OnePlus 13 performance review: smooth and snapppy

Published On: 7 Jan, 2025

The OnePlus 13 is the latest smartphone to feature Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. This new processor is already making waves for delivering more power than the A18 Pro SoC, powering the iPhone 16 Pro series. Naturally, the OnePlus 13 is expected to harness this power and provide a significant performance boost over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered OnePlus 12 (review). But can the new OnePlus flagship perform better than its rivals, like iQOO 13 (review), which utilises the same chipset and Vivo X200 (review), which leverages MediaTek’s most premium Dimensity 9400 SoC? Let’s find out.

Verdict

The OnePlus 13 delivers a smooth and reliable performance, thanks to Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite onboard. The phone achieves modest scores in popular benchmark apps, but the iQOO 13 remains the top performer. That’s also because OnePlus is known to underclock the chipset’s peak performance to provide a more stable performance over a long period. The OnePlus 13 performs exceptionally well in managing thermals in our gaming test.

Pros

Superior thermal management in gaming
Clean and smooth UI
Fast performance in real-world usage

Cons

Modest benchmark scores

OnePlus 13 performance review at a glance

Test	Result
AnTuTu	Rank 1– iQOO 13 Rank 2– OnePlus 13 Rank 3– Vivo X200
Geekbench	Rank 1– iQOO 13 Rank 2– OnePlus 13 Rank 3– Vivo X200
Burnout (CPU Throttle)	Rank 1– Vivo X200 Rank 2– iQOO 13 Rank 3– OnePlus 13
Gaming	Rank 1– iQOO 13 / OnePlus 13 Rank 2 – Vivo X200

Our OnePlus 13 performance review offers a detailed analysis of the smartphone’s capabilities based on several benchmarks and a thorough gaming test. Our tests analyse the phone’s CPU and GPU performance, thermal efficiency, and frame rates while gaming.

Table of Contents

AnTuTu

(higher is better)

Winner: iQOO 13

With the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, the OnePlus 13 achieved a 49.61 percent jump in performance in our AnTuTu benchmark compared to last year’s OnePlus 12. The new chipset brings significant changes in CPU and GPU performance. Despite using the same memory configurations and standards as last year, there’s a stark difference in the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 12’s memory scores in the AnTuTu benchmark.

While the OnePlus 13 delivers respectable scores, it falls short of the 3 million mark reportedly achieved by an early Realme GT 7 Pro (review) prototype. On the other hand, the iQOO 13 comes closer to that claim, reaching nearly 2.8 million on the AnTuTu benchmark. The Dimensity 9400 SoC-powered Vivo X200’s score is more comparable to that of the OnePlus 13.

Real-world context: The new OnePlus 13 feels a lot snappier and faster compared to the last-gen model. It might be slightly difficult to distinguish the difference, but in my brief usage, its UI seems more fluid, and the graphics in some games (like Real Racing 3) appear sharper and more intuitive. Readers must note that OnePlus is known to cap the peak performance of the chipset to reduce throttling, in other words, to offer a more stable performance over prolonged usage. That could also be a reason why the smartphone achieved 2.6 million in the AnTuTu benchmark.

Geekbench

(higher is better)

Winner: iQOO 13

The OnePlus 13 continues to surpass its predecessor by a decent margin in the Geekbench single and multi-core tests, but it also stands neck-and-neck against the iQOO 13. The Vivo X200 took the third position in the same test.

Unlike the AnTuTu results, the Geekbench scores suggest that the OnePlus 13 and iQOO 13 will perform similarly when handling both simple tasks (such as app loading and browsing) and more demanding tasks (like gaming and editing).

Real-world context: As mentioned, it can be difficult to distinguish performance in real life, especially when smartphones are using the same chipset. Interestingly, the OnePlus 13 and iQOO 13 took the same time to boot (17 seconds) in our test, although this is quite dynamic, meaning results will occasionally vary. In my test, I also noticed the OnePlus 13 offered the fastest snapper camera shutter to allow continuous shots in rapid succession. Since OnePlus generally provides a much cleaner UI, its smartphones also feel lighter and snappier based on UI (user interface).

CPU Throttle

(higher is better)

oneplus-13-performance-review-burnout — CPU Throttle checks if a smartphone’s CPU slows down under heavy use. Higher the score, better the efficiency

Winner: Vivo X200

All three smartphones exhibited more or less the same performance in the CPU throttle test via the Burnout app. The test assesses a chipset’s capability under intense load and suggests the OnePlus 13 offers the least stable performance under heavy workloads.

Real-world context: Contrary to the Burnout result, the OnePlus 13 didn’t show signs of throttling during my review, even during intense gaming sessions. In fact, it managed thermals quite efficiently in our lengthy gaming tests. More on that in the next section.

Gaming

Our gaming test involves three demanding titles: Battlegrounds Mobile India, Call of Duty Mobile, and Real Racing 3. Each game will be played for 30 minutes, ensuring that graphics settings, brightness, and audio levels are kept consistent for a fair comparison. We will evaluate the average frames per second (FPS) and thermal management during this test.

Since all three smartphones feature flagships and top-notch display specifications, you can play several games with the highest graphics. However, the OnePlus 13 is the only smartphone out of the three that supports Ultra Extreme frame rate in BGMI.

At the end of the round, the OnePlus 13 offered respectable FPS in all three games, though the iQOO 13 emerged superior, likely because of the dedicated Q2 chip to improve performance. Sadly, the Vivo X200 failed to run the TakoStats app, which we use to track frame rates.

Smartphones	Average FPS
OnePlus 13	49.5
iQOO 13	61
Vivo X200	NA

On the other hand, the OnePlus 13 demonstrated significantly better thermal management, likely due to its new “Dual Cryo-Velocity Vapour Cooling” system, which covers a larger area than the previous generation. Additionally, the vegan leather back panel enhances heat dissipation and masking effectiveness.

Smartphones	Total Temp gain (degrees celcius)
OnePlus 13	9.7
iQOO 13	15.3
Vivo X200	21.8

Winner: iQOO 13 (FPS) and OnePlus 13 (temperature)

Another thing to note is that OnePlus has also improved the display experience by offering a quad-curve panel, which offers a highly responsive touch. I like the phone’s leather finish and sleek design (blue variant), ensuring a comfortable in-hand feel during long gaming sessions. Based on our lab test, the OnePlus 13 offers the brightest display output against the iQOO 13 and Vivo X200.

Final verdict

While the OnePlus 13 is slightly behind the iQOO 13 in popular benchmark apps, the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC ensures a smooth performance nonetheless. It also performed exceptionally well in managing thermals during prolonged gaming sessions. Additionally, Android fans will also appreciate the phone’s clean and smooth UI, even though its Gen AI feature remains limited compared to rivals, like Pixel 9 and OPPO Find X8.

Here’s a quick look at how each of the other phones fare as far as performance goes.

The iQOO 13 remains the top performer in our benchmarks, and I prefer it over the others for gaming due to its superior haptics and consistently smooth frame rates.
The OnePlus 13 also demonstrates a big performance leap over its predecessor, though it’s slightly behind the iQOO 13 in numbers despite utilizing the same Qualcomm chipset.
The Vivo X200 delivered the most modest performance in both benchmarks and gaming. However, it can still be considered by productivity-focused users. Otherwise, it’s a solid option for photography enthusiasts, with more details available in our dedicated camera review.