OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Here's all the upgrades you need to know

2 weeks ago 7
OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12 composite.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide / OnePlus)

Now that the OnePlus 13 is official, we have a better idea of how it stacks up to its predecessor. That’s why a OnePlus 13 vs. OnePlus 12 face-off is necessary to really understand if the upgrades to the newer model are enough to convince you to choose it.

When the OnePlus 12 launched in China last year followed by a global release in 2024, it became one of the leading contenders for best phones thanks to its epic battery life, fast charging, and excellent value. In fact, it put up a good fight in our Galaxy S24 Ultra vs OnePlus 12 face-off. However, OnePlus won’t settle for anything less than perfection — especially now that the iPhone 16 Pro Max has arrived and the Galaxy S25 Ultra will soon follow.

Even though the OnePlus 13 has launched in China, we’re still waiting for a global release, so there’s still a chance we may still see a change or two to the version of the phone that gets released here. We’ll break it all down in our OnePlus 13 vs. OnePlus 12 comparison.

200 Photos On The OnePlus 12 vs Galaxy S24 Ultra | Photo Shoot|out - YouTube 200 Photos On The OnePlus 12 vs Galaxy S24 Ultra | Photo Shoot|out - YouTube

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OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Specifications

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OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 13 SpecsOnePlus 13OnePlus 12
Display6.82-inch 2K OLED6.82-inch 2K OLED
Dimensions6.41 x 3.01 x 0.36 inches6.46 x 2.98 x 0.36 inches
Weight7.4 ounces7.76 ounces
ColorsBlack, Blue, WhiteFlowy Emerald, Silky Black
ProcessorSnapdragon 8 EliteSnapdragon 8 Gen 3
Operating System ColorOS 15 (Android 15-based)OxygenOS 14 (Android 14)
RAM12GB, 16GB, 24GB12GB, 16GB
Storage capacity256GB, 512GB, 1TB256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Cameras50MP f/1.6 main, 50MP f/2.0 ultrawide, 50MP f/2.6 telephoto w/3x optical zoom50MP f/1.6 main, 48MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 64MP f/2.6 telephoto w/3x zoom
Front Camera32MP 1/2.74" f/2.432MP 1/2.74" f/2.4
Battery6,000 mAh5,400 mAh
Charging Speed100W wired, 50W wireless80W wired, 50W wireless
Water ResistanceIP68 and IP69IP65

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Price and availability

OnePlus 13 renders.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

The OnePlus 12 launched globally on January 23, 2024 with a starting price of $799 for the base model with 256GB of RAM. The phone's available in two colors: Flowy Emerald and Silky Black. What’s interesting to note here is that OnePlus actually raised the price of its flagship phone by $100 over the OnePlus 11.

The OnePlus 13 is out, too, though, only in China at the moment. It’s confirmed to be coming to the U.S. and Canada sometime in January 2025. Even though pricing was announced for the China bound version, 4499 yuan (~$632) for the base model with 256GB of storage, it’s unknown if we’ll end up seeing that price adjusted for the U.S. market. Most observers suspect it to come in between $699 to $799. Luckily, there are a total of three color options this time: black, blue, and white.

Should the OnePlus 13 keep the $799 starting price, we believe that OnePlus will follow a similar strategy by offering a $100 trade-in discount offer. It did the same thing with both the OnePlus Open and OnePlus 12.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Design

OnePlus 13 renders.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Looking at the images shared by OnePlus of its new phone, the design language of the OnePlus 13 hasn't changed that much. Based on the specs, the OnePlus 13 is narrower and longer than the OnePlus 12, but it somehow becomes lighter at 7.4 ounces.

This certainly isn’t an overhaul to the design, which isn’t a bad thing considering the solid construction and premium feel of the OnePlus 12. The OnePlus 13 continues the tradition of having a circular protrusion on the back of the phone that houses its triple camera array, along with the familiar alert slider on the left side of the phone.

OnePlus 12 held in the hand.

(Image credit: Future)

Small changes include the flat metal trim that outlines the OnePlus 13, which is a departure from the curved edges of the OnePlus 12. Another interesting design change pertains to the blue color option of the OnePlus 13 because it features a leather texture pattern — similar to that of the OnePlus Open Apex Edition. It’s a nice change, but we’re curious about how well it holds up over time given how other vegan leather cladded phones tend to soften over time.

And finally, there’s the improved water resistance of the OnePlus 13. It’s sporting dual IP68 and IP69 ratings, which not only gives the phone superior submersion protection under water for a period of time, but it can also withstand strong, high-pressure jet streams of water. This is a huge improvement over the IP65 rating of the OnePlus 12.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Display

OnePlus 13 renders.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

The display may end up being the most controversial aspect between the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 12 because the specs appear to indicate that they’re identical — spec sheets show both phones with a 6.82-inch OLED display offering 1440p resolution and a 1-120Hz refresh rate. The company even offers the same peak brightness rating as before —4,500 nits.

The OnePus 13 will feature a new micro quad curved display, according to its listed specs. Based on the photos we've seen, it’s hard to say if that does indeed affect the way the phone looks, but it does appear to make the bezels around the display slimmer.

