OnePlus 13 vs iPhone Air

The OnePlus 13 and the iPhone Air answer very different questions. The iPhone Air is Apple's boldest design statement in years — an astonishingly thin, light iPhone that prioritises the way it looks and feels in the hand. The OnePlus 13 is a full-fat Android flagship that piles on battery, cameras and charging speed. They run different operating systems and chase different ideals, so this is as much about what you value as about raw specifications. Here is how they compare, drawn from independent expert reviews of each, with current UK prices.

At a glance

The OnePlus 13 (around £699.99) is the do-it-all Android flagship: a huge 6000 mAh battery, blistering 100 W charging, a triple camera and a big, bright screen. The iPhone Air (around £799.00) is the ultra-thin iOS phone: just 5.6 mm thick, beautifully light, with Apple's A19 chip and a premium titanium build — but with real trade-offs in battery and cameras. One is about capability; the other is about design.

Check the OnePlus 13 price on Amazon · Check the iPhone Air price on Amazon

Operating system

Start here, because it shapes everything else. The OnePlus 13 runs Android with OxygenOS, one of the cleanest and fastest Android skins. The iPhone Air runs iOS, simple and consistent, with seamless links to other Apple devices. Choose the ecosystem you already use — it matters more day to day than any single feature. Both phones will be supported with updates for years to come, so neither leaves you behind.

Design and build

This is the iPhone Air's whole reason for being. It is extraordinarily thin at just 5.6 mm and very light, in a premium titanium frame — a genuinely striking object in the hand. The OnePlus 13 is a more conventional flagship, larger and heavier at around 213 g, but it adds tough IP68 and IP69 water resistance and feels reassuringly solid. If you want the thinnest, lightest, most eye-catching phone, the iPhone Air is unmatched; if you want a rugged, do-everything design that shrugs off dust and water, the OnePlus is the sturdier choice.

Screen

Both have excellent OLED displays at 120 Hz. The OnePlus 13's 6.82-inch panel is a sharp 2K screen quoted at a very high 4500 nits of peak brightness, superb in direct sun. The iPhone Air's 6.5-inch display is a touch smaller but bright and smooth, with Apple's polished ProMotion motion handling. Both are lovely to look at; the OnePlus gives you more screen and higher peak brightness, the iPhone Air a more compact, refined panel that suits its slim body.

Performance

Both are fast, from different camps. The iPhone Air uses Apple's A19 chip, which is quick and efficient and handles everything smoothly. The OnePlus 13 runs the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite with up to 16 GB of RAM, and it is blisteringly fast, with masses of memory for heavy multitasking. In everyday use both feel instant; the OnePlus has the edge for gaming and the heaviest workloads thanks to its flagship chip and generous memory, while the iPhone Air prioritises smooth efficiency within its ultra-slim body.

Cameras

This is a clear win for the OnePlus. The OnePlus 13 has a triple 50-megapixel system co-engineered with Hasselblad, including a 73 mm telephoto, so it covers wide, ultra-wide and zoom shots with consistently strong results. The iPhone Air, constrained by its thinness, relies on a single 48-megapixel rear camera — capable and nicely tuned, but without the ultra-wide or dedicated telephoto that the OnePlus offers. Apple's processing makes the most of that one lens, but for versatility and reach the OnePlus is far better equipped. If photography matters to you, the OnePlus is the stronger tool by some distance.

Battery and charging

Here the gap is dramatic. The OnePlus 13 packs a large 6000 mAh battery and charges at a blistering 100 W wired plus 50 W wirelessly, so it lasts well beyond a day and refuels in a flash. The iPhone Air, thin as it is, carries a much smaller 3149 mAh battery and charges far more slowly, so endurance is one of its main compromises. If battery life and fast charging matter to you, the OnePlus is in a completely different league.

Price and verdict

At the time of writing the OnePlus 13 is around £699.99 and the iPhone Air around £799.00, so the OnePlus is also the cheaper of the two, by about £100.

Buy the iPhone Air if design is your priority and you want the thinnest, lightest, most beautiful iPhone, with iOS and Apple's ecosystem — and you can accept the compromises in battery life and camera versatility that its 5.6 mm body demands. It is a statement phone, and a lovely one to hold.

Buy the OnePlus 13 if you want the far more capable all-rounder for less money: a huge battery, the fastest charging, a versatile triple camera and flagship power, all in clean Android. Unless thinness and iOS are what you care about most, the OnePlus is the more complete phone — and the better value by a wide margin.