For years now, I’ve known how incredible today’s best phones are at taking portrait photography. Yet, I’ve neglected to really put them to the test by taking professional headshots. At least, I did until now because I want to see for myself if my OnePlus 13 can produce results that could make me ditch my mirrorless camera altogether.
So far, I’ve been impressed by what the new OnePlus flagship can do. For example, I’ve shot and created a cinematic video using the OnePlus 13’s video cameras. On top of that, I really like capturing stunning astrophotography of the night sky that reveals details I can’t see with my own eyes. It’s no wonder that the OnePlus 13 is one of the best camera phones around.
This time, though, I’m putting its portrait mode to the test to see what kind of headshots it can produce. Here’s what I found.
OnePlus 13 portrait photography: what you need to know
Let me detail the hardware first because it’s important to know what I’m working with here. The OnePlus 13 packs a triple 50MP camera system, so that boils down to a 50MP main (f/1.6), 50MP ultrawide (f/2.05), and 50MP 3x telephoto (f/2.65).
While portrait mode on the OnePlus 13 gives me the choice of three zoom options (1x, 2x, and 3x), I kept most of my shooting at 3x because of its 73mm equivalent focal length — which is almost what I like to use for portraits. Furthermore, the aperture can be set before the photo’s taken from f/1.4 all the way up to f/16. However, you can change this after the fact to get the right amount of bokeh (background blur) through the Photos app.
My test subject for this professional headshot session with the OnePlus 13 is my colleague, Ryan Epps, who covers TVs, projectors, and the occasional gaming stuff for Tom’s Guide. There are also additional headshots of my colleague, Kate Kozuch, just to show more of how the OnePlus 13 handles portrait mode.
I also shot both indoors and outdoors to give you an idea of its quality. And finally, I took three of my favorite headshots and edited them on my computer with CyberLink’s PhotoDirector software to give them that proper editor’s touch.
OnePlus 13 portrait photography: performance
First and foremost, I want to say how much I was surprised by the results. OnePlus says its 5th Gen Hasselblad Camera for Mobile can achieve “studio-grade portraits.” At 3x zoom, there’s a lot I love about the details with portrait mode on the OnePlus 13.
Most notably, you get that creamy, out-of-focus look with the background. In all of the headshots I captured outdoors with the OnePlus 13, the camera casts nearly circular bokeh balls with the stronger light sources in the background — all while giving Ryan and Kate command of the scene.
Another reason why I prefer shooting portraits at 3x zoom as opposed to 1x zoom is how there’s a lot more separation between my subjects and the background, which inevitably makes it a lot easier to detect edges. That’s why Ryan and Kate are in sharp focus in all the shots.
There’s also a lot of detail in all of the outdoor shots. From Ryan's beard to Kate's flowing hair, I like the amount of sharpness they receive for not being retouched in any way. Indoors, however, I do notice that the details become slightly softer. They’re usable, but clearly a well-lit area will snag the best results for portraits.
OnePlus 13 portrait photography: final headshots
Editing my favorite headshots is another story because it shows what details I’m able to further extract from the photos. Using PhotoDirector, I'm able to apply additional sharpness to allow the finer details to come out even more. In fact, I think the headshots have enough detail for up to 1.5x cropping.
Out of all the portrait photos I took of Ryan with the OnePlus 13, my absolute favorite is the first one in the gallery above. It highlights all the best qualities about capturing portraits with the OnePlus 13 — like the perfect background-subject separation and the amount of detail around his face.
The second shot could pass for a Netflix poster, with the cooler color temperature of the shot paired with Ryan’s gaze looking above. I’m distracted a bit by the nearby table on the left, but a quick crop would eliminate it entirely — and without lessening its detail.
And finally, I took an indoor shot of Ryan indoors in our office, but I wasn’t a fan of the messy background. That’s why I replaced it with something a bit more pleasing to the eye. However, I will say that the quality is softened tremendously due to the lighting conditions.
Meanwhile, the first edited shot of Kate in the gallery above shows the tight separation between the background and Kate. The out-of-focus background allows Kate to also command the scene, while the amount of detail allows me a little wiggle room to crop if I need it.
The indoor shot is actually quite nice, mainly because I had Kate sitting underneath a strong light source. As a result, the details are better preserved than Ryan's indoor shot.
And lastly, I love Kate's pose outside again, but I took it at a slight angle so that the OnePlus 13 was pointing upward a little. There's no shortage of detail in this shot either, as the zipper on her coat is finely detailed.
OnePlus 13 portrait photography: Verdict
After taking countless headshots, I’m convinced that I could ditch my mirrorless camera and rely on the OnePlus 13 instead. Just as long as there’s ample lighting, you’ll get the best results from portrait mode. And since the OnePlus 13 captures a fair amount of detail, I like the flexibility of being able to crop just a little without much quality loss.
If these are the kinds of headshots that the OnePlus 13 can take, then I’m eager to see what other phones released this year have in store for all of us.
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