The OnePlus 13T went on sale in China this week and will be launching in India soon as the OnePlus 13s. This brings us back to the eternal question – do people actually want small phones?
The answer, if you ask OnePlus, appears to be “no”. Company representatives have stated that the 13T/13s will not be sold in Europe, the US and Canada.
That’s disappointing as the 13T is the company’s first small phone – since the OnePlus X, anyway. That one got buried and forgotten pretty quickly, though. Will the 13T follow the same fate? The company doesn’t seem to have much confidence in it, given the recent news that there won’t be a global release.
We’re not going to debate why OnePlus has decided to limit the 13T to only a couple of markets. But let’s have a look at how it compares to other 6.3” (or so) smartphones and then we’ll get to the poll. Note that since we don’t have the pricing for India yet, we’ll use Chinese prices.
The OnePlus 13T sells for CNY 3,400 if you get the base 12/256GB model. The Samsung Galaxy S25 is CNY 5,500 for that same memory configuration. It is powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Elite and it is a bit smaller (1.2mm narrower, 1mm thinner and 23g lighter) – but the battery is a lot smaller at 4,000mAh vs. 6,260mAh.
The OnePlus has fast wired charging (80W vs. 25W) but lacks wireless. Also, while the 50MP 1/1.56” main camera is a match, the telephoto has a higher resolution sensor but a shorter lens – 50MP 2x vs. 10MP 3x. There is no ultra-wide camera on the 13T.
Samsung Galaxy S25 • Apple iPhone 16 Pro • Google Pixel 9 Pro
The Apple iPhone 16 Pro is CNY 9,000 for a 256GB phone. This one is roughly the same size but heavier (199g vs. 185g) and has a 48MP main (larger 1/1.28” sensor), 12MP 5x periscope and a 48MP ultra-wide. The battery is small but iPhones are efficient, so it lasts a good while. Wired charging is slow, but there is also 25W wireless with MagSafe.
Even if you pick the iPhone 16 (also with two cameras but with ultra-wide instead of telephoto), you’re still looking at a higher bill – CNY 7,000 for a 256GB model.
The Pixel 9 Pro is not available in China, but it is in India. It’s heavier than the OnePlus (199g vs. 185g) and has better camera hardware – 50MP main (1/1.31”), 48MP 5x periscope and 48MP ultra-wide, plus a 42MP ultra-wide selfie camera. The Tensor G4 is no match for the Snapdragon 8 Elite in terms of performance, however. Also, the 4,700mAh battery may be bigger than the Galaxy and iPhone, but it’s still noticeably smaller than the OnePlus. Charging is slower at 27W wired, but it does have wireless too at 21W.
What do you think? Is the OnePlus 13T the perfect phone for you – a small flagship on a budget – or did OnePlus cut too many features?