The OnePlus 12 marks the company’s 10th anniversary, and it does so with a bang. The design is a further development of the very clean industrial design of the OnePlus 11 – which is otherwise still an excellent phone. The camera body merges with the metal frame on the side, and the back is dominated by the huge, impressive camera body with Hasselblad optics. As always, the only criticism I can find is that it doesn’t come with a case from the start, which I think is reasonable, especially when OnePlus does that with its cheaper phones.
On top of this, Trinity Engine is also used, which is the additional software layer that OnePlus has developed to connect to Android 14 and optimize computing power, storage and RAM. These are small things that add up to better performance. The technical documentation states, for example, that the CPU optimization alone provides half an hour of extra battery life, and the storage optimization provides up to 20 GB of additional storage space.
The cooling consists of, hold on, “Dual Cryo-velocity VC Cooling S”. Or more colloquially, a double chamber system for the Vapor Chamber. It works pretty well, the only way I got the phone to heat up was by super-ultra-mega-charging it while loading it with a heavy synthetic workload. 9,140mm2 is the total cooling area spread over two surfaces, hence the name, and if you look at the pictures of the interior and the cooling system, it’s actually impressive that the phone isn’t thicker.
This is an advertisement:
Also, the battery life is insanely good, unless you play several hours a day. I got it to last three days on one charge. I usually charge my phone around 20%, it takes approx. 15 minutes before it reaches 80%, and then the charging speed slows down. Oneplus claims 11 minutes at 0-50% and 26 minutes at 0-100%, and that’s about right.
The screen is fantastic, clear, extremely bright and very impressive. It’s a 6.7″ 2K 120 Hz ProXDR AMOLED display with LTPO+. It has a resolution of 3168×1440 and a maximum brightness of 4500 nits – luckily you can say it’s not standard brightness, otherwise the phone would melt. In addition, there are the various technologies and software that ensure that old games and videos look almost modern in their visual expression.
The OnePlus 12 comes in a greenish color and black and weighs 220g. Unsurprisingly, it uses OnePlus’ own version of Android 14, which as always is user-friendly, fluid, intuitive and easy to use.
This is an advertisement:
The camera is not surprisingly very good. OnePlus has always delivered a great camera experience with premium hardware, but the collaboration with Hasselblad has only elevated it all. We have a 50 MP wide-angle camera with Sony’s new LYT-808 sensor, a 64 MP periscope telephoto camera and finally a 114 degree Ultra-Wide. Of course, there’s HDR, Hasselblad’s MasterMode and portrait mode, as well as the ability to record 4K Dolby Vision video – and that’s something that’s truly an eye-opener if you’re used to something a little older. The colors are hugely impressive both on video and in photos, I’ve taken quite a few nature photos in the snow and of people in various situations, and for once I’m actually impressed by how good the photos and especially the colors are, even in environments with little light.
The sound is actually quite reasonable, something we don’t say very often. As I take good care of the things we borrow here at Gamereactor, I didn’t get to try their new “Aqua Touch” which is supposed to improve the screen’s ability to register pressure in the rain and with wet fingers, but I’ll take them at their word. Infrared remote control is now also available, I just don’t have many smart things in my home that use it – it’s a conscious choice, but I appreciate that they included it.
The prices for the OnePlus 12 are approx. £900/1000 Euro for the version with 12 GB RAM/256 GB storage space and approx. £1000/1100 Euro for the version with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage (approximate figures have been used, as the official prices so far have only come in the form of DKK 7699/8699). This is quite competitive, especially when it has perhaps the best camera you can find and an amazing display experience.
After using this phone for a few weeks, I have to say that I would probably strongly consider buying one myself. Powerful wireless charging and a battery that just keeps cooking in combination with a great screen and a camera that takes photos at a professional level, it’s hard not to recommend.