OnePlus 13s

At Rs. 159,999, the OnePlus 13s is one of the most affordable ways to get the Snapdragon 8 Elite in a compact body. Alongside it you get a 6.32-inch LTPO AMOLED display, a 5850 mAh battery with 80W charging, the charger in the box and loud stereo speakers.

The compromises are real:

• No ultrawide camera, and photo exposure is not always consistent
• IP65 splash resistance only, no wireless charging and a USB-C 2.0 port
• No official OnePlus presence in Pakistan, so warranty and screen repairs depend on local shops

Verdict: a strong buy for people who value speed, battery life and one-hand comfort. Buyers who take a lot of photos, or who want official after-sales support, should weigh it against the Oppo Reno 16F at Rs. 139,495, which gives up a lot of performance for better water resistance, a bigger battery and an ultrawide lens.

The 6.32-inch LTPO AMOLED panel has a 1216 x 2640 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1600 nits in high-brightness mode. It looks sharp, colours are well calibrated, and the thin, even bezels make the screen feel bigger than its size.

• Smooth scrolling and gaming at 120Hz, with quick touch response
• HDR and Dolby Vision playback works in the major streaming apps
• 2160Hz PWM dimming and a minimum brightness of about 1.1 nits make it easier on the eyes at night
• It gets plenty bright, so daytime use is comfortable

The front uses Crystal Shield Glass rather than Gorilla Glass, so a screen protector is a sensible addition. OnePlus phones also have a history of green line screen faults. OnePlus has publicly acknowledged the problem, but with no official service in Pakistan, a fix here would come from the local repair market.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite, 12GB of fast RAM and UFS 4.0 storage make the OnePlus 13s feel quick in every task. Everyday apps and multitasking run without lag, and it is the most affordable phone with this chipset.

• Gaming: PUBG Mobile unlocks its highest options, including Smooth with Ultra Extreme frame rate and Ultra HDR with Ultra frame rate, and games run with stable frame rates
• Heat: a large vapor chamber keeps it cool; 30 minutes to an hour of Genshin Impact caused no overheating, and it stays cooler than most compact phones when used outdoors on mobile data
• Feel: precise haptics and loud stereo speakers add to the premium experience

The limits sit outside raw speed: the USB-C 2.0 port makes large wired file transfers slow, and the optical in-display fingerprint reader is slower than the ultrasonic sensors found on some flagships.

The OnePlus 13s has a 50 MP main camera with OIS and a 50 MP 2x telephoto, but no ultrawide. That suits portraits and everyday subjects, but it limits landscapes, group shots and travel photos.

• Daylight: sharp detail and the punchy, contrasty OnePlus look, though roughly 10 to 20% of shots show crushed shadows or blown highlights, and colours differ between the two lenses
• Portraits: the 2x lens gives striking portraits with good skin tones
• Low light: night photos are sharp and detailed, often without needing night mode
• Macro: close-ups through the 2x lens are only average
• Video: rear 4K 60fps is stable, and switching to the telephoto while recording is smooth, but exposure and highlights can suffer in harsh sunlight
• Selfies: the 32 MP front camera has autofocus and a wide field of view, records up to 4K 30fps, and gives good skin tones that lean slightly pink

Overall the camera is good but not flagship-grade, and it is not the reason to buy this phone. It also lacks the Hasselblad tuning of the pricier OnePlus 13.

The OnePlus 13s packs a 5850 mAh battery, unusually large for a 6.32-inch phone. Real-world use backs it up: about two days on moderate use, even with high brightness and 120Hz switched on, so the battery anxiety of small phones is not an issue here. GSMArena also expects it to outlast every other phone in its size category.

• 80W wired charging, with the charger included in the box, so a few minutes on the charger goes a long way
• 33W PPS and 18W PD support for other USB-C chargers
• 5W reverse wired charging and bypass charging
• No wireless charging, a notable omission at this price

Reports differ on the battery type, specifically whether it uses silicon-carbon technology, but the endurance is strong either way.

The OnePlus 13s launched with OxygenOS 15 on Android 15, and it can be upgraded to Android 16 with OxygenOS 16. The interface is clean, light and smooth, though it now looks very close to Oppo's software and borrows many iPhone-style menus.

• Plus Key: replaces the classic alert slider. It can switch between ring, vibrate and silent, save what is on screen to Mind Space, or open the camera, flashlight or voice recorder
• Mind Space: an AI memory bank for screenshots and saved content; handy, but it stays on the phone and does not sync to a laptop or other devices
• AI tools: a photo editor that unblurs moving subjects and removes reflections or background objects, plus live audio translation for conversations
• Icon pull-down gesture: drags home screen icons down within thumb reach, which makes one-hand use easier

The AI features are useful extras rather than anything new, and they can be ignored completely if you prefer a simple phone.