OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 13R preliminary comparison: R stands for R U ready

Smartphone nomenclature is very confusing these days. For the past couple of years we had it all: Pro models, FE models, SE, Ultra, Max, and whatnot. After dropping the Pro moniker from its flagship lineup, OnePlus decided to do something new and fresh, introducing the R series.

What's that, you may ask? Simply put, the OnePlus R is a trimmed down flagship, offering an amazing bang for your buck without sacrificing too much in terms of real-life experience. OnePlus started this trend with the OnePlus 11R, and it was so successful that the company is brewing up another R flagship, the OnePlus 13R.

Now, the regular OnePlus 13 already made its debut in China on October 31, so we have all the exciting specs of the new contender for the Android crown. Today we're pitting the recently announced OnePlus 13 versus the dark horse, the OnePlus 13R.

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Design-wise the regular OnePlus 13 is slightly bigger than its predecessors, mainly because of the larger screen and the more modest curvature of the said screen. We don't know much about the OnePlus 13R, but judging from the way 12 and 12R were differentiated last year, we expect the OnePlus 13R to be a bit lighter (maybe lacking periscope zoom, which is a heavy system) and also rocking a completely flat screen.

Moving to the camera bump, the OnePlus 13 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors featuring a circular camera housing, slightly offset to the left. The Hasselblad branding is present on the camera module as well. The OnePlus 13R, on the other hand, will feature a square-ish camera bump, slightly offset to the left, according to the latest leaks and rumors.

Materials-wise, both phones to use similar building blocks, namely aluminum and glass, and there's a slight chance for the OnePlus 13R to go for a cheaper material, such as hard plastic, but we won't bet our dinner on it. The OnePlus 13 also has one variant with a faux leather back (made out of polymer) and it looks gorgeous in its blue glory.

When it comes to the displays of both phones, the OnePlus 13R could feature a slightly smaller 6.78-inch screen, as opposed to the 6.82-inch panel on the regular OnePlus 13.

The resolution and the tech behind these panels will probably stay the same, except for maybe the brightness. The OnePlus 13 sports 4,500 nits of peak brightness and its display comes with 21 awards and an A++ rating from DisplayMate, so it's a statement. Our display tests will solve this puzzle, but we'll have to wait a little longer for those.

There's another potential difference, and it's the fingerprint sensor. The OnePlus 13 comes equipped with an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner, while the OnePlus 13R could keep the optical one to keep the price down.

As for the hardware, there probably won’t be any big surprises. The OnePlus 13 sports Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. We don’t know exactly how it’ll perform in the phone just yet, but early tests and benchmarks hint that it’s going to be a beast capable of taking on even the Apple A18 Pro.

The OnePlus 13R, on the other hand, will most likely feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which is plenty fast. There are some rumors that the R model could come with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 onboard, but there are no indications that this would be the case.

The S-series Snapdragon silicon is often much more efficient and less powerful even than the previous generation of the flagship chip. For example, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is slightly less powerful than the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. So, in any case, we will probably get a slower chip inside the OnePlis 13R, but that's okay. Even a two-year old flagship chipset is powerful enough for almost everything you can throw at it.

There might be some AI differences, as OnePlus is yet to hop on the AI train to the fullest, and we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out. If we have to bet our beans, we would say that both phones will come with some AI magic onboard, and given the time difference between the two releases, the features might be very similar. The OnePlus 13 launched with its own smart assistant in China but we doubt the global version will have it, we expect the brand to go for a collaboration with Google and Gemini.

We expect both phones to launch with Android 15 out of the box, or if we want to be very specific, it will be Oxygen OS 15 based on Android 15.

Regarding the RAM situation, there's a 24GB RAM version of the OnePlus 13, while the OnePlus 13R will most likely stop this madness at 16GB. Of course, we will update this article with some benchmark numbers once both phones end up on our test bench.

Here's a quick specs comparison between the two phones. If you want to delve deeper, check out our full OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 13R specs comparison on PhoneArena.

*rumored specs

When it comes to the OnePlus R devices, the main reason to consider one is bang for the buck. We already witnessed the official unveiling of the OnePlus 13 in China, but the phone is months away from global release still. The OnePlus 13R is even farther in the future, so we can't say much.

What we can say, though, is that if you want a good deal, the OnePlus 13R will most likely offer one, while the regular OnePlus 13 flagship is a really dangerous Android beast that starts at just 4499 yuan in China (around $600). We will update this comparison and give you a final recommendation once these phones are official and we complete our tests.