OnePlus’ safety-first charging mode now goes beyond games and reaches more phones

OnePlus' smarter charging tech now works during video editing, navigation, and streaming, keeping phones cooler, faster, and easier on the battery while plugged in.

By Shikhar Mehrotra Published January 30, 2026

A person holding the OnePlus 13. — Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

A couple of days ago, OnePlus announced bypass charging for the OnePlus 13s, limited to the Indian region. Now, the feature is rolling out to more smartphones and to a recently-launched OnePlus tablet.

As part of the latest OxygenOS update, OnePlus is bringing system-wide bypass charging to a couple of older devices, including the OnePlus 13R, the OnePlus 12, and the OnePlus Pad Go 2 (via notebookcheck.net).

What is bypass charging anyway?

For those catching up, bypass charging is a power management and utilization feature that allows a smartphone to draw power directly from the charger (when it’s plugged in), rather than charging the battery.

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Why does this matter, you might ask? Smartphone batteries heat up when charging, which can cause the CPU to throttle. By skipping the battery and rerouting the power to other components, the phone stays relatively cooler and maintains its peak performance for longer (that’s exactly what the feature does on the OnePlus 15).

Bypass charging could be pretty handy, especially for gaming-centric smartphones. However, the way OnePlus has implied the feature is quite different. In addition to video games, the company has enabled the feature for other high-power consumption tasks.

Bypass charging beyond gaming

So, whether you’re editing a high-quality video on your smartphone, using wired Android Auto for navigation, or streaming a new movie on Netflix at full brightness, your eligible OnePlus smartphone will run directly from the charger without putting any additional strain on the battery.

Apart from bypass charging, the update also introduces the latest January 2026 security patch. It also allows OnePlus 13s users to edit 50MP pictures in the Photos app, something that wasn’t possible previously.

The update is currently rolling out to OnePlus 13s and OnePlus 13R in India, with North American availability expected soon. OnePlus 13, on the other hand, seems to have received it in all regions. For the OnePlus 12 and the OnePlus Pad Go 2, the company is following a phased approach. Hence, arrival is confirmed but might be delayed.

Shikhar Mehrotra

News Writer

For more than five years, Shikhar has consistently simplified developments in the field of consumer tech and presented them…

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