OnePlus 12R Review: Affordable Flagship Phone

At a look

Skilled’s Ranking

Execs

• Excellent show
• True two-day battery life
• Sturdy sustained efficiency
• 100W quick charging

Cons

• No wi-fi charging
• Nonetheless not utterly waterproof
• Mediocre secondary cameras

Our Verdict

It’d appear and feel acquainted, however the OnePlus 12R presents an excellent display and epic battery life for a less-than-flagship worth. There are a few unlucky omissions, however this can be a good repurposing job at a eager worth.

Worth When Reviewed

From $499 | Mannequin reviewed $599

Greatest Costs As we speak: OnePlus 12R

$499

OnePlus hasn’t supplied a pair of world flagship cellphone choices for the reason that OnePlus 9 Professional and OnePlus 9 in 2021. Additionally in that 12 months, the OnePlus R-series made its debut, supplying a stripped again and extra reasonably priced flagship expertise to chose Asian markets.

These two historic occurrences converge within the OnePlus 12R, which is the primary time that the model’s keenly priced R-series has been supplied globally. Whereas the OnePlus 12 provides you a nearly compromise-free expertise, the 12R will get you a lot of the method there for £200 much less.

An preliminary look would counsel that this can be a return to the Professional/non-Professional double act in all however identify. In apply, the OnePlus 12R presents an analogous package deal to final 12 months’s OnePlus 11, with just a few upgrades that nod to the passage of time and a few downgrades that allow a less expensive worth level.

Design & Construct

• Barely thicker than OnePlus 11
• Alert slider as welcome as all the time
• Bumped as much as IP65

The OnePlus 12R seems to be and feels an terrible lot just like the OnePlus 11. It’s one other bigger cellphone that feels deceptively slender, due to the selection to curve the longer edges on each the entrance and the again of the cellphone. Flat screens are typically extra sensible, however the curvaceous method definitely seems to be good.

It’s truly a fraction thicker than final 12 months’s mannequin at 8.8mm, and likewise a few grams heavier at 207g. However it nonetheless feels good and glossy, definitely in comparison with all these blocky flat-edged telephones on the market searching for to emulate Apple’s iPhone design.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

We additionally get the return of the OnePlus 11’s distinctive digicam module design, although it doesn’t fairly soften into the facet body so seamlessly right here. There’s a transparent seam, although your eye will seemingly be drawn away from this by the placing ridged round ring that encompasses the three digicam sensors and flash.

My check unit is the Iron Grey mannequin, which adopts a charcoal tone with a brushed, barely grainy-looking metallic end. It seems to be fashionable and is enjoyable to the contact, however it’s not the grippiest materials on the earth. The opposite color on supply is Cool Blue, which seems to be to be far shinier and possibly no much less easy.

OnePlus has truly upgraded sure components of the OnePlus 12R’s design in comparison with final 12 months’s pricier mannequin. The show is roofed in harder Gorilla Glass Victus 2 – an enchancment from Victus – whereas the physique is IP65 rated relatively than IP64. It’s nonetheless not the IP68 that we’ve come to count on from our flagship telephones, however it’s extra proof against water than the OnePlus 11 at any charge, and it feels extra acceptable right here than within the $799/£849 OnePlus 12.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The left fringe of the cellphone packs the model’s signature alert slider, which may manually flick you between silent, vibrate, and loud modes. It’s as welcome right here as all the time, although nonetheless has the annoying quirk of opening the ‘Discover in web page’ search discipline once you use it when shopping the net in Chrome.

One different noteworthy exterior addition from the OnePlus 11 is an IR blaster on the highest edge. Utilizing the pre-installed IR Distant app, I used to be in a position to make use of the OnePlus 12R to manage my historical Denon stereo. Having damaged the unique distant management a few decade in the past, this proved genuinely helpful, although I believe that mine is a reasonably area of interest case in as of late of good and multi-room audio system.

Display & Audio system

• 6.78-inch AMOLED
• 1-120Hz dynamic refresh charge
• Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos

The OnePlus 12R’s show is a formidable piece of package. At 6.78-inch, it’s somewhat greater than the OnePlus 11 equal, and it utilises upgraded LTPO 4.0 panel expertise to flit between 1 and 120Hz extra effectively.

OnePlus has scaled again the decision somewhat from the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 11, each of which pack 2K screens. Nonetheless, it hasn’t regressed all the way in which again to 1080p. Somewhat, we get a decision that some producers have taken to calling ‘1.5K’.

This decision of 2780 x 1264 falls between FHD+ and QHD+, and appears to me to be a wonderful compromise. You continue to get a pleasant sharp picture with a crisp pixel density of 450 ppi, however with much less of the useful resource hogging methods of a full 2K show.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Color accuracy is actually wonderful, and I discovered it to be particularly pleasing as soon as I flipped it from Vivid to Pure mode. It will get good and shiny, too, with OnePlus quoting a peak brightness of 4500 nits in HDR eventualities and 1600 nits in outside circumstances. With autobrightness turned off, I recorded a most brightness of 787 nits, which is extraordinarily spectacular.

One attention-grabbing addition ties in neatly with that improved IP65 ranking. Aqua Contact boosts display responsiveness within the rain, although with out full IP68 safety I nonetheless discovered myself hesitant to place this to the check.

You get the same old OnePlus provision of twin stereo audio system within the earpiece and on the underside fringe of the cellphone, which stay loud and clear even at high quantity. They do lack the depth and area of a really top-end performer just like the iPhone 15 Professional, although. Dolby Atmos assist can also be supplied.

Specs & Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 8/16GB of RAM
• 128/256GB storage

Whereas the OnePlus 12 will get the innovative Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the OnePlus 12R has to make do with final 12 months’s flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Which means it primarily performs the identical because the OnePlus 11, particularly with the beneficiant 16GB of RAM on board on the assessment unit I examined.

We described the OnePlus 11 as an “extremely fast cellphone” in our assessment, and a 12 months has achieved little to boring those self same elements. For all of the efficiency advances caused by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the OnePlus 12R remains to be able to working probably the most demanding 3D video games (like Genshin Impression and Wreckfest) at silky easy body charges on high settings.

Certainly, whereas it’s no gaming cellphone, OnePlus has given the OnePlus 12R some gaming-focused consideration. There’s a big vapour chamber protecting issues cool, which implies that you’ll get robust sustained efficiency. Within the 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay Stress Check, which simulates high-end gaming efficiency over a sustained 20 minute interval, the OnePlus 12R maintained its stage in addition to a devoted gaming cellphone just like the Purple Magic 9 Professional.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Away from uncooked efficiency, the OnePlus 12R is a well-equipped cellphone. The only real mannequin accessible within the UK comes with 256GB of UFS 4.0 reminiscence (another areas get a 128GB mannequin utilizing slower UFS 3.1 reminiscence). Elsewhere there’s assist for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3.

OnePlus 12R Benchmarks

Our common suite of benchmark outcomes suggests a slight edge for the OnePlus 12R over the OnePlus 11, however that may seemingly be put right down to the show being much less pixel-packed.

That may additionally clarify why the 12R falls behind a cellphone just like the Galaxy S23 on such ‘on display’ checks, because the latter pairs the identical chip with a much less demanding FHD+ show. All in all, I believe the OnePlus 12R strikes a pleasant steadiness.

Cameras

• Similar robust foremost sensor as OnePlus 11
• Respectable leads to all lighting
• No Hasselblad enhancements

OnePlus has introduced the identical foremost 50Mp Sony IMX890 sensor throughout from the OnePlus 11. It is a decent-sized 1/1.56-inch sensor that has turn into an occasional choose for flagship telephones that wish to get flagship-approximating photographic outcomes when the price range is stretched, or when the producer’s priorities lie elsewhere like with the Asus ROG Cellphone 8.

Backed by OIS, the OnePlus 12R is ready to seize good photographs in respectable lighting, and completely sufficient photographs even in lesser lighting circumstances. The daylight photographs that I captured have been moderately pure, packing an appropriate quantity of element and color depth.

Regardless of the shared elements, nonetheless, it’s not fairly the match for the OnePlus 11’s foremost digicam. There’s none of digicam associate Hasselblad’s enhancements on board right here, which means you don’t get the corporate’s punchy color science, its pleasing digicam UI, or its customized taking pictures modes.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Extra consequential than this can be a downgrade in the remainder of the digicam set-up. There isn’t a telephoto digicam this time round, which means any zoomed-in photographs will probably be crops from that succesful foremost sensor. To this finish, I discovered that 2x photographs regarded fairly good, however that the noise actually began to encroach at 5x.

Out too goes the OnePlus 11’s 48Mp ultra-wide digicam, in favour of a extra humble 8Mp unit. It broadly captures the tone of the principle sensor (although it’s maybe a tad cooler), however clearly suffers by comparability on the subject of element and dynamic vary.

There’s additionally a 2MP macro digicam right here, however it’s undeserving of something greater than an compulsory point out. It’s a bit disappointing to see OnePlus resort to this space-filling, box-ticking element, to be trustworthy.

There’s a 16MP entrance digicam that captures sufficient selfies, although I discovered my pores and skin tones to be somewhat smudgey and missing in texture, even with none of the same old freaky pores and skin tone-enhancing modes energetic.

If you’d like extra spectacular digicam expertise, then I counsel choosing the costlier OnePlus 12.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5500mAh battery for two-day energy
• 100W quick charging
• No wi-fi charging

Proper up there alongside its beautiful show, by far the OnePlus 12R’s standout function is its stellar battery life.

