A recent rumor has indicated the OnePlus 13 could receive a bigger photography upgrade than expected. And it's one that could help it take on Samsung's next big phone.
The news comes from a well-known leaker, Digital Chat Station, who shared on Weibo that the next OnePlus phone will come with three 50MP cameras. DCS also states that the telephoto lens has been upgraded to 3x optical zoom with a periscope lens, and a new Hasselblad Master Tone mode, likely meaning an improved color profile, will be added too.
This combination would put the phone much closer to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which was recently tipped to use a 50 MP ultrawide, a 50 MP 3x telephoto lens and a 50MP 5x telephoto lens. However, the Galaxy S25 Ultra should also come with a 200MP main lens that far outstrips the completion on most other phones when it comes to resolution. But hopefully for OnePlus, the overall similarity will mean that the OnePlus 13 can offer better photography competition against the S25 Ultra than its predecessor, the OnePlus 12, does against the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
This isn't the only news we've heard about potential camera changes for the OnePlus 13 as it was recently rumored that the main camera island is being redesigned. According to a post by Yogesh Bar, the camera island will be larger on the OnePlus 13, and sit closer to the phone's center. This larger camera area could be coming to allow larger, upgraded sensors to fit within the phone, which would help explain its alleged uniform megapixel numbers compared to the OnePlus 12.
There are indications that OnePlus could also change the OnePlus 13's screen's shape to make it more rounded. Supposedly, the new OnePlus will feature a "quad micro curved display" meaning the OnePlus 13 would have rounded edges on the top and bottom as well as the sides. Finally, it seems that the OnePlus 13 could come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 found in the OnePlus 12 and other current Android flagships.
It should be noted that it is still early days, and most of these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt. We won’t be able to confirm anything until the eventual release of the OnePlus 13, although it isn’t clear when this will be. Going by OnePlus' recent flagship launches, we expect a December 2024 release for the 13 in China, followed by a global launch in early 2025.
