I’ve used some brilliant camera phones this year, and now it’s the OnePlus 13’s turn to come across my desk. I’ll let you in on a secret; I’ve been using the OPPO Find X8 Pro as my daily driver for some time now — largely because of its brilliant quad-camera array. But what excites me about the OnePlus 13 is that it shares virtually the same setup, minus the 6x optical zoom camera. It still retains the 3x lens for longer range shots and the camera software tools that I’ve quickly fallen in love with, plus there’s a nippy Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, and it costs a lot less than the OPPO.
Given that the OnePlus 13 is significantly cheaper than other flagship rivals like the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, I’m cautiously optimistic it might still be the best camera pick for US customers. But let’s not let hunches do the talking — I took the three phones out for a quick spin, shooting off the cuff with no real plan other than trying to pick scenes that would show any variations — to see which would impress me the most.