OnePlus 13R launches with a huge battery upgrade, starting in China

The OnePlus 12R was the real flagship killer in OnePlus’s family, given everything it packed at such a tempting price — it’s truly one of the best budget phones to launch this year. But OnePlus has already confirmed that its follow-up, the OnePlus 13R, will soon land in global markets. Before that happens, the handset has already gone live in China, giving us a solid glimpse at what to expect.

Launched as the OnePlus Ace 5, this is the phone that will be called the OnePlus 13R internationally. OnePlus US’s X (formerly Twitter) handle confirmed that the handset will also come to the US, with the official launch scheduled for January 7, right alongside the flagship OnePlus 13.

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One major design element that the OnePlus 13R has clearly borrowed from the OnePlus 13 is the flat front glass instead of a curved one, which seems to be the trend in modern smartphones. The display metrics, however, haven’t changed, and that’s not a bad thing. OnePlus has used a 6.8-inch OLED screen that not only checks all the boxes, like dynamic refresh rate, high brightness, and Dolby Vision support, but also reduces eye strain for those sensitive to display flickering.

OnePlus has used a new Sony IMX906 sensor for its main 50MP camera, although the other two cameras are still an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro combo. In addition to that, the OnePlus 13R has a slightly better IP65 rating, up from IP64 on the 12R. However, some of the most significant changes lie on the inside.

Source: OnePlus

Some big upgrades on the OnePlus 13R

Scanning the phone’s spec sheet (below), you will realize that OnePlus has used a mammoth 6415mAh battery — while the phone weighs a reasonable 206 grams! For reference, the OnePlus 12R has a 5500mAh battery with an already excellent battery life. So, you can imagine how much longer the 13R will be able to last between charges. It’s worth noting that OnePlus has reduced the peak charging speed from 100W to 80W. This move helps preserve the battery’s overall life, even thought it’s still faster than most mainstream phones stuck at 30W.

The second major upgrade comes to the processor. The phone borrows last year’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor from the OnePlus 12. This is great news, especially if OnePlus prices the 13R close to the 12R. The company also launched a Pro version of the phone called the Ace 5 Pro. The only difference is that it uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite. However, this Pro variant isn’t slated for an international release.

Besides the processor, the OnePlus 13R now comes with 12GB of base RAM, going up to 16GB, which should help run all the AI features that Android 15-based OxygenOS 15 comes with. While the Chinese variant of the 13R runs ColorOS, its global variant will indeed come with OnePlus’ OxygenOS 15, complete with its Dynamic Island clone that is actually useful.

In China, the OnePlus Ace 5 starts at CNY 2299 (approximately USD 315) for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That price sounds like a steal, but these numbers and even memory configurations could change when the OnePlus 13R hits North American shores next month. Based on these early details though, the OnePlus 13R looks like a solid mid-ranger that builds on the success of the 12R.

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OnePlus 13R

The OnePlus 13R has gone official in China. It comes with some major upgrades on the inside, including a newer processor and a massive 6415mAh battery. The handset is set to launch in global markets, including the US, on January 7.