OnePlus 13T's Stellar Sales Underscore China's Appetite for Premium Compact Smartphones

The OnePlus 13T has made waves in the Chinese smartphone market, showcasing a strong demand for premium compact devices—a trend that remains largely confined to China for now.

Following weeks of anticipation, OnePlus officially launched the 13T in China last month. The device has since seen remarkable success, highlighting a growing niche for smaller, high-performance smartphones.

Louis Lee, President of OnePlus China, confirmed that the 13T generated sales worth CNY 200 million (approximately $27.5 million) within just ten minutes of launch. Not only did it outperform rival devices in the same price range, but it also broke the company’s record for offline pre-orders.

Despite being more affordable than many flagship models—selling for CNY 2,899 compared to the Xiaomi 15’s CNY 4,499—the 13T’s strong performance underscores China's increasing preference for compact yet premium phones. Other manufacturers are clearly paying attention, with recent releases like the Vivo X200 Pro Mini, OPPO Find X8s, and Xiaomi 15 all entering the compact flagship space, typically offering screens around the 6.3-inch mark.

Though some may argue that 6.3 inches isn’t truly compact, modern display designs with taller aspect ratios and thinner bezels have drastically reduced the overall size of these devices. In fact, the 6.32-inch OnePlus 13T is physically smaller than the older 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, thanks to advancements in screen-to-body ratio.

Unfortunately, this momentum for compact flagships has yet to expand beyond China. Global audiences are left waiting, as neither the Vivo X200 Pro Mini nor OPPO Find X8s are planned for international release. The OnePlus 13T will only see a limited launch in India, rebranded as the OnePlus 13S.

As it stands, fans of compact Android flagships outside of China have very few options: mainly the upcoming Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25, and Xiaomi 15. Brands like Asus and Sony previously explored this space but ultimately pulled back, likely due to underwhelming global sales.

Unless consumers worldwide begin to consistently support compact premium phones with their wallets, manufacturers may remain hesitant to invest in this underserved segment.