OnePlus 13 vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

OnePlus 13

Every reviewer calls this one of the best smartphone screens of 2025: a 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED that peaks at 4,500 nits, supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and earned DisplayMate's first-ever A++ rating. The new ultrasonic fingerprint reader is faster and stays reliable when wet, and PWM dimming runs at 2,160 Hz for eye-sensitive users. The only ongoing nitpick is the gently curved glass edges.

• The 6.8-inch OLED panel hits a peak of up to 4,500 nits — even brighter than Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra at 2,600 nits.
• 1,600 nits in high brightness mode and 4,500 nits peak brightness make this the world's first display to earn DisplayMate's A++ rating.
• 120Hz OLED displays are sharp, colorful, and smooth, though the default lower resolution save-battery setting kept lowering brightness a little too much in testing.
• The display is in the upper echelon of smartphone screens — beautifully tuned, incredibly bright, smooth, and easier to use without aggressive curves.
• The new ultrasonic fingerprint reader plus Aqua Touch 2.0 keeps the screen responsive even when wet — old optical readers struggled with that.
• At 510 PPI the display is incredibly sharp and content absolutely pops, with a glove mode for thin gloves up to 0.5cm thick.
• Trusted Reviews calls this 'the best (and only) flagship in the US for PWM-sensitive folks' thanks to 2,160 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Underneath the Privacy Display tech, the panel is the familiar 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X at 1–120Hz LTPO with 2,600 nits peak brightness (lab-confirmed closer to 3,000) and Gorilla Armor 2 anti-reflective coating. The hardware specs barely changed; what's controversial is whether the new panel structure subtly degrades the always-on viewing experience versus the S25 Ultra's reference panel.

• 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel at 3,120 × 1,440, 1–120Hz LTPO, 2,600-nit peak claim — same nominal specs as last year
• Lab measurement at Linus Tech Tips actually hit 2,997 nits peak — Samsung is 'underselling' the panel's brightness
• MKBHD notes the panel is still 8-bit simulating 10-bit color and that the anti-reflective coating is 'not quite as good at the anti-reflective thing' as the S25 Ultra
• Verge sees more color shift on the S26 Ultra than the S25 Ultra when viewing from a very low angle, even with Privacy Display off
• Out of the box the phone is configured to 1080p for battery; switching to 1440p is a one-time settings change every reviewer recommends

OnePlus 13

The OnePlus 13 was the first non-gaming flagship globally to ship with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and reviewers report a generational jump in both CPU and GPU. Multi-core Geekbench scores rival the Galaxy S25 Ultra and beat the iPhone 16 Pro on GPU benchmarks. Thermal management is exceptional — Dave2D ran Genshin Impact at max settings indefinitely without throttling — and 12-16GB of RAM keeps multitasking buttery smooth.

• The Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers a 31% higher CPU clock speed, 36% higher AnTuTu, 44% higher single-core Geekbench and 14% higher 3DMark over last year's best — Wilt Chamberlain numbers.
• Both the OnePlus 13 and ROG Phone 9 Pro ran Genshin Impact at max graphics indefinitely at 60fps without throttling — never seen before on stock devices.
• Geekbench 6 multi-core hits 9,267 on the OnePlus 13 — only about 5% behind the Galaxy S25 Ultra at 9,828, with 16GB RAM versus Samsung's 12GB.
• Snapdragon 8 Elite single-core CPU performance is practically spitting distance from the A18 Pro while it actually surpasses the iPhone 16 Pro in multi-core and 3DMark Wild Life Extreme.
• Even when heavily used, the phone doesn't get unreasonably hot, doesn't stutter or lag, and doesn't unreasonably suck up battery life.
• The Snapdragon 8 Elite overtaxes the cooling system of normal smartphones under high sustained load — pronounced throttling was the OnePlus 13's main weakness in lab testing.
• Image processing is basically instant — edit a video and render out and it's done in seconds, with no signs of slowdown after seven months.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, paired with 12 or 16GB RAM and up to 1TB storage, comfortably tops every published Android benchmark and trades blows with the iPhone 17 Pro in single-core. A redesigned, larger vapor chamber keeps sustained performance up, though Wild Life stress runs still shed 30-40% of peak GPU output under load.

