The OnePlus 12 is the model’s common flagship, which for a number of years has been following one straight line, trying to nail the fundamentals. It is the flagship that many OnePlus followers will attain out for (versus the pricier Open), however in contrast to earlier fashions, there appears to be no seen compromise. You get a really succesful digital camera system from the OnePlus Open, an IP ranking and even wi-fi charging. However one space OnePlus has stayed silent about is AI. In contrast to Google’s Pixel 8 sequence and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 sequence, the 12 has no user-facing and enjoyable generative AI software program options. Apple, too, is anticipated to announce a number of generative AI options with iOS 18 this yr.
So, is the dearth of AI-enabled contains a huge deal in a smartphone phase that has stagnated over time? Or has OnePlus finished sufficient to make one overlook concerning the absence of AI options? Let’s discover out.
OnePlus 12 Evaluation: Value in India
In contrast to the OnePlus Open, the OnePlus 12 is on the market in two variants. The seen bump in its price ticket (from Rs. 56,999) appears justifiable provided that the bottom variant now gives 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is priced at Rs. 64,999. The second variant, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, retails at Rs. 69,999, which appears fairly aggressive, conserving the {hardware} on supply.
The OnePlus 12 is on the market in Flowy Emerald and Silky Black. We obtained the Flowy Emerald end of the 512GB variant for overview.
Within the field, OnePlus gives a gentle TPU case, a Kind-A to Kind-C charging cable and a 100W charger. This looks like fairly a handful, provided that Samsung’s Galaxy S24 solely gives a charging cable within the field.
OnePlus 12 Evaluation: Design
The OnePlus 12 sticks to its roots in the case of design and selection of fabric. In contrast to the OnePlus Open, which was a step in a distinct path altogether, the OnePlus 12 builds on the larger modifications. These had been caused by the OnePlus 10 Professional, which launched the odd-looking, gasoline stove-like format. With time, this format, which began off with 4 digital camera cutouts (considered one of which was for the dual-LED flash) set right into a sq. with rounded corners, developed right into a round module, which seemed to be pressed into the raised glass rear panel on the OnePlus 11.
The OnePlus 12’s curved glass display screen has curved edges on the prime and backside as properly
For the brand new OnePlus 12, OnePlus goes with a flat glass rear panel and a similar-looking round digital camera module, with the identical wraparound design on the left aspect of the body. To make it seem totally different, the corporate went with a flat holder for the round digital camera module, which has flat glass fitted into the round holder that resembles a premium timepiece and appears very stylish. However for some motive, this one is not completed to the standard OnePlus requirements.
The half the place the digital camera module wraps across the fringe of the body is sort of sharp at each corners, and the plastic filler that connects each the digital camera module and mid-frame collectively appears a bit misaligned as properly, leading to a noticeable ridge, which breaks the seamlessness of the curved flap. I’ve inspected another OnePlus 12 items, and the sharp corners, together with the misaligned filler, certainly appear to be a design and high quality oversight. These tolerances certainly appear to be just like those initially reported by some customers in China on the launch.
The wrap-around digital camera module has some actually sharp edges close to the mid-frame with some misaligned plastic fillers
Fortunately, these misalignments and becoming points do not seem to have an effect on the IP ranking of the gadget. The IP65 ranking additionally surprisingly aligns with the above, so there is no motive for a person to immerse the cellphone in water as it is just designed to deal with splashes of it. It is a bit limiting as a number of smartphones in and beneath this phase supply an IP67 or IP68 ranking for mud and water resistance.
As for the end, I just like the polished metallic body, which provides a stage of grip, given the superbly textured glass of the Flowy Emerald end. Followers shall be blissful to see the return of the long-lasting Alert Slider, however for causes finest identified to OnePlus, it is now situated on the left aspect as an alternative of the precise. The facility and quantity buttons are actually on the precise. It is a format just like the OnePlus Open in an unfolded state.
OnePlus 12 Evaluation: Specs and software program
As at all times, this flagship has the newest and finest core {hardware} accessible. This would come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, there is a most of 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and as much as 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage however no room for storage enlargement. The fingerprint reader is embedded into the show, is of the optical selection, and labored reliably in the course of the course of this overview.
Communication requirements embrace Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC and assist for a number of international satellite tv for pc positioning techniques. There’s additionally assist for loads of 5G bands and house for 2 bodily nano SIM slots and dual-5G standby.
The cellphone seems to be and feels fairly premium and likewise has an official IP65 ranking this yr
The cellphone has a 5,400mAh (dual-cell) battery, and OnePlus features a 100W charger within the field. Nevertheless, charging speeds are capped at 80W. The cellphone additionally gives 50W wi-fi charging utilizing the corporate’s proprietary wi-fi charging dock, which is bought individually at Rs. 5,499.
The cellphone runs OxygenOS 14.0, which is predicated on Android 14. OnePlus guarantees 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety updates, which appears adequate. As for the OxygenOS 14, it just about seems the identical because the earlier model of the ColorOS-derived software program.
