It's bad news for T3 Staff Writer Sam Cross as his favourite-looking phone in years is seemingly set for a massive redesign. The One Plus 12 is a thing of beauty, especially in the emerald finish we had, but it seems the company is determined to keep improving, even if that means going back to the drawing board.
According to Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station, the OnePlus 13 is "basically guaranteed to change its design," apparently this will take the form of completely removing the "family-style hinge" The translation is a bit rough, but we assume that this is talking about the camera module rather than a folding phone.
The post also suggested that the One Plus 13 will feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, which again would keep it top of the range alongside other flagships expected next year.
When could we see the OnePlus 13? Well nothing is official but traditionally the new OnePlus has always launched in January of each year. However one tipster, OnePlus Club has scandalously predicted an October 2024 release which seems like no time at all since the OnePlus 12 launch. In the same Tweet, they also shared an alleged leaked render which gives us a clue as to what the new camera might look like.
OnePlus 13 will launch in October 2024 with the launch of Snapdragon 8Gen 4!The rear camera design on OnePlus 13 has been changed pic.twitter.com/rwMJQoMCPkMarch 5, 2024
Another Weibo tipster, Smart Pikachu (great name) has revealed they expect both the OnePlus 13 and the next Xiaomi flagship (the so-called Xiaomi 15) to feature an improved fingerprint scanner with ultrasonic wave technology. Not the most exciting feature but one that many use multiple times a day so it's important to get it right.
So what would we love to see on a OnePlus 13? Well, better cameras would be our first port of call, the OnePlus 12 has a strong setup, but we often found it to desaturate our pictures and drain them of bright colours. Each sensor seemed to have its own colour palette which we found jarring. Besides that, we'd also like it to be easier to hold with our review finding it more slippery than a politician being asked a hard question.
