As the imposition of a threatened 25% blanket tariff on Canadian goods including softwood lumber products looms for the end of January, many practices are concerned about how cost increases might impact procurements and the cost of building as the countrys production currently equals an almost 30% market share.This uncertainty is exacerbated by the fact that many U.S. lumber mills have been affected by high interest rates and labor shortages in recent years, driving down annual production capacity to a point where they alone are incapable of meeting demands, says North Carolina State University economist Rajan Parajuli in a recent interview.This would of course affect the nationwide cost of construction using such products. The most recentAssociated Builders and Contractors(ABC)analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data showed an 11.8% uptick in the cost of softwood lumber when compared with the same 12-month period from the year before....

A lime is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, lime green in color, 36 centimetres (1.22.4in) in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles. There are several species of citrus trees whose fruits are called limes, including the Key lime, Persian lime, kaffir lime, finger lime, blood lime, and desert lime. Limes are a rich source of vitamin C, are sour, and are often used to accent the flavours of foods and beverages. They are grown year-round, originally in tropical South and Southeast Asia but now in much of the world. Plants with fruit called "limes" have diverse genetic origins; limes do not form a monophyletic group. This photograph shows two limes grown in Brazil, one whole and one halved, and was focus-stacked from 23 images.Photograph credit: Ivar LeidusRecently featured: Golden-fronted woodpeckerCathedral of La LagunaHolger DrachmannArchiveMore featured pictures

January 8 Blackstone Library1697 Scottish student Thomas Aikenhead became the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy.1904 Blackstone Library (pictured), the first branch of the Chicago Public Library system, was dedicated.1977 Three bombs attributed to Armenian nationalists exploded across Moscow, killing seven people and injuring 37 people.1981 In Trans-en-Provence, France, a local farmer reported a UFO sighting claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".2011 Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public meeting held by U.S. representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and injuring twelve others.Prince Albert Victor (b.1864)Mary Arthur McElroy (d.1917)Joseph Franklin Rutherford (d.1942)T.J. Hamblin (d.2012)More anniversaries: January 7January 8January 9ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"NVIDIA has unveiled the GeForce RTX 5090, GeForce RTX 5080, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5070: the top-of-the-range cards in its GeForce RTX 50 Series of consumer GPUs.The GPUs, which will all be available by February, and which are priced between $1,999 and $549, are the first desktop cards to use NVIDIAs next-gen Blackwell GPU architecture.Although primarily gaming cards, NVIDIA also markets the RTX 50 Series at artists, so below, weve rounded up their key specs for DCC work, and performance comparisons for CG software.NVIDIAs GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs and previous-gen counterpartsRTX 5090RTX 4090RTX 5080RTX 4080RTX 5070 TiRTX 4070 TiRTX 5070RTX 4070ArchitectureBlackwellAda LovelaceBlackwellAda LovelaceBlackwellAda LovelaceBlackwellAda LovelaceCUDA cores21,76016,38410,7529,7288,9607,6806,1445,888Tensor cores*680512336304280240192184RT cores*170128847670604846Base clock (GHz)2.412.232.622.212.452.312.511.92Boost clock (GHz)2.012.522.302.512.302.612.162.48Compute performanceFP32 (Tflops)*104.882.656.348.744.440.131.029.2GPU memory32 GB GDDR724GBGDDR6X16 GB GDDR716GBGDDR6X16 GB GDDR712GBGDDR6X12 GB GDDR712GBGDDR6XTGP575W450W360W320W300W285W250W200WRelease date20252022202520222025202320252023MSRP at launch$1,999$1,599$999$1,199$749$799$549$599*Data taken from third-party websites.Key specifications for DCC workIn terms of core specs, the new GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs are a sizeable improvement over their counterparts from the current-generation GeForce RTX 40 Series.All have all higher counts of the three key hardware core types: CUDA for general GPU compute, Tensor for AI operations, and RT for hardware-accelerated ray tracing.The RT cores are also now fourth-generation, and the Tensor cores fifth-generation, although NVIDIA hasnt provided much detail on how that will affect GPU rendering performance.What will definitely affect GPU rendering is the increased GPU memory capacity of the top-of-the-range GeForce RTX 5090: up to 32GB, from 24GB in the current-gen RTX 4090.The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti also has more GPU memory than its predecessor, although there is no change with either the GeForce RTX 5080 or GeForce RTX 5070.In addition, the entire GeForce 50 Series uses the latest GDDR7 memory, rather than the older GDDR6X memory used in the GeForce RTX 40 Series.There is less change in display connectivity: the GeForce 50 Series cards have one HDMI and three DisplayPort