Among the many minor visible updates is one thing new referred to as Fluid Cloud capabilities like iOS’s Dwell Actions. The characteristic provides a Dynamic Island-inspired capsule on the acute left within the standing bar that gives related knowledge (like a countdown timer for a supply service) for native and third-party apps. Like iOS, you may faucet and maintain the capsule to increase it to an even bigger card with further buttons (to pause or cease the exercise) or faucet as soon as to open the app itself. The identical knowledge additionally seems on the lock display screen as properly. The characteristic can also be accessible on the Android 14 variations of Oppo’s ColorOS and Realme UI 5.0 (referred to as Flash Capsule).
OxygenOS 14’s Fluid Cloud works properly however is proscribed to some apps.
Additionally new is Sensible Recommendations, which works with Fluid Cloud on the house display screen and on the lock display screen but in addition exhibits related updates from Zomato and Swiggy (for now) on the At all times-on Show (AOD). It is a nifty new characteristic that takes benefit of the cellphone’s AOD characteristic, decreasing the necessity to decide up your cellphone, unlock it, and verify notifications for updates.
Whereas the general software program expertise is fairly polished, the cellphone doesn’t supply any generative AI software program options, which is the present social gathering trick for premium units this yr. There are just a few AI-enabled options for those who search for them, like Sensible Contact, which mainly extracts textual content from a screenshot. Sensible Imaging Matting, based on Oppo, additionally makes use of AI to chop out individuals and objects from pictures, however that is one thing now we have already seen on Samsung units and even on iPhones prior to now yr, so it is nothing new.
This isn’t simply the case with OnePlus but in addition with all manufacturers underneath the BBK Electronics umbrella, as was the case with Vivo X100 Professional, which is priced at Rs. 89,999. Whereas Google and Samsung appear to have made a enjoyable and helpful use-case for his or her respective generative AI capabilities, it has certainly but to come back to the purpose the place a client will begin to count on or demand such options from each flagship smartphone.
With Samsung and Google becoming a member of palms to push for extra generative AI options on their respective smartphones, the BBK manufacturers will quickly begin to miss out and threat dropping clients if they do not cook dinner up one thing attention-grabbing in coming updates. That is extra so as a result of Apple, which has for lengthy steering cleared of “AI” can also be anticipated to go huge on it with its iOS 18 software program replace.
OnePlus 12 Evaluation: Efficiency
With the newest {hardware} inside, my expectations, whether or not it was the person expertise with software program or uncooked efficiency in artificial benchmarks, had been sky-high. Software program efficiency is buttery easy, however benchmarks even with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC come up quick when in comparison with the iQoo 12 (additionally Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) and had been noticeably much less when in comparison with the Vivo X100 Professional (MediaTek Dimensity 9300), particularly in AnTuTu and Geekbench. The OnePlus 12 scored 1,629,220 factors on AnTuTu, whereas Vivo’s X100 Professional managed 2,020,631 factors on the identical check.
As for uncooked efficiency, the cellphone performs properly whereas enjoying Name of Obligation: Cell. It simply manages 120fps when set to ‘medium’ graphics and ‘extremely’ body fee. Setting the graphics and body fee to Very Excessive additionally appears to not stress out this cellphone. Extra importantly, the massive vapour chamber cooling system does its job of conserving the cellphone cool each when enjoying high-end 3D video games and even when utilizing the digital camera app to shoot 4K movies again to again.
The OnePlus 12 (proper) seems very totally different from its foldable cousin, the Open (left)
Extra importantly, the 120Hz show retains up, with the contact sampling fee being on level and really correct, making this a really dependable cellular gaming machine. The show exhibits largely correct colors when considered within the Professional Display screen color mode. Photos and textual content seem tack sharp at 510 ppi. The OnePlus 12 nonetheless stays one of many solely smartphones to supply such a high-resolution QHD+ show at this worth level, and I had this set to its full decision in the course of the overview.
With 4,500 nits of peak brightness, outside utilization shouldn’t be an issue both. However this additionally works properly in its favour when watching HDR10+ or Dolby Imaginative and prescient content material on supported streaming apps. The ProXDR show additionally comes into use when viewing pictures of their full dynamic vary, and the identical applies to Dolby Imaginative and prescient 4K 30fps video recordings, which the cellphone is able to. The audio high quality is fairly good as properly, and it sounded very immersive whereas enjoying video games. It was additionally ample when it got here to watching the video. Aqua Contact additionally works fairly properly when there’s water on the show and could be a lifesaver on wet days, provided that the cellphone lastly helps an IP65 ranking.
The cellphone’s QHD+ show may be very sharp and will get actually vivid at 4,500 nits of peak brightness
Battery life can also be equally spectacular. The cellphone managed a stable 28 hours and 6 minutes in our normal video loop battery check, which was properly above expectations for a smartphone each at this worth level and above. With every day utilization, I simply managed round 9 hours of screen-on time or a few day and a half of heavy utilization (related to each knowledge and W-Fi), which additionally included digital camera utilization, an hour of gaming and about 3 hours of video streaming.
