The Chinese are rapidly gaining ground on the Samsungs and Apples of the world when it comes to technology, especially in the smartphone sector, and they’re doing a damn good job for the price you pay. About two weeks ago, I bought my first OnePlus phone, the 13 model, and you can tell it’s a Chinese phone by reading the back of it.
Why did I choose it? Well, I watched so many videos of the model that I just had to get one. I was rocking an iPhone 15 Pro at the time, which I still own and plan to sell for a good price. Even though I was getting along pretty well (or so I thought back then) with iOS and the iPhone, I had this urge to try the OnePlus 13.
I’m a heavy user—my phones get put through the wringer, but none has ever had a cracked display or anything because I take care of them. Still, I love testing things out, squeezing every drop of juice from their batteries, and keeping them in my hand all day long. In that regard, the OnePlus 13’s build quality is stellar.
You can literally use it without a case since it’s grippy and feels great in hand, even with its massive 6.82-inch display.
I’ve always been a compact phone believer, but this thing changed my mind. You get so much more from a big display, and it won’t take long to get used to it, trust me.
After using the OnePlus 13 “day and night,” I can say the display quality is top-notch, it feels awesome in hand, and there’s no issue using it outdoors. I wish it had the anti-reflective display of the S25 Ultra, but I’m cool with this one for the price I paid.
It cost me a bit over 750 euros brand new, while a similar-spec S25 Ultra goes for about 1000 euros on the internet. Now, I’m hoping to sell my iPhone for something like 700 euros to recoup some of the cash I dropped on the OnePlus.
I don’t game, but I love leaving every app I use idle in the background, and let me tell you, the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor paired with 16 GB of RAM makes this thing fly, no matter what you throw at it. It’s way faster and snappier than my laptop. I’ve been using it a ton lately for editing posts for my blog, too, since it’s so much easier than on my iPhone.
I mentioned I’m a heavy user, and the battery life proves it. I recently squeezed two full days out of it with about 10 hours of screen-on time, and it took 50 minutes (14 minutes more than advertised) to charge to 100%. The 6,000 mAh battery uses Silicon Carbon technology, which keeps the phone slim yet potent, giving you plenty of juice for daily use.
The best part, though, is the camera. I honestly didn’t expect it to perform this well in photography. The images are clearly processed, especially beyond 6x zoom, but the results are great, IMO. AI is definitely doing a solid job here.
The pic above was taken from my car today, and I used 120x zoom to snap it. The house is on the other side of the Danube in a Serbian town. That kind of capability from a phone is mind-blowing to me. Back in the day, you’d get this quality from a regular phone standing right in front of the house, and now we’re getting such results with 120x zoom!
Portrait mode shots are my favorites, though. I only snapped a couple of pics with such high zoom to test the camera’s capabilities, but the most enjoyable experience is with everyday photos. In this regard, you can check some of my photography posts from the past two weeks to see the camera’s quality for yourself. I’ve only used this thing for photography during these two weeks.
What I don’t like—and this is more an Android issue than a OnePlus one—is that the OS doesn’t idle apps as well as an iPhone does. It kinda kills them over time if you have too many in the background. Other than that, I’d say this phone is the best value for the buck you can currently get.
I bought the charger separately as they don't come in the box in Europe anymore
Great build quality and handling, an A+ quality display, insane battery life and charging speed, a great camera, and a user-friendly OS (the notification bar and quick settings are so iOS-like) make me feel like I’ll be rocking this phone for about four years or so. That’s the length of time OnePlus is offering major Android updates for. Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
I didn’t test it in water or throw it in the dishwasher like some tech dudes do, but other than that, I’ve pretty much tested everything about it. Would I Get Back To IOS? Nope... I like the build quality of the iPhones and their attention to detail when it comes to app icons and visual effects, but other than that, they're insanely inferior to Android phones, especially the OnePlus. You can literally buy the version that I have for half the price you pay for a 16 Pro Max.
That's about it from my side. I wish you all a great day, and catch you all next time.
Thanks for your attention,
Adrian