connectors, the same as the GeForce RTX 40 Series.However, they support DisplayPort 2.1, the latest version of the standard and will support the upcoming DisplayPort 2.1b whereas the GeForce RTX 40 Series supports DisplayPort 1.4a.Those increases in processing power come with a corresponding increase in power consumption all four GeForce RTX 50 Series cards have a higher Total Graphics Power than their precursors.However, they are also more compact unlike the high end of the GeForce RTX 40 Series, all are dual-slot cards and most of them are cheaper than their predecessors, at least at launch.The exception is the GeForce RTX 5090, which has a launch price of $1,999, up $400 from the GeForce RTX 4090, although NVIDIA claims that it offers double the overall performance.Benchmarks and performance in DCC applicationsGiven that GeForce RTX 50 Series are gaming cards, most of the performance comparisons that NVIDIA has released are for games rather than CG software.One exception is architectural GPU renderer D5 Render.The comparison chart above shows over a 2x increase in performance on the GeForce RTX 5090 compared to the current-gen RTX 4090, presumably using the standard D5 Render Benchmark.Although NVIDIA has a blog post on how the new cards will affect creative workflows, it focuses very much on generative AI rather than DCC software. However, it does feature a section on video editing and video production, which claims that the GeForce RTX 5090 can export video 60% faster than the current-gen GeForce RTX 4090.The comparison chart above is taken from a video on DaVinci Resolve, although the blog post also mentions Premiere Pro.Pricing and release datesThe GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 will be available on 30 January, priced at $1,999 and $999. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and 4070 will be available in February, priced at $749 and $549.Read NVIDIAs announcement of the GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUsFind specifications for the GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs on NVIDIAs websiteHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

The new Chuckwalla National Monument protectsmore than 624,000 acres in southern California. David McNew / Getty ImagesWith less than two weeks left in the White House, President Joe Biden has established two new national monuments in California to honor Native American tribes: theChuckwalla National Monument in southern California and theStttla Highlands National Monument in northern California.Together, they represent more than 848,000 acres of public lands, which will now be protected from drilling and mining. Native American tribes, with the support ofsome public officials andconservation groups, had been urging lawmakers to protect both areas.Biden was scheduled to make a formal announcement from the eastern Coachella Valley earlier today, but the event was canceled due to a fierce windstorm, as theAssociated Press Colleen Long and Matthew Daly report. He will deliver the speech from the White House next week.Located near Joshua Tree National Park, Chuckwalla National Monument spans 624,000 acres. With its canyons, mountains and desert landscapes, the national monument serves as a habitat for a variety of animals, including desert bighorn sheep, Gila woodpeckers and Agassizs desert tortoises.The region is considered sacred to numerous Native American tribes, as it factors into their creation stories. The national monument encompasses the ancestral homelands of the Iviatim, Nw, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsan and Maarayam peoples, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. It also protects ancient trail systems and artifacts, including ceramics, tools, dwellings and petroglyphs.The protection of the Chuckwalla National Monument brings the Quechan people an overwhelming sense of peace and joy, says the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe in a statement. Tribes being reunited as stewards of this landscape is only the beginning of much-needed healing and restoration, and we are eager to fully rebuild our relationship to this place.In addition to its tribal significance, the national monument also protects historic mining shafts and theBradshaw Trail, an overland stage route used by gold miners and other travelers in the mid-1800s. The site is also home to the remnants of World War II training camps, which were used to prepare soldiers for combat in North Africa.At the opposite end of the state, not far from the Oregon border, Biden established the Stttla Highlands National Monument, which protects more than 224,000 acres.Indigenous groups have inhabited the area for more than 5,000 years. Today, the site remains culturally and spiritually important to the Pit River, Modoc, Klamath, Shasta, Wintu, Yana, Siletz and Karuk peoples, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Stttla is not just a piece of land; its the heart of our heritage and the source of life for current and future generations, Yatch Bamford, chairman of the Pit River Tribe, told theNavajo-Hopi Observers Stan Bindell in October.The national monument also encompasses the Medicine Lake Volcano, one of the largest volcanoes in the Cascade Range. The volcano shaped the landscape for millennia, creating natural features like the Giant Crater, a lengthy lava tube system.The permeable volcanic rock found throughout the region allows rainwater to seep beneath the surface and collect in large underground aquifers, which provide water to northern California communities.Earlier this week, Biden banned offshore drilling in 625 million acres of federal waters. The ban includes parts of the Northern Bering Sea, which many tribes in Alaska have been trying to protect for decades, per Native News Onlines Brian Edwards. According to theWhite House, Biden has created tennew national monuments, expanded two existing national monuments and restored three others during his presidency.