Verdict
The OnePlus 12R harks back to the brand ’s former gimmick with both positive and disconfirming consequences . There ’s a focus on performance and the specification list certainly impresses for the price . However there ’s some of the negative bit of OnePlus ' past included too , including a very mid - range camera array .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
OnePlus is bringing its ‘ radius ’ series of phones to more regions for the first metre with the OnePlus 12R.
OnePlus wants everyone to think of the OnePlus 12R as just as much of a flagship as theOnePlus 12 , perhaps even as a twist that ’s a good bargain for those who spend much of their time on smartphone play .
And yes , in some way this does sense like a flagship – there are even a span of welfare to plumping for the OnePlus 12R over the OnePlus 12 . Still , on the whole , it ’s punishing to see this as anything but a more affordable and somewhat less tantalising interlingual rendition of the sword ’s true flagship equipment .
Design
The OnePlus 12R looks , and feels , a lot like theOnePlus 11 . It ’s a fairly received Android slab with a curved showing – something that feels strangely outdated in 2024 – and a matching curved back .
There ’s a huge camera module on the back that seamlessly mix into the Al rim and , of row , the Alert Slider which now sit on the opposite side to aid aerial operation .
OnePlus loves this little ringer switch , bluster it as one of the biggest gadget feature and sure , it ’s nice to easily be able to switch your speech sound to silent ( or back to ringer ) without fishing it from your pocket .
Yet , after using the much more customisableAction Buttonon theiPhone 15 Pro , the Alert Slider feels slightly antiquated . As someone who has n’t set their phone to anything but vibrate since sometime in 2007 , it always feel like a waste key and I ’d have intercourse to be able to customise it into doing any project .
The monotonous top of the earpiece houses an IR blaster to control support devices , while the USB - C port and SIM tray sit on the equally flat bottom .
There are two colours of the OnePlus 12R usable , Cool Blue and Iron Gray . The blue one would be my pickax if it was n’t for theveryglossy , veryslippy last that come with it . This is the kind of earpiece that will somehow manage to fall off any surface it is put on , even if it ’s flat .
On legion occasion over the review menses , I ’ve heard a interference and turned to see the OnePlus 12R on the storey . This definitely is a gimmick where a case is vital to add some redundant grip .
The Iron Gray random variable might look dull , but it ditch the slippy finish for a mat one . I still much favour the lovely green chromaticity the OnePlus 12 add up in overall .
The OnePlus 12R has an IP64 rating and an interesting feature that allows the screen to work more accurately when fuddled . OnePlus pronounce the 12R uses its C.P.U. to detect when the concealment is besotted and interpolate how reactive it is , reducing the amount of mistouches and delayed reaction .
Screen
OnePlus is n’t skimp with the screenland on the OnePlus 12R and there ’s petty else on the market for this damage that offers a display this good . It ’s even honest than many of the flagships let in in ourbest Android phonelist .
This 6.78 - inch LTPO 4 OLED venire covered inGorilla Glass Victus 2can intelligently move between 1Hz and 120Hz faster than before . OnePlus says this panel can change from 72Hz to 120Hz depending on how quickly you jerk your finger and it certainly does seem like that ’s the case in my examination . The screen will also overlook down to 1Hz to make the always - on display choice as power - efficient as possible .
The maximum result of 2780 x 1264 is n’t quite top drawer ( the panel is sharp on the OnePlus 12 at a max of 3168 x 1440 ) but it ’s sharp enough . I put the two OnePlus 12 earpiece next to each and I had to really go looking for those extra picture element . To the raw eye the difference is very minimum and considering how expert the assault and battery life is here , I would say that it was a voguish determination to lower the resolution slightly .
It ’s a seriously bright panel that ’s prosperous to view even when the sun is directly beam on the phone , matching the OnePlus 12 ’s 4500 nits maximum . This is very much a top - last figure though , in universal expend the level best is around 1500 nit – still very high .
These high cleverness levels make this a great telephone set for HDR content , especially within apps that support theDolby Visionformat . The Kitchen on Netflix , for example , looks exceptional with spate of pop in bright prospect .
My big scruple with the screen is the curve . For a phone focused on gaming , the curved edges are a drawback and make the whole affair firmly to restrain . A flat screen would have made more common sense and divide it more from the OnePlus 12 .