With a larger-than-usual 5500mAh cell and a few robust optimisation work from OnePlus (and perhaps additionally Oppo, which provides the bottom software program), I discovered that I used to be routinely in a position to get via two full days of reasonable utilization on a single cost.

If you’d like some numbers to go together with that, I used to be in a position to take the cellphone off cost at simply after 8am, run via two full working days with a mixed 8 hours of display on time, and nonetheless be left with 20% within the tank at gone midnight on the finish of the second day.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

To be clear, this was with each the decision and refresh charge set to Excessive. If each have been set to regular, you’ll have the ability to count on much more life out of a single cost.

Speaking of charging, OnePlus has bundled in a 100W wired charger, identical to with the OnePlus 11. In my expertise, this was ample to get the cellphone from empty to full in simply 27 minutes.

Sadly, OnePlus has additionally introduced the OnePlus 11’s wi-fi charging provision throughout. That’s to say, there isn’t any such factor. You’ll have to splash out for the OnePlus 12 if this can be a significantly necessary function for you. There’s all the time the Pixel 8 if you happen to don’t wish to spend the additional cash on a totally wi-fi cellphone.

Software program & Apps

• Android 14
• OxygenOS 14.0
• 4 years of Android updates

The OnePlus 12R provides Android 14 straight out of the field, however the days of the model’s glossy ‘stock-on-steroids’ customized UI have sadly handed. What you’re getting now’s primarily a tweaked model of dad or mum firm Oppo’s ColorOS.

Disappointment apart, OxygenOS 14.0 isn’t a nasty expertise by any means. It’s useful, quick sufficient, and customisable. It simply isn’t as sharp or slick as Google’s inventory software program, nor these customized UIs that stick nearer to it (see Motorola, Asus, and Sony for particulars).

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The trendy OnePlus/Oppo method includes large, vibrant icons and toggles, with a barely charmless (however once more completely useful) drag-down notification pane.

On the optimistic facet, the Settings menu isn’t fairly the labyrinth of rival efforts from Samsung and Xiaomi, and Oppo’s promise of 4 years of software program updates is respectable. Or no less than, it will have been in earlier years.

Google and Samsung has considerably spoiled issues for different producers with their seven-year guarantees. Nonetheless, most individuals most likely gained’t have their telephones for longer than just a few years, whether or not via common put on and tear or as a result of they’re on an inclusive contract.

Worth & Availability

The OnePlus 12R will go on sale on February 13, 2024, which is per week later than the OnePlus 12. Pre-orders can be found on the OnePlus web site on the time of writing.

Right here’s the costs for the cellphone:

• 8GB/128GB – $499 (not accessible within the UK and Europe)
• 16GB/256GB – $599/£649/€699

These within the US can get an actual steal with the OnePlus 12R, with the cellphone ranging from simply $499. That’s a whopping $300 cheaper than the OnePlus 12, and $200 cheaper than the Pixel 8, which provides a superior digicam and software program expertise, in addition to wi-fi charging and IP68 certification, however an inferior show and battery life.

Within the UK, the one model you should purchase is the 16GB model. That’s £80 cheaper than the equally specced OnePlus 11 was laster 12 months, and £200 cheaper than the OnePlus 12 is that this 12 months. It’s additionally £50 cheaper than the Pixel 8.

The OnePlus 11 has additionally come down in worth because it first launched, making this one other different – although it’s nonetheless costlier than the 12R. You possibly can take a look at extra choices in our chart of the perfect smartphones in addition to greatest mid-range telephones.

Must you purchase the OnePlus 12R?

If the OnePlus 12R feels in any respect acquainted, that’s as a result of it intently resembles the OnePlus 11. It’s obtained a really acquainted design, the very same processor, and the exact same foremost digicam.

Nonetheless, the 12R’s show – whereas technically a slight step again in sharpness – presents a fabulously shiny and colour-accurate image. The brand new cellphone’s battery life, in the meantime, is straight out of the highest drawer.

There’s nonetheless no room for wi-fi charging or true waterproofing, which is a disgrace, and the digicam system isn’t probably the most versatile in the marketplace. If these issues matter to you, there’s a OnePlus 12 on the market with all the mandatory bells and whistles, albeit at a better worth.

Whereas it’s straightforward to really feel underwhelmed with the OnePlus 12R and its combination of reheated and made-to-order components, there’s no denying it presents a compelling flagship-ish expertise that undercuts many rivals – particularly within the US.

Specs

• Android 14 with OxygenOS 14
• 6.68in, 1.5K, OLED, 120Hz, curved show
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
• 256GB UFS 4.0 storage
• 50Mp, f/1.8 foremost digicam
• 8Mp ultra-wide digicam
• 2Mp macro digicam
• As much as 4K @ 60fps rear video
• 16Mp front-facing digicam
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 5500mAh battery
• 100W charging
• 163.3 x 75.3 x 8.8 mm
• 207g
• Launch colors: Iron Grey, Cool Blue