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreAs enterprises continue to adopt large language models (LLMs) in various applications, one of the key challenges they face is improving the factual knowledge of models and reducing hallucinations. In a new paper, researchers at Meta AI propose scalable memory layers, which could be one of several possible solutions to this problem.Scalable memory layers add more parameters to LLMs to increase their learning capacity without requiring additional compute resources. The architecture is useful for applications where you can spare extra memory for factual knowledge but also want the inference speed of nimbler models.Dense and memory layersTraditional language models use dense layers to encode vast amounts of information in their parameters. In dense layers, all parameters are used at their full capacity and are mostly activated at the same time during inference. Dense layers can learn complex functions, and increasing their requires additional computational and energy resources.In contrast, for simple factual knowledge, much simpler layers with associative memory architectures would be more efficient and interpretable. This is what memory layers do. They use simple sparse activations and key-value lookup mechanisms to encode and retrieve knowledge. Sparse layers take up more memory than dense layers but only use a small portion of the parameters at once, which makes them much more compute-efficient.Memory layers have existed for several years but are rarely used in modern deep learning architectures. They are not optimized for current hardware accelerators.Current frontier LLMs usually use some form of mixture of experts (MoE) architecture, which uses a mechanism vaguely similar to memory layers. MoE models are composed of many smaller expert components that specialize in specific tasks. At inference time, a routing mechanism determines which expert becomes activated based on the input sequence. PEER, an architecture recently developed by Google DeepMind, extends MoE to millions of experts, providing more granular control over the parameters that become activated during inference.Upgrading memory layersMemory layers are light on compute but heavy on memory, which presents specific challenges for current hardware and software frameworks. In their paper, the Meta researchers propose several modifications that solve these challenges and make it possible to use them at scale.Memory layers can store knowledge in parallel across several GPUs without slowing down the model (source: arXiv)First, the researchers configured the memory layers for parallelization, distributing them across several GPUs to store millions of key-value pairs without changing other layers in the model. They also implemented a special CUDA kernel for handling high-memory bandwidth operations. And, they developed a parameter-sharing mechanism that supports a single set of memory parameters across multiple memory layers within a model. This means that the keys and values used for lookups are shared across layers.These modifications make it possible to implement memory layers within LLMs without slowing down the model.Memory layers with their sparse activations nicely complement dense networks, providing increased capacity for knowledge acquisition while being light on compute, the researchers write. They can be efficiently scaled, and provide practitioners with an attractive new direction to trade-off memory with compute.To test memory layers, the researchers modified Llama models by replacing one or more dense layers with a shared memory layer. They compared the memory-enhanced models against the dense LLMs as well as MoE and PEER models on several tasks, including factual question answering, scientific and common-sense world knowledge and coding.A 1.3B memory model (solid line) trained on 1 trillion tokens approaches the performance of a 7B model (dashed line) on factual question-answering tasks as it is given more memory parameters (source: arxiv)Their findings show that memory models improve significantly over dense baselines and compete with models that use 2X to 4X more compute. They also match the performance of MoE models that have the same compute budget and parameter count. The models performance is especially notable on tasks that require factual knowledge. For example, on factual question-answering, a memory model with 1.3 billion parameters approaches the performance of Llama-2-7B, which has been trained on twice as many tokens and 10X more compute.Moreover, the researchers found that the benefits of memory models remain consistent with model size as they scaled their experiments from 134 million to 8 billion parameters.Given these findings, we strongly advocate that memory layers should be integrated into all next generation AI architectures, the researchers write, while adding that there is still a lot more room for improvement. In particular, we hope that new learning methods can be developed to push the effectiveness of these layers even further, enabling less forgetting, fewer hallucinations and continual learning.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

