OnePlus 12 Review: Better Features and Performance
written By Alvi Hosain | August 12, 2024 12:58 PM
For the past 30 days, I’ve been testing the OnePlus 12. In this time, I’ve noticed a lot of interesting things about this phone. Seriously, all the brands are doing something really good. For example, OnePlus is already a very reputable brand, so the expectation has increased for them to make it even better. And don’t mind if I mention anything negative about the OnePlus 12.
What’s new about the device:
Super-bright and slightly curved OLED display
Top Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset
New wide-angle camera with a Sony sensor
New telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom,120X max digital zoom
What I like
- Ergonomic user-friendly design
- Amazing battery life and stellar performance
- Very bright screen
- Exceptional performance
What I don’t like
- Design is too safe
- No new AI features or titanium frames to brag on
- Gets slightly warm under heavier load
- Just four years of software support, less than Google & Samsung
OnePlus 12 Specifications
- Display: 6.82-inch AMOLED, LTPO 3.0, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, 2160Hz PWM dimming
- Resolution: QHD+ 2K (3168 x 1440 pixels)
- SoC: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4nm)
- OS: OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14
- Memory: Up to 24GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB UFS 4.0 storage
- Rear Camera: Triple
- 50MP Sony LYT-808 primary, ƒ/1.6, OIS, PDAF
- 48MP ultrawide, ƒ/2.2, AF
- 64MP Telephoto, 3x Optical zoom, 120x Digital zoom, ƒ/2.6, OIS, AF
- Selfie: 32MP, ƒ/2.4
- Battery: 5400mAh
- Charging: 100W wired, 50W wireless
OnePlus 12 Design
The first thing I like about OnePlus is that they are not changing its design every year like they used to. It’s similar to what Apple and Samsung do, meaning you know for sure it’s a OnePlus phone just by looking at the back. What has changed is the camera module which is now more refined and the phone has got a bit better heft to it and you also get better weight distribution. OnePlus has also changed the “Hasselblad” branding, giving it only a
OnePlus has increased the battery size from 5000mAh to 5400mAh and hence it is a bit thicker now but it doesn’t feel heavy or bulky at all for such a big phone. I also like the smooth matte finish that doesn’t pick up any fingerprints and has a nice feel in the hand.
This year, the OnePlus 12 also got an official IP65 rating which is a slight improvement over the OnePlus 11’s IP64 so slightly better water protection but still I would have liked it if it had an IP68 rating as these days mid-range phones also come with IP68. rating.
OnePlus 12 Display
You get a 6.82-inch, 120Hz 2K AMOLED display here. Now, I don’t know if you have this habit or not, but I have to watch some video or movie when I’m having my dinner, and I must say, the display quality is very good. Like this particular scene, it looks so vivid. Now, the biggest talking point with the display is its brightness level. OnePlus says it goes up to 4500 nits of peak brightness.
The phone feels quite bright indoors while watching movies. Even if you compare it side by side with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it’s equally bright.
I checked on the OnePlus website. They say it’s 1600 nits in high brightness mode in outdoor conditions and all of that. So, 4500 nits only reach specific scenarios under HDR videos. Another thing that was very little advertised is that this is an LTPO 3.0 panel.
Like if you’re doing nothing, the refresh rate is 1Hz. If you use apps like a calculator and all, it goes to 60Hz, and if you play games, it goes to 120Hz. This should save battery life. Also, if any game still opens at 60Hz, you get the option to force an individual app to always run at 120Hz. This feature wasn’t present in the previous Oxygen OS versions, but you get it now.
OnePlus 12 Performance and UI
You also get the top-tier Snapdragon 8Gen 3 chipset here, along with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, so everything is super smooth, as you would expect from a high-end OnePlus device. I also haven’t faced any throttling issues or the phone getting unnecessarily warm, even while using mobile data or testing the cameras.
OnePlus claims to have the industry’s largest vapor chamber cooling area, and during my 30 minutes of PUBG testing, the phone never reached 35 degrees Celsius, so things look promising. By the way, you can play PUBG smoothly at 90 FPS, achieving an excellent 99% FPS here.
