OnePlus has come a long way in the smartphone game. Its first device, the OnePlus One, was launched in 2014. In over 10 years in the market, the only device that it released that could be considered compact was the OnePlus X in 2015, but even then, it had a 5-inch display, and a “real” compact like Sony’s Xperia Z5 Compact was still at 4.6 inches.
This year, it seems OnePlus is ready to release a true compact phone, at least in line with what other manufacturers deem to be compact in 2025. The OnePlus 13T is coming, and we’ve gotten our first look at its design. It’s the first major design change we’ve seen from the OEM in a while, and you might notice something Pixel-esque about it.
The OnePlus 13T Has a New Look With Some Strong Inspiration From Google
In the smartphone space, it is hard for OEMs to keep secrets from the point of inception to the point of launch. Most phones get leaked in some capacity, weeks ahead of their intended launch, and for the “small” device expected to join the OnePlus 13 family, that was the case as well. The only thing was that there seemed to be no consensus on whether, with its 6.3-inch screen, it’d be called the OnePlus 13 Mini or OnePlus 13T.
We have the answer now, thanks to leaked real-world images of the device from user Mr. SanSan on Weibo. Not only does he refer to the phone as the OnePlus 13T, but he also posted several images, including two showing off the retail packaging. Yep, there’s no doubt that it’s going to be bringing the “T” suffix back to OnePlus’ nomenclature.
What do I think about the look of the OnePlus 13T? To be honest, I like it. It’s more muted without the circular camera module of the OnePlus 13R and OnePlus 13, and it focuses mostly on straight edges. However, I can’t help but see a similarity to the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera module in this phone’s camera module. In fact, I think the resemblance is so notable that it is hard to believe it didn’t serve as unofficial inspiration.
The Launch Date and Colorways of the OnePlus 13 Are No Longer Mysteries
It’s nice to have a good long look at what OnePlus’ next smartphone will look like, but arguably more important is the day it will launch since that’s when all the rumors will actually end up confirmed. The good thing is that the company has now made things official. The OnePlus 13T is coming out on April 24th, at a launch event in China.
In addition, it confirmed the design of the upcoming product in an official video. At the same time, we learned that the phone will be arriving in black, grey, and pink colorways. We did see that the Alert Slider will truly be taking a hike this time around, but that’s the only “new” thing that the video gives away.
