OnePlus 12 5G Review: Better than Great

OnePlus 12 5G launched in India back in late January. It has been about 3 months and I have been using the device ever since. To be honest, after the OnePlus 11, the expectations for yet another excellent flagship from OnePlus were very high. OnePlus not only delivered on that but also gave a little more. Here is my review of the phone after using it for around three months. Stay tuned for a review of the OnePlus 12R 5G coming soon on the website and the YouTube channel of TelecomTalk. Let’s jump right in.

OnePlus 12 5G Design Review

OnePlus 12 5G retains the same design (look-wise, but there are some differences) as the OnePlus 11. From afar, the black variants of the OnePlus 11 and the OnePlus 12 5G both look the same. I don’t mind the same design, as it is quite premium. The camera cutout is something I initially thought I wouldn’t like much after the OnePlus 10 Pro, however, it has grown on me.

I love the subtle Hasselblad branding. The black variant which I have is called Silky Black. It is a classy colour, all black and I would pick it over the Flowy Emerald (the green one) any day. The alert slider has shifted to the left side and the volume rockers have come to the right, a change OnePlus said it is making to improve connectivity for gaming.

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At the bottom, you get the Type-C port and on the top, there’s an IR blaster.

Oh, and yes, the SIM tray is also at the bottom. Out and out, the OnePlus 12 5G has a premium feel and finish. I don’t want to talk much about the design, as I am more excited to talk about the performance of this phone. But before that, let’s look at the display.

Rating – 9/10

OnePlus 12 5G Display Review

The OnePlus 12 5G’s display is what everyone has been very interested in. Here’s my view on it. Yes, the device is claimed to achieve 4500nits of peak brightness under sunlight. Now I can’t measure how many nits it achieves under sunlight, but what I can tell you is that it is very comfortable to view the screen and its content under direct sunlight with a OnePlus 12 5G.

The OnePlus 12 5G has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on top for protection. It sports 6.82-inch 120Hz ProXDR display with 4th gen LTPO panel. The maximum typical brightness that this device can achieve is 1600nits. It supports QHD+ resolution (3168x1440) along with 10-bit colour depth.

The colours on the display are nothing short of excellent. Boasting a curved display, the OnePlus 12 would be a great choice for watching OTT (over-the-top) content as the display not only delivers accurate colour, but also comes with support for modes such as Brigth HDR Video Mode, Screen Colour Temperature, Colour Vision Enhancement, Video Colour Enhancer and more.

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If you are worried about the Green Line issue, don’t be. It should most likely be fine with the OnePlus 12 series as the company shifted to purchasing display panels from BOE. Apart from just one odd post on the OnePlus community (which OnePlus hasn’t officially commented on), there have been no reports about the OnePlus 12 having green line display issues.

Regardless, OnePlus is already running a free display replacement program in case anything happens (which should ideally not). OnePlus 12 is not a part of this program, but it doesn’t have to be, the display would be covered under warranty anyway. So all in all, the display is colour accurate, and ultra silky buttery smooth, if that’s a word or a phrase!

Rating – 9.5/10

OnePlus 12 5G Performance Review

OnePlus 12 5G is a powerhouse. Coming from the OnePlus 11, the OnePlus 12 5G doesn’t feel very different, to be honest. Both are smooth and powerful and deliver a great multitasking experience. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, coupled with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 ROM (internal storage).

One thing that OnePlus said makes the OnePlus 12 a great multi-tasker is the Trinity Engine. It was initially released by OPPO with the ColorOS 14, but now, it is also adopted by OnePlus for the OxygenOS 14. The three key features of Trinity Engine are ROM Vitalisation, RAM Vitalisation, and CPU Vitalisation, all of which will keep the apps running in the background.

Scrolling through social media, gaming, using Google Maps, or recording a video, is a smooth process with the OnePlus 12 5G because of the Trinity Engine. OnePlus says that you can keep up to six background apps running on the device for up to 72 hours. Moreover, the company claims that the device will run smoothly for up to 4 years as its battery health will deteriorate at a slow pace.

The device is slated to receive 4 major OS updates and five years of security updates. But performance is not just multi-tasking, it is also how cool a device can stay while handling complex tasks.

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The OnePlus 12 5G features the largest dual-Cryo velocity VC chamber with a total area of 9140mm. It keeps the device pretty cool, even while playing games, and using video streaming and social media apps in the background.

