At first glance, you might say that the OnePlus 12 seems a lot like the previous model. However, there have been some upgrades, like a larger battery, a bigger and brighter screen, and revamped cameras. Despite that, the appearance of the cameras is the same this time around, inside a circular watch-like island which extends from a wraparound piece on the frame.
The OnePlus 12's back is made of Gorilla Glass 5, and in this colorway, the finish is smooth and matte with marbled accents. Both the back and the display curve into the aluminum frame, and the phone isn't light; it's rather a bit hefty. One interesting detail is that if the camera bump catches the light, you'll see a small accent that's glitter, not specks of dust.
Speaking of dust, the OnePlus 12 has IP65-rated ingress protection against dust and water. That means you get full dustproofing and protection against splashes, but not against full submersion. A OnePlus tradition is back as well: the alert slider. It's clicky and an easy way to turn your phone on silent.
Key Specs of OnePlus 12
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.82-inch |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| Front Camera | 32-megapixel |
| Rear Camera | 50-megapixel + 64-megapixel + 48-megapixel |
| RAM | 12GB, 16GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery Capacity | 5400mAh |
| OS | Android 14 |
| Resolution | 1440x3168 pixels |
Complete review of OnePlus 12
Screen Specs and Features
As mentioned, the display is larger this year. It's a 6.82-inch OLED with a QHD resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection. The display looks great; it's extra sharp with a pixel density of 510 PPI. The bezels surrounding the display are nicely slim too, and you have support for HDR10+ video and Dolby Vision.
The OnePlus 12 also supports HDR for photos in the gallery. Like on Samsung's new flagships, this screen is plenty bright too. It depends on the color setting, but when switched to Vivid, we measured a maximum of nearly 850 nits with a manual slider, and this boosted to 1250 nits in auto mode when exposed to bright light.
The panel also uses LTPO technology, so it's extra adaptive. You have the 120Hz refresh rate to smooth out your swiping, and that's able to dial down to as low as 1Hz when idling to save energy. And like on the OnePlus 11, you get support for high frame rate gaming.
Stereo Speakers Test
The OnePlus 12 has a pair of stereo speakers. They earned a good rating for loudness, and sound quality is better than last year, a bit bolder in the low end while vocals are equally nice. You can listen for yourself through the provided link.
Biometrics
For biometrics, there's an under-display fingerprint reader, and it's quite fast and reliable. The global model of the OnePlus 12 comes with 256 or 512 gigs of storage onboard, and that isn't expandable through microSD.
Interface and Software
The interface of the phone is OnePlus's OxygenOS 14 on top of Android 14. The look, feel, and experience are basically identical to what you'd get on an Oppo or Realme phone since they all come from the same manufacturer.
The major differences here are a custom font and specific OnePlus clock styles with red accents for the always-on display. Something else worth mentioning is that there's an IR blaster on the OnePlus 12 so you can use it to control appliances with. If you want to find out more about the specific features of ColorOS, you can actually check out our dedicated RealUI video.
Performance: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
As a new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship, it makes sense that the OnePlus 12 packs the latest and greatest Qualcomm chipset. A Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This chipset is known for having significantly better performance than the previous Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Plus. It can provide much-improved ray tracing for games. Actually, the CPU benchmark scores are lower here than expected, especially in the default performance mode.
This is improved with the high-performance mode on, but still falls behind other current flagships with the same chipset. The GPU was always working at full power though, and the peak graphics performance is great. When it comes to sustained performance, the OnePlus 12 is comparable to other recent flagships. During our prolonged stress tests, the CPU performance throttled but was relatively stable, and the phone was able to maintain about 55% of maximum GPU performance, which is par for the course.
Battery Endurance and Charging Test
A welcome development this year is the increase in battery capacity to 5400mAh hours. The OnePlus 12 scored an overall active use score of 14 hours and 11 minutes with a nice combination of scores across different categories. Like last year, the OnePlus 12 comes with a 100W charger for those speedy top-ups. In our testing, the phone was able to charge from 0 to 70% in 15 minutes, and a full charge took 24 minutes. You also get support for 50W fast wireless charging here.
Camera Specs
Now, onto the cameras. You get a 50-megapixel main camera with a new sensor, a new 64-megapixel 3x telephoto cam, and a 48-megapixel ultra-wide cam with autofocus. During the day, the main camera captures great photos. There's plenty of detail rendered naturally without looking over-processed, and there's no noise to speak of. Dynamic range is wide, and the contrast is nice too.
Colors are well-saturated, though sometimes the white balance has a yellowish-greenish tinge. Two times digital zoom from the main cam is good but not wow level, with just an okay level of detail. In low light, there's night mode processing, which is applied automatically. The main cam's photos are superb with excellent exposure and nicely wide dynamic range, with well-developed tonal extremes.
Colors remain well-saturated too. The OnePlus 12 supports video recording up to 4K resolution. Those captured by the main cam are good but not perfect. The detail level is average to good, and the dynamic range is good as well. But the main cam's footage seems a bit overexposed. The white balance is a bit off too.
Electronic stabilization is excellent with smooth pans and virtually no walking shake. There's no focus hunting and no jello effect either. In low light, the main camera produces good footage. The dynamic range is pretty great, the detail is okay, and colors are on point.
Now we have the telephoto cam. At three times zoom, photos are excellent, sharp, and detailed. One plus is with a bit more contrast than we like, but it's not an issue. One of this camera's main virtues is its ability to focus relatively close, allowing you to take detailed shots of small subjects. Thus, not to be confused with the macro mode that uses the ultra-wide camera.
A six-time zoom is also available, and the quality is decent with all right detail. In low light, the OnePlus 12 takes nice three-time zoom photos. Detail is great in well-lit areas, and there's a good deal of it in the shadows too. The dynamic range isn't the widest though, and the exposure could use a bit of a boost. Three times zoomed 4K videos have a decent level of detail, and dynamic range is okay. There's again a tendency for the white balance to lean toward yellowish or greenish.
The OnePlus 12's ultra-wide camera is solid, delivering good detail. The dynamic range is pretty great; the skies come out looking really expressive. Colors are usually very likable as well, though some outdoor scenes may look a bit desaturated. Like I mentioned earlier, you can use the ultra-wide cam to take macro close-ups, but these have less detail and a more distorted perspective than you'd get from the zoom camera.
- Brand: OnePlus
- Model Name: OnePlus 12
- Network Service Provider: Unlocked for All Carriers
- Operating System: OxygenOS
- Cellular Technology: 5G
- Price: ₹64,999
Low light photos from the ultra-wide don't disappoint. They're well-exposed with wide dynamic range, lively colors, and very good detail. When it comes to 4K video, the ultra-wide's detail level is average, and the dynamic range is okay again. The white balance is off.
Selfies are captured by a 32-megapixel front-facing cam, and you get a decent level of detail. White balance is on point, and colors are generally likable.
Technical Details of OnePlus 12
Watch the Review of OnePlus 12
Final Thought
We appreciate the upgrades it's gotten since last year's model, and the result is a solid flagship with a unique look and nice cameras. Our only real complaints would be that the ingress protection isn't IP68 like you get on other flagships, and the quality of video recording isn't as good as on other camera phones.
Still, the OnePlus 12 does have a lot going for it, and if you're looking for a high-end phone, it could be worth looking into.
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