Hands-On With the OnePlus 12: Solid, Useful, and High-Tech

The OnePlus 12, the company's latest flagship Android phone, is a solid piece of engineering that, much like Apple's iPhone line, puts a lot of tech behind the scenes to make sure you have a smooth, easy experience when using the device.

You're not going to wow your friends with the look of this new handset, but maybe that's not as important as some might think.

The OnePlus 12 is a fantastic iteration on a proven formula. It sports a similar design to the previous model with a bigger 6.82-inch display, a bright 4,500 nits display, and a more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. It's also 10% more power efficient for its 5,400 mAh battery. The 12 supports 80W fast charging (one of the coolest features ever), and, finally, OnePlus has returned wireless charging to its flagship device, with fast 50W capable charging via a special OnePlus wireless charger. 

Holding the OnePlus 12 is interesting. It's almost too light and thin, to be honest. I keep wanting to get a pop socket or other sort of holding system as I'm always afraid the slim, attractive handset is going to slip out of my fingers at any moment. The black model that I played with has a pebbled back panel that maybe is supposed to help with that, but it still feels a little ephemeral. It's lovely to look at, but maybe I need a case for this thing.

Shining Visuals on OnePlus 12

The display is gorgeous—deep colors, bright backlit display, easy to see and use. The touchscreen and scrolling animation are solid thanks to the up to 120Hz refresh rate. There's even some tech inside that will adjust the refresh rate based on your activity—10Hz for reading an ebook, for example, or 60Hz for, say, video calls. 

Demanding games like Genshin Impact and Diablo Immortal run well on the device with nary a stutter, even in crowded areas. There's a little gaming overlay that Oxygen OS supplies—when I set it to Gamer Mode (a higher performance rate than Balanced Mode), the device got pretty warm. OnePlus knows gamers like to play while plugged in, so they've provided a fairly substantial cooling update with what the company calls the Dual Cryo-velocity VC Cooling System.

The cooling system is larger than anyone else's, says OnePlus, and provides a better way for the heat to escape the internals, making it so your gaming time won't overcook your phone. Practically, that means that while the OnePlus 12 still gets warm when gaming, and even when plugged in to keep the battery level up, it won't die mid-session. 

I installed Genshin Impact on the OnePlus 12 and my iPhone 15, and they both got warm, especially when connected to power. The OnePlus 12 kept running smoothly, the game looked great, and it never got so hot that it had to turn off. 

OnePlus 12 Hasselblad Camera

The camera on the OnePlus 12 is very good. It takes great photos in bright and low light. I'm not a professional photographer, but for my use, the camera is fantastic. It boots up fast and lets me choose Pro, Video, Photo, and Portrait mode in a jiffy. 

The portrait mode is neat, as each zoom level (1x, 2x, and 3x) mimics a specific Hasselblad lens, resulting in various bokeh effects that can help you make more artistic shots. The More button hides even, well, more photo stuff like Night mode, hi-res photos, panorama, movies, slo-mo, time-lapse, long exposure, dual view video, text scanning, Tilt-Shift, and Xpan. Whew. 

The Pro mode, now unfortunately called Master Mode, lets you adjust all the little settings to your heart's desire, including tint, sharpness, contrast, dark corner, saturation, and more. 

The company says it's loaded the OnePlus 12 with a 50MP Wide Camera, using Sony's LYT-808 sensor, a "first" for the industry. It also promises a 1/1.4 sensor, a 1.12-micron pixel size, an ƒ/1.6 aperture, an 85-degree FOV, and a 23mm equivalent focal lens. The 4MP 3x optical periscope telephoto camera has a 6x in-sensor digital zoom and a 70mm equivalent focal lens. The 114-degree ultra-wide camera boasts 48MP with a 16mm equivalent focal lens. 

What all that means, then, is that you can take a wide variety of photos—up close, zoomed-in, wide angle, etc.—in a variety of environments with really good results. I'd put the photos from the OnePlus 12 up against those of my iPhone 15 any day. 

But How Much Will The OnePlus 12 Cost?

The OnePlus 12 runs $799.99 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and $899.99 for the 16GB/512GB model. Both come in black or flowy emerald, which totally doesn't look like a pattern you might see on a countertop.

You can trade in any phone in any condition and get at least $100 ($150 CAD) off the new handset, with up to $700 off possible with a trade-in.

You can also pick up the OnePlus 12 at Best Buy and Amazon for the same price but without the same perks (you can upgrade to the 512GB memory for free, though).

Is this phone going to wow your friends like the OnePlus Open or the like? Probably not. But is it going to make using your phone for photographs, watching media, or gaming a joy? That’s more like it. 

If you want a solid, dependable, useful device that can make your smartphone life a little better (and at an affordable price), you should check out the OnePlus 12.

Update 1/23/24: Paragraph three was updated to clarify the wireless and wired charging wattage.