The OnePlus 13R is a particular kind of midrange phone for a particular kind of person.

The OnePlus 13R is essentially a stripped-down version of the OnePlus 13 flagship, maintaining many of its premium features. However, compared to Google Pixel 9A, it falls short in terms of certain conveniences like comprehensive water resistance and the promise of seven years of new OS updates. Priced at an MSRP of $599, it isn’t the most affordable option either. Yet, it compensates for decreased mass appeal in two crucial areas: battery longevity and display. Is it worth considering instead of the $499 Pixel 9A? That greatly depends on your specific preferences and needs.

This model boasts a substantial 6.78-inch OLED screen featuring a variable refresh rate reaching up to 120Hz, and with a resolution of 1264 x 2780, it ensures sharp visuals. Finding such an impressive display on a mid-tier phone, especially in the US market, is quite rare. The screen offers ample brightness even under direct sunlight, maintaining its top brightness level. Although the always-on display can be a bit challenging to see in sunny conditions without activating the screen, this is a minor issue.

While the 13R has an IP65 rating, making it entirely dust-proof and splash-resistant, it isn’t certified for full water immersion. In contrast, many modern phones within this price range do offer such protection. Models like the iPhone 16E, Pixel 9A, and the more expensive OnePlus 13 all come with IP68 water resistance. Even if most 13R users aren’t bothered by this, it’s slightly disheartening that its main competitors provide better water resistance at comparable prices.

OnePlus made compromises to keep the 13R’s price down, but performance isn’t one of them. It comes with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, last year’s top-tier chipset, which is still a banger in 2025. There’s also 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in the base model. That’s plenty of power to keep it running smoothly, and nothing I could throw at it in my day-to-day gave it trouble. It never so much as flinched doing my little daily chores and scrolling, and it barely warmed up during an extended free roam session in Pocket City 2.

I used the phone with the always-on display and high-performance mode enabled, plus a generous screen time-out setting because sometimes I need to look at a recipe 20 times before I remember how many teaspoons of sesame oil it calls for. All those things drain the battery faster, but I never got lower than 50 percent by the end of the day, even on days with long bike rides tracked on Strava and extended TikTok scrolling sessions. This is a two-day battery for most people, and that’s probably something that people want right now more than gimmicky AI features, which are blissfully minimal on the 13R.

OnePlus has promised four major OS upgrades and six years of security updates for the 13R, which is better than the company has done in the past and will probably be enough for most people who buy this phone. But Google offers seven years of OS upgrades on the 9A on top of frequent security updates. If you’re looking to squeeze as many years out of your device as possible, the 9A would be a better choice, even at its $100 lower MSRP.

Something else the 9A offers that the 13R doesn’t? Wireless charging. The OnePlus 13R offers speedy wired charging — up to 55W with the included charger. That’s handy if you need a quick top off during the day or want to charge your phone while you handle your morning routine. But you’ll get 0 if you drop it on a wireless charger stationed on your nightstand, which I did, and couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t charging until I remembered. Not everyone cares about wireless charging, and fast charging can come in handy, but for $599 you should at least have the option to charge wirelessly.

The 13R includes three rear cameras: a 50-megapixel f/1.8 stabilized main, 50-megapixel f/2.0 2x telephoto, and an 8-megapixel ultrawide. Photo quality is good overall, and the 2x telephoto camera is an improvement over the low-res macro camera on last year’s model. Images tend toward a bright aesthetic that I find a little much at times, and fine detail is pretty crunchy if you look close. But if you give it good lighting and a photogenic subject, it will do them justice.

“How much does this phone cost?” is a question I am constantly trying to answer. In this case, the answer is just as complicated as always. The 13R’s MSRP is $599, but right now it’s marked down to $499 from OnePlus and Best Buy — no limited-time deal or anything, just a straight up hundred dollar discount. Is that a forever price? What happens if tariffs actually hit? Unclear!

Honestly, $499 feels like the right price for this phone and $599 feels like just a bit too much for a phone lacking wireless charging and an IP68 rating. The 13R offers strong battery life and a very good screen for its class, and if those are your top priorities, then this is a solid pick. But for everyone else, I think there’s a better option in the Pixel 9A.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge