OnePlus 12 Preview: Initial impressions and what’s different from the OnePlus 11 5G

Last week, OnePlus launched its next generation of phones – the OnePlus 12 series. Today, we will talk about the flagship device. We have had access to the OnePlus 12 for the past few days, and while the full review will take a bit longer as new software updates continue to drop every other day, there are a handful of things about the phone we can tell you about. More importantly, how it compares to its predecessor, the OnePlus 11 5G, across various key parameters like design, display, performance etc.

In 2023, we hailed the OnePlus 11 as one of the best phones of the year, and certainly one of the best launches from the company in years. It incorporated some massive changes and it was always going to be a daunting task for its newly launched successor to beat it convincingly. Realistically, we were expecting incremental updates this time. So let’s take a look at what new stuff the OnePlus 12 brings to the table as compared to the 11.

We will hold back the camera samples and performance benchmarks for the final review, not to keep you waiting, but we expect another software update or two in the coming days that might change things.

OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 11 5G: Design
The OnePlus 12 continues with the OnePlus 11 design language, and rightly so. It looks a lot like the 11 with a curved display, slim bezels and a punch-hole at the top of the screen for the selfie camera. However, the front camera has moved from the left corner to the centre of the top edge. The same applies to the back of the phone, with matte glass and a circular camera island. Keen observers will notice the increase in size of the camera holes as well as the island itself.

Speaking of change in size, while the OnePlus 12 looks quite similar to the OnePlus 11 at a quick glance, it feels noticeably larger and heavier in hand. The 15-gram increase in weight is acceptable given the larger display and battery, wireless charging and a few extras that the company has packed into this device. However, the 0.7 mm additional thickness makes it feel bulky in comparison.

Button layout has also changed with the volume rocker and the alert slider swapping edges. Having used the OnePlus 11 extensively, I feel the button accessibility was a little better on that. A positive change is the back panel of the Flowy Emerald variant of this phone that we got for review. It looks extremely elegant and reminds me of the Marble Odyssey edition of the OnePlus 11 but in a green shade.

OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 11 5G: Display
The OnePlus 12 retains the curved QHD+ display but takes it a couple of notches higher. It is a bit larger now at 6.82-inch from 6.7 on the 11. The resolution stands at 3168 x 1440 pixels with a variable refresh rate ranging between 1 Hz to 120 Hz for a flicker-free experience and better power efficiency. The biggest change here is the peak brightness with a massive jump from 1300 nits on the OnePlus 11 to 4500 nits. It does feel a lot brighter and is great for consuming HDR content.

Speaking of HDR, the 10-bit ProXDR display here is compliant with HDR10+ as well as Dolby Vision, just like the 11. Watching HDR videos from Netflix and Prime Video on the OnePlus 12 screen is a treat. It’s not just about the brightness but the colour accuracy is quite good too, and you get multiple screen modes to soothe your eyes when engaging in different activities like reading or doing so in low light. The screen protection has been upgraded from Corning Gorilla Glass Victus to Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 11 5G: Processing hardware
No points for guessing this. As always, OnePlus has opted for the latest and the most powerful Qualcomm SoC around, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. You get two variants of OnePlus 12 in India, one with 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB internal storage, while the other offers 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. One thing to note is that both variants have UFS 4.0 storage, unlike the base variant (128 GB) of the OnePlus 11 that offered slower UFS 3.1 storage.

Needless to say, the hardware here is as powerful as you get at the moment, and the benchmark scores are consistently higher than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip that powers the OnePlus 11. More on that in the final review.

OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 11 5G: Camera
The OnePlus 11 had a good mix of rear cameras starting with a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) fitted with a Sony IMX890 sensor. The second camera being a 48MP ultra-wide shooter with auto-focus that doubled up as a macro camera too. A 32MP telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom and clicking high quality portrait shots completed the trifecta. Hasselblad colour calibration and expertise in portrait photography were handy additions.

The OnePlus 12 looks to up the photography game further. This phone too has a 50MP primary camera with OIS, but with the newer Sony LYT-808 sensor with wider aperture and larger pixel size. The ultrawide camera here is quite similar to that on the 11 with a Sony IMX581 sensor and auto-focus. The telephoto camera sees a significant upgrade in the form of a 64MP periscope telephoto camera based on an OmniVision OV64B sensor with OIS that provides 3X optical zoom and 6X in-sensor zoom. This is the same camera present on the OnePlus Open too.

The selfie camera has finally been upgraded from 16MP to 32MP. The initial test runs have yielded some impressive results across the board. But we will reserve the final verdict on that matter for a little later, along with the camera samples. A new update has just arrived at the time of writing, bringing in Master Mode to the camera app. Let’s see how that pans out. We will let you know in the OnePlus 12 review.

OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 11 5G: Battery and charging
The battery capacity has seen an increment from 5000 mAh on the 11 to 5400 mAh here. What’s more, the OnePlus 12 also supports wireless charging. The company bundles the same 100W SuperVOOC charger that was provided with the OnePlus 11. Incidentally, the charging times are similar for both phones despite the extra battery capacity here. We will update you with the exact charging time in a few days, but it is definitely under half an hour with the bundled charger.

And before I forget, the OnePlus 12 also supports 50W fast wireless charging. The requisite AirVOOC (wireless) charger isn’t bundled in the package and needs to be purchased separately. We will let you know about the wireless charging time too if we can get our hands on that charger by the time we are done with the review.

OnePlus 12 price in India and initial impressions
The OnePlus 12 is priced in India at Rs 64,999 for the 256 GB variant and Rs 69,999 for the 512 GB model. You get a one year warranty on these phones. They are available for purchase starting 30th January 2024. Yes, the 256 GB variant is Rs 3,000 more expensive than the OnePlus 11 5G with similar capacity at launch but it does offer a handful of extras and upgrades to justify the difference.

Though the company hasn’t changed things drastically in their latest flagship phone, there is some enhancement in almost every department, and all that adds up to something significant. Our initial impressions of the OnePlus 12 are quite positive, and it feels like a reasonable upgrade over the OnePlus 11. We intend to test the new phone some more before we publish its in-depth review with benchmark results and camera samples in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.