The OnePlus 13R is my favorite budget phone — and this Prime Day price makes it an even better value

I loved just about everything associated with the OnePlus 13R when I reviewed the midrange phone earlier this year. But I did not love the fact that OnePlus had stopped offering a sub-$500 model like it had with the previous version. Thankfully, an Amazon Prime Day deal rights that wrong — and you can save even more if you're willing to lock in your new phone with a wireless carrier.

Amazon currently offers the OnePlus 13R for $499, a $100 discount off its usual price. That would be the best price I've seen for the OnePlus 13R since its release earlier this year — if Best Buy were not selling the phone for $499 as well, while taking an extra $100 off if you activate the phone with a wireless carrier at purchase.

OnePlus 13R: was $599 now $399 at Best Buy

You can pick up the OnePlus 13R for $499 at Best Buy if you just want an unlocked version of the phone. But activate the phone with either Verizon or AT&T at checkout and you can save another $100, picking up the phone for $399. (Amazon is selling an unlocked OnePlus 13R for $499 as well.) The OnePlus posts some of the best battery life we've seen with performance that outpaces many other midrange devices.

View Deal

Normally, the OnePlus 13R costs $599 — not a bad price on a phone that offers 256GB storage and the kind of features you normally don't expect from a midrange model. But the OnePlus 12R came in a 128GB version that sold for $499 — a real steal of a deal. With the current sales at Best Buy and Amazon, you can now get the OnePlus 13R for that price, with an additional discount at Best Buy should you activate your phone with either AT&T or Verizon.

The OnePlus 13R really impresses with its battery life, lasting nearly 19 hours on our battery test. (The average phone tops out at 10.5 hours.) While the phone doesn't feature the latest silicon, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering the 13R is recent enough so that you can expect flagship-level performance. And the cameras — not always a strong area for midrange phones — produce solid shots, particularly the telephoto lens.

Don't turn to the OnePlus 13R if you want cutting-edge AI features — that's not the 13R's strong suit. But the OnePlus 13R not only delivers on the basics you'd expect from a smartphone but shatters those expectations. And at a sub-$500 price, it's a deal you need to jump on right away.

If you're looking for deals on other devices, be sure to check out our round-up of Prime Day phone deals.