The first official look at the OnePlus 13 stuns with a design makeover
OnePlus
OnePlus has just confirmed that its next flagship arrives on October 31 in China. Over the past few days, the phone has appeared in unceremonious leaks, was spotted at an event in China, and appeared in teaser silhouettes. The wait for a better look, however, is finally over.
The preorder page for OnePlus’ upcoming phone has gone live on Oppo Shop in China, and with it, we now have a whole bunch of official images. It’s a familiar design, if you ask me, but it still stands out with a few neat changes.
The most notable shift is a flat metallic frame, which is a stark departure from the curved sides that have been a mainstay on OnePlus phones for nearly a decade. It won’t be alone in doing so, as nearly every brand – including Apple, Samsung, and other Chinese rivals — has wholeheartedly embraced this aesthetic language.
But what truly arrests the attention is how OnePlus is offering different surface finishes on each color option. The black trim appears to sport a woodgrain-inspired texture that is also reminiscent of OnePlus’ signature sandstone look.
There’s also a white variant, which on closer inspection is apparently inspired by the shimmery grain texture commonly seen on marble. OnePlus has done this a few times and recently told Digital Trends about the brand’s affinity for nature as a core design inspiration.
The most stunning iteration is the “Blues Hour” color option. This one rocks a leather texture and pairs it with a contrasting silver metal finish across the camera island, flat edges, and a thin line connected to the round camera module.
It’s the most stunning leather finish OnePlus has delivered in a while and a close second to the OnePlus 11R in its fiery Solar Red avatar that also had beautiful stitches for that authentic rugged look.
OnePlus hasn’t said much about the internal hardware. But leaks point toward the obvious Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen series silicon upgrade. We’re also hearing rumors of a next-gen take on the screen refresh tech for the OnePlus 13.
The Hasselblad camera partnership is here to stay for another generation, and we are expecting some interesting software-side upgrades this time around as well. On the UI front, the company has already started testing the Android 15-based avatar of Oxygen OS and will share more details later this month.
On the undesirable side, it seems OnePlus 13 fans are in for a price hike this time around. Analysts have predicted that the price of Qualcomm’s silicon will keep getting higher, and it will eventually impact the asking price of consumer hardware, especially flagship smartphones.
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
A pair of OnePlus 13 specs have leaked, and they sound impressive
The OnePlus 12 is considered one of the best smartphones available today, so there is much anticipation for its upcoming successor, the OnePlus 13. This week, two critical leaks about the new handset were potentially revealed.
First, OnePlus China head Louis Jie took to Weibo to mention that OnePlus has nearly completed the outdoor lighting test of the BOE X2 display. Created in collaboration with BOE, the quad micro-curved display looks flat, but offers slight curvatures for comfort.
The OnePlus Nord 4 does one thing better than any other Android phone
Other than a few deviations, OnePlus has a penchant for value products. The premium OnePlus 12 offers a (mostly) superior set of features and a refined experience over similarly-priced flagships such as the Galaxy S24 Plus or the Pixel 8 Pro. Similarly, the $500 OnePlus 12R offers exceptional performance and a flagship-like experience for its price. The OnePlus Nord 4, which sits in a price bracket right under the 12R, has its own benefits, but one that stands out is its metal back.
The OnePlus Nord 4 is the first and currently the only 5G phone to feature a metal back panel. Not only is it a striking design but it also has another trait that perceivably makes it more exciting than other phones: Its metal body potentially helps improve performance.
This is the OnePlus Open’s new red color, and it’s absolutely stunning
“Wow, it really pops out,” is what rang up in my head as I approached my desk where the new OnePlus Open’s Apex Edition lay. Admittedly, this wasn’t my first impression of the phone, and I only arrived a few hours after having fiddled with it, trying to inspect it for differences from the black variant I have been using since the launch last year. But given the spontaneity of the sensation, I took it as authentic. Perhaps that’s what OnePlus aims with this phone: to make heads turn and eyes fixated.
The OnePlus Open is one of the finest foldables to buy in the U.S., other than the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It has better ergonomics than other sideways-opening foldables, and it is backed by superior Hasselblad cameras and faster wired charging. Most importantly, the OnePlus Open can be told apart by its design, which is primarily made of faux leather and a large, round camera module.
