OnePlus 13R introduced with a 50MP telephoto camera and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

The new OnePlus 13R brings the one feature that we were hoping for – a telephoto lens. It’s no match for the flagship 13, of course, but it’s one less sacrifice that people have to make when they can’t afford flagship prices.

The 13R costs $600/€750 for a phone with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. For comparison, the 12R last year started at $500, but that was for an 8/128GB unit. There was a 16/256GB option for $600/€700. This unit will be available in North America and Europe. India is getting an additional option with 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage at ₹50,000, while the base 12/256GB model is ₹43,000.

With that out of the way, let’s zoom in on the cameras. The phone has a 50MP main with a Sony LYT-700 sensor (1/1.56”, 1.0µm), which promises improvements over the IMX890 used in the 12R. It has Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and can record 4K videos at 60fps.

The new addition is the 50MP telephoto camera (1/2.75” Samsung JN5 sensor). The f/2.0 lens has a focal length of 47mm, which is suitable for portraits (this works out to 2x zoom). The high-resolution sensor also allows it to shoot at 4x zoom without sacrificing image quality. Note that this camera doesn’t have OIS.

The other two cameras on board are the 8MP ultra-wide (112°) and a 16MP selfie camera (1/3.09”, 1.0µm), both with fixed focus lenses.

Another notable upgrade is the switch to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, replacing the Gen 2 on the 12R. It’s a generation behind the flagship OnePlus 13, but it offers great performance for the price especially in Western markets. The chip is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. That’s an upgrade from UFS 3.1 storage on the 12R (assuming no mix-ups this time).

OnePlus 13R

The 13R launches with OxygenOS 15 (based on Android 15) out of the box. OnePlus has improved its software support strategy a bit, offering 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches, but it is not matching Samsung, Google and Apple support.

That’s not all, OnePlus bumped up the already large battery of the previous R-phone to 6,000mAh. This year the company dialed back the SuperVOOC charging a bit to 80W, so a full 1-100% charge takes 52 minutes (54 minutes in North America). The 12R with its 5,500mAh battery and 100W charging could hit 100% in 26 minutes (confirmed in our review).

The OnePlus engineers managed to fit the extra capacity without extra bulk – the 13R weighs essentially the same at 206g and it's actually 0.8mm thinner than its predecessor. It’s also 1.5mm shorter but 0.5mm wider than before.

The company improved the protection rating to IP65 – the phone can now resist water jets, not just splashes of water. The improved Aqua Touch 2.0 tech can work when the screen is wet or even when you put the phone in a waterproof pouch. The new Glove Mode can detect touches even if you are wearing extra-thick gloves.

The phone’s chassis is made out of aluminum and comes in two colors: Astral Trail and Nebula Noir. For screen protection, the 13R switches over to Gorilla Glass 7i (replacing Victus 2 that the 12R used).

OnePlus 13R in Astral Trail and Nebula Noir

Speaking of the screen, it’s mostly unchanged but the 12R already had a great panel. It’s a 6.78” LTPO OLED with 1-120Hz refresh rate. It’s a 10-bit panel with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support. The resolution of 1,264 x 2,780px gives it 450ppi pixel density and a 19.8:9 aspect ratio. In High Brightness Mode, the display can go up to 1,600 nits, the peak brightness is 4,500 nits.

A few other things worth mentioning are that the phone has a dual nano-SIM slot. It supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 (with aptX-HD, LDAC and LHDC 5.0), plus NFC. That’s all well and good, but we have some disappointing news – the USB-C port is still wired for only USB 2.0 data. At least the Alert Slider is still on board.

The OnePlus 13R is already available for pre-order from OnePlus. Meanwhile, here are the details for the global rollout of the flagship OnePlus 13. It goes without saying that we will be reviewing both, so stay tuned!