OnePlus has once again raised the bar in the smartphone industry with its latest flagship release, the OnePlus 12. OnePlus recently introduced the OnePlus 12 alongside the OnePlus 12R, and it’s the top-of-the-line flagship smartphone from the brand and also the successor to last year’s OnePlus 11 5G. The OnePlus 12 is currently the newest and the most powerful OnePlus smartphone featuring a 2K AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate and 4,500 nits high brightness, a 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC with up to 16 GB LPDDR5x RAM, up to 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage, 100W SuperVOOC fast charging, 50W wireless charging, 50 MP Sony LYT-808 main camera, Hasselblad Triple Camera System, Android 14, and more. Here’s what we have to say about the smartphone in our OnePlus 12 review.
OnePlus 12 Specifications & Features
- Display & Design: 6.82-inch LTPO 4.0 curved AMOLED ProXDR display, Quad HD+ resolution (3,168 x 1,440 pixels), 120 Hz adaptive dynamic refresh rate, 4,500 nits peak brightness, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 2,160 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, Ceramic Glass design (Flowy Emerald) Matte Finish Silk Glass design (Silky Black), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection, IP65 dust and water-resistant
- Software: OxygenOS 14, Android 14 operating system
- CPU: 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 octa-core SoC
- GPU: Adreno 750 Graphics
- Memory: 12 GB OR 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM, extended RAM Vita feature
- Storage: 256 GB OR 512 GB UFS 4.0 internal storage, no microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple cameras (50 MP f/1.6 Sony LYT-808 1/1.4″ + 48 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide + macro IMX581 + 64 MP f/2.6 periscope telephoto 3x Omnivision OV64B), 6x in-sensor zoom, 4th Gen Hasselblad Camera System, Optical Image Stabilization, 8K Video Recording (24 fps), LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 32 MP f/2.4 Sony IMX615
- Cellular: 5G network, dual SIMs, dual standby, VoLTE support
- Battery & Charging: 5,400 mAh battery, 100W SuperVOOC fast charging, 50W wireless charging
- Colors: Flowy Emerald, Silky Black
Design, Display, Build Quality
On the design front, the OnePlus 12 flaunts its silk glass back and is available in two captivating color options – Flowy Emerald and Silky Black. The Flowy Emerald variant features emerald green glass technology, adorned with braided channels inspired by the Dart River, creating a mesmerizing visual effect. On the other hand, the Silky Black variant boasts a matte finish with silk glass craftsmanship, exuding sophistication and refinement.
The rear camera module is seamlessly merged into the side frame, the sides have an anti-fingerprint matte aluminum frame, an alert slider that is now moved to the left, and curves on both sides giving you a premium design experience. The overall design of the OnePlus 12 looks solid and feels premium. Both variants are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and are IP65 dust and water-resistant, ensuring durability and resilience against the elements.
The OnePlus 12 sports a stunning 6.82-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED display, offering a crips 2K+ resolution of 3168 x 1440 pixels. With an adaptive dynamic refresh rate of 120 Hz, the display delivers smooth and fluid visuals, enhancing the overall viewing experience. Additionally, the display boasts a super-high peak brightness of 4,500 nits, HDR10+ support, Dolby Vision, and 2,160 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, ensuring vibrant colors and sharp contrast. The display stands out for its extremely high brightness, and clarity, and ranks among the best in the flagship category in this price range.
On the sides, the right side houses a power button and volume controls while the alert slider is moved to the left side. The bottom side offers a USB Type-C port that supports 100W fast charging, data transfer, and audio output through a USB Type-C to 3.5 mm adapter.
Other things you can find at the bottom side are a stereo loudspeaker (with a secondary speaker at the earpiece), a microphone (another at the top), and a dual 5G SIM tray with no microSD card support. We liked the audio output, it’s loud and gives you an immersive experience through its loudspeakers, not forgetting it supports High-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos.
Software, User Interface, & Features
Like its sibling OnePlus 12R, the OnePlus 12 also runs on the new OxygenOS 14, the OnePlus 12 Series smartphones are launched with the new OxygenOS 14 which is based on the Android 14 operating system. The OnePlus 12 uses a security patch of 5th December 2023 with 4 years of Android upgrades and 5 years of security updates from the company ensuring you long-lasting software support.
