The OnePlus 13 will shrug off high-pressure water ...

OnePlus will launch its new flagship series, the OnePlus 13, on January 7, 2025. It’s getting increasingly difficult for smartphone makers to differentiate or push the envelope, but OnePlus is at least trying. Its new phone series will have IP68 and IP69 ratings.

IP68 certification means the device has protection against submerging and dust, the usual stuff, but the IP69 rating takes water resistance a step further, promising the device can withstand high-pressure jets of water — for all those high-pressure jet moments. The OnePlus 13 might be the first mainstream smartphone to get the certification.

The company likes wet phone tech. A few years ago, it introduced a Rain Water Touch feature in the OnePlus 12 and Ace 2 Pro. It used a special chip to algorithmically determine how you touched the screen while operating it in the rain or other wet conditions.

The OnePlus 13 will have three colorways: Arctic Dawn, Black Eclipse and Midnight Ocean, with the latter also being the first phone to use micro-fiber vegan leather. And the Arctic Dawn edition has a new glass coating that resists finger smudges — apparently another first in the industry, according to OnePlus.

— Mat Smith

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