Review Verdict: OnePlus’ path to redemption is best felt with the 13R as the most value-packed flagship killer in the Philippines. Inside that sleek body is a large battery, a flagship-grade processor, and a set of cameras that do not have any filler sensors.

Pros

• Telephoto camera at last
• Great battery life
• Excellent performance for its price

Cons

• Only 256GB storage
• Average ultra-wide camera

OnePlus is having a great time redeeming itself in the Philippines this year thanks to better pricing. We’re happy with the OnePlus 13, and we think that the more affordable OnePlus 13R has everything you’d ask for in a flagship killer at a price that’s more palatable to Filipinos.

 

OnePlus 13R Review Philippines: Design

Unlike the more premium OnePlus 13, the 13R has flat sides for its aluminum frame, a flat display, and a smaller camera module at the back. Our review unit is in black, and the satin finish is smudge-resistant to the joy of OC people who hate smudges on their phones. The aluminum frame has OnePlus’ iconic slider that’s handy for adjusting sound profiles.

You get the same button and port layout on the 13R just like its more expensive sibling, with its water resistance rating being IP65. It’s lower than what its more expensive sibling has to offer, but an IP65 rating is the bare minimum for good water resistance.

 

OnePlus 13R Review Philippines: Display and Speakers

The 13R uses the same 6.78-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED panel found on its predecessor, though the panel has a flatter surface with its boxier form factor. The bezels on the 13R are very slim, which is what we expect on a flagship killer, and have a high peak brightness of 4500nits to make it usable for outdoor use.

Being a flagship killer, the OnePlus 13R’s display has all the premium features: adaptive refresh rate, support for HDR10+ content and Dolby Vision, Gorilla Glass 7i protection, and punchy colors you’d expect on a top-end AMOLED panel. The stereo speakers on the 13R are decent too, with good audio fidelity even if we push the volume close to 100%.

 

OnePlus 13R Review Philippines: Cameras

While it has technically the same set of cameras as its predecessor, OnePlus made a big move with the 13R by finally ditching the filler 2-megapixel camera with a more useful 50-megapixel ISOCELL JN5 telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. That big change gives solid value to the 13R as the new benchmark for what a flagship killer should be.

So how are the cameras? We’ve used them to cover a few events like the HoK Invitational S3 Finals, and it’s safe to say that the OnePlus 13R delivers the goods.

While the telephoto shooter does not have OIS, its 50mm focal length equivalent makes it good enough for taking photos from a distance–in our case, for covering events at times where lugging around a mirrorless camera is not practical.

As for the main camera, the LYT701 sensor delivered excellent dynamic range and plenty of detail across different lighting scenarios. We’ve wished for a better ultrawide shooter (it’s still the same 8-megapixel one we’re all familiar with), but based on our time with the OnePlus 13R, the main and telephoto shooters are good enough for our needs.

When it comes to video recording, you can also shoot 4K60 footage with the telephoto camera, which is a big plus on the OnePlus 13R as a flagship killer. Check out our sample footage involving the winning moment of Malaysia’s Nova eSports at the HOK Invitational S3 Finals.

 

OnePlus 13R Review Philippines: Internals and Battery Life

The OnePlus 13R’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor powers it, along with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS 4.0 storage. OnePlus stood true to its “Never Settle” mantra by using the best RAM and storage components on the 13R–something that fans called out on the 12R for using UFS 3.1 instead of the newer and faster UFS 4.0.

While we wished for more storage (there’s no memory card slot in the 13R), 256GB should be fine for most users. As for the processor of choice, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 packs a punch even in 2025, and we think it’s the best value flagship chip you can put on a phone priced at just under Php 40k. Without any question, the OnePlus 13R performed well with intense gaming–hitting 60FPS in demanding titles like Genshin Impact is a breeze even with the highest graphics settings.

Like its more expensive sibling, you get Android 15-based OxygenOS, which is among our favorite Android overlays for having practically no bloatware. Even more impressive is that OnePlus promises four Android updates and six years of security updates on the 13R, making it great for those who don’t plan to change phones often. It is also one of the best software update commitments for Android phones, second to what Samsung and Google have to offer with their flagship devices.

Inside the 13R’s slim body is a 6000mAh battery, and OnePlus did impressive engineering with it: Aside from being 0.8mm slimmer than the 12R, OnePlus managed to put a bigger battery inside the 13R. Battery life is excellent for a flagship killer: we got 18 hours and 7 minutes in PCMark’s battery benchmark, and we were able to comfortably use it for over a day before we needed to charge it. OnePlus made a slight compromise by lowering charging speeds to 80W, which is still fast enough for the needs of most users.

 

OnePlus 13R Review Philippines: Wrap-up and Conclusions

At last, OnePlus’ R series gets the treatment it deserves with the 13R, formally cementing itself as the flagship killer to beat for 2025. Beyond the slimmer body that packs a bigger battery inside, the best part about the OnePlus 13R is that you get a decent telephoto camera and a set of internals that are flagship-caliber and can still compete with current premium flagships in the market.

OnePlus 13R Review Philippines: Price

The OnePlus 13R is priced at Php 38,990 and is available at Digital Walker branches nationwide and Digital Walker’s official online stores.