Camera
load down inside the oversized tv camera living accommodations are three cameras and a flash bulb that deceptively reckon like a fourth sensing element .
The main tv camera detector is the Sony IMX890 50MP , complete with OIS and an f/1.8 lens . Next to this is a 112 - degree radical - wide and the never - welcome dedicated macro sensing element . There ’s also a 16 - megapixel selfie photographic camera .
By default , the OnePlus 12 captures figure at 12.6 - megapixels . Swipe around in the camera app and there ’s a eminent - atomic number 75 alternative that uses the sensor ’s full 50 - megapixels and in the Pro mode there ’s the choice of shooting in the RAW formatting , idealistic for those who can eke some extra image quality out in mail .
Those intimate with OnePlus ’ recent work will detect the main tv camera is the same as the one found on the OnePius 11 , although the lack of any Hasselblad stigmatization is obtrusive and distinctly shows this is n’t really meant to be catch in the same illumination as the OnePlus 12 when it come to image prowess .
Still , when only using the master sensor I cope to get some proficient images from the speech sound . There ’s a nice correspondence to the colour in snaps , while item is plentiful in click fur and plant life stems . It ’s a destiny more various than older OnePlus cameras , adapting to change environments when need without much hassle . I was pleasantly surprised by the low - light shots too , though they do n’t match those taken with thePixel 8 .
In the very quick and well lay out camera app there are soar options , although as there ’s no consecrate telephoto electron lens it ’s just punching in on the 50MP mental image . result are n’t great as a solution of this .
be active away from the master photographic camera the experience feel much more in telephone circuit with the mid - range price .
The 8MP ultra wide of the mark deficiency details and struggles in conditions other than bright temperateness meaning I barely ever switched to it after the first day or so . It ’s even more disappointing to see a useless macro camera here adding absolutely nothing whatsoever away from allowing OnePlus to say this has a triple television camera array .
Performance
OnePlus is pushing the OnePlus 12R as a ‘ performance flagship ’ – which is odd considering it lacks the latestSnapdragon 8 Gen 3 , alternatively using the older Gen 2 . If you desire the very better perform OnePlus phone , that will continue the OnePlus 12 .
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is n’t to be sniffle at though , and OnePlus has paired it with up to 16 GB of riotous LPDDR5X RAM and 256 GB of storage . Considering this is a telephone that retails at £ 649/$599 , those are some telling specs .
There ’s been a large focussing on cooling – vital with these recent Qualcomm chips – with the snappily - named Cryo - Velocity cooling system boasting two vapour chambers to rapidly cool down the phone down . It does a decent job at keep the phone aplomb in most situations , although the phone can become quite red-hot during longer gaming sessions . The OnePlus 12R can also get fond during fast charging .
There are a bunch of software features here aspire to increase functioning . One such feature film is ROM - vita , which uses algorithms to constantly check for twin files , making sure nothing is bogging the arrangement down . Another is called RAM - vIta and another CPU - vita – Yes , I harmonise that OnePlus probably require to work on its branding alittlebit .
selling nonsensicality aside , this is a very fast phone and I do n’t believe much is really misplace by not letting the OnePlus 12R out with the latest 8 Gen 3 chip . A lot of Qualcomm ’s latest flagship feature revolve around AI and OnePlus has yet to work up any of these into its version of Android .
play is an absolute pleasure . I could encounter ( badly ) Genshin Impact on its nonpayment in writing background at 60fps without running into any issues , and a similar account for other high - end titles
In our common set of benchmarking tests , the OnePlus 12R do on par with other 8 Gen 2 headphone including some of the priciest devices from 2023 . you’re able to see how the OnePlus 12R compares in the graphs below .
Software
The OnePlus 12R comes running Android 14 , the latest version of Googe ’s astray - straddle operating system . If you ’re upgrading from a much older OnePlus gimmick , you might be a bit surprised the customs peel overlaid on top of Android is n’t quite as ‘ clean ’ as it once was . There ’s a batch more Oppo - ness with the New translation of ColorOS , giving it a more distinct look .
While it can be easy to criticise many of the heavy hide brands like Xiaomi and Vivo use , I quite like the recent versions of ColorOS . There ’s a decent premix of Google ’s elements , with far more customisation features added by OnePlus .
The Shelf , for example , is a handy fashion of collate widgets together in an leisurely - to - perspective personal manner and the Zen Space app is a great room of shutting off beeps and distractions if you desire to focus elsewhere .
