the 13R caps at 1080p.
OnePlus 13R: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 1x low-light
OnePlus 13: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 1x low-light
Once again, each zoom camera is better at its corresponding focal length.
Verdict
The price gap between the OnePlus 13R and the OnePlus 13 isn’t trivial by any means and would make you think twice before opting for the higher-end handset, especially if the user experience is so similar. And to a certain degree, it is. Depends on what you’re looking for.
There’s a significant overlap in the display, battery and audio departments. If you are prioritizing either of those, it won’t matter which one you get. Design is a lot about personal preference. This leaves us with the charging, chipset and camera performance. The 13 is the clear winner in those, so it boils down to how much you are willing to pay for those. It’s a tough one to crack, we admit. But if you are not picky with your cameras and you won’t be playing any games, the 13R is probably the sound choice.
- The much lower price.
- The flat design (if you are into it).
- The longer gaming battery runtime.
- The largely similar user experience.
- The great 2x zoom cam.
- The better video quality from the main cam.
Get the OnePlus 13R for:
- The curved design with vegan leather back (if you are into it).
- The higher IP rating and tougher screen glass.
- The better performance.
- The faster charging.
- The wireless charging support and reverse charging options.
- The great 3x zoom cam and the better photo quality overall.
Get the OnePlus 13 for:
