The OnePlus 13 may be able to tell you its location even when turned off according to findings made by Mishaal Rahman and Android Authority in the OxygenOS 15 beta.
The changelog for the latest OxygenOS 15 beta initially suggested that the OnePlus 12 now supported Powered Off Finding, a feature built into Android's Find My Device app. Sadly, the feature does not actually work, and the changelog has since been edited. But its presence led to further discoveries by Rahman.
The OnePlus 12 can't use Powered Off Finding simply because its hardware doesn't support it. A phone's Bluetooth chip needs be specifically built to continue running after the phone's turned off in order for offline finding to work. And the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset inside the OnePlus 12 isn't capable of that.
But Rahman was told by Qualcomm, the builder of chipsets for Android phones (among other devices) said that its latest FastConnect 7900 system, combining Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ultra wideband connectivity, does have this ability. And that's part of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip that the OnePlus 13 uses.
OnePlus learns from the best
It's up to the manufacturer to enable the Snapdragon 8 Elite's offline finding ability, so other phones using the chip may still elect not to use it. But it at least looks like the OnePlus 13 will, since OnePlus is making preparations within its software.
The Google Pixel 9 series and the Pixel 8 series before it both offered offline finding, and the iPhone 11 and later (including the iPhone SE 2022) support it too. While Google and Apple smartphones are generally excellent, having more brands across the best Android phones spectrum offer this ability going into the new year is only a good thing.
The OnePlus 13 is already official in China, so we know about its impressive specs like a 4,500-nit peak brightness for its display, its enormous 6,000 mAh battery and rapid 100W wired/50W wireless charging. But a global launch has yet to happen. We're expecting the OnePlus 13 to be available in the rest of the world early next year.
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