GPT-4o Python Charting Insanity: Prompting For Instant Data Visuals 0 like January 7, 2025Share this postLast Updated on January 7, 2025 by Editorial TeamAuthor(s): John Loewen, PhD Originally published on Towards AI. Hands-on no-code visuals from the UN population projection datasetThis member-only story is on us. Upgrade to access all of Medium.The automatic data visualization generation tools for GPT-4o keep getting better and better.You can upload multiple CSV (and XSLX) files and ask GPT-4o to look at them and provide you with a list of the structure and data values in the file.AND you can then prompt this LLM to create Python code to clean the data AND provide data visualizations of charts and maps.This is incredibly useful. Let me show you how it works.For this exercise, we will be using a population projection dataset from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs website (HERE).You can click on the Probabilistic Projections, Population Percentage and then Population by Age both sexes . Visually, this is what you should see:Downloading XLSX worksheets for probablistic population projections by ageThe file downloads as an xlsx with multiple worksheets. I selected the Median worksheet, deleted the first 15 rows of descriptive information and exported this as a CSV called pp_median_country.csvA recent article in the New York Times used this data set to highlight countries that are projected to have aging populations putting a heavier strain on such things as national pension plans Read the full blog for free on Medium.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

Starting this week, HP direct is offering two great deals on HP Omen Transcend laptops:Omen Transcend 16 OLED RTX 4070 gaming laptop for $1,539.99 after coupon "OMENAIPC100"Omen Transcend 14 OLED RTX 4060 gaming laptop for $1,209.99 after coupon "OMENAIPC100"The Omen Transcend is HP's newest gaming laptop and it's lighter and thinner than the standard Omen, weighing in as low as 3.6lbs. It boasts better build quality and materials like a premium aluminum chassis and a gorgeous OLED display. It's a great option for anyone who wants a slim and easily portable laptop while still being able to play the latest games.HP Omen Transcend 16 RTX 4070 LaptopHP Omen Transcend 16" Intel Core i7-14700HX RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSDSelect Intel Core i7 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, and OLED DisplayFollow these directions to get this configuration:Click hereSelect Processor and Graphics: Intel Core i7-14700HX + GeForce RTX 4070 (+$290)Select Display: 16" 2560 x 1600 OLED (+$250)Add the $1,639.99 configuration to shopping cartAt cart, apply $100 off coupon: OMENAIPC100The final price including shipping (but before taxes) should be $1,539.99This HP Omen Transcend configuration features a 16" 2560x1600 OLED display, Intel Core i7-14700HX CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. The Intel Core i7-14700HX is a powerful CPU with a max clock speed of 5.5GHz with 20 cores and 28 threads. It's paired with an RTX 4070 GPU with a 130W TGP. If gaming is your priority, this is the laptop to get.HP Omen Transcend 14 RTX 4060 LaptopHP Omen Transcend 14" Intel Core Ultra 7 155H RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop with 16GB RAM, 1TB SSDSelect Intel Core Ultra 7 155H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060Follow these directions to get this configuration:Click hereSelect Processor, Graphics, and Memory: Intel Core Ultra 7 + GeForce RTX 4060 (+$130)Add the $1,309.99 configuration to shopping cartAt cart, apply $100 off coupon: OMENAIPC100The final price including shipping (but before taxes) should be $1,209.99This HP Omen Transcend configuration features a 14" 2880x1800 OLED display, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. This laptop is better for folks who want a slim, easy to carry laptop that can play games on the side. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a power efficient, low voltage Meteor Lake CPU and the RTX 4060 GPU although capable has been throttled down to a 65W TGP to extend battery life and reduce power consumption. Since the display sports a very high 2.8K resolution, I'd recommend dropping the resolution down to 1080p and enabling DLSS while gaming in order to hit a consistent 60fps frame rate with more demanding games.Some other resources you might be interested in:Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Looking for a desktop charging station that has enough ports and delivers enough power to satisfy your needs? Amazon is currently offering an Anker Prime 6-Port 200W USB Desktop Charging Station for only $59.49. This charger features both USB Type-A and Type-C ports and can deliver as much as 100W of power per port. Anker is also one of the most trusted brands on Amazon when it comes to reliability.Anker Prime 6-Port 200W USB Desktop ChargerAnker Prime 6-Port 200W USB Desktop Charging StationThe Anker Prime charging station features six total ports: two USB Type-A ports and four USB Type-C ports. Each Type-C port can deliver up to 100W and each Type-A port can deliver up to 22.5W. All six ports can be used simultaneously, however charging caps at 200W. The 100W port is powerful enough to charge laptops, tablets, and power hungry gaming handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X, Steam Deck, or Lenovo Legion Go. The 22.5W ports can handle gaming or PC peripherals like mice, headsets, controllers, and so forth. It can also charge the Nintendo Switch at its fastest rate, although you'll need to pick up a USB Type-A to Type-C adapter.Other practical features include GaN technology (smaller footprint and increased energy efficiency), a heavyset base so that it won't slide around on your desk, and multiple protection protocols. It comes with a 24-month Anker warranty.Looking for more options? Check out the best USB Type-C chargers so far in 2025.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

OnePlus was so quick with its revision to its 2024 model that the OnePlus 13 found its way into my hands before the new year rolled around, but that doesnt mean its a rush job. Quite the contrary: While this phone is a fairly simple-looking upgrade over the OnePlus 12, its beating heart (the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset) is basically a revolution in performance. For $900, the OnePlus 13 enters as a mighty competitor to the best Android phones on the market already, and if Samsung doesnt pull out all the stops with a Galaxy S25 Ultra, one of 2025s first phones might prove to be one of its most compelling. Design and FeaturesOn the outside, the OnePlus 13 isnt a major redesign of its predecessor. It carries similar looks to what OnePlus introduced with the OnePlus 11, albeit with minor revisions. One key change is to the screen, which still features rounded edges but doesnt incorporate the display itself into that curvature. Where the OnePlus 12 saw its display bend slightly at the edges, the OnePlus 13s display is completely flat, with only a bit of glass over the bezels curving. This makes for easier usability, as curved screen edges arent as easily viewable as flat ones. OnePlus also trimmed the bezels slightly, with the bottom bezel being notably smaller. Beyond this, the visible design changes appear largely aesthetic. The OnePlus 13 has flatter metal edges with a matte finish, shifting away from the shiny metals of the OnePlus 12. The camera ring on the back also rises up directly from the rear glass rather than from a section of metal frame that curves around from the of the phone. I suspect this simplifies construction, and perhaps repairs as well. My test unit included a subtle wood grain in the frosted glass back, which feels velvety smooth to the touch, just as the OnePlus 12 before it did, albeit sans wood grain. Theres also a white color with smooth glass and a blue version with a microfiber vegan leather back. Its an altogether gorgeous phone, though not an exciting reimagination.The OnePlus 13 is still quite large at 6.41 x 3.01 x 0.33 inches (162.9 x 76.5 x 8.5 mm), which can make it a bit difficult to wield effectively with a single hand, especially with gesture-based navigation. Its not unreasonable weighty for a phone its size though, at 0.47 pounds, and proves marginally easier to wield than Apples wider iPhone 16 Pro Max. Still, most of these big phone models are separated by just a few tenths of an inch in size.OnePlus has a few less noticeable upgrades for the design, such as an IP68 and an IP69 rating, up from IP65 for the OnePlus 12. This is a serious degree of ingress protection against both submersion (1.5 meters for 30 minutes) and even scalding-hot water jets (for 30 seconds). Im not saying Id put this into the dishwasher, but if you really wanted to clean your dirty phone that way, it might survive. The display, meanwhile, is covered with a new Ceramic Guard, making a marked shift away from Cornings various blends of Gorilla Glass. It comes with a pre-applied screen protector though, and this blemished lightly in my testing but prevented me from seeing any wear and tear on the actual display glass.The LTPO OLED display on the OnePlus 13 is excellent, but its barely changed from the OnePlus 12. It offers the same 3,168x1,440 resolution, 6.82-inch size, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and even the same 4,500-nit peak brightness, though youre unlikely to see that level in practice. I had few complaints about the OnePlus 12 display, though I didn't always love the curved edge, and thats perhaps the biggest adjustment the OnePlus 13 makes. It also introduces a higher 2160Hz PWM dimming, though Im not sensitive to this and havent noticed the difference. While gaming, watching HDR movies, or playing back HDR videos recorded on the OnePlus 13s cameras, the display is simply gorgeous, with vibrant