The OxygenOS 14 running on the device surely adds up to the whole experience. The presence of the IR blaster is a great addition. I use it to switch on my AC (air conditioner) daily (EVERY SINGLE DAY). There’s no need to find multiple remotes anymore.

With the OxgenOS 14, many features are designed to support multi-tasking, such as Split View, Flexible Window, Smart Sidebar, and more. Battery life is also great! The device boasts a 5400mAh battery, the biggest in a OnePlus flagship ever! It can charge at 100W (wired) and 50W (wireless). I mostly keep the phone in the power saving mode when I am not interacting with the screen, because my Bluetooth is always connected to multiple devices and sometimes, even hotspot is switched on for hours. Despite that, the phone comfortably lasts a whole day.

There’s also a partnership that OnePlus did to bring the Pixelworks X7 independent visual processor to the OnePlus 12 5G. It makes HyperRendering (picture enhancing) possible on the OnePlus 12. This means that you will be able to play games at 120Hz on the OnePlus 12. I have tested it and the results are pretty amazing. Everything feels ultra-smooth with the OnePlus 12 5G.

Connectivity just flies with the OnePlus 12 5G. I have used both 5G and 4G on this device (a thorough 5G experience with the phone coming soon on YouTube and this website at a later point), and both give decent experience. I would want to observe more about how fast 5G drains the battery on this device compared to when it is on 4G.

It supports NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7. These are the 5G bands the device supports - n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28A/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78/n66.

Rating – 9/10.

OnePlus 12 5G Camera Review

OnePlus 12 5G has a great camera (camera samples below). I love its accuracy with respect to focusing on the subject. The focus adjustment is quick and smooth. Moreover, this time, after the first update, there’s also a Master mode. Yes, it includes the Pro mode which was already there with the Hasselblad partnership, but now there’s also a Master mode, and I like the output it delivers.

OnePlus partnered with Sony to make an exclusive 50MP primary Sony LYT-808 sensor for the OnePlus 12. Then on the rear, there’s also a 64MP telephoto sensor with 6x in-sensor zoom (meaning 6x lossless zoom) and you can digitally zoom up to 120x. The results are amazing with the telephoto sensor. The 6x lossless zoom delivers great results, most of the times, better than what you get on the "Pro" phones of other companies.

There’s also a Sony IMX581 ultra-wide angle sensor. For selfies, there’s a 32MP Sony IMX615 sensor. You can record at up to 8K resolution on the OnePlus 12 (I wouldn’t advise the 8K recording mode though, it is just not going to benefit you, and while it fairly looks like a value add, which isn’t much of a value add at the end of the day).

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The camera of the OnePlus 12 5G is amazing overall. It has portrait mode, dual-view video mode, Focus Peaking, RAW File, Video HDR, and more. The photos in the dark are also great. I love the fact that I don’t have to switch to a night mode all the time and the device can recognise that it’s a dark environment itself.

For the selfies, I wish the device was slightly better in terms of colour accuracy. Mostly, under artificial lighting (when the lighting is slightly yellowish and low), I feel like the result is that there’s more of a pinkish hue and the shadows and blacks need to be adjusted to a lower level to get more accurate colours. I still believe, overall, this camera, at this price range, is stellar and you can count on it to give you great photos.

Wait for a more thorough camera review of the phone, because it deserves its own dedicated article/video.

Rating – 9/10

OnePlus 12 5G Price and Overall Conclusion

So look, it starts at Rs 64,999 for the 12GB+256GB variant and then there’s the 16GB+512GB variant for Rs 69,999. There’s a Rs 2,000 discount on the purchase of this device with an ICICI Bank credit card. It is available in a Flowy Emerald colour as well as a Silky Black variant.

The OnePlus 12 5G stands out as a flagship phone in this price range. Yes, there’s heavy competition in this range, especially from the iPhone 15. However, with the iPhone 15, you don’t get a display or a battery like you get with the OnePlus 12. Anyway, comparing both phones doesn’t make sense, because, in terms of overall specifications, the OnePlus 12 is much ahead.

However, does the OnePlus 12 stand out against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra or the iPhone 15 Pro? Well, we have a comparison article/video scheduled for the future. Do check it out. Leave your thoughts in the comments and connect with us on our social media platforms to talk about the phone.