Premium iPhone and Galaxy Line Alternatives

Important points

• Starting at $799 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the OnePlus 12 offers premium specs at a more affordable price than its competitors.
• The phone is equipped with a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, a stunning 2k 120Hz Super Fluid display, and a 4th generation Hasselblad camera system.
• Although the OnePlus 12 doesn’t have any AI features, it offers great performance, feel, and camera quality, making it a solid value for Android users.

OnePlus has long been trying to have its cake and eat it too, and the OnePlus 12 is no exception. We strive to be competitive with other premium spec phones while remaining more affordable than our competitors. Affordability is relative here, but the $799 entry model comes with his 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, making it a great choice for mobile enthusiasts looking for a bargain. This is a great option.

OnePlus 12 overview: mostly premium specs

The OnePlus 12 starts at $799 and comes with the aforementioned 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For an extra $100, you get 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. This is the unit I tested and is still a comparative value.

At the surface level, the OnePlus 12 compares favorably to the latest Samsung Galaxy S24+, which has the same RAM, storage, processor, similar display, and comparable camera system. The notable difference is that the S24+ retails for $200 more, starting at $999.

What you don’t get with the OnePlus 12 are artificial intelligence software features that have appeared on other Android smartphones over the past six months. When you see Google Pixel or Samsung’s new phones being promoted on TV, they tout AI as a reason to buy a phone. The magic of Pixel 8 is its magical capabilities.

I don’t think the lack of AI features on the OnePlus 12 is a big issue at this point. In the future, this issue may become even more of a concern as AI capabilities become native and integrated into the core experience of mobile phones. But for now, you can download Microsoft Co-Pilot, ChatGPT, or another AI app to get tons of the same artificial generation on any device.

It’s worth nothing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers the 12. It’s one of the first devices to feature this new processor, but it’s by no means unique and will soon become commonplace. But thanks to its processing power and RAM, the phone ran fast and remained comfortable to use. I would like to go into more depth here and give my opinion on this processor, but there isn’t much that would be of concern to most people or even casual enthusiasts. By the way, that’s a good thing.

The feel and look of premium phones in 2024

Unsurprisingly, the OnePlus 12 sports a similar design to other recent OnePlus devices. I like my phone to have noticeable changes in appearance over time. So, while I have no problem with the appearance of the 12, I was disappointed in its old-fashioned feel.

Even the marble-green feel is still the same as past OnePlus smartphones, despite the stone-touching look. That said, this new phone, with its familiar textured plastic back, was still comfortable to hold in my hand. The 6.8-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate is vibrant. (The peak brightness of 2,600 nits is amazing.)

While I wasn’t shocked or shocked by any aspect of the hardware (or the phone in general), everything felt as polished as a high-end device. For example, if I were to buy this phone, I wouldn’t think that I would be missing out on specs that make this phone much better than other phones at the moment. On the software front, the phone runs OxygenOS 14. The system’s tuning has been tweaked over the years and feels pretty standard overall. Most people will not have a problem with this.

Is the OnePlus 12 camera as good as it looks?

Mobile phone cameras are complicated. They include a lot of things. OnePlus 12 includes a 4th generation Hasselblad camera system with a 50MP primary camera, 64MP periscope camera, and 48MP ultra-wide camera. In the camera app itself, the photo distance is displayed to the user as 0.6x, 1x, 2x, 3x, and 6x (a choice of five focal lengths). The tree photo above shows focal lengths 1x, 2x, 3x, and 6x in that order. The sunset ones below start at ultra-wide 0.6x and proceed in the same order.

The first thing I noticed was that when I was taking a photo, the photo looked like hot garbage in the camera app. In the viewfinder it felt dull and lifeless. However, the processed results displayed in the Photos app were colorful and nice. I liked almost every photo the OnePlus 12 took using all default settings. It had great depth and color accuracy. His one exception to the default settings is that upon first launch, the camera app applies a “Hasselblad” watermark to each photo to give it a “luxury feel.” No, thanks.

In the OnePlus Photos app, similar to iOS 17, you can perform object selection by long-pressing and identifying the object. The subject will then be removed and saved as a new photo. Otherwise, most people would prefer to use his Google Photos app.

If you’re buying the OnePlus 12 primarily for its camera system, you won’t be disappointed. In my testing, I found it to be versatile and photogenic. It has a long reach and can easily be used from short to long distances. It proved that camera systems can handle people just pointing and shooting, as much as someone can break in and mess with settings.

None of the sample images in these galleries have been edited. These are provided with default settings to allow you to see at a glance camera results for different scenes at different times of the day.

Charging and battery life are great

I’ve been impressed with OnePlus’ super-fast charging speeds ever since I tried out different methods with my OnePlus 10 Pro two years ago. The OnePlus 12 has gotten a slight performance boost since then, and can now handle charging at 80W or 50W via cable for wireless charging.

The important wireless note here is that you need your own OnePlus 50W AIRVOOC charger. This is much bulkier than a standard Qi2 charger. Fast wired charging speeds can be achieved with a 100W or higher power adapter. A high-speed power adapter is included, but unfortunately it has a USB-A port instead of a USB-C. Come 2024, it’s going to be a little bit worse.

80W wired charging is very fast, so if you’re using it for an extended period of time, you’ll likely want to plug your phone into a high-capacity power adapter for a few minutes instead of using the ultra-fast wireless accessory.

But in reality, I didn’t really need to reach for the charging cable. We found the phone’s 5400mAh battery to be quite sufficient if used sparingly. Once, the battery died and I had trouble testing the charge. After all, the battery and charging story here is a positive one.

Price and availability

OnePlus 12 will be released on February 6, 2024. The 256GB model retails for $799 and the 512GB model retails for $899. There are two colors available: green marble and black.

If you like the idea of ​​the OnePlus 12 but it’s still out of your price range, the company also has the OnePlus 12R starting at $499. At that price, the 12R has 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 120Hz refresh rate display and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.

Should you buy OnePlus 12?

How many of you are looking for a well-specced Android smartphone and don’t also want a Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy device? If you fall into this small but uncertain number, the OnePlus 12 is the phone you’re looking for. There is almost no doubt that it is. I’m just confirming what you suspect. It’s solid!

This phone isn’t the best of the bunch, but it’s fast, capable, and takes great photos. Best of all, the OnePlus 12 is a great value. There are no generative AI capabilities, but until there are more proven use cases for that kind of functionality, that’s probably a good thing. OnePlus 12 is a great phone and lets you escape the AI.