The OnePlus 13 will beat most other smartphones in one surprising way

3 weeks ago 3

With the Chinese launch of the OnePlus 13 just days away, more and more details keep making their way to our feeds. This morning, three key specs on the OnePlus 13 appeared on Weibo (the Chinese social media outlet) and were posted by OnePlus itself. Two of them are exciting, while the other is downright surprising.

The first detail is that it will use an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor with a “super intuitive” position. In practice, this means the fingerprint sensor will be able to pick up details more accurately and will work even if your finger is wet. It also works in low light and should be significantly faster than an optical sensor.

The OnePlus 13 also features a much-improved vibration motor. According to the company, it will be able to achieve “gaming controller levels” of vibration for better feedback. The haptic feedback motor is the largest ever used on an Android device and will produce up to 72 different types of haptic feedback.

However, the most surprising spec update is the IP rating. Most modern phones are IP68; they’re rated to withstand submersion for a certain amount of time, but the OnePlus 13 is IP69 for dust and water. This means it’s basically dust-proof and can withstand high amounts of water pressure. Not that you would want to, but you can theoretically hold this phone in front of a fire hose, and it will survive.

An IP69 rating is big news for any phone, but it’s especially shocking to hear that it’s coming to the OnePlus 13. For context, last year’s OnePlus 12 had a measly IP65 rating, while the OnePlus 11 had an even weaker IP64 one. For OnePlus to skip IP68 and jump all the way to IP69 is unexpected, to say the least.

The news caused a bit of discussion among our team. After all, why is such a ridiculous degree of water resistance necessary? We aren’t sure, but it could post potential difficulties in terms of repairability. The manufacturing standards required to achieve an IP69 rating mean there are extremely tight tolerances in the fit of all the parts.

We know the OnePlus 13 is scheduled to release on October 31, but it isn’t clear when it will become available for global customers. The phone has already received an FCC listing, however, so there’s a good chance it might come quicker than expected.

Patrick Hearn

Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…

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