The OxygenOS 14 is the company’s latest customized user interface that packs loads of features along with all the native perks the Android 14 has to offer. The OxygenOS 14 offers a refreshing UI experience with the optimized Aquamorphic design, smart AI features, Always-on display customizations with tracking and insights, Live Wallpapers, icon packs, fingerprint animations, edge lighting, HyperBoost Gaming Engine, display enhancements, RAM Vita, Zen Mode, Privacy and Security features, and various improvements over its predecessor OxygenOS 14.
The OxygenOS is currently one of the best Android interfaces you can get with a host of features and customizations and is also free from bloatware. We can say that OxygenOS provides one of the best software experiences on the OnePlus smartphones, with its smooth 120 Hz display and fast UI response while interacting, you get snappy UI performance on the phone.
By default, the resolution is set to lower, but you have the option to change the resolution to the highest and refresh rate as well in the Display Settings. You can also tweak the display enhancements, and other display and UI perks on the smartphone.
You don’t get bloatware or any pre-installed apps on the phone, only the essential ones like GApps, Netflix, and a few OnePlus apps, the rest of the UI is just so clean. You will also find traces of OPPO’s ColorOS inside the settings page, a few familiar features in the camera app, and so on.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
OnePlus has once again brought us the newest and the most powerful chip on a smartphone, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. With the latest chip on board, the OnePlus 12 promises to deliver an unparalleled performance for gamers and performance users alike. The OnePlus 12 is equipped with the flagship 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 clocked up to 3.3 GHz with the Adreno 750 GPU for high-end performance.
Additionally, the phone boasts an X70 5G Modem-RF System, an 18-bit Qualcomm Spectra ISP, and dual Cryo-velocity VC cooling for efficient heat dissipation. The device boasts additional features such as Wi-Fi 7 with tri-band connectivity, 5G connectivity, Dolby Atmos sound, Hi-Res Audio (Wired & Wireless), and Spacial Audio.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a 4nm octa-core SoC with 1 + 3 + 2 + 2 core configuration. This includes a high-performance prime core ARM Cortex-X4 clocked at 3.3 GHz, three performance ARM Cortex-A720 cores at 3.2 GHz, two ARM Cortex-A720 cores at 3.0 GHz, and two ARM Cortex-A520 power-efficient cores at 2.3 GHz along with the 12 MB L3 CPU cache. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is significantly faster than all the Snapdragon chips out there and also tops out in its class.
About the storage and RAM, the OnePlus 12 is available in two RAM variants – 12 GB OR 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM that extends up to +12 GB RAM virtually, both featuring the RAM Vita technology. You can extend the RAM up to 24 GB or 28 GB depending on the RAM variant you choose.
On the storage front, the smartphone houses 256 GB UFS 4.0 or 512 GB UFS 4.0 onboard storage without support for microSD cards. The base model i.e. with 256 GB storage with 12 GB RAM priced at ₹64,999 and the top model i.e. 512 GB storage with 16 GB RAM is priced at ₹69,999.
Gamers who want a superior performance from the phone, have the Adreno 750 GPU delivers a top-notch gaming performance and comes with support for Hardware Raytracing making the OnePlus 12 an ideal choice for gamers seeking peak performance in the flagship category. Whether you are playing the latest titles or engaging in intense multiplayer battles, the OnePlus 12 delivers smooth, lag-free gameplay for an immersive gaming experience.
The company boasts its largest-ever vapor chamber cooling with an impressive 9140 mm² area with Laval nozzle technology. The outcome is an exceptional threefold increase in heat dissipation efficiency as per OnePlus, resulting in a temperature reduction of up to 7°C. This ensures that you get a consistently smooth performance while gaming and doing heavy tasks on the smartphone.
Cameras
OnePlus pushes the boundaries of smartphone photography with its state-of-the-art triple camera system powered by Hasselblad on the OnePlus 12. The OnePlus 12 delivers exceptional image quality and versatility for photography enthusiasts. Digging into the cameras, the Hasselblad camera system includes a primary camera of a 50 MP f/1.6 utilizing a 1/1.4-inch Sony LYT-808 sensor. This is the main camera that the smartphone takes regular shots, while the other two cameras are ultra-wide + macro and a periscope lens which is for zoomed shots.
The two secondary cameras are a 48 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide + macro camera using the Sony IMX581 sensor and a 64 MP f/2.6 Omnivision OV64B periscope 3x telephoto camera. The front side has a 32 MP f/2.4 selfie camera with a Sony IMX615 sensor. The ultra-wide + macro combo camera allows you to capture expansive landscapes and intricate close-up shots with great quality.
