OnePlus 9 vs Apple iPhone 13
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.55-inch OnePlus 9 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) that was released on March 23, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 13, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 5 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 9
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1273 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 3227 mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 20W)
- Has a 0.45 inch larger screen size
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- 2.2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1236K versus 568K)
- Shows 27% longer battery life (36:10 vs 28:34 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Optical image stabilization
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than OnePlus
- 14% higher pixel density (460 vs 402 PPI)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.55 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 402 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1100 nits | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.6% | 86% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 129% |
| PWM | 323 Hz | 609 Hz |
| Response time | 13 ms | 7.5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 160 mm (6.3 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 74.2 mm (2.92 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.7 mm (0.34 inches) | 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 192 g (6.77 oz) | 174 g (6.14 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G | Apple A15 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 3230 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Apple A15 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 1338 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~1712.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 172607 | 279447 |
| GPU | 115432 | 395073 |
| Memory | 118133 | 190761 |
| UX | 160667 | 363150 |
| Total score | 568602 | 1236420 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 48.8 °C | 45.7 °C |
| Stability | 55% | 78% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 52 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5761 | 8702 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10625 | - |
| Video editing | 6059 | - |
| Photo editing | 25728 | - |
| Data manipulation | 11092 | - |
| Writing score | 15632 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | OxygenOS 13 | - |
| OS size | 35 GB | 18 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 3227 mAh |
| Max charge power | 65 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (100% in 29 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:29 hr | 1:46 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:27 hr | 13:11 hr |
| Watching video | 12:25 hr | 14:33 hr |
| Gaming | 04:06 hr | 05:23 hr |
| Standby | 92 hr | 123 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 140° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (48 MP + 50 MP + 2 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/1.43", Sony IMX689 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.7 micron - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 14 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 14 mm - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Monochrome lens |
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
- |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of OnePlus 9 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4920 x 3264 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1 microns | - |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | - |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2021 | September 2021 |
| Release date | March 2021 | September 2021 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 13 is definitely a better buy.