colors and deep contrast. Some others may have even faster refresh rates, like the 185Hz of the Asus ROG Phone 9, but havent seen any other phone displays that stood out as anything other than marginally better. Phone displays are probably about at their peak, and the OnePlus 13 is riding that peak.OnePlus also tucked an upgrade underneath the display glass with its upgrade to an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Compared to the optical scanner in the prior model, this proved very quick to register my fingerprint and did a better job if my fingers were damp or chalked and freshly abused from time on a rock climbing wall. Theres also quite snappy facial recognition available.The display pairs with impactful speakers. These pumped out considerable volume for a phone loud enough to listen to a podcast while taking a shower. One speaker fires out the bottom of the phone while the other is in a slit in the earpiece, with a couple small ports along the top edge. These provide effective stereo sound that helps bring games and movies to life that little bit more compared to mono speakers. The sound is crisp and rich for music, though theres little improvement year-over-year from the OnePlus 12. While Google and Apple have introduced satellite connectivity for emergencies on their latest phones, OnePlus misses out on that feature. Instead, it offers a feature called BeaconLink, which doesnt get to beam into space but can make a direct Bluetooth connection to other phones within roughly 650 feet when a cellular connection isnt available. Unfortunately, it wont work with just any other phone itll likely need to be calling another supported OnePlus or Oppo phone, and good luck finding one of those in the US. For wireless connectivity, youll find a dual SIM tray as well as support for eSIM, giving you plenty of ways to connect to mobile networks. The OnePlus 13 also supports Wi-Fi 7 with the 6GHz band, giving it extremely fast Wi-Fi as well. SoftwareDespite Android 15s relative newness even the Pixel 9 lineup didnt launch with it the OnePlus 13 comes with this new OS running out of the box. It gets a fairly clean setup, with plenty of customization options to tailor the look and feel to your liking. Though OnePlus is still not keeping up with Samsung or Google in terms of long-term support, the company has promised four years of software updates and six years of security updates, which is respectable.Gaming and Performance2024 saw a big shakeup in the performance paradigm between Android phones and iPhones, with more than a few Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 devices catching up to the latest iPhones in graphics performance. Thats shifting even further with the OnePlus 13 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip inside, which offers simply incredible performance. Everyday operation is trivial on the OnePlus 13, as it easily keeps up. Even when I enabled the battery saver mode it continued to run smoothly, with the only noticeable difference being that it limits its display refresh rate to conserve power. Running Geekbench 6, I saw a stunning 3,075.5-point average for single-core performance and 9,383 points for multi-core performance. To put that in perspective, thats just 8.87% shy of the iPhone 16 Pro Maxs single-core score while zipping past its multi-core score by 13.98%. And the OnePlus 13 takes the graphics torch and carries it even further ahead in 3DMark, where it scores 6,722 points in Wildlife Extreme (62.2% ahead of the iPhone), 2,536 in Steel Nomad Light (43.8% ahead of the iPhone), and 11,724 points in Solar Bay (63.8% ahead of the iPhone). These are staggering levels of performance for a smartphone, and the OnePlus 13 isnt even a gaming-specific device. Across the board, it offers an almost 50% uptick in performance over the OnePlus 12 for a gobsmacking single-generation leap.It almost goes without saying, but that performance translates well to real-world gaming. Playing Wuthering Waves for an hour with maxed out setting, the OnePlus 13 held up a steady 60fps while seeing internal temps peak at a reasonable 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit (with a heat-insulating case on, no less), which is nowhere near as hot as the OnePlus 13 and its competitors can get running benchmarks. Heat can be a problem, though, but only when its running all-out. Running 3DMarks Steel Nomad Light Stress Test, which repeats the benchmark 20 times in a row, the OnePlus 13 saw performance drop by 34% as internal temps rose from 86 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of the test. But even when its hot and throttled, it has enough of a performance advantage that it can still rival other devices. Its lowest score in that 20-run stress test was 1,662 points, which is only 5.8% below the iPhone 16 Pro Maxs single-run average in my testing.Even with all that power, the OnePlus 13 isnt the most powerful smartphone to land, but its still doing a mighty fine job. It puts on a strong showing against even the $999 Asus ROG Phone 9, beating it in most tests in terms of single-run performance, but stress tests are where the advanced cooling of the ROG Phone 9 help it pull ahead. Given the performance leads the OnePlus 13 is able to land, I wouldnt