Gadgets

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 13R: Which Is Better?

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2025

OnePlus’s commitment to “never settle” still shines through as the brand launches two enticing handsets in 2025.

The OnePlus 13 hit the international market early in 2025, bringing cutting-edge technology and premium features to the flagship phone segment.

Accompanying it is the OnePlus 13R, a more budget-friendly option that still offers a range of impressive capabilities.

Here’s a comparison of these two Android phones and which one might be the better choice for you.

Design & Build

The OnePlus 13 features a vegan leather-backed design in its Midnight Ocean variant (other colors and finishes are available), providing a tactile and luxurious feel. It is also IP68 and IP69 certified, making it highly resistant to water and dust, a rare feature among flagship phones.

The magnetic accessory ecosystem supports MagSafe, allowing compatibility with a variety of attachments, including a 50W AirVOOC wireless charger.

Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd

The OnePlus 13R opts for a simpler yet stylish aesthetic with flat glass surfaces and an aluminum frame, providing a robust, monolithic feel.

It lacks the advanced IP69 rating of the 13, settling for IP65 instead, offering more basic water and dust resistance.

Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd

While it supports the same magnetic accessories as the 13, it does not include wireless charging capabilities, making it a less versatile option for staying charged up.

Score Specs & Performance

The OnePlus 13 features Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, making it one of the most powerful smartphones on the market. Its benchmark scores surpass not only the OnePlus 13R but also many of its flagship competitors.

The Elite chipset pairs seamlessly with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, ensuring lightning-fast multitasking and gaming performance.

AI features are significantly enhanced thanks to an improved neural processing unit, making AI tools faster and more efficient.

Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd

On the other hand, the OnePlus 13R is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a step down from the Elite but still a strong performer in 2025.

With 12GB of RAM and the same UFS 4.0 storage, the 13R delivers solid performance for everyday use and gaming but falls slightly behind in sustained tasks and advanced AI operations.

Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd

While the 13R excels in its price range, power users looking for peak performance will naturally lean towards the OnePlus 13.

Cameras

The OnePlus 13 utilizes a fifth-generation Hasselblad camera system with three 50Mp sensors: main, ultrawide, and 3x telephoto.

This system supports 4K Dolby Vision recording across all lenses, advanced HDR processing, and improved low-light performance.

It excels in capturing vivid, dynamic shots with deep contrast, although color consistency between sensors could use some refinement.

Read our full OnePlus 13 camera review to learn more.

Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd

The OnePlus 13R features a scaled-down camera setup as expected. Its 50Mp main sensor performs well in good lighting, but the 8Mp ultrawide and 50Mp 2x telephoto sensors offer limited versatility compared to the 13.

Portrait shots are detailed but suffer from inconsistent edge detection, and low-light capabilities lag slightly behind its flagship sibling.