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Intro
The OnePlus 13 flagship is the hot topic in the tech industry these days, and for a good reason. The recently announced flagship promises to take popular brands with a storm (in typical OnePlus fashion), and the Pixel 9 Pro XL is one of the potential victims.
Today, we’re going to pit these two against each other in a detailed comparison. We’ll compare performance benchmarks, camera samples, battery life and stamina, display brightness and color accuracy, along with other design, hardware, and software features to give you the full picture and help you decide between these two.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the comparison of the OnePlus 13 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
OnePlus 13 vs Pixel 9 Pro XL differences explained:
OnePlus 13
Pixel 9 Pro XL
Similar size screen, different camera bump, slightly curved screen still
Flat sides, front and back design, similar size
6.82-inch panel with 120Hz LTPO, 4,500 nits max brightness
Similar 6.8-inch panel, 120Hz, very bright in real life
Triple camera, three 50MP sensors, wide, ultrawide, and telephoto (3x zoom)
Triple camera with 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto, periscope 5x zoom
Less memory in the base version (12GB), but a version with 24GB of RAM
More memory in the base version (16GB)
More base storage (256GB)
128GB of storage in the base model
Larger 6,000mAh battery that potentially delivers better battery life
A smaller 5,060mAh battery
Faster wired and wireless charging, 80W and 50W respectively
The impressive OnePlus 13 is here! You can buy the premium handset with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. The flagship arrives with a free storage upgrade, saving you $100. You can trade in any phone in any condition to save $100 on it. On top of that, you'll get a OnePlus 13 case free of charge (value of up to $39.99).
Grab the Pixel 9 Pro XL with 128GB of storage for $150 off its price on Amazon. The phone delivers speedy performance thanks to its capable Tensor G4 chipset. What's more, it takes gorgeous photos with its 50 MP main camera. Don't hesitate and save on one now while the offer lasts!
It's 2024, and the smartphone industry is finally moving toward flatness, so to speak. The era of aggressively curved screens seems to be coming to an end, and even Chinese brands now seem to take note and flatten their pancakes, metaphorically speaking.
The design of the OnePlus 13 follows the same design language of its predecessors, only with a flatter screen and an offset circular camera bump on the back.
The size and weight of the OnePlus 13 are almost identical to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, down to a fraction of a millimeter. The OnePlus 13 is ten-or-so grams lighter but both phones come pretty close. The experience is different, though, as the OnePlus 13 is still rounded on the back, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL is now pretty edgy.
Speaking of which, Google made a substantial design turn with the Pixel 9 series moving to flat sides and overall more angular design, as well as a separate camera bump that sticks out quite a bit.
In terms of materials, both phones come with glass and metal, but the OnePlus 13 has a blue option with a faux leather back. Speaking of colors, below are the color variants of both models.
OnePlus 13 available colors:
Arctic Dawn
Black Eclipse
Midnight Ocean (vegan leather)
Pixel 9 Pro XL available colors:
Hazel
Obsidian
Porcelain
Rose Quartz
Let's move to the display portion of the comparison. Another area where these two look very similar.
The OnePlus 13 is rocking a 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 4,500 nits and 1,600 nits in high brightness mode (HBM). The resolution is 3168 x 1440 pixels, which results in a pretty high pixel density, around 510 PPI.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the other hand, sports one of the brightest panels we've ever tested. It's again 6.8-inch LTPO with real-life brightness of 2,679 nits! Time to see if the OnePlus 13 can challenge the bright-shining star of the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
A quick side note: We started measuring display brightness at 20% APL (average picture level), which is arguably closer to real-life scenarios. You’ll start seeing this metric in our reviews alongside the 100% APL score. With that out of the way, the Pixel 9 Pro XL emerged victorious in this brightness battle and remains the undisputed brightness champion.
Subjectively, both phones get plenty bright under direct sunlight, and due to the way the human eye perceives brightness, the 300-nit difference is not as dramatic as it might seem. Other metrics, such as color accuracy, temperature, and minimum brightness, are very close—nearly identical.
Performance and Software
Snapdragon 8 Elite comes to take it all
Qualcomm recently announced its next flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and the first benchmarks that surfaced caused quite a stir in the smartphone world. The reason? The new Qualcomm chip not only matches Apple’s latest A18 Pro silicon, but even surpasses it in some benchmarks.
As expected, the OnePlus 13 easily outperforms the Tensor G4, at least when it comes to synthetic benchmarks. You can see the detailed scores below, with the usual caveat: benchmarks don’t always translate to real-life performance. We never experienced any lag or stutter while using the Pixel 9 Pro XL, but numbers are numbers.
The RAM situation is a bit more complex than it needs to be. The OnePlus 13 comes with several different memory configurations, starting with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage as the base, and it also offers a 16GB version (there’s no 24GB version, as it’s China-only, but who really needs that much RAM?). The Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the other hand, has 16GB of RAM and starts with 128GB of storage.
The software situation is quite interesting. The Pixel 9 Pro XL comes with Android 15 and Gemini, along with all the AI features that come with it. Google also offers seven years of software support, which is definitely something to consider.
The OnePlus 13 runs OxygenOS 15 (based on Android 15) and features its own set of AI capabilities under the OnePlus AI branding. These include familiar features like Circle to Search, several photo editing tools (AI Unblur, AI Reflection Eraser, AI Detail Boost), and writing aids (AI Notes, Magic Compose).