And when the battery did ultimately die out, charging it was fairly quick, with the 80W capped wired charging managing 99 % in half-hour and finishing the cost in 37 minutes. Wi-fi charging can also be accessible, however OnePlus didn’t present us with their AirVOOC charger, so we couldn’t check it.
OnePlus 12 Evaluation: Cameras
The OnePlus 12 packs a formidable digital camera setup, which has been largely borrowed from the OnePlus Open, the corporate’s book-style foldable. Its main digital camera’s Sony LYT-808 50-megapixel sensor is barely totally different from the Sony LYT-T808 digital camera used on the OnePlus Open, however the outcomes are very related. The primary variations I seen when evaluating the 2 had been right down to focusing pace and reliability together with barely superior picture processing, which might be right down to the marginally superior ISP within the new SoC because the OnePlus Open has a barely older Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.
This yr’s digital camera module has been impressed by wristwatches
The first digital camera captures detailed photographs with glorious distinction and color, displaying loads of particulars in shadows and never going overboard within the brighter areas of the scene. Sharpness is on level, and particulars are glorious, whether or not it is textured surfaces and even foliage. Low mild efficiency additionally comes fairly shut however drops a bit by way of element and dynamic vary.
OnePlus 12 digital camera samples. High to backside: Extremely-wide, main and telephoto (3X) (faucet increase photographs)
Just like the OnePlus Open, the 64-megapixel 3X telephoto digital camera is the showstopper and manages jaw-droppingly spectacular pictures in every kind of lighting circumstances. Photos of objects and topics come out fairly sharp, even underneath synthetic mild, with a pure bokeh. It is glorious for portrait pictures of pets and other people alike, and I loved utilizing this one to snap pictures of my 4-year-old. Nevertheless, this digital camera prioritises publicity over shutter pace and can’t deal with transferring topics properly. So, regardless of packing OIS, there are possibilities that your topic might seem a bit blurry in the event that they transfer throughout seize. When it comes to zoom, the cellphone manages good pictures as much as 6X (lossless in-sensor zoom), past which picture high quality begins to deteriorate.
The first digital camera (prime) captures good pictures in low mild, however the telephoto digital camera (backside) performs even higher (faucet picture to increase)
One element that OnePlus has, for some motive, nonetheless not managed to repair (even on the Open after updates) is the white steadiness of its telephoto digital camera. Pictures captured with it seem fairly heat and saturated in comparison with the first digital camera, which is nearer to correct. This leads to pictures that seem yellowish, particularly when taking pictures one thing largely white.
Given how properly the first and the telephoto carry out, I did count on the ultra-wide to carry out equally properly (hoping that the brand new SoC would make a distinction), but it surely handles imaging in the identical method the Open did. Whereas they give the impression of being alright on the cellphone, they lack sharpness and element and someway appear a bit gentle, not simply in low mild however in daylight as properly. Certainly, these are removed from what Google’s Pixel 8 Professional manages, however it’s priced quite a bit greater.
The OnePlus 12 shoots detailed selfies in daylight (prime) however doesn’t carry out properly in low mild (backside) (faucet photographs to increase)
Macro pictures pack in plenty of element, and the telephoto digital camera additionally lets me shoot close-ups that seem fairly sharp. Selfies come out properly with good dynamic vary, correct pores and skin tones and edge detection in daylight, however low-light photographs are fairly common and depart quite a bit to be desired.
Video high quality has notable enhancements over the OnePlus 11, footage captured at 4K seems very secure and exhibits barely vibrant color as properly. Dynamic vary is superb, and so is the bitrate. High quality takes a slight hit in low mild, however noise is stored to a minimal. Colors are in verify, and stabilisation can also be dealt with properly. I additionally tried out the 8K video, which nonetheless feels a bit gimmicky, provided that the cellphone can not deal with a gentle framerate whereas taking pictures.
OnePlus 12 Evaluation: Verdict
The OnePlus 12 performs properly on all fronts and simply outdoes the smartphone it replaces. And so, it is easy to suggest as an improve even for individuals who personal the earlier mannequin.
OnePlus has adopted its common system and delivered a smartphone that matches in completely between the sub-Rs. 50,000 premium units and the high-end sub-Rs 90,000 phase, which incorporates units like Google’s Pixel 8 (Evaluation) (begins from Rs. 75,999) and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 (begins from Rs. 79,999). Nevertheless, each of those contenders do pack some cool AI tips which the OnePlus 12 correctly avoids.
If you’re the sort that wishes to check out one thing new and hop aboard the AI bandwagon, then the latter two are a better option. However for those who do not care about AI, it is actually onerous to disregard the OnePlus 12 because it gives glorious worth for cash, getting you an even bigger (and higher show), higher efficiency, versatile cameras and glorious battery life (with wi-fi charging) for much less.
