OnePlus 12 review: Competing with the best, at a lower price

The OnePlus 12 delivers a flagship-quality experience at a lower price than much of the competition.

Pros Stunning screen Great performance Excellent camera Fast charging and good battery Reasonable price

OnePlus has a history of beating the competition on price. For a while, the company was seemingly pushing things into higher price echelons, however finally, that trend seems to have settled a little. In fact, the new OnePlus 12 beats the industry-standard $1,000 price by $100, for a phone that, on paper, looks to be flagship-tier.

But can OnePlus deliver the goods? I’ve been using the OnePlus 12 for a while now to find out.

OnePlus 12 specs

Dimensions6.47 x 2.98 x 0.36 inchesIP ratingIP65Display resolution1440 x 3168 pixelsDisplay size6.82 inchesDisplay typeLTPO AMOLEDDisplay refresh rate120HzDisplay brightness1600 nits typical, 4500 nits peakChipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Memory12GB, 16GB, 24GBStorage256GB, 512GB, 1TBRear camerasWide: 50MP, f/1.6, OIS
Ultrawide: 48MP, f/2.2, 114-degree
Telephoto: 64MP, f/2.6, 3x optical zoomVideo8K 24fps, 1080p 480fpsFront camera32MP, f/2.4PortsUSB-C 3.2Battery size5,400mAhCharging100W wired, 50W wireless, 10W reverse wirelessConnectivityBluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, 5GColorsFlowy Emerald, Silky Black, SilverPrice$899.99

OnePlus 12 design

Oppo group has found its favorite design style, and that carries into the OnePlus 12. That, however, isn’t a bad thing by any means.

The OnePlus 12 has a big round camera module on the back that blends into the frame a little, with a textured glass back. It’s quite a good look, and over the past few years, the general design has been refined into a device that looks and feels very premium. Like other modern OnePlus phones, the device has Hasselblad branding on the camera module, too.

Tech. Entertainment. Science. Your inbox.

By signing up, I agree to the Terms of Use and have reviewed the Privacy Notice.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Around the front, the phone has curved edges, which won’t necessarily be everyone’s favorite design choice. I do prefer a flat display overall, but I’m not as against curved displays as some.

The rest of the design is to be expected. There’s a power button and volume rocker on the right side, with a ringer switch on the left side. On the bottom can be found a USB-C port.

Generally, the OnePlus 12 looks and feels like a premium device, and I like the textured glass feel on the back.

OnePlus 12 display

OnePlus has long included high-end displays in its phones, and the OnePlus 12 is no exception to that rule. The screen on the OnePlus 12 is absolutely stunning.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The OnePlus 12 offers an AMOLED display with 1440 x 3168 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Details are crisp, and the display feels smooth. It gets very bright too — with a peak brightness of a hefty 4,000 nits. The screen supports Dolby Vision and is always on.

If you want a high-end display experience, you actually can’t do much better than the OnePlus 12.

OnePlus 12 performance

The OnePlus 12 is one of the first devices with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and the result is that it’s one of the best-performing phones on the market. That processor is coupled with up to a massive 24GB of RAM (though our model has 16GB), and up to 1TB of storage.

Both in day-to-day performance and during more intensive tasks, the OnePlus performed excellently. I never ran into an issue with the phone stuttering or freezing, and even more intensive games loaded quickly. Basically, expect the OnePlus 12 to be able to handle everything you can throw at it in 2024, and at least for a few years beyond that.

OnePlus 12 battery and charging

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Powering the phone is a 5,400mAh battery, and I found that it was able to easily last through a full day, and well into a second day. In fact, in a video playback test, the phone lasted over 25 hours at full brightness, which is excellent. To be sure, a video playback test doesn’t necessarily indicate how the phone will perform in real-world use, but in my real-world use, I had no issues with the battery life of the phone.

It has some neat charging tech too. The phone can charge at a hefty 100W when connected to a wired charger, and it comes with a charger that supports fast charging speeds. If you prefer wireless charging, you can buy OnePlus’s own 50W wireless charger, which again, can charge the phone at a very fast rate. In fact, OnePlus’ wireless charger is faster than Samsung or Apple’s wired chargers. Lastly, the phone supports 10W reverse wireless charging, which can be handy for charging things like earbuds and wearables.

OnePlus 12 camera

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

On the back of the phone, you’ll get a triple camera array, with a versatile selection of camera sensors that makes for an excellent photography experience. The main camera on the phone sits in at 50 megapixels and it’s coupled with a 64-megapixel telephoto camera that can optically zoom to 3X, and a 48-megapixel ultra wide camera with a 114° field of view.

In the vast majority of scenarios, the phone captured, vibrant and detailed images that looked excellent. In well-lit environments, colors were vibrant and bright, while in low lighting, the phone was able to produce images that looked great. It has some pretty handy zoom tech too. While the camera can optically zoom to 3X, thanks to the high resolution of the telephoto camera it can achieve lossless, quality at up to 6X. And, even up to 10X, I found that images looked detailed and vibrant.

OnePlus 12 software

The software experience on the OnePlus 12 is quite good. The phone comes loaded with OxygenOS 12, which isn’t necessarily the most stock experience, but is full-featured and mostly easy to navigate.

Offering a clean and easy-to-navigate experience isn’t likely to be enough for long — especially given how much the likes of Google and Samsung have begun adopting new AI-based features. For now, these features remain a little niche, so OnePlus doesn’t necessarily lose out by too much by not offering similar features. Rumor has it that OnePlus will be introducing more AI-based features in the near future, though.

Conclusions

The OnePlus 12 is easily one of the best phones out there right now — and it’s cheaper than much of the competition too. At $899, and commonly discounted to $799, the phone undercuts devices like the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro, while remaining on par in terms of specs and performance. If you’re looking for a flagship-tier phone at a lower price, this is it.

The competition

The biggest competition to the OnePlus 12 comes in the form of the Google Pixel 8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Both of these phones are more expensive than the OnePlus 12, so if you could stand to save some cash, the OnePlus 12 is the way to go.

There are still reasons to buy the Pixel 8 Pro or Galaxy S24 Ultra though. For example, the Pixel 8 Pro, in my opinion, has a better software experience and design. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is a better phone overall, with an even more versatile camera and better display.