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UPDATE (July 2, 2024): OnePlus has started rolling out a new update to the OnePlus 12. This update includes a June 2024 Android security patch and various other changes. You can read more about it at the very end of the article.
The OnePlus 12 launched on December 5, 2013. That is the phone’s initial launch in the company’s homeland, China. The global launch happened on January 23, 2024. That being said, those two phones are almost identical. They only differ in terms of available RAM/storage and pre-installed software (different markets). The OnePlus 12 is actually quite powerful, and it does resemble the OnePlus 11 that arrived at the beginning of this year. It does bring a number of improvements in comparison, across the board. A much brighter display is used here, with a more powerful processor, and more powerful cameras. Wireless charging made a comeback with this phone, after skipping the OnePlus 11, and so on. There’s plenty to talk about here, so let’s get to it, starting with the specifications.
OnePlus 12 specs
The OnePlus 12 features a 6.82-inch QHD+ (3168 x 1440) AMOLED display. That panel is curved, and it has a centered display camera hole. We’re looking at an LTPO AMOLED display here with an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). Its max brightness is 4,500 nits, and high-frequency 2,160Hz PWM dimming is also a part of the package. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protects this display. The screen-to-body ratio here is also quite high at 93.5%.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 fuels this handset, Qualomm’s most powerful chip. OnePlus offers 12GB, 16GB, and 24GB (China only) LPDDR5X RAM variants of the phone. 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB (China only) storage flavors are available. A 5,400mAh battery is included in the package, along with 100W (80W in the US) wired charging. 50W wireless charging is also on offer, and the same goes for 10W reverse wireless charging. Do note that a 100W charger is a part of the package too.
It has a rather modern main camera sensor on the back
A 50-megapixel main camera (Sony LYT-808 sensor) sits on the back, with a wide-angle lens. A 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (OmniVision’s OV64B camera, 3x optical zoom, 6x “in-sensor zoom”) is also included, as is a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera (Sony’s IMX581 sensor, 114-degree FoV). A 32-megapixel selfie camera sits on the phone as well. Android 14 comes pre-installed here with OxygenOS 14 on top of it.
OnePlus also included advanced cooling here, with a larger vapor chamber. The phone is IP54 certified for water and dust resistance, while it supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. OnePlus also included USB 3.2 Gen 1 here, and a new vibration motor. The OnePlus 12 measures 164.3 x 75.8 x 9.15mm, while it weighs 220 grams.
How much does the OnePlus 12 cost?
The OnePlus 12 is available in two different configurations outside of China, four in OnePlus’ homeland. We’ll focus on global models. The most affordable model includes 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The pricier one comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. All models have LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The storage is non-expandable.
Those two models are priced at $799.99 and $899.99 in the US. Pricing in Europe and other markets outside of China is higher than in the US. That goes for all European countries where the phone is available in, and the pricing does differ.
Where can I buy the OnePlus 12?
When it comes to purchasing the OnePlus 12, you have three options in the US. You can get it from OnePlus.com, Best Buy, or Amazon. You can even offer ANY phone in ANY condition via OnePlus in order to get a $100 discount. So the pricing really starts at $699.99. In European markets, you’ll be able to get the phone from OnePlus.com and Amazon, plus various retailers locally. The pricing differs from one market to the next within Europe.
What carriers does it work on?
The OnePlus 12 is not being sold via any carrier in the US. Still, if you decide to buy it, you should be able to use it on basically any carrier without a problem. It’ll work on all three major carriers in the US, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. It will also work on various MVNOs from those three companies. You can contact your carrier just to be sure, but there should be no problems to get this phone going.
What colors does the OnePlus 12 come in?
The OnePlus 12 was announced in three color variants, black, green, and white. Only two of them are available globally, though, black and green. The black variant combines a black frame with a black backplate. The green model has a green frame and a green backplate, though its backplate has a rather interesting pattern on it. The white model has a metallic silver frame and a white backplate, which is also the only model that has a glossy backplate. All three variants combine metal and glass, by the way, and the colors of their camera modules on the back are in line with the smartphone colors.
What new upgrades does the OnePlus 12 have over the OnePlus 11?