The smartphone supports OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization), ProXDR, and a bunch of Hasselblad filters and optimizations. The camera system is further enhanced by a range of advanced features, including its Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) for steady shots, 6x in-sensor zoom for enhanced flexibility, and 8K video recording at 24 fps for stunning cinematic footage.
One of the standout features of its camera system is its 64 MP f/2.6 periscope telephoto camera with Omnivision OV64B sensor. This camera offers 3x optical zoom, allowing users to get closer to their subjects without sacrificing image quality. Whether you are capturing distant landscapes or candid portraits, the telephoto camera delivers stunning results with exceptional clarity and detail. Take a look at the shots we took from the OnePlus 12 camera attached below.
The smartphone offers a bunch of modes and features including Hasselblad Camera for Mobile, Nightscape, Dolby Vision, Smart Scene Recognition, Portrait Mode, Master Mode, Panorama, Tilt-Shift mode, Long Exposure, Dual-View Video, Retouch, Movie Mode, XPan Mode, Focus Peaking, Raw file, Raw Plus file, Filters, Super Stable, Video Nightscape, Video HDR, Focus Lock, Time-lapse, Google Lens for the rear setup and Face Unlock, Nightscape Selfie, Selfie HDR, Time-lapse, Dual-View Video, Screen Flash for the selfie camera.
OnePlus 12 Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
The OnePlus 12 is equipped with a larger 5,400 mAh battery compared to its predecessor lineup which equipped a 5,000 mAh. The battery size has grown from 5,000 mAh to 5,400 mAh, however, the charging speed remains the same from the OnePlus 11 5G i.e. 100W SuperVOOC. The OnePlus 12 supports 100W wired as well as 50W wireless charging. The 100W which is a Type-A charger, is rated at 100W (11V, 9.1A) and is capable of charging the OnePlus 12 fully 100% in just 26 minutes while the 50W charger takes 55 minutes to charge completely. It’s equipped with SUPERVOOC S Charging Chip which helps you charge the phone even while you game.
The OnePlus 12 utilizes two dual-cell batteries (2x 2,700 mAh) connected in parallel ensuring rapid charging capabilities. The battery performance has been improved and lasts longer than the OnePlus 11, expect up to two days of battery life depending on your usage patterns.
Verdict – OnePlus 12
The OnePlus 12 has a bunch of impressive features and cutting-edge performance, starting with its high-brightness stunning curved AMOELD display, commendable Hasselblad cameras that promise superior image quality even in zoomed shots, top-notch performance for seamless multitasking, high-end gaming, and lag-free smartphone experience, even during the most demanding tasks.
In addition to these, the OnePlus 12 also has high-speed 100W charging and 50W wireless charging, loud stereo speakers, and the latest perks from OxygenOS 14. The OnePlus 12 offers a complete package that is hard to beat in the price segment. The OnePlus 12 emerges as a strong contender in the flagship segment and is highly recommended for users with a budget above ₹60,000. The OnePlus 12 is the perfect choice for those looking for a premium smartphone experience without breaking the bank.
OnePlus 12 – Where To Buy
The price for the OnePlus 12 is ₹64,999 for its 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage model and ₹69,999 for its 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage model. The smartphone is up for pre-order starting today i.e. 23rd January 2024 and will go on sale on 30th January 2024 on OnePlus.in, OnePlus Store App, OnePlus Experience Stores, Amazon.in, Reliance Digital, Chroma, and select online and offline stores.
OnePlus 12 – Offers & Discounts
The launch offers include ₹2,000 instant bank discount (ICICI and OneCard), up to ₹10,000 trade-in bonus, up to 35% off with the Easy Upgrade program after 24 months (no EMIs), benefits worth ₹2,250 on JioPlus Postpaid, 100 GB Google One, and 3 months YouTube Premium. A special pre-booking offer is available for ₹1,999, where customers can pre-order the OnePlus 12 from 23rd January and also avail no cost EMI for 12 months, the first 1,000 customers who order the OnePlus 12 are entitled to exclusive OnePlus Merchandise, OnePlus 12 and users can link to RCC (Red Cable Club) and avail a special coupon discount of ₹3,000 discount while purchasing the OnePlus Pad, customers can also avail of 50% off on the Accidental Damage Protection Plan, available on OnePlus.in, OnePlus Store App, and OnePlus Experience Stores.