I like Oxygen OS’s clean UI. This phone doesn’t have many pre-installed apps. I like that. OnePlus has announced four years of major updates and five years of security updates, so you’ll get Android 19 instead of Android 18
OnePlus 12 Cameras
The OnePlus 12 packs a triple camera setup on the back: a 50-megapixel main wide camera, which is the Lydia 808 sensor. It’s not quite one inch but has the capability of mimicking a one-inch sensor. Then, there’s the 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a new 64-megapixel 3x zoom camera that can digitally zoom up to 6x without noticeable quality loss.
Now, if you’re a fan of using the main wide camera, the new Lydia 808 sensor, in my opinion, takes incredible-looking photos. Out-of-the-camera shots are crisp, and not too overly processed like in years past, but they are contrasty and have good color accuracy. I also like that there’s good subject-to-background separation without the need to use portrait mode, thanks to the new sensor.
Main Wide Camera
In master mode, like I said, you can get slightly different photos. From what I’ve noticed, it seems to balance out the shadows a bit to give the image a balance between contrasting and non-contrasting areas. It also softens the highlights by not overexposing certain parts of the image, and it appears that there’s less post-processing happening in the background. The images are just a little bit softer, which you may or may not like.
master photo
But for me, I like how master mode processes these photos. To be quite honest, I don’t see a huge difference in colors, even though they mentioned that this should be using Hasselblad’s color tuning. I think it looks about the same. In master mode, you can adjust the saturation, contrast, and sharpness, and add a vignette to the photo.
As for the ultrawide and the 3x zoom lens, in my opinion, they’re okay. I think I’ve gotten spoiled with other flagships that have far better sensors than the ones OnePlus used on this phone, like the Oppo Find X7 Ultra and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. Both of these phones use much bigger sensors for both the ultrawide and telephoto lenses.
So, my opinion on these two focal lengths might be a bit harsh just because I’ve seen better photos from other phones, but the shots you can get with the OnePlus 12 are really good for its price. Just know that there are phones out there that can take better ultrawide and telephoto shots.
In terms of video, the OnePlus 12 can film in 4K60 using all lenses and 8K24 using the main wide camera. The OnePlus 12 can shoot good videos, but there’s something about its processing that I don’t necessarily love.
OnePlus 12 Battery And Charging
It feels like battery life is one of those things that almost every manufacturer is just scared to give you too much of. They’ll happily give us two times the screen resolution or five times the camera resolution we need, but not the battery. Maybe companies are worried that you won’t keep upgrading if your battery stays good, or because God forbid, they might have to make the design 0.1 millimeters thicker to accommodate it.
The OnePlus 12 is one of the few standouts, and I rate it for that. It comes with a 5,400 milliamp-hour battery. They’ve gone from zero wireless charging capability to now supporting extremely high-power, 50-watt wireless charging, which can fully charge that massive battery in less than an hour. Although it does require a specific OnePlus charging stand to get that speed. So I’ll probably just stick to my standard Qi charger. It’s got reverse wireless charging to top up your friends’ phones, but then also, also, another 100-watt charging brick that we got in the box. That can take your phone from zero to 100 in 26 minutes.
Verdict
That’s the OnePlus 12 in a nutshell after the updates. It’s a pretty awesome phone for $800, or $900 in my case with this unit that I have. I think OxygenOS, with its minimal and clean UI, looks great and pairs well with the hardware on this phone.
The 80-watt wired charging is awesome, and having fast 50-watt wireless charging is even better, so I can just set the phone down and forget it. There’s nothing else to say other than if you’re looking for a flagship phone that can easily compete with the S24 Ultra, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or even the Google Pixel 8 Pro, but you don’t want to break the bank, this is an awesome pickup.
What’s even better is that OnePlus is offering great trade-in deals on its website that can bring the price down. If you trade in any phone in any condition, you automatically get $100 off. But if you trade in something like an older iPhone, for example, let’s say the 13 Pro, you can pick up the highest tier OnePlus 12 for $460. That’s a huge upgrade from the 13 Pro, in my opinion.
Anyway, that’s been it for this video. If you guys enjoyed this, make sure to hit that subscribe button. Thank you all so much for watching, and I’ll see you all in the next one.
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Alvi Hosain
I am a tech enthusiast with over 1.5 years of experience in phone reviews and gadgets. Passionate about making technology easier for everyone, I focus on creating smartphone reviews and detailed tech guides. Whether exploring the latest devices or providing tips on how to get the most out of your gadgets, I love helping others navigate the world of technology. Known among my friends for solving phone-related problems, I enjoy discussing technology and staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends.
