It might be strange to see a new device from less than ten years ago. But technology is evolving rapidly and with the OnePlus 12, it feels like someone has made a phone for the pre-AI era. Instead of magic editors and a lot of machine learning, OnePlus’ recent flagship is incredibly simple. It has a beautiful screen, a solid construction, reliable cameras, excellent performance and even better autonomy. So, although it won’t help you summarize a meeting or remaster a photo, the OP12 covers all the bases with confidence.
OnePlus 12
A solid, no-frills Premium Android phone
The OnePlus 12 offers the same fast performance and better battery life as the Galaxy S24+, as well as solid cameras and a great screen.
Design and display: an old-fashioned silhouette with modern specifications
The shape of the OnePlus 12 seems to be inspired by older phones like the Galaxy S10+, with tapered edges and rounded corners. This makes the phone very comfortable to hold, The disadvantage is that there is some distortion around the screen where it curves. Fortunately, the 6.8-inch 3 168 x 1440 panel from OnePlus is so beautiful that you may not notice it. It has a nominal maximum brightness of 1,600 Nits, which can be used in certain situations (for example in direct sunlight) can reach up to 4,500 Nits, so it never looks dull or faded. The screen also supports a variable refresh of 120 Hz, as well as a new PWM (pulse width modulation) technique of 2,610 Hz to avoid flickering of the screen at very low brightness (less than 70 Nits).
On the back is a huge and somewhat clumsy camera module surrounded by a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 plate with a beautiful matte finish. It’s more textured than your typical frosted glass, but not as rough as the company’s old-school stoneware backs and it feels so good that I would have a hard time covering it with a matter. The OP12 also has an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, which is not as good as Samsung and Google phones. However, this is the highest rating ever recorded on a OnePlus, and it’s still more than enough to handle things like rain and splashes. And unlike most phones these days, OnePlus has included an IR Blaster that allows you to easily adjust the settings on your TV or soundbar without the need for a dedicated remote control.
Performance: Super Fast
Although the OP12 may have a nostalgic design, its performance is as good as for Android phones. It has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, as well as 12 GB or 16 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of storage. Despite some disappointing benchmarks (which other outlets have also experienced), the phone is incredibly smooth. Switching between apps is super smooth while loading and playing games without a hint of stuttering. To ensure that frequently used applications are always ready, OnePlus has a memory optimization function that can suspend up to six applications in the background for up to 72 hours, saving you from unnecessarily reloading your favorite game.
Cameras: the bulky Hasselblad module provides
OnePlus 12 photos against Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
A comparative photo of apples between the OP12 and the S24 Ultra.
The triple lens configuration of the OP12 stands up well to the Galaxy S24 family with a 50 MP main camera, a 48 MP ultra wide angle and a 64 MP telephoto lens. During the day, the photos were bright and vibrant and I appreciate the more neutral white balance of OnePlus compared to the warmer tones of Samsung. At night, while the images were just a little softer and darker than the comparison photos I took with the S24 Ultra, they were not far behind. Finally, with the 3x telephoto camera, despite all my efforts to fly away, I managed to capture a very sharp image of a squirrel. Just make sure to disable the option to add a Hasselblad watermark to your photos when you launch the Camera app for the first time.