The OnePlus 11 was, and still is, a great smartphone. There’s no denying that. However, the OnePlus 12 is better in a number of ways, at least on paper. OnePlus decided to cut corners with the OnePlus 11, to a degree, when it omitted wireless charging, for example. The same did not happen with the OnePlus 12. It really does feel like the company went all out this time around, and the OnePlus 12 is stacked with top-of-the-line specs and features. Let’s see what are the improvements here, shall we?
Much brighter display
The OnePlus 12 comes with an LTPO AMOLED display like its predecessor, but this one has one major advantage. It is much, much brighter. The OnePlus 11’s brightness peaked at 1,300 nits, while the OnePlus 12 goes all the way up to 4,500 nits. Realistically, that is a level of brightness that you’ll never reach, but the point is, this display gets super bright. It gets more than bright enough for usage in direct sunlight, and at the time of the announcement, that was the brightest display in any smartphone. It does have an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz), high-frequency PWM dimming (which Samsung, Google, and Apple lack), and more.
More powerful SoC
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 comes included in the OnePlus 12. That is Qualcomm’s most powerful chip to date. That chip is more powerful than its predecessor, and allegedly also 20% more efficient, at least based on benchmarks and what OnePlus said. It seems to be heating up a bit more, but that’s what OnePlus’ advanced cooling is here for, so that realistically should not be an issue. The point is, the company used basically the best SoC it could get its hands on.
Wireless charging
Unlike the OnePlus 11, the OnePlus 12 does support wireless charging. In fact, it supports 50W wireless charging, just like the OnePlus 10 Pro did. That wireless charging is still faster than what most of the competitors offer. It’s a far cry from what Apple, Google, and Samsung have to offer. On top of that wireless charging, the OnePlus 12 can also be recharged via 100W wired charging, which is another plus, not to mention that a charger is included in the box.
Reverse wireless charging
For those of you who are wondering, yes, reverse wireless charging is included too. That’s another feature that is making a comeback, after being omitted with the OnePlus 11. The OnePlus 12 supports 10W reverse wireless charging, which is plenty for charging up your wireless earbuds, smartwatch, or something similar. Most people seem to be using it to recharge their truly wireless earbuds, though.
More compelling camera setup with a periscope telephoto lens
The OnePlus 12 basically picked up its camera setup from the OnePlus Open. The phone has an immensely capable LYT-808 main camera, which is backed by a periscope telephoto camera from OmniVision. That periscope camera is, in addition to the main camera, a true upgrade over the OnePlus 11, which offered 2x optical zoom. This camera offers 3x optical zoom, and 6x in-sensor zoom. Those 6x shots are actually really good, if the OnePlus Open is any indication. The ultrawide camera is nothing to write home about, but it proved itself in the past. It’s a really compelling camera setup as a whole.
Faster storage across the board
The OnePlus 11 did offer UFS 4.0 flash storage too, but not in all models. The phone with 128GB storage had UFS 3.1 storage, while the other models offered UFS 4.0. Well, there’s no such division here. All variants of the OnePlus 12 offer UFS 4.0 flash storage. On top of that, all of them offer LPDDR5X too, in case you were wondering. So you won’t get an inferior phone just for getting less RAM or storage.
Advanced cooling system
OnePlus is using an advanced cooling system inside the OnePlus 12. OnePlus is using a big vapor chamber and a dual-cycle heat dissipation structure inside the OnePlus 12. That is way more advanced than most of its competitors are using. It should help keep the phone at a good temperature at all times, even when you want the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to show its muscles in a demanding game or something.
New vibration motor
On top of everything else I’ve listed here, the OnePlus 12 also comes with a new vibration motor. OnePlus wanted to improve the haptics inside the OnePlus 12, and this should definitely help with that. OnePlus is using a new ‘N54 magnetic material’ here, and it remains to be seen how good it actually feels to use.
What cases are available for the OnePlus 12?
OnePlus is offering two cases for the OnePlus 12, at least in the US. You case choose between a ‘Sandstone Bumper Case’ and the ‘Aramid Fiber Bumper Case’. The first one costs $19.99, while the latter will set you back $29.99. Both are available in a single color, black. You can see them both below, where you’ll also find purchase links.
Buy the OnePlus 12 Sandstone Bumper Case (OnePlus)
Buy the OnePlus 12 Aramid Fiber Bumper Case (OnePlus)
Should I buy the OnePlus 12?
Is the OnePlus 12 the right phone for you? That is, per usual, a question only you can answer. We can help you come to a conclusion, though. We’ve been using the phone for a while now, prior to launch, and it’s a very impressive device. It’s more powerful than its predecessor, and it brings fast wireless charging back into the fold. It comes with a more advanced cooling system, and the phone can handle a lot of performance stress.
The display is brighter than ever, and the cameras have been considerably improved, especially the main and telephoto units. There is a lot to like when it comes to this phone, including its price tag. It is affordable from the get-go (at least in the US), but if you count the fact you can easily get a $100 discount, this phone is one of the best deals in the flagship sector at the moment.
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Updated March 7, 2024:
OnePlus has started rolling out a new update to the OnePlus 12. The rollout has started in India, but it will expand to other markets soon, though with a slightly different changelog. This update brings mostly improvements to the table and one new feature of sorts. That ‘feature’ is actually the addition of more focal lengths in the camera UI. You can now switch between more of them by tapping the zoom buttons.
When it comes to improvements, there are four inclusions here. This update improves the stability and compatibility of the NFC function, while it also improved the stability of network connections. The clarity of photos taken using 2x zoom in Portrait Mode has been improved. OnePlus also improved the color accuracy of photos taken with the front camera in warm-light environments. On top of that, the system stability has been improved in general, as the company squashed some bugs.
Updated March 29, 2024:
OnePlus has started rolling out OxygenOS 14.0.0.604 to the OnePlus 12. This update is actually quite hefty, as it weighs almost 700MB. It does bring the March 2024 security patch, along with some new features, improvements, and patches. Let’s talk about the new features first, shall we? OnePlus introduced the ability to create photo collages straight from the default Photos app. It’s a bit basic now, but it’s there.
The company also introduced the ‘Partial screenshots’ option for the Smart Sidebar. On top of that, you can now hold down the volume down button in order to turn on the flashlight when your screen is off. Needless to say, that can come in really handy if you’re using the flashlight a lot. The last feature that we’ll mention is the app-specific volume feature. You can now basically set a specific volume for any given app.
Some camera-related changes are also included, the ones that rolled out to the Indian variant recently. There are now more focal lengths for you to tap on the camera UI. The 2x photos that you take in Portrait mode should be of a better quality now. The front-facing camera should also perform better in warm-light environments. For more information, click here.
Updated May 28, 2024:
A new update has started rolling out to the OnePlus 12, the OxygenOS 14.0.0.802. This update does bring a new security patch to the device, the one for May 2024. The rollout started in India, but it’ll quickly spread to other markets. If you’d like to check out the entire changelog, you can do that here. We’ll highlight the most notable changes below, however.
This update adds the wallpaper zoom option, and also seamless icon transitions during app launch and exit. A bounce animation effect when sliding to the bottom of the notification drawer has been added too. The transition animations for Home screen icons and widgets have been optimized. Background colors and Gaussian blur effects in Quick Settings have been optimized. The same goes for the notification drawer, home screen drawer, and Global Search.
Some transition animations have been added to the table too, while touch control responsiveness has been increased in some scenarios. Animations for large folders have been optimized, while a horizontal layout for the lock screen clock has been added. You can now adjust the volume in Quick Settings too. Fingerprint recognition has been optimized, and much more. There are quite a few entries in the changelog here.
Updated July 2, 2024:
OnePlus has started pushing out a new update to the OnePlus 12. The rollout is starting in India, but it’s coming to other regions too. This update is marked as OxygenOS 14.0.0.810(EX01). It does bring the June 2024 Android security patch to the phone. In addition to that, however, various other improvements have been pushed out. The changelog is split into System, Touch control, Animation upgrade, and Games sections. You can check it out below this section. We’ll talk about some of the changes, while the rest you can check out down there or in our article dedicated to this update.
OnePlus now allows you to show the tracks when you’re drawing the lock screen pattern on the OnePlus 12. Music controls can now be displayed in Fluid Cloud, while the company also fixed an issue with the volume slider in Quick Settings. Gaming stability has been improved thanks to this update and a particular bug where the screen was going black during gaming. The company also improved touch control responsiveness when opening and closing apps. App icons on the home screen will now respond faster to your taps too. Animations when opening and closing multiple apps have also been improved, and more. Various new transitions have been added to benefit the general look and feel of the UI.
