OnePlus 13s hands-on review

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Introduction

Smartphones have been experiencing inflation for some time now, and we aren't just talking about the price. Flagship phones are bigger than they have ever been and with every step up in size, they leave behind a group of people for whom the phone is now just too big to handle.

It made sense to do this financially as a vast majority of people seem to prefer larger devices. However, with smartphone sizes being what they are now, it no longer makes sense for big to be the only option you offer. Other companies figured this out some time back and now it's OnePlus' turn.

The OnePlus 13s is the company's first compact flagship smartphone. From everything the company told us, there was a concerted effort to ensure the phone lives up to the flagship title with minimal compromises, which hasn't always been the case with previous compact phones.

OnePlus 13S 5G specs at a glance:

• Body: 150.8x71.7x8.2mm, 185g; Glass front, aluminum alloy frame; IP65 dust tight and water resistant (low pressure water jets).
• Display: 6.32" LTPO AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, 1600 nits (HBM), 1216x2640px resolution, 19.54:9 aspect ratio, 460ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8750-AB Snapdragon 8 Elite (3 nm): Octa-core (2x4.32 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix L + 6x3.53 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix M); Adreno 830.
• Memory: 12GB LPDDR5X; 256GB/512GB UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 15, OxygenOS 15.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.76", 0.64µm, 2x optical zoom, PDAF.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.0, 21mm (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, gyro-EIS, OIS, Dolby Vision HDR; Front camera: 4K@30fps.
• Battery: 5,850mAh Li-ion; 80W wired, 33W PPS, 18W PD, 18W QC, 5W reverse wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.4, aptX HD, LHDC 5; NFC; Infrared port, USB 2.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers; Circle to Search.

The OnePlus 13s is based on the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip as the bigger OnePlus 13. The 5850mAh is almost as big (or even bigger if you consider the Chinese 13T) as the 6000mAh on the 13. There is one less camera on the back - and a very curious one at that - but we will get to that later. And finally, the iconic OnePlus Alert Slider has been done away with in favor of an iPhone-style button called the Plus Key, which also deserves its own section.

As you can tell, there have been some compromises made along the way to achieve the smaller size. But does the phone still live up to the flagship title? Let's find out.

Unboxing

The OnePlus 13s comes in standard OnePlus packaging adorned in the company's bright red color. Inside, you'll find the phone, a color-matched silicone case, an 80W charger, and the classic red cable.

The case that comes with the phone is also fairly typical for OnePlus phones sold in the Indian market. It provides adequate protection for the phone and for most users should be the only case they'll probably ever need.