OnePlus 12: everything you need to know about the new flagship phone
Out in China now, going global in January
While there are plenty of upcoming phones to be excited about, OnePlus’ next handset is right around the corner. Or if you live in China, you can put your OnePlus 12 pre-order in right now; the brand’s latest flagship was revealed for its home territory in early December 2023, and packs some impressive upgrades. But what about the rest of the world? What can global audiences expect from the device, when it will arrive, and how much it will cost?
It has long been the OnePlus mantra to start spilling the beans well ahead of a phone’s launch, so we already had a good idea what to expect. Now that the phone is official, here’s everything that’s really important about the upcoming Android smartphone – plus a look at the final few question marks, like pricing.
OnePlus 12 release date
The OnePlus 12 made its debut in China on the 5th of December. OnePlus China president Li JieLouis teased the event on the Weibo social network ahead of time, confirming it would follow the 10-year anniversary of the brand the day before. Following the reveal it was immediately made available for pre-sale, with the first handsets being delivered to customers on the 10th of December.
A global launch will happen in early 2024, according to the firm. That potentially gives OnePlus a big lead over rivals, which look set to launch their new phone generations in late January or early February. That includes Xiaomi, who has yet to bring the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro to Western audiences, and Samsung, whose Galaxy S24 line-up is rumoured for January.
Rumours suggest there might still be a month to wait for global phone fans. Yogesh Brar posted to X (formerly Twitter) back in July, saying the device would be released in China in December 2023, and followed by a global release in February 2024.
The February global launch lines up with the OnePlus 11‘s release outside of China, but an official OnePlus competition seems to point towards the 24th of January as the big day. The terms and conditions on the OnePlus India site said the last day of the contest, January the 23rd, was “the day before the OnePlus 12 launch event.” These have since been changed to remove the date reference, which seemingly suggests it was accurate. Twitter tipster Max Jambor has since said the reveal date will be the 23rd of January, rather than the 24th, and that the event will be held in India.
OnePlus 12 estimated price
In China, the OnePlus 12 launched at a special pre-sale price of ￥4299 for the 12GB+256GB variant, which is roughly $600/£478. The top-spec 24GB+1TB version cost ￥5799, or about $820/£645. Those prices are set to climb once the phone goes on general sale on the 10th of December, and will absolutely increase further once it reaches a global audience.
2023’s OnePlus 11 started at $699/£729, which was a price hike from the previous-gen OnePlus 10T. The earlier smartphone started from $649/£629. With top-end hardware on the way for the OnePlus 12, we’re expecting a minimum $749/£799 starting point.
OnePlus 12 design
OnePlus took to Weibo to reveal the OnePlus 12’s fresh new design – although “fresh” and “new” may be stretching things somewhat. The new phone takes its styling cues from the outgoing OnePlus 11, including a huge asymmetric rear camera bump. Three colours are on the way: black, in the firm’s familiar textured matte coating, a glossy white, and a marble-like green hue that we think is the star of the line-up.
These closely match earlier renders produced by OnLeaks and MySmartPrice, which carried the same rounded corners frame with a round camera bump on the rear as this year’s phone.
The biggest differences are with the rear camera lenses, with a periscope lens sitting at the bottom of the stack. That should help it take more zoomed-in shots than the OnePlus 11. Above is the Hasselblad logo and the other two camera lenses. Helpfully the camera bump is labelled with aperture and focal length measurements for each lens. That means we can expect an f/1.6 23mm main snapper, an f/2.2 14mm ultrawide, and an f/2.6 70mm telephoto.
The punch-hole selfie snapper has moved from the corner of the screen to the centre. If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the bezels around the screen have got thinner. It keeps curved edge glass, though; rivals from Samsung, Apple and Google have gone back to flat glass for their flagship phones, so the OnePlus 12 is something of an outlier.
There’s been no mention of water or dust resistance, but the under-display fingerprint sensor and (less secure) facial recognition unlocking make a return. OnePlus has also included an IR blaster. The OnePlus Open foldable shipped with one, despite OnePlus having previously only fitted them to its more affordable Nord models.
OnePlus 12 hardware specs
We already knew the OnePlus 12 would pack a 6.82in screen, which is slightly larger than the current model’s 6.7in display. While well-known leakers such as Yogesh Brar initially reported the OnePlus 11’s screen would carry over, panel producer BOE since confirmed that wouldn’t be the case.
The firm is supplying OnePlus with its ‘X1’ AMOLED screens, which will be among the brightest on sale: in auto mode it can manage an incredible 4500 nits peak brightness, which is almost double that of the Pixel 8 Pro. In manual mode it’ll do a more conservative 1700 nits, according to Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station, who claims to have tested a handset ahead of launch. We can also expect a 3186×1440 resolution, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and A+ certification from image quality experts DisplayMate.
Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is powering the OnePlus 12. The silicon was only recently unveiled, so OnePlus’ upcoming handset will be one of the first phones to ship with it. Based on 4nm technology, the new processor should improve performance by 20% compared to last year’s Gen 2 chip and add lots of AI-assisted cleverness. A bespoke cooling system should help it keep churning out CPU cycles while under load, too.
In China there are four OnePlus 12 variants: a 12GB RAM and 256GB entry-level model, 16GB+512GB and 16GB+1TB options, and a flagship 24GB+1TB model. There’s no clue yet as to which versions will make their way to global audiences.
A sizeable 5400mAh battery should deliver multiple days of life between charges. 100W wired fast charging makes a return, and it supports 50W wireless charging speeds on compatible pads. OnePlus China president Li Jie later confirmed wireless charging would appear in some form in a Weibo post, but didn’t reveal exact speeds.
OnePlus previously confirmed it teamed up with Sony for the OnePlus 12’s main snapper. It uses a 50MP LYTIA stacked sensor that should capture more light than similarly-sized sensors that use a simpler configuration. The one seen on Sony’s Xperia 1 V impressed us with its night-time abilities, but this is a slightly different sensor.
The periscope zoom lens will be the biggest change, bringing a 64MP sensor capable of 3x optical zoom. This isn’t as impressive as Samsung’s 10X zoom using the same tech, but you’ll still see vastly improved zoom shots compared to the OnePlus 11’s 2x zoom snapper. It sits alongside the same 50MP ultrawide lens that appeared on previous OnePlus devices.
Oppo and OnePlus are working together on this generation’s camera hardware, which it calls HyperTone. The image processing will apparently deliver 60% reduced noise and 30% better clarity than last year’s handsets. Hasselblad has also helped out with colour science.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor