The OnePlus 13 could have had better cameras, but could leave out the cool design of the 12
It’s still too early for OnePlus 13 leaks, as the OnePlus 12 only landed in December (and won’t launch globally until January), but we’re already hearing the first rumors about the phone and they suggest big changes are coming to the camera.
This is according to the leaker Digital chat stationwho – post on Weibo (via NotebookCheck) – claims that both the design and quality of the cameras will change.
They don’t get very specific about the changes, and we’re also dealing with translated Chinese text, so some things may get lost in translation, but it sounds like the rather distinctive camera housing used by the OnePlus 12 will be changed.
As for the cameras themselves, Digital Chat Station emphasizes that the 50 MP main camera and the periscope camera (which in the case of the OnePlus 12 is a 64 MP with 3x optical zoom) are being worked on.
However, there are some obvious changes that could be made as OnePlus is a subsidiary of Oppo, which has arguably superior cameras on its flagship Oppo Find X7 Ultra. These include another 50MP main sensor and a pair of 50MP periscope cameras, one of which offers 6x optical zoom. So it’s entirely possible that the OnePlus 13 will inherit some of these cameras.
More power and safety
In any case, that is not all that Digital Chat Station says. They also mention that – unsurprisingly – the OnePlus 13 will apparently use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset. The current model uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so this was always expected, but if it lands again in December it could be one of the first phones to feature this premium silicon.
They also say that the OnePlus 13 will have a 2K display (just like the current model), and in another Weibo post another leaker (Smart Pikachuthrough GSMArena) claims it will have an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Ultrasonic sensors are already used by some phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24, and they tend to be both safer and more reliable than optical sensors such as those used by the OnePlus 12.
So while we take these claims with a grain of salt, it sounds like the OnePlus 13 could be a significant upgrade in a number of ways. Although we described this in our OnePlus 12 review as “arguably the coolest smartphone design ever”, the company will be doing everything it can to improve this with a new design.