2025 is rapidly approaching , and that can only mean one thing for a technical school swot like me : It ’s prison term to start looking onwards to another year of smartphones . All signs are manoeuver to an interesting year for Apple with theiPhone 17 , and I ’m eager to see what comes of it .
But what about what ’s happening in the Android smartphone outer space ? TheSamsung Galaxy S25series is just on the visible horizon , but I ’ve yet to see anything that ’s made mereallyecstatic about it . The Google Pixel 10 series should be a good one , but we ’ve not listen enough about it yet .
As we head into 2025 , the Android phone I ’m most seem frontwards to is from OnePlus — and not the flagshipOnePlus 13 , but the more affordable OnePlus 13R. Have I lost my marble ? No , and I ’ll tell you why .
The OnePlus 12R was a standout phone this year
2024 come across the release ofmanyexcellent smartphones . With theOnePlus 12Rbeing one of the first to launch in February and innumerable other telephone set having launch since then , it can be well-fixed to bury just how particular it is .
The OnePlus 12R was one of the first speech sound I reviewed this year , and all these months later , it still put up out as one of my favorite . It could have very easily been afine$500 phone , but OnePlus made the 12R the best $ 500 telephone set I ’ve ever used .
For me , it all starts with the design . Even today , the OnePlus 12R does not look like a $ 500 smartphone . It look and feelsmuchmore bounty , thanks to the rounded atomic number 13 frame , fluent glass back , and the intricate notches around the camera bump . It ’s not the most visually striking sound released in 2024 , but it ’s a damn well - built one , and that intend a mountain .
Other key aspects of a smartphone — such as the display , performance , and battery life — are all surpassing on the OnePlus 12R. The AMOLED board is discriminating and vivacious , the 120Hz refresh charge per unit is smooth , and the maximum smartness of 4,500 nits remains a ridiculously overkill spec .
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip inside the OnePlus 12R was already a class sometime at the phone ’s release , but that never mattered . match with 8 G or 16 GB of RAM , the OnePlus 12R prove an exceptionally fast smartphone , and even with fairly arduous use , the 5,500mAh battery was enough for two ( if not two and a one-half ) Clarence Day of use on a single bearing . The 80W wired charge speeds are a material treat , too , get the speech sound from a nearly dead battery to 100 % in just 30 minute of arc .
Is there anything the OnePlus 12R does n’t do well ? Its 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro instruction photographic camera are pretty forgettable , and there ’s no wireless charging . But that ’s where the complaint begin and terminate . Using the OnePlus 12R in the first place this year , I frequently think I was using a flagship and had to remind myself thatit only cost $ 500 . It was an unlikely time value at the beginning of the twelvemonth , and nearly a yr since its button , it remains every flake as impressive .
What we know about the OnePlus 13R
OnePlusconfirmed the OnePlus 13R ’s existencelast week and , in doing so , also shared a first look at the phone ’s blueprint and a key specification . liken to the rounded frame of the 12R , the 13R is shifting to flat side , which I do n’t heed one bit . The white / silver color in the render also has a subtle waving convention throughout , which looksreallygood . It bet like the 13R will go on the 12R ’s paper of well - executed computer hardware with pleasing but not over - the - top aesthetics , and that ’s hunky-dory by me .
It ’s also confirmed that the OnePlus 13R will have a 6,000mAh battery — a not insignificant addition from the 5,500mmAh battery in the OnePlus 12R. If the 12R is already adequate to of two - mean solar day battery life sentence , that ’s bound to keep on with the OnePlus 13R , if not get even better .
While OnePlus has n’t say much else about the OnePlus 13R , escape and rumors paint a more complete characterisation of the earphone . According to a particularly meaty leakat the beginning of the month , the 13R will have all of the pursuit :
That ’s a wildly impressive specification sheet , and assume OnePlus retain affordable pricing for another year , it should make the OnePlus 13R another unvanquishable value — even if the MSRP increases to $ 550 or $ 600 .
Keep your eye on this one
All polarity are pointing to 2025 being another busy year for smartphones . Between Google , Samsung , Apple , Motorola , Xiaomi , Honor , and OnePlus , there ’s an incredible amount of new phones to look forwards to in the upcoming year .
Even if some of those other phones are flashier or more technically capable than what we expect from the OnePlus 13R , do n’t let this one slide by on your radar . I ca n’t remember the last time I used an low-cost phone anywhere near as telling as the OnePlus 12R , and with the OnePlus 13R taking shape to be just as good — and better — you well conceive this is a 2025 phone I ’m keeping a close eye on .
