OnePlus 12 review

If there’s one thing you can be certain about with the OnePlus 12, it’s that it will work like a proper flagship smartphone. It’s fast and smooth, and everyday usage is a breeze. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is not overclocked or anything but it’s here to dabble work, play and content effortlessly. 

You get up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4 storage with RAM-Vitalization and ROM-Vitalization. The last two features are not technical but just marketing jargon. OnePlus says the 12 can now run up to seven apps in the background for 72 hours without any hiccups. The software has been tuned to recognise your most used apps and maintain frame rate and power consumption accordingly. In short, the OS and hardware are better optimised, and even if we can’t put a benchmark on it, the state of OxygenOS is clutter-free and extremely smooth for all tasks. 

Call of Duty: Mobile is hella addictive on this device. It maintains a solid 60fps on the highest settings for a couple of hours without any issues. Heat and battery drain is also minimal and the performance is very close to the iQOO 12 we reviewed this month. Of the two smartphones, the OnePlus 12 has a better OS which should make the user experience much nicer, but the iQOO 12 has better gaming features, like better haptics and frame interpolation.

The ProXDR display might sound familiar to folks using an Apple computer, but can it serve better content than before? Compared to the Apple iPhone 15 it’s really difficult to tell which one is better. The OnePlus 12 performs exceptionally well and we had to pixel peep to see if the display is brighter and better. The car chase in The Batman looks great. However, the OnePlus 12’s display isn’t as accurately calibrated as the iPhone 15, and you can see the texture and colour smoothen on Colin Farrell’s face in the car crash. Even the contrast is almost identical between the two smartphones, but the Apple iPhone 15 has a slight edge in black details.

The OnePlus 12 sounds louder with good separation and tonal balance. It’s not as textured as we’d hope but unless you start nitpicking like us, the difference between OnePlus 12 and Apple iPhone 15 in display and audio performance is almost negligible.

The 6.82-inch display has 2K resolution (3168x1440) and a whopping 4500 nits of peak brightness. The peak brightness is a lot brighter than flagship smartphones but in actual use under harsh sunlight, the OnePlus 12 doesn’t seem all that bright in peak brightness conditions compared to the iPhone 15. We noticed something similar with the iQOO 12 as well. The Apple iPhone 15 is comparatively much brighter and legible under direct sunlight among its Android competitors.

The 2K display does have its benefits in gaming. Edges are smoother and the photos in Lightroom look positively detailed. The 120Hz with LTPO display doesn’t chew through the battery either. The whole curved display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

There are three rear cameras on the OnePlus 12. We start with a 64MP OmniVision telephoto along with a 3x optical zoom and 6x in-sensor, then you get a 48MP Sony IMX581 ultrawide camera, and finally a 50MP Sony LYT-808 main camera. All three cameras don’t show any signs of improvement from last year’s OnePlus 11. There’s a hue issue with the OnePlus 12 cameras where indoor lighting tends to have a green hue. The white balance is completely skewed at times, and most shots are soft and blurry.

We have a feeling that all three cameras are not properly tuned and may improve with future updates, but as it stands these cameras lack focus and stable output. The portrait and bokeh fall-off are nicely controlled, but the white balance and contrast are not going to challenge the competition. My white cat looked green and yellow on the OnePlus 12, and accurate on the Apple iPhone 15.

Compared to the Vivo X100 Pro, the 3x and 6x zoom don’t bring the same level of detail and autofocus. Even the colour accuracy is disappointing. Low-light shots also lack detail and clarity. Even the iQOO 12 has consistent camera quality compared to the OnePlus 12.

In well-lit environments, the OnePlus 12 is decent. The 48MP ultrawide keeps good composure and doesn’t mess up the white balance and sharpness of the subject. It’s good in outdoor conditions.

However, any tricky lighting situation or indoor lights can completely hamper the camera experience and you never really know what kind of shot the OnePlus 12 will deliver.

The design is pretty much the same as last year, but the material and finish of the rear glass have changed. It also supports wireless charging with reverse wireless charging as well. It supports 80W Supervooc Fast Charging and 50W Airvooc Wireless Charging. It’s only IP65 rated so it’s not very good for the poolside, but OnePlus says the touchscreen is made in a way where you can use it even if there are water droplets on the screen. For someone in Mumbai, this monsoon-ready feature is a godsend.

The OnePlus 12 is also now available in a rather neat 'Glacial White' colour variant. It's not quite white, but that's not a bad thing; I quite like the reflective, pearlescent finish of the back panel, with a matching shiny white(ish) background for the camera module. It's somewhat annoying that this wasn't available with the OnePlus 12 at launch, but new buyers should definitely give this one a look. That said, the included protective case is still black, which will hide the rather nice colour and finish almost entirely. Only the bravest will want to use a high-end, glass-back smartphone without a case... (words - Ali Pardiwala, 26/6/2024)

Samsung jumped first with Google’s Gemini AI model for Android and is craving a new sort of trend among Android smartphones, Vivo is doubling down on its portrait and camera hardware and winning at it, iQOO is sticking to a gaming-focused audience with its features, and Apple is managing to plonk an iPhone into the common folk’s hands. All these brands have their respective territories carved in the Indian smartphone market. Yet somehow, OnePlus’ shtick of being a flagship killer is becoming less nuanced than before. 

While the build quality and processor performance are immaculate, its lackadaisical focus on camera chops and accessories is apparent, especially in 2024 where the standards are higher than ever. The camera and Hasselblad partnership seems to be nothing more than a marketing gimmick. The OnePlus 12 is a ‘T’ upgrade to the previous smartphone, and if you’re looking for an ad-free OS with solid performance, then the OnePlus 12 is still a no-nonsense smartphone - barring the camera.