5 issues I admire concerning the OnePlus 13R, the brand new mid-range runner-up

When OnePlus launched its latest duo of premium smartphones earlier this yr, the higher-end 13 mannequin naturally acquired a lot of the eye. When I reviewed the 13, I praised its design, its best-in-class water and mud resistance, and its performant software program bundle. Whereas I proceed to adore the 13, I can not assist however really feel that its mid-range sibling, the 13R, deserves some love as effectively.

The 13R prices a full $300 lower than the usual 13, and OnePlus has managed to hit this value level with out sacrificing the necessities. At a base asking value of $600, the 13R competes instantly with the Apple iPhone 16e, and it sits $100 above Google’s Pixel 9a , the present finest mid-ranger. After utilizing the OnePlus 13R in the actual world, listed below are 5 points of the cellphone that I admire each day.

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1 It does not skimp out on construct high quality

The 13R is machined out of aluminum and tempered glass

In terms of cell devices, I am a fan of a well-executed exterior {hardware} design. Happily, regardless of its mid-range price ticket, the OnePlus 13R incorporates a premium match and end, with a strong aluminum facet rail, and back and front panels made from Gorilla Glass 7i.

After all, there is no titanium, next-gen Gorilla Glass Armor, or IP69 ingress protection to be discovered on the 13R, however that does not cease the handset from feeling and looking like one million bucks. I am notably keen on the etched glass end on my astral path (white) unit, which catches the sunshine in all the appropriate methods once I’m out and about.

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2 It options cutting-edge silicon

The 13R comes with a robust flagship Snapdragon chipset

In terms of transport its smartphones with highly effective processing packages, OnePlus continues to By no means Settle. The 13R comes with the identical bleeding-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset that powered a lot of final yr’s finest Android flagships, together with the OnePlus 12 and the whole Samsung Galaxy S24 collection.

Qualcomm has since launched the all-new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which supplies yet one more step up in efficiency, however the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 stays a performant workhorse for all however essentially the most demanding of workflows. For almost everybody on the market — myself included — the 13R affords greater than sufficient efficiency headroom to final a number of years into the long run.

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3 It does not ship with a lame macro digicam

All three rear-facing cameras on the 13R are helpful

With final yr’s mid-range 12R, OnePlus opted to complement the rear wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle shooters with a measly 2-megapixel macro lens. We have seen this tactic earlier than: the additional optical sensor permits firms to boast of a ‘triple rear digicam setup,’ regardless of the doubtful utility of a low-res devoted macro shooter.

Sensibly, with this yr’s OnePlus 13R, the corporate has elected to kick the unimpressive macro shooter to the curb, in favor of offering a genuinely helpful 2X telephoto lens. This new 50-megapixel f/2.0 sensor does not provide the 3X or 5X optical zoom vary that I’ve come to understand on higher-end smartphones, but it surely’s greater than serviceable for informal pictures.

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4 Its battery pack is (comparatively) large

There’s lots of battery packed into the 13R’s comparatively skinny chassis

Regardless of the OnePlus 13R’s moderately svelte 0.31-inch (8 mm) thinness, the cellphone manages to squeeze in a reasonably large 6,000mAh battery pack underneath the hood. In my expertise, this mixture of {hardware} capability and software program optimizations makes for a cellphone that all the time lasts me by means of the day, regardless of taking dozens of photographs, streaming movies, and navigating by way of GPS.

The 13R tops up faster than many higher-end telephones, too: at 80W, the cellphone can cost to half capability in twenty minutes, and it may attain most capability in underneath an hour. By comparability, the iPhone 16e lands at round 29W, and the Pixel 9a clocks in at 23W.

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5 Its OxygenOS 15 software program pores and skin is high notch

I am a fan of the 13R’s fluid and feature-rich Android pores and skin

Earlier this yr, OnePlus hyped up its OxygenOS 15 software pores and skin that runs atop of Google’s Android 15 working system. In line with the corporate, one of many most important focuses of this software program launch was to supply a smoother interface, full with extra responsive gestures and cleaner animations.

In observe, the OnePlus 13R is about as silky easy as some other premium smartphone I’ve ever encountered. Every part is snappy and performant, regardless of the pores and skin’s abundance of baked-in tweaks and customization instruments. In my private expertise, I discover OxygenOS to be higher balanced when it comes to its feature-to-simplicity ratio than, say, Samsung’s OneUI different.

This system was offered to Pocket-lint by OnePlus.

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