The upcoming launch of the OnePlus 13R should be good news for those of us who like full-featured phones, but would rather not pay flagship prices when capable handsets can be had for less. Unfortunately, leaked specs for the OnePlus 13R suggest that OnePlus might be dropping one of the things that made the OnePlus 12R so appealing.
Just as a reminder, the OnePlus 12R debuted earlier this year alongside the flagship OnePlus 12. OnePlus had release R series devices before — mainly in China and India — but the 12R marked the first time this particular type of midrange phone made it to the wider world. It was a welcome arrival — the OnePlus 12R may not have had the premium specs that the OnePlus 12 offered, but in areas like performance, display and most certainly battery life, it certainly delivered a high-end experience.
In the U.S. in particular, the OnePlus 12R really brought a lot of value for money, as OnePlus offered a "lesser" version of the phone with just 128GB of storage. Otherwise, the 256GB version cost $599/£649. As a powerful, long-lasting phone that cost less than $500, the 128GB model of the OnePlus 12R challenged Google's Pixel 8a for the title of best cheap phone; it not for Google's superior cameras, the OnePlus 12R might have taken the crown.
It looks like a new version, the OnePlus 13R, is going to debut alongside the new OnePlus 13, when that flagship gets its global launch at some point in January. That should be a reason for excitement, but some leaked OnePlus 13R specs that emerged last week have me a little bit concerned about the direction OnePlus is taking its updated R phone.
OnePlus 13R specs: What we've heard
Screen size: 6.78-inch AMOLED (2780 x 1264, 120Hz)
Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 256GB
Rear cameras: 50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 50MP sensor
Front camera: 16MP
Battery size: 6,000 mAh
Certainly, there's a lot to like about the alleged OnePlus 13R specs provided by well-regarded leaker OnLeaks and posted at 91Mobiles. The highlight is the chipset that will supposedly power the phone — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. That's the same silicon you'll find in the top Android phones released this year, meaning that a midrange device will be able to keep up with the likes of the Galaxy S24 while costing a whole lot less.
Camera performance was one area where the OnePlus 12R came up short in my testing last year — photos looked all right, but nothing like what you can get from Google's Pixel A series phones. OnePlus has apparently decided to respond with a camera upgrade, as a second 50MP sensor will join the 50MP main camera and 8MP ultrawide lens. It's unclear what purpose that 50MP sensor will serve — dedicated portrait camera? high-resolution macro lens — though a telephoto lens seems unlikely.
The rest of the leaked OnePlus 13R specs look equally encouraging. The battery's set to get bigger, giving the OnePlus 13R a chance to improve on the 12R's already stunning battery life. OnePlus will supposedly make the new model thinner, too. So far, so good.
It's when I get to the seemingly innocuous storage listing that I begin to worry that something's up. The leaked specs from OnLeaks include just one configuration — 256GB.
No 128GB OnePlus 13R? Why that's a problem
At first glance, that would seem to suggest that OnePlus has done away with the 128GB model that made the OnePlus 12R such a bargain. And with some of the other specs reportedly slated for the new phone, the prospect for a sub-$500 version of the OnePlus 13R seem increasingly dim.
If that's true, it would be a great disappointment. One of the better trends in the smartphone market in recent years has been how much better midrange phones have gotten, even as they retain their sub-$500 prices. It's put greater capabilities in the hands of more people while removing the pay-up-or-miss-out dilemma that used to face smartphone shoppers.
A OnePlus 13R with a more expensive starting price wouldn't be a disaster. But it would make the phone less compelling than its predecessor, which would be a shame for everyone.
Before we go and write off the OnePlus 13R, though, let's take some solace in one of the caveats included in the 91mobiles article. The 256GB configuration of the phone may be the only one listed, but it's not necessarily the only OnePlus 13R model planned. "There could be more variants at launch or later," 91Mobiles cautions, which suggests a 128GB version with a lower starting price may be available after all, at least in some markets.
I certainly hope that's the case. I've been a big fan of the OnePlus 12R. If it's not my favorite phone to come out in 2024, it's certainly near the top of a very short list. And I'd hate to see one of the things that made the phone so appealing vanish with the OnePlus 13R's release.
