OnePlus 13R arrives: Price, specs and all the latest features for this OnePlus midrange phone

The focus of OnePlus' January 7 phone launch will fall on the OnePlus 13, and deservedly so. The latest flagship from OnePlus delivers even better battery life than its predecessor and the best camera performance of any OnePlus device according to our OnePlus 13 review. But OnePlus has announced another phone as part of its winter launch event, and the OnePlus 13R deserves some attention, too.

The OnePlus 13R is the latest entry in the phone maker's R series, which takes many of the same flagship features from the premium OnePlus phones, while offering them at a lower price. Previously, OnePlus R phones rarely made it out of China or India, but last year's OnePlus 12R enjoyed a global release. It also happened to be one of my favorite phones of the year.

The long battery life and strong performance by the OnePlus 12R leaves a high bar for the OnePlus 13R to clear, and we'll be able to tell you if the new phone succeeds at that, once we finish testing it. But until then, here's a rundown of what you can expect from the OnePlus 13R now that OnePlus has officially announced its new midrange device.

OnePlus 13R specs

OnePlus 13R price and availability

One of the OnePlus 12R's most appealing features, at least in the U.S., was a sub-$500 price for the 128GB model of the phone. Alas, there's no 128GB version of the OnePlus 13R — just a 256GB version that starts at $599/£649.

That's not a price hike, per se — U.S. shoppers paid the same price for a 256GB OnePlus 12R. (It is a price hike in the U.K., where the OnePlus 12R cost £649.) It just means you don't have the option of a cheaper version of the phone this year, which will disappoint folks who hoped for a more direct challenger to the $499 Google Pixel 8a.

You can pre-order the OnePlus 13R starting today (January 7), with the phone officially going on sale a week later on January 14. You'll be able to buy the phone from the OnePlus website as well as from Best Buy. Amazon availability will come later. OnePlus is accepting trade-ins to lower the cost of the OnePlus 13R.

OnePlus 13R design and display

If you've seen the OnePlus 13, the OnePlus 13R mirrors it, with a circular camera array in the upper left corner dominating the back of the phone. For this year's model, OnePlus is using Corning's Gorilla Glass 7i, a material that OnePlus says is more scratch-resistant than before. The phone features an aluminum frame, and in my brief time unboxing the OnePlus 13R, the phone certainly feels sturdy enough.

The OnePlus 13R features an IP65 water-resistance rating, which is a slight uptick from the OnePlus 12R's IP64 status. Your phone will survive rain, sprays of water and even dust, but don't dunk it in water if you want the device to last.

You have a choice of two colors with the OnePlus 13R — Nebula Noir and Astral Trail. These are fancy ways of saying black and silver, though the latter color option does feature some faint concentric circles etched into back of the phone that give this midrange device a more premium feel.

Like the OnePlus 12R, the OnePlus 13R features a 6.78-inch ProXDR display with 2780x1264 resolution. The refresh rate of the screen ranges from 1Hz to 120Hz depending on whether you need smoother scrolling or more intensive graphics. A RadiantView feature takes a more targeted approach to boosting brightness by identify the greyscale value of whatever's on the screen and adjusting how bright it is.

OnePlus 13R cameras

You'll find three cameras on the back of the OnePlus 13R, just like on last year's model. But the dedicated macro lens makes way for a 50MP telephoto camera that's capable of providing 2x optical zooms while also specializing in portrait shots. If you need to zoom in further, OnePlus uses algorithms designed to keep noise and blur out of the shot.

The other two cameras used 50MP sensors, too. A Sony LYT-700 powers the main camera while another 50MP sensor serves as the ultrawide lens.

OnePlus is highlighting some new features for its cameras, including a dual exposure algorithm that uses a short exposure to capture sharp outlines for a photo and a longer one that fills in light and color details. Other features include a live photos capability and the ability to take up to 500 burst shots. Several AI tools including AI Detail Boost, AI Unblur and AI Reflection Eraser are part of the picture now, employing artificial intelligence to make your photos look better.

While the OnePlus 13 benefits from a partnership with lens specialist Haselblad, that partnership doesn't extend to the R series devices. There's no Hasselblad branding on the OnePlus 13R as there is on the main flagship.

OnePlus 13R performance

One of the trade-offs OnePlus makes with the R series is to use an older chipset to power the phone. In truth, though, it's not much of a trade-off, as the OnePlus 13R is turning to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. That's the same silicon that powered 2024 Android flagships, including the OnePlus 12. So when we get a chance to benchmark the OnePlus 13R, we imagine it will produce performance that's consistent with some of the best Android phones that have come out in the last 12 months. To help with performance, OnePlus includes 12GB of RAM with the 13R.

OnePlus appears to be touting the 13R as a lower-cost gaming phone. To that end, the phone maker is talking up an inter design that's meant to help dissipate heat during particularly intensive gaming sessions. The Dual-Cryo Velocity Vapor Chamber is larger than before, as OnePlus looks to keep performance humming along without lags caused by overheating.

OnePlus 13R battery life and charging

The OnePlus 12R came with a pretty big battery, boasting a 5,500 mAh power pack. But the battery is getting even bigger on the OnePlus 13R, which includes a 6,000 mAh cell. Combine that with the power management features, and the OnePlus 12R's epic 18-hour battery life on our custom test could be in danger of getting surpassed by its successor — not that we'd complain.

You won't have to wait too long to charge the OnePlus 13R, which features 55W SuperVooc charging. OnePlus says that North American users will be able to completely charge a drained OnePlus 13R in 54 minutes. You won't be able to wirelessly charge the phone, though, as that feature's not supported on OnePlus' R series phones.

OnePlus 13R software

After not really touting AI capabilities last year, OnePlus is putting its smart capabilities front and center on the OnePlus 13R. That includes Google's Gemini, which serves as the phone's digital assistant.

Besides the photo editing tools noted above, the OnePlus 13R also adds an Intelligent Search feature that can look inside all the files stored on your phone to find the information you're looking for — and you can use natural language for your searches, too. Other AI features on board the OnePlus 13R include Circle to Search, an AI Notes tool to format and summarize notes, Magic Compose for rewriting text and a PassScan that adds boarding passes into the Google Wallet app. All of this is included with OxygenOS 15, OnePlus' software interface built on top of Android 15.

OnePlus promises four years of software support with the OnePlus 13R and an extra two years of security updates. That's an extra year of software support compared to the OnePlus 12R, plus two extra years of security protection. It's still short of the seven years that Pixel 8a owners get.

OnePlus 13R outlook

We're looking forward to putting the OnePlus 13R to the test now that we have a better idea of what its features are. Stay tuned for our full review to see how this new phone compares to other midrange devices and whether it delivers more value than you'd get from more expensive flagship phones.

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• OnePlus 13R vs. OnePlus 12R
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• OnePlus 13R vs. Pixel 8a: How they compare