What has OnePlus been up to lately? The little-known Android brand has released some impressive hits over the past few years, from flagships to foldable devices and even an update to its gorgeous tablet. The company’s next big thing will be the OnePlus 13, which will hit the US and Canadian markets in January 2025.
The 13th-generation flagship, which will enter the market in the 11th year of OnePlus’ existence, will be available in three colors: Midnight Ocean (blue), Black Eclipse (black), and Arctic Dawn (white). The blue variant of the OnePlus 13 will be the brand’s first step into vegan microfiber leather design. Android brands such as Motorola have already tried this. (At least LG chose genuine leather for the G4, RIP🪦).
More importantly, unlike its predecessors, the OnePlus 13 will be truly waterproof. It’s the first OnePlus device to receive an IP68+IP69 rating, which means it’s jacuzzi resistant and can withstand high water temperatures and pressurized water. OnePlus 12, released in early 2024, had an IP65 rating. An examination showed that it can withstand more than the initial rating, which gave nerds reason to be scrupulous about the water resistance of the OnePlus 12. But this time it’s the real deal.
The OnePlus 13 is already available in China, but whether its specifications will match those of the phones sold in the US and Canada remains to be seen. OnePlus launched its flagship in China in October. It is one of the world’s first Android-based laptops with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. It has 1 TB of storage and runs OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15. The maximum amount of RAM has also been increased from 16 GB to 24 GB, which is something that foreign OEMs have been playing with to increase the usefulness of artificial intelligence in the phone.
OnePlus did not specify the day when it plans to launch the OnePlus 13. It only hinted that it will be available worldwide next month. There is also the question of whether the OnePlus 13R will appear in other markets, as happened with the OnePlus 12R that launched this year. The “R” variant is a stripped-down version of the marquee flagship at a more attractive price.
If the OnePlus 13 is indeed going to come to market with an absurd amount of memory – presumably to help realize Qualcomm’s promises of artificial intelligence – then I hope there will be an offering for users who don’t want to shell out that much cash. Also, the increase in RAM hasn’t gone down well with OnePlus’ North American audience, at least judging by its market share, even if it’s one of the things that enthusiasts have appreciated about the brand all along.
