This understated OnePlus 13 characteristic got here in actual helpful on my trip

I understand that having three telephones on you always is a bit overkill for the common particular person, however I take advantage of every one just about day by day for one thing, whether or not it’s to snap a photograph, seize a screenshot, or act as a hotspot for my different gadgets.

Lately, I took an 11-day cruise by the Canary Islands and the encircling areas. Throughout this journey, I used to be very glad I had the OnePlus 13, specifically, with me in my baggage. Somewhat-known characteristic of the cellphone got here in actual helpful: the infrared (IR) blaster.

An IR blaster just isn’t a standard characteristic of even the perfect Android telephones today. A decade in the past, many telephones had one, however identical to with microSD card slots and headphone jacks, IR blasters acquired phased out. In truth, I believe the OnePlus 13 and its mid-tier sibling, the OnePlus 13R, are the one two telephones from the previous 12 months with an IR blaster you could purchase in america.

Being able to ship and obtain IR alerts in your smartphone is extremely helpful for a lot of causes. For me, on the cruise, what got here in actually helpful about it was its means to blast alerts to the Samsung tv in my room. By downloading a common distant management app from the Play Retailer, I may use the OnePlus 13 as a TV distant, permitting me to bypass among the restrictions placed on the TV by the cruise line.

For these of you who’re unaware, the in-room televisions in some cruise ships and lodges are inclined to have customized software program on the TVs that restricts you to solely utilizing them for watching hotel-sanctioned content material. For instance, I couldn’t use the TV distant (and even the TV itself) to modify inputs in my stateroom on the ship. This prevented me from hooking up my laptop computer to look at motion pictures from my Plex server, play video video games, and so on.

With a common distant app on the OnePlus 13, I may bypass this restriction. As soon as I had all of it arrange, I may swap inputs, change the channel, flip the amount up/down, and much more utilizing the cellphone. This saved the day on a wet, at-sea day by which my household and I have been bored. All of us piled into my stateroom and watched Casablancawhich might have been inconceivable with out the OnePlus 13.

Whereas I used to be so comfortable the OnePlus 13 had an IR blaster for my cruise, I can’t assist however marvel how for much longer its telephones will include this often-dismissed characteristic. As I mentioned, only a few telephones within the US have an IR blaster, and it’s turning into much less in style in different elements of the world, too. When you take a look at this record of all telephones launched in 2024 and later with an IR blaster, you’ll see a number of model names lacking, comparable to Samsung, Google, Apple, Motorola, and Sony. It appears to be like like BBK manufacturers (vivo, OPPO, OnePlus, and realme) and Xiaomi manufacturers (Xiaomi, Redmi, and Poco) are largely holding the candle for IR blasters proper now.

I don’t have any thought how many individuals really use the IR blaster, however I can’t think about it’s too many, contemplating everybody with a Galaxy cellphone or iPhone (the overwhelming majority of individuals within the US) doesn’t have one. With out that mass of individuals to maintain the characteristic alive, it’s doable IR blasters aren’t lengthy for this world — not less than within the US market.

Nonetheless, I used to be comfortable the OnePlus 13 had one on my cruise. Now I do know to all the time hold a cellphone fitted with an IR blaster in my baggage for journeys. You by no means know when it may come in useful!

Do you depend on an IR blaster in your smartphone, or do you utilize a distinct gadget for that, comparable to a Flipper Zero? Do you want your cellphone had an IR blaster? Let me know within the feedback, and make sure you reply our ballot at the start of this text!