OnePlus 12 in the test: Reparation and strong comeback

High performance, powerful cameras and a price in the three-digit range: With the OnePlus 12, the Chinese manufacturer wants to build on old glories and deliver a coherent overall package at a reasonable price. Our OnePlus 12 test clarifies whether this has been successful and what the device has to offer.

Technical data

OnePlus 12 5G 12GB RAM 256GB

OnePlus 12 5G 12GB RAM 256GB

€ 590.14

N/A

Buy now* Gshopper (Coupon gshopper100)

OnePlus 12 test: Design and workmanship

• high-quality design
• convincing workmanship

The OnePlus 12 is a very high-quality and stylish smartphone. Measuring 164.3 mm x 75.8 mm x 9.15 mm and weighing 220 grams, it is slightly taller and thicker than the Xiaomi 14 Ultra (our test), for example, but its rounded edges make it very comfortable to hold. Nevertheless, one-handed operation is almost impossible with this size.

The slightly textured back is particularly impressive and has a better grip than most glass backs of other devices. The camera unit is particularly eye-catching. At around 3 mm, it does not protrude too far and, with a diameter of 5.3 mm, has become slightly larger than its predecessor.

The smartphone is surrounded by a metal frame, which houses the volume rocker and the power button on the right-hand side and the OnePlus-typical AlterSlider on the left-hand side. The latter mutes the smartphone, switches to vibration mode or activates the ringer.

The USB-C 3.0 port is located at the bottom of the casing, which enables fast data transfer and image playback. OnePlus installs the finger pressure sensor in the display. Otherwise, there is now IP65 certification, meaning the smartphone should also be able to withstand splashing water. However, IP68 certification, which most flagship smartphones have, is missing.

The camera lenses shake a little during fast movements, which is mainly due to the optical image stabilizer of the main camera. However, this is within absolutely normal limits and is nowhere near as pronounced as in the case of the Xiaomi smartphone.

Beautiful display and great sound

• large, fast and bright display
• somewhat pale colors
• excellent speakers

The display of the OnePlus 12 has a screen diagonal of 6.82 inches and a pleasantly high resolution of 3,168 x 1,440 pixels. However, OnePlus also lowers the resolution at the factory to save battery life. By default, 2,376 x 1,080 pixels are selected.

It relies on LTPO technology and can adaptively and freely adjust the refresh rate between 1 Hz and 120 Hz, although 60 Hz or 120 Hz can also be set as an alternative. The maximum brightness of 4,500 nits is also quite impressive, although this only applies to HDR content. But the SDR brightness is also impressive.

The display is framed by fairly symmetrical edges and scores with a high viewing angle stability. The colors, on the other hand, are not quite as good as Xiaomi and the like and lack a little brilliance, which is particularly noticeable in red and dark blue tones.

The fingerprint sensor under the display is easy to reach, nicely sized and unlocks the smartphone quickly and reliably. In combination with the good-sounding speakers, consuming media with the OnePlus 12 is an absolute pleasure. Bluetooth 5.4 is also on board and even contributes the high-resolution codecs aptX HD, LDAC and LHDC.

Top performance… with throttling

• powerful SoC with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• excellent cooling
• heavy throttling in benchmarks under continuous load

The current flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and 12 GB of RAM promise great performance. Alternatively, the OnePlus 12 is also available with 16 GB and 512 GB. The power ensures impressive performance, whether for multitasking, demanding tasks or the latest games.

The cooling system also does a great job of keeping the smartphone pleasantly cool even under constant load. Compared to Xiaomi and the like, the casing hardly heats up at all; a noticeably increased (but harmlessly high) surface heat can only be measured when charging.

System performance is smooth as butter, animations are fluid and switching between several apps is also very fast. However, the benchmarks and games are somewhat different.

Of course, the OnePlus 12 also cuts a very good figure here, but lags somewhat behind the comparably equipped competition in terms of performance. Thermal throttling, i.e. a reduction in performance under load to prevent the device from overheating, is particularly pronounced on the OnePlus smartphone.

The performance drops noticeably in both CPU and GPU tests, with only around 57 percent of the performance available in the 3DMark stress test. However, this is mainly evident in the synthetic benchmarks and hardly plays a role in real-world use, as even current games do not push the SoC to the point of noticeable throttling.

In games, the OnePlus 12 also offers a gaming interface that provides information about the frame rate in fps, allows screenshots to be taken or the GPU settings to be adjusted, for example. There is also a choice of three performance modes, with the Pro Gamer mode delivering maximum performance with noticeably higher battery consumption and heat generation.

In normal mode, the smartphone draws around 17 percent energy after an hour of Genshin Impact, while in pro-gamer mode it is even 21 percent, while the case gets noticeably warmer.

