When it comes to flagship smartphones, Apple, Samsung and Google are probably the first brands that come to mind.
But ignore OnePlus at your peril. The Chinese company is great at making high-end phones, evidenced by the excellent OnePlus 12. It offers everything most people are looking for in an Android phone, at a price that undercuts many rivals.
So, what can we expect from its successor. While unlikely to arrive in Europe before 2025, we already have an idea of what OnePlus is planning. Here’s everything you need to know at this stage.
When will the OnePlus 13 be released?
In recent years, OnePlus has settled into a very consistent release schedule for its flagship phones in Europe and North America:
- OnePlus 12 – February 2024
- OnePlus 12R – February 2024
- OnePlus 11 – February 2023
- OnePlus 10 Pro – March 2022
- OnePlus 9 – March 2021
- OnePlus 9 Pro – March 2021
With this in mind, it seems highly likely that the OnePlus 13 will arrive in February or March 2025.
However, leaker Smart Pikachu posted on Weibo (as reported by 91 Mobiles) that OnePlus wants the 13 to be the first smartphone to launch running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, Qualcomm’s next top-of-the-line smartphone chip.
If true, its launch would almost certainly be brought forward, at least in China – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is rumoured to launch as soon as September 2024. Indeed, OnePlus Club said in a post on X that the OnePlus 13 will launch in October 2024.
It remains to be seen how accurate that will be, or if OnePlus will continue with its strategy from the OnePlus 12, which initially launched in China before a global release a few weeks later.
How much will the OnePlus 13 cost?
Nothing has been revealed regarding the pricing of the OnePlus 13 at this stage. However, previous models give us a rough idea of what to expect:
- OnePlus 12 – from £849/$799
- OnePlus 12R – from £649/$599
- OnePlus 11 – from £729/$699
- OnePlus 10 Pro – from £799/$899
- OnePlus 9 – from £629/$729
- OnePlus 9 Pro – from £829/$1,069
The OnePlus 12 saw a significant price rise compared to the 11, but we don’t expect that to be repeated on the next generation. While tech in general has been getting more expensive, OnePlus will want to still undercut flagships from the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google on price.
What specs and features will the OnePlus 13 have?
The OnePlus 13 probably won’t arrive in Europe and North America until early 2025, but there are already some key rumours about the phone.
Design
It seems that OnePlus may be reworking the rear camera module design of the OnePlus 12. Tech tipster Digital Chat Station posted recently on Chinese social media site Weibo that the ‘family-style hinge’ that sits to the left of the rear camera module would be removed.
The same OnePlus Club post on X that mentioned the October launch date has also revealed what it says is a new design for the rear cameras. It shows a new vertical camera module that would replace the circular one from the OnePlus 12:
Replies have pointed out that the rear module looks remarkably similar to that found on the Sony Xperia PRO-I, so it could be a photoshop image that combines the two. We’ll have to wait and see if any more leaks appear before we’d be confident that the new design is truly authentic.
Display
No rumours have emerged regarding the OnePlus 13’s display, though the one on the 12 was already excellent.
Until we hear otherwise, you should still expect a 6.82-inch AMOLED screen with a QHD+ (3168×144) resolution and adaptive refresh rate from 1-120Hz.
However, within the display, there are rumours that OnePlus could be upgrading the fingerprint sensor. According to Smart Pikachu on Weibo, the OnePlus 13 could include an ultrasonic scanner instead of the current optical one.
In general, ultrasonic sensors are more reliable and better at unlocking when your fingers are wet, so this would be a nice upgrade.
Performance
Smart Pikachu on Weibo and OnePlus Club on X both believe that the OnePlus 13 will be powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset.
That would make sense, given the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 can be found in the OnePlus 12 and the company generally aims to put the latest and greatest chips in its flagship phone.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
Cameras
Cameras are likely to be a big focus on the OnePlus 13, but there are no details as to how they might be improved aside from the change in layout shown above.
If true, OnePlus would be sticking with three lenses on the back. It remains to be seen if the current 50Mp main, 48Mp ultrawide, 64Mp 3x telephoto will be upgraded. It’s also not clear if the 16Mp selfie lens will be improved at all.
Battery and charging
The OnePlus 12 already has a great battery and charging combination, with a 5400mAh cell and support for 100W wired, 50W wireless and 10W reverse wireless charging.
It’d be a surprise to see any further improvements on the 13, though we could see a move to the Qi2 wireless charging standard.
Software
Android 15 is likely to be out by the time the OnePlus 13 is released, so it’s likely to be running Google’s next major version of the software.
It’ll likely be paired with OnePlus’ own OxygenOS 15 skin, though it doesn’t usually make many changes to the core Android user experience.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
It’ll be interesting to see if OnePlus matches Google and Samsung in offering seven years of software updates. The current four years of OS updates and five years of security patches is already pretty good, though.