We’re eager to see if the OnePlus 13’s display turns out to be brighter than the OnePlus 12. That’s usually one way to measure a phone’s improvement over a prior model, but the OnePlus 13 will need to exceed the 2,469 nits we recorded from the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL for us to proclaim a new record holder.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Camera

OnePlus 12 held in the hand.

(Image credit: Future)

While we were satisfied by the camera performance of the OnePlus 12, it still doesn’t have what it takes to take the top spot in our best camera phones list. We shot over 200 photos with the OnePlus 12 and Galaxy S24 Ultra, along with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the OnePlus device ended up coming short against both flagships.

There’s undoubtedly room for improvement here with the OnePlus 13, especially when it comes to low light performance, because we’ve seen OnePlus phones lag behind the competition in this area most. The OnePlus 12 features a 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, and 64MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, while the OnePlus 13 packs a triple 50MP camera system with the same 3x optical zoom with the telephoto camera.

OnePlus 13 renders.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

In particular, the ultrawide camera on the OnePlus 13 lists a brighter f/2.0 aperture lens that we suspect will deliver sharper details and better low-light performance than what we saw from the OnePlus 12. However, we hope to see the telephoto camera improve despite being the OnePlus 13 employing a 50MP sensor instead of the 64MP one that powered the OnePlus 12 zoom lens. We’ve seen how the company leverages pixel binning tech with its phones to get more detail, so hopefully this paired with newer image processing algorithms can deliver meaningful results.

Over on the video side, we know that the OnePlus 13 will be able to capture at 4K 60 fps Dolby Vision footage. Additionally, we know that it’ll have a 4-microphone setup that could offer additional noise reduction with the help of AI.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Performance

OnePlus 12 held in the hand.

(Image credit: Future)

When the OnePlus 12 launched, it set the bar high for all other phones in 2024 thanks in part to the outstanding performance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. But given the leaked benchmarks of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the OnePlus 13 could very well push the boundaries even more.

Interestingly, there will be a version of the OnePlus 13 that will be accompanied by 24GB of RAM. That’s an absurd amount of RAM for any phone, so it’ll be intriguing to see how OnePlus takes advantage of this. At the very least, we suspect that it’ll be able to retain more apps in memory so that they don’t refresh as often. This could be helpful for productivity apps and perhaps any other new AI features the company ends up introducing with the OnePlus 13.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Battery life and charging

OnePlus 13 renders.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Another benefit of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the OnePlus 12 involved power efficiency improvements, allowing the phone to generate more performance while consuming less power. In fact, we were floored by the OnePlus 12’s battery life, as the phone reached an admirable mark of 17 hours and 5 minutes in our testing. That places it in the top 5 of our best phone battery life list.

The OnePlus 12 achieved all that with a 5,400 mAh battery. But the OnePlus 13 has an even bigger 6,000 mAh power pack. Paired with the newer power optimizations of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the OnePlus 13 could very well outlast its predecessor.

But it doesn’t end there because the OnePlus 13 is accompanied by 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. The former could change when the U.S. version is officially announced since that was exactly what ended up happening with last year's phone. Instead of getting 100W wired charging, the U.S. version ended up with 80W charging.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Software

OxygenOS 15

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Currently, the China-released OnePlus 13 is running ColorOS 15 on top of Android 15 — but this will most likely change with the U.S. release. Most likely we’ll end up seeing it with Oxygen OS 15, which will be based around Android 15.

Very little is known about any new changes in store with OxygenOS 15 for the OnePlus 13, but it’s hard to overlook how our OxygenOS 15 hands-on focuses a lot on new AI features with the software. It’s not all that surprising that there’s a huge focus on AI here, but based on the stuff we’ve seen, it doesn’t really bring much new. Yes, OxygenOS 15 comes with its own version of Google’s Magic Eraser to remove unwanted subjects in photos, as well as AI-assisted summary and writing tools, but we’ve seen variants of these in other phones.

More importantly, we’re curious to know if OnePlus intends to keep these features in OxygenOS 15 consistent across all devices that support the software — or perhaps save a few exclusive ones for the OnePlus 13. Furthermore, it remains unseen if OnePlus will follow the strategy of its rivals by offering seven years of major software and security updates. Currently, the OnePlus 12 only gets four years of major Android updates and five years of security updates.

OnePlus 13 vs OnePlus 12: Outlook

OnePlus 13 renders.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Despite having a pretty clear look at what the OnePlus 13 currently offers, we still might be in store for a few surprises come January when we get a load of the global version of the phone. We’re confident that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will boost the OnePlus 13 in the areas of performance and battery life, but in order for it to be worthy of an upgrade over the OnePlus 12, the camera output and AI features need to be compelling. And of course, there’s a matter of pricing. While we don’t expect any increase, anything could happen when the phone finally makes its debut outisde of China.

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John’s a senior editor covering phones for Tom’s Guide. He’s no stranger in this area having covered mobile phones and gadgets since 2008 when he started his career. On top of his editor duties, he’s a seasoned videographer being in front and behind the camera producing YouTube videos. Previously, he held editor roles with PhoneArena, Android Authority, Digital Trends, and SPY. Outside of tech, he enjoys producing mini documentaries and fun social clips for small businesses, enjoying the beach life at the Jersey Shore, and recently becoming a first time homeowner.

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