Fast Charge: It looks like the OnePlus 13 wants to get ahead of the big Galaxy S25 launch

(OPINION) The OnePlus 13 was released in China shortly after Qualcomm announced its next-gen chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, making it one of the first phones in the world to use the top-end chipset, but when will it come to the rest of the world?

Well, we needn’t wonder any more, as OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 13 is indeed coming to international markets ‘soon’, though no specific release date – or even a release window – has been set just yet.

However, I’ve done a bit of snooping around on the OnePlus website where it’s already teasing the OnePlus 13 in all its glory, and I think I’ve found the release date. 

Head to the OnePlus UK website right now and you’ll be met with a photo of the OnePlus 13 with the tagline ‘coming soon’. However, right underneath the heading is a competition for fans, offering not only £25,000 of travel experiences but also the OnePlus 13 itself. 

Logically, the winner will only be announced once the OnePlus 13 has actually launched in the UK – so how can we find out when that competition ends?

Hidden in plain sight

Head to the Terms and Conditions page and you’ll find mention of one particular date; 7 January 2025. It’s almost certainly going to launch either on the 7th or possibly the 6th – either way, it looks like OnePlus wants to get the OnePlus 13 out of the door a little earlier than the previous late-January release of the OnePlus 12.

That’s understandable given the shift to flagship releases in January over the past few years, with Samsung having seemingly landed on an annual January launch for its flagship Galaxy S collection – something that’s rumoured to continue in 2025 with whispers suggesting it’ll appear on January 23rd 2025 at an event in San Francisco. 

There are also competitors like Honor to consider; while the company tends to release flagships at MWC, due to take place in early March in 2025, the Honor Magic 7 Series made a much earlier debut in China than usual with an October 31st 2024 announcement. 

For reference, the Honor Magic 6 series launched in early January 2024 in China, so this could point towards potentially moving the release forward by a few months to match – and that would also mean a January 2025 release. 

With that in mind, it’s highly likely that OnePlus is looking to get out ahead of the competition with an exceptionally early launch. It’ll certainly help the brand avoid having to compete with the powerhouse that is Samsung, getting its time in the limelight before the flagship S25 range comes along and no doubt steals everyone’s attention.  

Of course, having already launched in China, we know pretty much everything about the OnePlus 13. Alongside the inclusion of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the flagship will offer new finishes, a boosted IP68/69 rating, upgraded ultrawide and telephoto lenses and a massive 6,000mAh battery to boot.

It certainly looks like a tempting 2025 flagship, and I can’t wait for it to officially arrive on UK shores in January.