OnePlus 13R performance review: outperforms the competition under Rs 50,000

Published On: January 10, 2025

Much like its predecessor, the OnePlus 12R, the OnePlus 13R is a performance powerhouse. But the great thing about OnePlus’ R-series is that you get this flagship-grade performance at an affordable price. Like the OnePlus 12R, the OnePlus 13R is also affordably priced, at starting Rs 42,999. Against rivals like the Realme GT 6 and Xiaomi 14 Civi, the OnePlus 13R does exceptionally well thanks to the powerful and optimised Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 under the hood, which incidentally was among the most powerful chipsets on the market, powering several flagships, including the OnePlus 12 (review).

Verdict:

The OnePlus 13R edges out the competition under Rs 50,000. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset powering the device scored well in synthetic benchmarks, which also translated to fast and smooth performance in real-world usage. If performance is what you’re after, the OnePlus 13R will not disappoint in the slightest.

Pros:

Excellent scores in synthetic benchmark tests
Delivers fast and smooth performance in day-to-day usage
Consistent fps while gaming

Cons:

Heats up more than competitors while gaming

OnePlus 13R performance review at a glance:

Test	Result
AnTuTu	Rank 1 – OnePlus 13R Rank 2 – Vivo V40 Pro Rank 3 – Realme GT 6 Rank 4 – Xiaomi 14 Civi
Geekbench	Rank 1 – OnePlus 13R Rank 2 – Xiaomi 14 Civi/Vivo V40 Pro Rank 3 – Realme GT 6
Burnout	Rank 1 – OnePlus 13R Rank 2 – Vivo V40 Pro Rank 3 – Xiaomi 14 Civi Rank 4 – Realme GT 6
Gaming (FPS)	Rank 1 – OnePlus 13R/Realme GT 6 Rank 2 – Vivo V40 Pro Rank 3 – Xiaomi 14 Civi
Gaming (Temperature)	Rank 1 – Vivo V40 Pro Rank 2 – Realme GT 6 Rank 3 – Xiaomi 14 Civi Rank 4 – OnePlus 13R

We conducted a range of tests, from popular benchmarking apps to intense gaming sessions, to assess each device’s CPU, GPU, thermal management, and throttling performance. Our evaluations included synthetic benchmarks such as AnTuTu, Geekbench, and Burnout, alongside real-world gaming to analyse thermal efficiency and FPS consistency. Keep reading to discover how the OnePlus 13R stacks up against its competitors.

Table of Contents

AnTuTu

(Higher the better)

Winner: OnePlus 13R

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered OnePlus 13R understandably scores better than the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3-powered Xiaomi 14 Civi and Realme GT 6 in the AnTuTu benchmark test. It is, after all, a more powerful chipset. The OnePlus 13R also edges out the Vivo V40 Pro, which is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ SoC.

Real-world context: The AnTuTu test shows the OnePlus 13R is among the more powerful phones in the sub-Rs 50,000 segment. In real-world usage, the OnePlus 13R will deliver a fast and smooth performance, breezing through daily apps with ease and won’t show any noticeable slowdown.

Geekbench

(Higher the better)

Geekbench measures how fast a processor does certain tasks. Faster the processor, higher the score.

Winner: OnePlus 13R

OnePlus 13R once again outperforms the competition in the Geekbench test. Being one of the few Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered phones in the sub-Rs 50,000 segment is definitely a plus point for OnePlus. Despite being a performance-centric phone, the Realme GT 6 performed poorer than the rest in the multi-core test.

Real-world context: The Geekbench score tells us that the OnePlus 13R will not only be able to handle basic tasks with ease but also complex tasks, including video editing, better than its rivals in this segment. You can expect flagship-grade performance without having to spend a premium.

CPU Throttle

(Higher the better)

Winner: OnePlus 13R

The CPU throttle test simulates intense and sustained workloads to evaluate how a device manages heat and maintains performance over time. The OnePlus 13R seems to be well-optimised to handle sustained strenuous tasks compared to its competitors. The OnePlus device throttled down to 67.8 percent of its peak performance in our CPU Throttle test, which was much better than the other three devices as they all throttled to under 50 percent.

Real-world context: This means that while all devices lost performance under heavy strain, the OnePlus 13R maintained a more consistent and usable level of performance, making it better suited for handling prolonged workloads without significant slowdowns. I noticed this in my daily-usage as well, as the OnePlus 13R handled multitasking without stutters.

Gaming

High-end games are particularly demanding on a device’s CPU and GPU, pushing them to their limits. To evaluate performance, we tested popular titles such as BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3, playing each for 30 minutes on all four devices. This allowed us to assess thermal management and average frames per second (FPS). Effective thermal management is essential for sustaining peak performance while minimizing power consumption and avoiding significant frame drops, which can lead to stuttering and disrupt the gaming experience.

Average frames per second (FPS) during 30 minutes of gaming (higher is better)

Smartphones	Average FPS
Realme GT 6	50.7
OnePlus 13R	50.6
Vivo V40 Pro	46.3
Xiaomi 14 Civi	46.2

The Realme GT 6 and OnePlus 13R delivered near-identical average frames per second across three games, suggesting both are evenly matched when it comes to delivering a smooth gameplay experience. The Vivo V40 Pro and Xiaomi 14 Civi, on the other hand, delivered lower average FPS, which makes sense considering both devices aren’t particularly tuned towards gaming.

Temperature increase after 90 minutes of gameplay (lower is better)

Smartphones	Total (in degrees Celsius)
OnePlus 13R	27.5 degree Celsius
Xiaomi 14 Civi	23.4 degree Celsius
Realme GT 6	19.3 degree Celsius
Vivo V40 Pro	16.3 degree Celsius

While the OnePlus 13R delivers a consistent FPS during gaming, it unfortunately heats up quite a lot as well. In fact, the device got over 10 degrees warmer than the Vivo V40 Pro after playing three games for 30 minutes each. A warmer device would affect gaming performance at some stage as well as cause higher battery drain.

Winner: Realme GT 6/OnePlus 13R in FPS, Vivo V40 Pro in thermal

Final verdict

When it comes to raw performance, the OnePlus 13R is easily among the best in the segment. It clears its closest rivals under Rs 50,000 by a significant margin in synthetic benchmarks, thanks to the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. In addition to delivering a fast and smooth day-to-day experience, the OnePlus 13R is also a good gaming phone, delivering consistent frames during gameplay. However, the OnePlus 13R does get warm while gaming which could affect battery life among other things.

As for the rivals, the Realme GT 6 is the next best option if you’re looking for a gaming-centric smartphone as it offers similar FPS during gaming as the OnePlus 13R.
The Vivo V40 Pro is the best at thermal management as its temperature rose the least among all the phones during our gaming test.
The Xiaomi 14 Civi is not a performance-heavy phone, but it is one of the best camera phones in the segment, while also offering an attractive design.