• Engadget records a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 11,240 (vs 9,828 on the S25 Ultra) and GPU score of 25,403 — the fastest Android scores currently published
• Trusted Reviews measured 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test stability at 67.6% — a big jump from the S25 Ultra's 58.4% and ahead of the Honor Magic 8 Pro (55.4%)
• Ars Technica records the S26 Ultra topping all benchmark charts on paper but losing 'about 40 percent of its graphical performance' under prolonged stress
• Linus Tech Tips' stress test showed the S26 Ultra outperforming an iPhone 17 Pro by ~34% and a OnePlus 15 by ~5%, but flagged that it 'gradually gets worse over time' as thermal throttling kicks in

OnePlus 13

The OnePlus 13's signature feature: a 6,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery (vs the 5,000 mAh ceiling rivals are stuck at) that delivers genuine two-day endurance, paired with 100W wired SuperVOOC and 50W AirVOOC wireless charging that refills the phone in 36 minutes. Engadget's video rundown clocked 30h 18m — almost an hour longer than the S25 Ultra. The catch: top wireless speeds require OnePlus's proprietary magnetic puck.

• With average use the phone easily lasts two full days; with heavy use you can go from morning to night without a top-up, thanks to OnePlus's Silicon NanoStack battery tech.
• 30 hours 18 minutes on Engadget's local video rundown — nearly an hour longer than the Galaxy S25 Ultra (29:27) and almost three hours better than a Pixel 9 (27:32).
• Two full days of WhatsApp, Discord, Chrome, Instagram and Android Auto without worrying about where the charger is — silicon-carbon is a real generational leap.
• Even with high brightness, multitasking, GPS navigation and Bluetooth streaming, the OnePlus 13 ends the day with six hours of screen-on time and 35% battery left.
• 80W wired charging refills the phone from zero to 100 in 36 minutes, with 50W wireless charging via the AIRVOOC puck — the OP13 recharges twice as fast as a Galaxy S25 with cable and three times faster wirelessly.
• The Snapdragon 8 Elite drives a 25-30% (conservatively) jump in battery life over Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 — possibly closer to 40% on like-for-like workloads.
• Hitting maximum wireless charging speeds requires the proprietary 50W AIRVOOC puck — universal Qi chargers throttle dramatically.
• Reddit r/Android: 'I'm jealous of that battery life' — the most-upvoted user reaction in the OnePlus 13 megathread.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The S26 Ultra inherits the same 5,000 mAh capacity Samsung's used since the S20 Ultra — six years unchanged — but 60W wired charging is genuinely faster and Qi 2.2 25W wireless is overdue. Reviewers split: most say battery life is 'fine' but no longer flagship in a market where OnePlus 15 ships with 7,300 mAh and Oppo Find X9 Pro packs 7,500 mAh. Charging speeds are now a competitive feature, not a weakness.

• Same 5,000 mAh battery as the S25 Ultra, S24 Ultra, S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra and S20 Ultra — 9to5Google calls this 'easily the most egregious spec Samsung hasn't changed'
• Phone Arena's real-world diary measured average 100% screen time at just 6 hours 1 minute — 'just not very impressive' next to iPhone 17 Pro Max's nearly 9 hours on the same test
• Engadget's local video rundown measured 30 hours 3 minutes — only ~30 minutes longer than the S25 Ultra; chip efficiency gains, not capacity, are doing the work
• 60W wired charging: 0-50% in 18-19 minutes, 0-75% in 30 minutes, 0-100% in 47-53 minutes across multiple independent tests
• Mrwhosetheboss' charging test confirmed 47 minutes 0-100% versus 1 hour 19 minutes for the iPhone 17 Pro Max — a 32-minute charging gap in Samsung's favor

OnePlus 13

OxygenOS 15 on Android 15 has matured into a fast, customizable Android skin with deliberately restrained AI — Gemini and Circle to Search are present, plus a Notes assistant and AI Reflection Eraser, but OnePlus has explicitly chosen not to chase Galaxy AI. The Live Alerts feature mimics Apple's Dynamic Island, with limited third-party support. The catch: four OS upgrades and six years of security patches still trails Samsung and Google's seven.

• OnePlus is keeping AI refreshingly low-key — Google Gemini and Circle to Search plus a smarter Notes app, but AI is nothing like the big focus it is on the Galaxy S25 family.
• OxygenOS 15 is very, very good — animation speed improvements and extra attention to detail make this version of Android 15 feel uniquely tunable.
• OxygenOS 15 has taken back control after years of ColorOS-style bloat creep — 'I'm not simply tolerating it, I like it.'
• Software support is bumped to four Android OS upgrades and six years of security updates — better than before, but still not as long as Samsung and Google's seven years.
• AI Reflection Eraser did a respectable job removing window glare on a hotel photo, but most AI features only work with an internet connection.
• The Live Alert capsule around the selfie camera is a Dynamic Island clone — 'if you're going to copy stuff, copy the good stuff' — though third-party support is limited.
• The Dynamic Island rip-off shipped with OxygenOS 15 feels like a solution to a non-existent problem in Android — widgets already do this job better.
• Reddit users on r/gadgets cheer the lack of AI focus: 'I can't wait for a few years from now when a phone company starts advertising that being AI-free is a feature.'

