OnePlus 13R Long-Term Review: Still a Solid Daily Driver After One Year

In this OnePlus 13R review, I look back at a phone that quietly became my daily driver after its launch in India earlier this year. While several new smartphones have come and gone since then, the OnePlus 13R has consistently held its ground with a balance of performance, battery life and software polish. Even with the OnePlus 15R right around the corner, this is why the OnePlus 13R is still the phone I keep reaching for. 

OnePlus 13R Unboxing

The OnePlus 13R packs all the essentials right in the box and alongside the phone itself, here’s what you get:

With that out of the way, here’s a quick rundown of the OnePlus 13R specifications:

OnePlus 13R: Build and Design

I have with me the Astral Trail variant of the OnePlus 13R and it sure does justice to the name. There are these spiral textures running across the back that mimic star trails and originate from around the circular module at the top.

It’s quite the thoughtful design that looks and feels premium instantly. Although it gets rid of its predecessor’s curved design to take on a flat frame, the edges are nicely smoothed out and it doesn’t feel prickly in the hand. Not to mention that it stays very stable on a desk too.

However, thanks to my super dry hands during winter, the phone can be quite slippery because of the brushed metal frame and I have dropped it quite a few times. Surprisingly enough, I haven’t noticed a single dent or scratch on the body.

One-handed usage can be slightly difficult and reaching the alert slider in those cases requires me to use my belly as a makeshift phone stand. However, the alert slider on the OnePlus 13R is bigger this time around, making it easier to operate than the previous generations.

The in-box textured case is quite nice and offers a solid grip for clumsy folks like me. However, since it’s not colour-matched, the black of the case just looks very out of place with the silver of the Astral Trail 13R.

OnePlus 13R: Display Quality

It goes without saying that curved displays offer the best viewing experience and is one of the reasons I loved the 12R. However, the 13R’s flat display is no less and offers quite the multimedia experience. Even out of the box, the display tuning was perfect and I didn’t have to tweak it in any way.

I watched a decent bit of Stranger Things on this screen and noticed how deep the blacks of the AMOLED were in those dark scenes. Meanwhile, when rewatching Haikyu!!, I noticed that those vibrant colours really popped without feeling like too much.

However, it was during those bright scenes that I did feel like the display was a little too bright for my ageing eyes. Our Luxmeter recorded 1,650 nits of HBM, making it quite the flashbang in a dark room, but your best friend out in the sun.

The OnePlus 13R also has solid dual speakers that didn’t make me feel the need for my earbuds much. The audio output is loud, clear and nicely separated across the top and bottom speakers. Overall, the 13R will not let you down if you’re like me who loves to squeeze in some binge-watching in your free time.

OnePlus 13R: Performance Tested

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 holds up very well and never made me feel like I needed more power. A lot of times, I had countless Chrome tabs open as well as 30 or so apps open in the background to aid in my research.

I could always seamlessly shuffle between these apps and open new ones on top of them without any micro jitters, even. The OnePlus 13R is a very reliable companion that holds its own against pretty much anything and everything you throw at it.

Seeing things being handled easily by the phone, I decided to finally give a couple of benchmarks a try. While these numbers are not the best Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scores we’ve seen, it’s not too bad at all:

However, I did notice that the phone got quite warm, lingering around the 42°C mark, even during Noida’s intense winter. This warmth is also experienced when gaming, although the performance is solid even then. I could easily get 120 FPS in CoD Mobile in the Medium + Ultra graphics, while Genshin Impact mostly had a very stable 60 FPS to offer.

BGMI was super smooth as well at a constant 120 FPS in the Low + Extreme+ setting. Now, while the phone did get warm when gaming, it never got uncomfortable to hold.

OnePlus 13R: Software and Updates

The software experience of OnePlus phones has always been top-tier and one of my personal favourites. Especially with the latest Android 16-based OxygenOS 16 update that we’re running on the OnePlus 13R, things are a lot smoother and better.

From the finetuned animations across the board to other spectacular OxygenOS 16 features like a full-screen AOD, Flux Themes 2.0 and more, this feels like the most complete software experience yet on a OnePlus phone.