be surprised if it could show better sustained numbers if it throttled its own performance down to a lower level right from the start. Still, neither ROG Phone 9 or the OnePlus 13 can keep up with the actively cooled gaming beast that is the $650 RedMagic 10 Pro. The fact that the OnePlus 13 even comes close to a gaming-focused device, though, is a testament to its might. It may lag behind the leaders in sprints, but the OnePlus 13 is a solid marathon runner. It never once struggled to make it through a full day, even if I squeezed in a handful of benchmarks and enabled the always-on display. With modest use, two full days of operation are well within reason. Thats in part thanks to the 6,000mAh battery, which is quite a bit of juice for a phone thats actually thinner than its predecessor. Even if the battery gets low, theres support for 80-watt wired charging and 50-watt wireless charging, providing very speedy options for getting back to 100%. For comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro Max tops out at around 30 watts.CamerasWhile Im used to seeing phones with great gaming performance make sacrifices in the camera department, the OnePlus 13 isnt one of those. It aims to provide photographic quality that can rival even Samsung, Google, and Apple, and it certainly comes close. Here are the stats on the cameras the OnePlus 13 packs:50MP Wide, f/1.6, 1.12-micron (binned to 2.25-micron), 1/1.4, OIS, Laser AF50MP ultrawide, f/2, 0.64-micron, 120-degree FOV50MP telephoto, f/2.6, 0.8-micron, 3x optical, OIS32MP Selfie, f/2.45, 0.8-micronThe camera system is nearly seamless as you transition between them. Punching in from the ultra-wide through the main to the telephoto, the cameras provide a consistent look and feel thats wonderful to see. With all three sensors offering a 50MP resolution, theres no major drop in sharpness when switching between them either. And the system is powered by laser autofocus for quick and snappy focusing, albeit with better results on closer subjects.OnePlus 13 Photo Gallery - Main and Ultrawide CamerasIm a big fan of the colors on the OnePlus 13s images. Theres ample vibrancy in photos without leaning into an oversaturated look. In other words, pictures pop but dont look artificial. The main sensor captures simply beautiful, richly detailed shots with strong low-light performance thanks to a wide f/1.6 aperture and large pixels. The ultra-wide sees only a minimal falloff in quality thats largely the fault of its lower light-gathering capabilities, but it looks much closer in quality to the main sensor in broad daylight. OnePlus 13 Photo Gallery - Telephoto CameraThe telephoto sensor is quite powerful. It zooms in effectively, and though it can appear a little bit soft, it does so while avoiding the artifact-laden looks of an over-sharpened image. It also better preserves contrast and texture for a more natural look. The result may not be the most precise images when zoomed far in, but the photos end up looking half decent. Next to even the Pixel 9 Pros zoom at 10x, I preferred the feel of the OnePlus 13. If youre looking to glean information from a distant zoom, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro are more accurate, though. While the OnePlus 13 allows for 30x and even 100x digital zoom levels, these are practically useless as the autofocus struggles and the visuals in the viewfinder make it hard to anticipate the final product, plus OnePlus applies some very unusual enhancement at these levels that basically ruins the image. The selfie camera rounds out the bunch quite well. Its similarly vibrant, capturing lifelike colors with excellent detail. Whether its the fuzz of my hat or the scruff of my beard, its presented well. Theres a bit of softness noticeable when zooming way into the photos the selfie camera captures, but with the large pictures coming from the 32MP sensor, theres little reason to actually zoom in that far.Video is also fairly impressive on the OnePlus 13. I recorded a bit of 4K/60 Dolby Vision footage strolling around at night, and while it struggled with darker areas, the video looked stunning for brighter subjects, like a Christmas tree. Even at that high recording setting, the camera continued to work with stabilization, allowing me to capture very smooth panning and tracking shots. Slow-mo options are available, but only at 1080p/240 or 720p/480, leaving no option for the sort of slowed-down 4K visuals the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers.Purchasing GuideThe OnePlus 13 has bumped up in price from the prior model, giving it a starting price of $899 for a configuration with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage. This configuration only comes in the Black Eclipse color reviewed here. For $999, youll get a configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage as well as all three color options. It is on sale through OnePlus.com, Best Buy, and will be available at Amazon later on. For at least the first month of sales, until February 7, OnePlus is offering trade-in discounts and $100 off the storage upgrade, bringing the 16GB+512GB configuration down to the same price as the base option. OnePlus is also offering a free OnePlus Watch 2R or OnePlus Buds Pro 3 with purchase.