The phone also includes Gemini, so if you prefer Google's approach, you can have that as well. OnePlus promises four years of major OS updates and six years of security patches.
Camera
Three eyes with many, many pixels
The camera specs of both phones are quite similar; both feature triple camera systems with high-resolution sensors, covering the most popular photography scenarios: wide, ultrawide, and telephoto.
Let’s start with the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The phone boasts a triple-camera system on the back, consisting of a 50MP main sensor behind a lens with an f/1.7 aperture (this camera scored 84 out of 85 in our camera benchmark), a 48MP ultrawide camera, and a 48MP telephoto camera with a periscope zoom system capable of 5x optical zoom.
The OnePlus 13 has a similar triple-camera system, with three 50MP sensors—wide, ultrawide, and a periscope telephoto offering 3x optical zoom. Now, let’s see how these two perform in real-life photo scenarios.
Main Camera
< OnePlus 13Pixel 9 Pro XL >
Let’s start by saying that both of these phones are capable of capturing very good images, with the differences becoming apparent only in side-by-side comparisons. That being said, the OnePlus 13 produces very sharp and high-contrast photos, almost looking unrealistic, especially when compared to the Pixel 9 Pro XL samples.
The level of detail is similar on both phones, but the OnePlus tends to make photos look oversaturated and oversharpened. In contrast, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is much less dramatic in that regard, producing softer, more lifelike images. The dynamic range is quite good on both phones.
< OnePlus 13Pixel 9 Pro XL >
Come night, these differences are somewhat mitigated. The night samples look much more similar, with a slight advantage for the Pixel phone in terms of detail and preserving the dynamic range without making the photo look too unnatural. The OnePlus 13 also does a good job, but compared to the Pixel, it seems that lit areas appear a bit too bright, and dark areas look a little too dark..
Zoom Quality
< OnePlus 13 3XPixel 9 Pro XL >
Zoom photos differ more in color tone than in detail and dynamic range. Both phones capture a decent amount of detail at their respective native optical zoom levels. The OnePlus 13 sample appears a bit more saturated in terms of color, while the Pixel image looks somewhat softer but closer to real life, to our eyes.
Ultra-wide Camera
< OnePlus 13Pixel 9 Pro XL >
The ultrawide samples are very close when it comes to resolved detail and dynamic range. However, the main difference lies in the fact that the OnePlus tends to oversaturate the colors slightly, creating an almost HDR-like effect.
This makes the images appear more vivid but also less natural. In contrast, the Pixel 9 Pro XL maintains more balanced colors, preserving a more lifelike feel. Additionally, the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a slightly wider field of view, allowing it to capture more within the frame, which could be particularly useful for landscapes or group shots.
Selfies
< OnePlus 13Pixel 9 Pro XL >
The selfie samples appear somewhat inverted, with the softer and warmer picture coming from the OnePlus 13. The Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the other hand, captures sharper selfies with an HDR-like effect and a more dramatic contrast. The level of detail and dynamic range look good on both phones, so it ultimately comes down to personal preference as to which one you prefer more.
More Camera Samples
Video Quality
Here's a quick video sample starring the OnePlus 13 and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Battery Life and Charging
Moving toward 6K batteries?
There's one technology that keeps holding humanity back. It's batteries. Thankfully, companies like Honor try to innovate and develop this technology that dates back to the middle of the last century. The new silicone-carbon batteries are already here (unlike the solid state ones Samsung promised us with the Galaxy Note 20), and we're moving toward 6,000 mAh in capacity for thin and elegant flagship phones.
Speaking of, the OnePlus 13 is the latest flagship from China to come with a silicon-carbon battery, and thanks to that tech it has a 6,000mAh capacity. The Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the other hand, sports a relatively modest (for its size) 5,060mAh battery, although it managed to perform admirably in our battery test.
The results are somewhat mixed. The 1,000 mAh difference results in a couple of extra hours of browsing, but the YouTube performance is pretty close. Furthermore, the gaming score favors the Pixel 9 Pro XL. It seems that the new Snapdragon 8 Elite might be quite energy-hungry in gaming scenarios.
When it comes to charging, OnePlus has been a fast-charging champion for the past couple of years, so it’s no surprise that the OnePlus 13 comes out on top with its 80W fast charging support. It outperforms the Pixel 9 Pro XL by charging its massive 6,000 mAh battery in just 43 minutes. The Pixel, with its 45W wired fast charging, takes twice as long—83 minutes—for a full charge.
Specs Comparison
Here's a specs comparison for the number nerds out there.
This depends on many factors. Last year's Pixels are probably the most well-thought-out and polished flagships Google has released so far, but they still have some... let's say, specific limitations in certain areas. When it comes to raw power, the Tensor G4 is still not quite there, and there are a few quirks in the software. On the other hand, the camera is great, and the lengthy support is something many people value nowadays.
The OnePlus 13 ticks a lot of boxes: it features a bright and crisp display, the fastest chipset on the market, an ample camera system, a huge battery, and fast charging. When you factor in the starting price of $899, the Pixel 9 Pro XL faces some serious competition from the new OnePlus flagship. If you're value-oriented, the most logical decision would be to save $200 and grab the OnePlus 13.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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