There ’s quite a bit of bloatware here , but most of it is at least well - designed and has some thought behind it . There are n’t 30 preinstalled games and obscure social spiritualist apps you ’ll instantly want to delete .
I still bemoan the decease of the dedicated reader mode that would automatically work the screen monochrome when apps like Kindle were opened . At least there ’s still a oecumenical monochrome choice buried within the huge preferences carte du jour .
Most significantly , OxygenOS feels tight all the time without any slowdown or stave . There ’s also none of the strong-growing heavy bombardment technical school that hampers some of the Android devices from rival brand name . No one does software optimisation on Android quite like OnePlus and having experienced these phones for years , I am sure it will appease fast for a while to follow .
A few class back , a hope of three years of software update and four of security updates would be seen as good . In 2024 , with Samsung and Google now offer upwards of seven years as criterion , I think it ’s just satisfactory and I would have liked to have see OnePlus push it further .
Battery Life
The OnePlus 12R is the expert OnePlus telephone you’re able to buy when it comes to battery science . Not only does it keep the badly snappy charging speeds the stain has become known for , but the combining of a huge 5500mAh cell and a default option 1080p display background equalize fantastic endurance .
I ’ve been using the OnePlus 12R as my master telephone set for around two weeks now and I am still continually impressed with how long it can go between charges . Between seven and eight minute of filmdom time is doable , meaning most exploiter shouldeasilyget two days before a charge is take .
I have n’t been able to use up this speech sound in a individual day without force it down with threatening benchmarking instrument that ramp the silver screen brightness up , with even the in use of oeuvre years leaving me with at least 30 % battery left add up midnight . An hour of Netflix streaming in HDR took a mere 5 % off .
OnePlus phones , along with those from its Oppo partner firebrand , have become known for their quick charging skills over the retiring few geezerhood and I am happy to seeSuperVOOCsticking around for this ‘ roentgen ” release .
The included chew supports 100w charging in all regions aside from the US where it ’s 80w and this can fully headphone institutionalize the phone in under 30 minutes .
In my tests I could n’t quite get the full 0 - 100 % charge in the 26 hour OnePlus claims , however at 28 minutes , this remains one of the quickest charge pot - marketplace on the food market . Compared to the Pixel 8 – a sound that make out in at a exchangeable price – the OnePlus charge nearly 3x as tight .
Not all is everlasting , though . The deficiency of radio file irks me , even though I read the compass point of view that it ’s unneeded when the wired charging is so ridiculously fast .
I ’d argue that the easiness of plopping a phone down on a wireless pad is neat however fast wired charging is , and I always prefer to use wireless charging at night so I am not fishing around for a cable in the dark .
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Should you buy it?
The OnePlus 12R ticks sight of boxes and is very good value when most portion are deal . The screen is big , fast , bright and sharp enough while the chipset is quick and the battery large.&bsp ;
The master tv camera on the OnePlus 12R is good – the same ca n’t be said for the lowly sensing element , though . Both the macro and ultrawide are poor and the experience is n’t anywhere near the far superior OnePlus 12 .
Final Thoughts
The OnePlus 12R is a classic OnePlus gadget , which is both a positively charged and a negative . It hearken back to the brand ’s start as a knock-down machine maker who give up products at good Leontyne Price points and ca n’t quite nail a complete camera experience .
As a more low-cost alternative in theOnePlus 12family it tick a mountain of boxes though , tender a 2023 flagship chipset , huge battery and very tight charging for a price that puts in directly between theNothing Phone 2andPixel 8 .
I ’d still say it ’s more like a rebadged OnePlus 11 than the dead on target flagship OnePlus is implying . The camera is n’t flagship - worthy and the design is dated in comparison to the eternal sleep of the market .
Still , if it ’s giving performance and a long - hold up barrage you ’re after there ’s nothing better on the market for this gravely tempting cost .
Trusted Score
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We test every roving phone we review thoroughly . We practice industry - stock tests to compare characteristic properly and we utilise the telephone set as our independent twist over the reappraisal catamenia . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a Cartesian product .
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FAQs
You ’ll get a 100W SuperVOOC USB - A to USB - 100 courser in the box .
It is , but with an IP64 valuation , it ’s behind the dust and water ingress shelter of flagships .
Test Data
Full Specs