I have also developed this dependence on AI tools like the Notes app and Smart Replies. Meanwhile, for photos, I do use the AI Unblur and Detail Boost tools a lot to enhance screenshots to use in my writeups.

Overall, OxygenOS just gets you hooked to it big time and there’s no turning back from it. On top of it, the phone still has three major OS updates left, making it one hell of a future-proof phone as well. The haptic integration and level are solid right out of the box and I never had to fidget with it either.

There are certainly bloatware apps like those marketplace apps that you can’t uninstall. Although these apps don’t spam you with too many ads and notifications, it’s still an annoyance that I don’t like to see on phones in general.

OnePlus 13R Camera Review

In comparison to the OnePlus 12R, the 13R takes a clear step forward in camera hardware by ditching that token macro lens in favour of a far more useful 50 MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. This is paired with a 50 MP main lens and an 8 MP ultra-wide and on paper, it's a well-rounded setup for the upper mid-range. Meanwhile, in the real world, it largely delivers, although within limits. 

During the daytime, the primary camera is the most reliable performer. Images come out sharp with good detail retention and colours that stay mostly natural rather than overly boosted. Dynamic range is decent, though highlights can occasionally run a bit hot in high-contrast scenes. The telephoto lens is easily the standout addition, producing crisp 2x shots. Even the digital zoom is pretty good here and the AI processing retains the sharpness well in those shots. 

The ultra-wide, however, is clearly the weakest link here. While it's usable in bright conditions, it trails the main sensor in detail and dynamic range. Neither is the colour consistency always spot on and while it works fine to fit more in your frame, you wouldn't want to rely on it once lighting becomes tricky. 

Low-light photography is where the OnePlus 13R shows its mid-range character. Night Mode does improve brightness and exposure, but fine details tend to soften. There's also a decent bit of noise in some shots, especially on the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras.

Highlights can also get slightly overexposed, which affects the overall balance of scenes. Light sources are handled well though and there's no unwanted ambient occlusion bleeding into the shots. Results are usable for social media, but just not category-leading anymore.

The 16 MP front camera delivers decent selfies in daylight with pleasant skin tones, though sharpness drops indoors and at night. Video performance is solid rather than spectacular, with 4K @ 60 FPS support and effective stabilisation on the main camera. However, the occasional focus hunting reminds you this isn't a flagship imaging system.

Overall, the OnePlus 13R's camera setup is competent and practical, with strong daylight performance and a genuinely useful telephoto lens doing most of the heavy lifting. It's a clear improvement over its predecessor, but low-light and ultra-wide performance keep it firmly in mid-range territory rather than pushing into the flagship-killer status. 

OnePlus 13R: Battery Life and Charging

If you ask me, the OnePlus 13R is easily one of the best battery backup phones to grab right now. That 6,000mAh battery unit paired with an LTPO display offers a solid screen-on time of a little over 5 hours with 3 hours of gaming included.

My usage normally involved browsing through infinite Google Chrome tabs, having all the social media apps running in the background and even squeezing in around two hours or slightly more of CoD Mobile alongside an hour or so of Genshin Impact.

When I did deplete the battery, the 80W fast charging took me straight to 100% in just about 45 minutes, making this an incredible combination to rely on.

OnePlus 13R Review: Is It Still Worth the Money?

At its current price of Rs 38,999, the OnePlus 13R continues to make a strong case for itself. You're getting flagship-grade performance from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, one of the best battery experiences in its segment, fast and reliable 80W charging and a polished OxygenOS experience that still has years of updates left in the tank. Add to that a premium design, an excellent display and a genuinely useful telephoto camera and the value proposition remains solid even around a year after launch. 

Yes, the cameras aren't class-leading in low-light and the ultra-wide could have been better, but these are compromises that are easy to live with when you look at the overall package. With newer launches hovering well above the price point, the OnePlus 13R still feels like a well-rounded, dependable choice rather than yesterday's news. Whether the OnePlus 15R will dethrone it will depend solely on the kind of price-to-specs ratio it will bring to the table.