It could be surprising to watch a modern device hearken back to a moment less than a decade ago. But tech changes rapidly and with the OnePlus 12, it feels like someone created a phone for the pre-AI age. Instead of magic editors and a load of machine intelligence, OnePlus’ new flagship is really straightforward. It boasts a good screen, a strong construction, trustworthy cameras, fantastic performance and even better battery life. So although it won’t assist you recap a meeting or restore a photo, the OP12 handles all the fundamentals with aplomb. And at a starting price of $800 ($200 less than a comparably equipped S24+), it’s a wonderful value too.
Design And Display: A Old-school Silhouette With Current Specifications
The form of the OnePlus 12 looks to be influenced by older phones like the Galaxy S10+, boasting tapered edges and rounded corners. This makes the phone quite easy to carry, the negative is that there is slight distortion around the screen where it curves. Thankfully, OnePlus’ 6.8-inch 3,168 x 1440 panel looks so fantastic you may not notice. It includes a nominal peak brightness of 1,600 nits that can go all the way up to 4,500 nits in certain settings (like intense sunlight), so it never looks dull or faded out. The screen also supports a 120Hz variable refresh alongside a new 2,610Hz PWM (pulse width modulation) technology to assist prevent the screen from flickering when set to very low brightness (under 70 nits).
Around back there’s a big and slightly awkward camera module covered by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 with a nice matte finish. It’s more textured than your normal frosted glass but not as abrasive as the company’s old-school sandstone backs and it feels so lovely I would have a hard time covering it with a case. The OP12 also has an IP65 designation for dust and water resistance, which isn’t nearly as impressive as what you get from competing Samsung and Google phones. However, this is the highest rating ever on a OnePlus and it’s still more than able to handle things like rain and spills. And unlike most handsets these days, OnePlus added an IR blaster so you can instantly alter settings on your TV or speaker without having a specialized remote.
Performance: Super Fast
While the OP12 may have a retro style, its performance is as excellent as it gets for Android devices. It boasts a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU together with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Despite some lackluster benchmarks (which other publications have also found), the phone feels wonderfully smooth. Flipping between programs is incredibly smooth while games load and play without a trace of stuttering. To assist guarantee commonly used applications are always at the ready, OnePlus includes a memory optimization function that can keep up to six programs suspended in the background for up to 72 hours, so you don’t need to reload your favorite game unnecessarily.
Read Also: Google Pixel 9: A Comprehensive Review
Cameras: Hasselblad’s Hefty Module Offers
The OP12’s triple-lens configuration holds up well against the Galaxy S24 series with a 50-MP primary cam, a 48-MP ultra-wide and a 64-MP telephoto camera. During the afternoon, photographs were bright and vivid and I enjoy OnePlus’ more balanced white balance compared to Samsung’s warmer tones. At night, while photographs were just a bit softer and darker than comparative shots I obtained with the S24 Ultra, they weren’t far behind. Finally, using the 3x telephoto camera I managed to take a really fine image of a squirrel despite its best efforts to dart away. Just make sure you disable the option to apply a Hasselblad watermark to your images the first time you run the camera app.
Battery Life And Charging: The Greatest
One of the nicest things about the OnePlus 12 is its battery life and charging speeds. On our local video rundown test, the phone’s 5,400 mAh cell lasted 26 hours and 40 minutes, which is the longest period we’ve observed on any smartphone. That’s more than two hours longer than the S24 Ultra (24:29) and a more than six hour improvement over last year’s OP11 (19:45).
OnePlus unique charging engine also enables fast wired and wireless charging rates. When utilizing its accompanying charging brick and cord, the phone jumped from 10 to 55 percent battery in about 10 minutes. Alternatively, when put on the company’s wireless pad (which is sold separately for $50), the OP12 jumped from 10 to 37 percent battery in 10 minutes. To put that into context, when I ran the same test with the S24U, it only managed to get from 10 to 30 percent battery in 10 minutes using a Samsung charger and a suitable connection. Unfortunately, you’ll only achieve those speeds with OnePlus’ first-party accessories, so if you use normal USB-PD or Qi chargers, things are slower.
Wrap-up
Compared to other big-name phones that are turning to AI to increase their capabilities, the OnePlus 12 is a straightforward handset that combines decent hardware with a sturdy construction. It offers a huge, vibrant display with exceptional performance and unsurpassed battery life. And although OnePlus does intend on introducing AI functions via future software upgrades, the 12 doesn’t require them to create a compelling bundle. And with a starting price of $800, it’s $200 less than an equal Galaxy S24+ and that’s before you consider OnePlus’ offer that knocks off another $100 with the trade-in of any phone, regardless of age or condition. In a world where smartphones are growing increasingly sophisticated, the OnePlus 12 is a basic option that handles all the most important tasks with ease.
