Summary
- Rumors suggest the OnePlus 13 may trade wireless charging for a massive 6,000mAh battery.
- The company only just brought back wireless charging to its phones with the OnePlus 12, after missing from new hardware for nearly two years.
- The OnePlus 13 may feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip, 100W wired charging, and a 2K LTPO display, but could abandon curved panels for a flat screen.
OnePlus hasn’t been able to make its mind up about wireless charging. From one of the best features of the OnePlus 8 Pro to entirely missing on phones like the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Open, it seems like it’s never a big priority for the brand. With this year’s OnePlus 12, fast wireless charging came back in full force, trouncing even the wired charging speeds of its closest competitors. Next year’s expected OnePlus 13, however, might once again miss out on wireless charging, all for the sake of one of the largest batteries ever placed in a mainstream smartphone.
Should you buy the OnePlus 12, or wait for the OnePlus 13?
You probably shouldn’t wait for the next generation, unless you have to
This rumor comes from well-known tipster Digital Chat Station (via Android Authority), suggesting that OnePlus is looking to drop its wireless charging capabilities in lieu of offering a massive 6,000mAh battery. That’s larger than the 5,400mAh cell found in the OnePlus 12, and much larger than the 5,000mAh batteries you’ll find in the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Considering OnePlus devices are already battery champs, this might be a large enough capacity to extend into three days without breaking a sweat — but it could come at the cost of wireless charging.
Source: Weibo
Alongside that battery, we’re looking at a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, 100W wired charging speeds — though those will likely fall around 80W in the US — and a 2K LTPO display that Digital Chat Station, through translation, refers to as “straight” with a “micro-curved glass cover design.” That sounds like OnePlus might finally abandon its curved panels for a flat screen with 2.5D glass bezels, though we’ll have to wait for more design leaks to be sure. All this, plus the same triple camera setup as the OnePlus 12, with minor changes to the device’s periscope lens.
OnePlus can’t make up its mind on wireless charging
From the OnePlus 8 Pro onward, the company’s flagships featured ultra-fast wireless charging for several years, outperforming practically every other company being sold in the US. But from the launch of the OnePlus 10T, it’s clear OnePlus deprioritized the feature internally, instead opting to bring the price down on its hardware while missing out on what plenty see as a must-have feature. It wasn’t until this year’s OnePlus 12 that wireless charging made a comeback, and we’d hoped to see it extend to future flagships and foldables.
While the OnePlus 13’s larger battery and rapid 100W wired charging may meet the needs of most users, there are plenty of shoppers who cherish the freedom to choose between a cable and a wireless charger. And considering no other company — including Samsung and Google — comes close to offering the wireless charging speeds OnePlus uses on its phones, it’ll be pretty disheartening if it disappears from devices once again. If you want wireless charging, it might be worth picking up this year’s phone rather than waiting for next year’s flagship.
OnePlus 12
The OnePlus 12 builds on the OnePlus 11 in all key areas. While the design is unchanged, the phone features a bigger 6.82-inch display with an insane peak brightness of 4,500 nits. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip inside the phone is more powerful while also being 10% more power efficient. This is backed by a bigger 5,400mAh battery with 100W fast charging.