System: OxygenOS with Android 14

OnePlus 12 relies on its own OxygenOS, which is based on Android 14. It provides a nice, clear interface and is almost completely free of bloatware. The special functions in particular, such as flexibly movable windows, the smart sidebar or a children’s and senior mode, are practical functions that cannot be found elsewhere.

OnePlus includes a few additional apps, most of which are familiar, such as the browser, clock, recorder or calculator. The “O Relax” app, which provides various nature sounds for relaxation, small games for stress relief or audio journeys through different cities, for example, is very pleasant.

In my opinion, it is annoying that the smartphone – at least on my test model – restarted comparatively often on its own. This sometimes happened when installing updates, in normal idle mode and even twice during the battery benchmark. Unfortunately, it is not clear why this was the case.

Great battery runtimes, fast charging time

• up to two days of realistic use
• fully charged in just 28 minutes

The battery of the OnePlus 12 holds a whopping 5,400 mAh, which realistically allows one and a half to two days of normal use. The PCMark Work 3.0 test showed a runtime of around 18 hours and 30 minutes before the smartphone restarted at a battery level of 7 percent – a very good value.

That’s around four hours more than the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which is really noticeable in practice. And if the battery does run out, recharging is also extremely quick.

Charging is done with up to 100 watts via cable, the matching power adapter is included in the scope of delivery. This allows the smartphone to be fully charged in around 28 minutes, and 75 percent of the energy can be pressurized in just 15 minutes. The OnePlus 12 charges wirelessly with up to 50 watts, which is also a very good value.

Good camera setup

• versatile camera setup
• Main camera with good image quality
• powerful zoom camera

OnePlus has once again teamed up with Hasselblad for the cameras and delivers a camera setup that is really impressive. However, the OnePlus 12 cannot quite keep up with the current top smartphones.

The best results are still delivered by the main camera, which uses the LYT-808 sensor in 1/1.4-inch format and has a resolution of 50 megapixels. The images here score points with a lot of detail.

Unfortunately, I am not completely convinced by the pictures. In my opinion, the contrasts are a little too low, while the colors are a little too oversaturated. This is particularly noticeable in outdoor shots under difficult lighting conditions, especially in comparison with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

In many cases, however, the main camera delivers convincing results when the light is right. OnePlus also chooses a warmer color balance here, which looks pleasant, but does not necessarily correspond to reality. When zooming in, the focus point also lacks a little sharpness. In contrast, the camera does a very good job with indoor shots. Here I like the colors and contrasts noticeably better.

However, the ultra-wide-angle camera in particular falls down considerably. Here, the images visibly lack detail, while the photos turn out even paler and with less contrast. The camera also requires good lighting conditions in order to deliver usable results.

Things are better with the periscope zoom camera, the real star of the show. It has a 3x optical and 6x lossless zoom and delivers excellent and detailed results.

The electronic image stabilizer also ensures impressive focus. Unfortunately, only the main camera is optically stabilized, which means that the other lenses or macro shots can quickly result in unsightly camera shake.

Especially when you have to get close to subjects, many photos in difficult lighting conditions are unfortunately rejects.

The selfie camera delivers decent results, but also lacks a little sharpness. The portrait mode works quite reliably, but the bokeh is a little too aggressive in places, so that the full subject is not in focus.

The OnePlus 12 records videos in a maximum of 8K at up to 24 fps, although 4K recordings in 10-bit with Dolby Vision are also possible. The quality of the videos can be described as very good.

There is now a noticeable leap in the cameras of the 12 series model compared to its predecessors and OnePlus has undoubtedly managed to make it to the front of the field. However, it still can’t keep up with the image quality of other flagships or the (significantly cheaper) Google Pixel 8 model series, especially the Pixel 8 Pro (our test).

OnePlus 12 test: Conclusion

The OnePlus 12 is a noticeable step forward and delivers an almost completely convincing overall package. The smartphone scores points with its elegant design and high-quality workmanship, top-notch features and a battery with excellent runtimes that also charges quickly.

Nevertheless, the 12 has a few flaws that make it difficult to give it a general recommendation to buy. One of these is the throttling under load, which mainly occurs in benchmarks.

The camera setup also does not quite reach the level of many competitors in terms of quality, although it is very versatile and achieves good results. However, camera enthusiasts will be better off with other smartphones.

And yet the OnePlus 12 delivers an absolutely well-rounded overall package at an attractive price that hardly any other manufacturer below the 1,000 euro mark can match. If you are looking for a convincing all-rounder, you are sure to find it here.

OnePlus 12 5G 12GB RAM 256GB

OnePlus 12 5G 12GB RAM 256GB

€ 590.14

N/A

Buy now* Gshopper (Coupon gshopper100)