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

One UI 8.5 ships on Android 16 with seven years of OS + security updates promised. Beyond the new transparent glass UI choices, the story is Galaxy AI — Now Brief, Now Nudge, Photo Assist, Creative Studio, summarized notifications, plus Gemini task automation (beta) for limited ride-share and food-delivery flows. Reviewers split sharply on whether the AI features are genuinely useful or 'slop', but a local-only AI processing toggle gets near-universal praise.

• Seven OS upgrades and security patches take the phone through to Android 23 in 2033 — Trusted Reviews calls it 'one of the strongest long-term Android bets around'
• Now Nudge is Samsung's Magic Cue clone for proactive contextual suggestions — Verge saw it work a couple times but Ars Technica 'haven't seen a single Nudge appear in my testing'
• Gemini task automation can open Uber/DoorDash and complete the flow up to the final confirm tap — Ars says it 'usually got there, asking me to tap the final order button after a lengthy wait'
• Photo Assist's natural-language editing is powerful but unsettling — Verge could 'remove my husband's shirt' and 'paste celebrities into selfies'; the Engadget Pikachu sticker test was outright strange

OnePlus 13

At $899 starting (often discounted to $799 via OnePlus's perpetual trade-in deals), the OnePlus 13 is consistently called the best Android value of 2025. The S25 Ultra costs $400 more, the S25+ $100 more, the iPhone 16 Pro $100 more — and the OnePlus matches or beats all three on battery, brightness and charging while landing a half-tier behind on cameras and falling short on update commitment. Reddit sentiment is more mixed: a vocal r/gadgets minority argues a $900 phone isn't a 'flagship killer' anymore.

• For $899 you get longer battery life, a brighter screen, more RAM, greater storage and the same 3x zoom as a base Galaxy S25+ — all for $100 less. That's just a good deal.
• The 12GB/256GB OnePlus 13 costs $400 less than the cheapest Galaxy S25 Ultra — the difference between getting a new phone or getting a new phone and a smartwatch.
• This is the best OnePlus phone to date, and at $899, arguably the best Android phone period.
• The OnePlus 13 cameras, display and battery life all compete handily against the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra — but the phone is priced like an iPhone 16 or Galaxy S24.
• It's nice to see OnePlus continuing to stick to its roots by offering everything you need at a slightly lower price than Samsung, Google and Apple flagships.
• OnePlus offers a perpetual $100 discount on the upgraded model plus a guaranteed $100 trade-in — effectively making the OnePlus 13 a $799 flagship.
• OnePlus is positioned under competitors like the Pixel 9 Pro, Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro — far from the bargain pricing that defined OnePlus in the early days, but still strong value.
• Reddit r/gadgets pushes back: 'I don't enjoy this being made the new normal and being framed as reasonable!' — $900 is the price of a higher-end phone with a focus on AI, so why no price cut for dropping it?
• Reddit r/Android: 'Any excuse to get this over the Realme GT7 Pro which is 300 Euros less? Same chipset, same display, bigger battery and same manufacturer (BBK Electronics).'

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

At $1,300 starting (256GB), $1,499 (512GB), $1,799 (1TB), the S26 Ultra still costs more than the OnePlus 15 ($899 with double the storage), the Pixel 10 Pro XL ($1,199), and the iPhone 17 Pro Max ($1,199). Reviewers position the value case around the privacy display, the camera versatility, the seven-year update window, and the One UI ecosystem rather than raw spec-for-spec parity.

• Starting MSRP held at $1,299 — but 512GB jumped to $1,499 (from $1,419) and 1TB to $1,799 (from $1,659) versus the S25 Ultra
• OnePlus 15 at $899 includes 512GB + 16GB RAM + 7,300 mAh battery — 'you cannot beat that' value, per a side-by-side owner on r/OnePlus
• Engadget calls the $1,300 hold-the-line price 'almost a blessing' given component-cost inflation across the industry in 2026
• Trade-in offers worsened sharply after pre-order — 9to5Google describes trade values that 'fell off a cliff' and perks like doubled storage 'vanished this time around'