OnePlus 13s review

There’s an inarguable beauty in tech that knows when to stop. In an era where smartphones are constantly expanding their scope, size, and price tags, the OnePlus 13s takes the road less traversed. It doesn’t clamour for attention with oversized displays or gimmicky features. Instead, it pulls back and focuses on refinement.

It might not provoke the kind of double-take reserved for foldables or five-camera arrays. But give it time, and the 13s reveals something more compelling. It feels intentional. From the compact size to the subtle material choices, every detail seems designed to fit effortlessly into a modern lifestyle.

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Whether you’re commuting, creating, or just trying to get through a long day without reaching for a charger by 6 pm, the OnePlus 13s positions itself as an everyday companion built with just the right amount of muscle and restraint. Let’s delve into our detailed OnePlus 13s review to see if it succeeds in this undertaking.

OnePlus 13s review: Build and design

The OnePlus 13s turns heads at first glance, and the longer you use it, the more its design choices reveal their merit. Weighing 185 grams and measuring just over 8.2mm in thickness, it feels impressively compact and comfortable, unlike most flagship offerings today. Whether you are slipping it into your jeans pocket or using it one-handed on a busy commute, the phone’s proportions offer genuine ease of use.

The rear panel comes in three finishes – Black Velvet, Green Silk, and Pink Satin. The Green Silk model in particular stands out, offering a matte texture with a subtle shimmer that catches the light just enough to feel premium without becoming flashy. The satin finish does a good job of resisting smudges, although the matte surface can still pick up faint scuffs over time.

What’s striking is how refined the phone looks compared to its own flagship sibling. The OnePlus 13 may pack more sensors, but the 13s, with its minimal lines, gently curved corners, and geometric layout, ends up looking more refined. It’s genuinely the more aesthetically pleasing sibling. And, dare I say, slightly classier too.

Button placement is equally thoughtful. The power and volume buttons are easy to reach, and the new Plus Key – OnePlus’s answer to Apple’s Action Button – sits on the left edge and can be programmed to handle a variety of tasks.

Whether it’s opening the camera, turning on Do Not Disturb, or launching an AI tool, the Plus Key adapts to your workflow. But I must admit, some may miss the undeniable tactility of the good ol’ Alert Slider.

One ergonomic misstep here is the under-display fingerprint scanner. It’s placed too close to the bottom edge of the screen, so it can be awkward to reach with one hand. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it does occasionally disrupt the phone’s otherwise seamless flow.

In the box, you get a colour-matched TPU case, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and an 80W charger. OnePlus also pre-applies a plastic screen protector. These extras may seem small, but they add to the phone’s sense of completeness.

OnePlus 13s review: Display

The OnePlus 13s features a diminutive 6.32-inch LTPO OLED display that serves as the perfect example of less being more. In a market dominated by 6.7-inch behemoths, this petite panel feels tailored for those who prefer manageable size without sacrificing viewing quality.

With a resolution of 1216 x 2360 pixels (1.5K), the display maintains sharpness across everything from text to streaming content. It supports a dynamic refresh rate that scales between 1Hz and 120Hz, which ensures not only a smooth user experience but also intelligent battery management.

Peak brightness is rated at 1,600 nits. This is not the brightest panel on the market since some flagship rivals push past 2,500 nits, but it is more than sufficient for outdoor visibility. Whether you’re reading under direct sunlight or watching HDR content indoors, the screen feels vivid and reliable.

Colour reproduction is balanced and natural. OnePlus includes a ProXDR mode in the Photos app which boosts contrast and saturation when viewing images. It looks great on the device itself, but there is a noticeable shift when exporting these images to other screens. For professionals or creators who rely on colour accuracy, it may be best to turn this setting off.

Overall, the display on the OnePlus 13s is a perfect match for the phone’s philosophy – well-calibrated, responsive, and quietly premium.

OnePlus 13s review: Performance and software

The OnePlus 13s is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the same silicon that fuels several high-end flagships. It is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. These numbers alone make it clear that this phone is not cutting corners in the performance department.

Everyday tasks, from app switching and social media to multitasking and document editing, feel effortless. The chipset handles heavier loads equally well. Games like Genshin Impact run smoothly at high settings with minimal signs of throttling, even during extended sessions.

Games like Pokémon Unite also perform delightfully well. Thanks to the large vapour chamber, thermal performance remains controlled even after an hour of intense use.

Storage speeds are excellent. App installations are near-instant, and large file transfers complete quickly. The responsiveness of this phone will be instantly appreciated by power users, but even casual users will notice the lack of hesitation in every action.

OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15, delivers a clean and polished experience. The interface is mostly free of bloatware, with no disruptive ads. Animations feel cohesive, and transitions between apps are smooth. OnePlus has kept the visual language close to stock Android while adding its own lightweight features.

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Perhaps more importantly, OnePlus promises four years of Android OS updates and six years of security patches. This ensures that the 13s will remain relevant for the foreseeable future, which is a value proposition that few phones in this price band can match.

OnePlus 13s review: AI features

AI on the OnePlus 13s is integrated in a way that feels thoughtful rather than forced. The system’s centerpiece is Mind Space, a digital memory vault where you can save contextual snippets such as a recipe, a list, or booking confirmation by simply pressing the Plus Key or using a three-finger swipe.

These captures are stored in a centralised location for later reference, removing the need for multiple screenshots or hastily written notes.

VoiceScribe transcribes calls in real time and also provides a summarised version of the conversation, which is especially useful for meetings, interviews, or customer service calls. The accuracy is high in quiet environments and works well enough in more dynamic settings too.

There is a built-in Translate app that supports image, voice, and text translation across various apps. While it is not quite as reliable as Google Translate for complex sentences, it gets the job done in a pinch. The real-time screen translation feature is particularly handy when dealing with non-selectable text inside apps like Instagram.

In the Photos app, AI assists with tools like object removal, image sharpening, and generative background expansion. These tools are not perfect, but they are functional and improve with use. Whether you are cleaning up travel photos or enhancing older images, these tools offer meaningful convenience.

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Gemini AI and Circle to Search from Google are also supported, ensuring that the OnePlus 13s stays connected to the larger AI ecosystem that Android users are becoming increasingly familiar with.

OnePlus 13s review: Cameras

OnePlus takes a different approach with the 13s, opting for a dual-camera system that prioritises quality over quantity. You get a 50MP main sensor (Sony LYT-700) with optical image stabilisation (OIS), and a 50MP telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom.

The primary camera is fast and dependable. It produces crisp, well-balanced images in daylight and holds up well in lower light thanks to Night Mode. Autofocus is responsive, and shutter lag is virtually non-existent. The dual-exposure algorithm, carried over from the OnePlus 13, helps in capturing sharp photos of moving subjects.

The telephoto lens is capable of sharp 2x zoom shots and delivers pleasing portrait results. However, it lacks optical image stabilisation, which becomes evident in dim lighting or with handheld video. This is one of the few compromises made to maintain the phone’s compact size.

There is no ultrawide lens here, and that will be a downside for users who often shoot landscapes or group photos. While understandable from a hardware constraint perspective, it does leave a gap in the shooting experience.

The 32MP front-facing camera performs well, capturing detailed and colour-accurate selfies. There is no over-processing or aggressive skin-smoothing applied by default. Video recording on the front camera goes up to 4K at 30fps, and the rear cameras support up to 4K at 60fps. Ultra Steady mode is also available, although enabling it reduces the resolution.

OnePlus 13s review: Battery life

Battery performance is where the OnePlus 13s truly shines. Despite its compact form, it houses a gargantuan 5,850mAh battery, which is an impressive capacity that outpaces many larger devices. In fact, it’s battery capacity outshines that of ultra-flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

In real-world usage, the phone consistently delivers between 10 and 12 hours of screen-on time. With mixed use, that translates into a day and a half to two full days before needing a recharge. Whether you’re streaming video, navigating on Google Maps, or using the camera frequently, the battery remains dependable.

Charging is handled by the included 80W SuperVOOC adapter, which brings the phone from zero to full in about 75 minutes. The absence of wireless charging may bother some users, but given the phone’s slim profile and strong battery life, it is a reasonable trade-off. Reverse wired charging is available for topping up smaller accessories.

In benchmark testing, the OnePlus 13s lasted nearly 25 hours in PCMark’s battery loop. These results place it among the most enduring phones in its class.

Unboxed Take: Who should buy the OnePlus 13s?

The OnePlus 13s is a masterclass in thoughtful restraint. It avoids the excesses that often burden modern smartphones and instead delivers a polished, capable, and comfortable experience that is easy to appreciate and even easier to live with. Add to that, it’s gorgeous looks, and it ticks many boxes upon first inspection!

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However, there are a couple of compromises to be aware of. The lack of an ultrawide lens and the awkward fingerprint scanner placement are real, and some users may miss wireless charging. However, the core experience, from design and display to performance and battery life, more than makes up for these omissions.

If you are someone who values purposeful design, long battery life, and flagship performance in a compact body, the OnePlus 13s is not just a smart choice. It is one of the most well-rounded smartphones available under Rs 60,000 this year.

For this reason, we rate the OnePlus 13s a solid 4/5. What do you think of the OnePlus 13s? Drop a comment below and stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma for more detailed reviews like this one.