A new year approaches, which means a new slate of smartphones will start to hit in a few months. One of the first we’ll see in 2024 should be from OnePlus with its flagship OnePlus 12.
The OnePlus 11 is an excellent phone, as we indicated in our review. It’s one of the best phones you can get in 2023 and is right up there with great competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
But the OnePlus 12 will look even better, of course. OnePlus recently released images showing the OnePlus 12 in all its glory. We’re seeing the handset in black, white, and green. Rumors suggest we’ll see a brighter display, an even better telephoto camera, and some welcome improvements to the charging situation. Here’s all the information you need to know about the OnePlus 12.
OnePlus 12: release date
Like other smartphone manufacturers, OnePlus has a schedule it sticks to each year, or at least close to it. Let’s take a look at previous releases:
- OnePlus 9 series: March 23, 2021
- OnePlus 10 Pro (China): January 11, 2022
- OnePlus 10 Pro (Global): March 31, 2022
- OnePlus 11 (China): January 4, 2023
- OnePlus 11 (Global): February 7, 2023
As you can see, OnePlus has launched its flagship phone in the first few months of the year. And for the last couple of years, OnePlus has kicked things off with a China release first, followed by a global release later.
OnePlus plans to officially announce the new handset on December 5, with a Chinese launch first. A global release should occur in January 2024.
OnePlus 12: price
OnePlus surprised everyone with the OnePlus 11 price, which is only $699. Previously, OnePlus had price tags ranging from $899 to $969 for the Pro model of its phones, so the OnePlus 11 was a big shock — though sacrifices were made to get the price that low.
There haven’t been any rumors about the price of the OnePlus 12 so far, but we could expect it to be at least $699, if not higher. Since the OnePlus 12 seems to be a decent upgrade from its predecessor, the price could likely be more than $699.
OnePlus 12: design and display
For the most part, the design of the OnePlus 12 looks very similar to that of the OnePlus 11. If you were expecting a radical design change, well, you’ll be disappointed.
Early renders of the OnePlus 12 from July indicated that the circular triple camera module on the back would have a square lens along the bottom to include a periscope zoom camera. But those renders were based on a 3D CAD design from Steve ‘OnLeaks’ Hemmerstoffer and SmartPrix.
In September, some more renders of the OnePlus 12 popped up, this time based on pre-production unit images. The more recent renders don’t have the square periscope lens; instead, they go back to a standard telephoto lens like on the OnePlus 11. There is also an unknown component in the fourth spot of the camera module.
Then, in late November, OnePlus itself released official images of the OnePlus 12 as a way to tease the upcoming phone. This is what the OnePlus 12 will look like when you buy it, and you can see the new design in the video above and the images throughout this article. Although it looks very similar to the OnePlus 11, the biggest difference is that the Alert Slider has moved from the right side of the phone to the left side.
In terms of display, the OnePlus 12 will have a 6.7- or 6.8-inch 120Hz OLED panel that can reach up to 2,600 nits of brightness. That is brighter than the 2,400 nits of brightness offered by the Google Pixel 8 Pro but not quite as bright as the 2,800 nits that the OnePlus Open can reach. Still, it would be one of the brightest displays on the market.
Another display rumor is that it could have 2,160Hz PWM dimming. This is a system that, theoretically, prevents your eyes from becoming strained quickly when using the phone’s screen.
OnePlus 12: specs
OnePlus phones typically launch at the beginning of the year with Qualcomm’s latest 8-series chipset. That means we should see the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the OnePlus 12.
There is already some information about what to expect from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It will have a new core setup with a 1+3+2+2 configuration: one big core, five medium cores, and two small cores. The chip, in theory, should be more powerful than its predecessor and also be more capable with multi-core benchmarks. Of course, how this translates to real-world use has yet to be seen.
The OnePlus 12 should also have 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. It’s also possible that there will be a variant with just 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.
OnePlus 12: cameras
OnePlus is notorious for doing something different with the cameras each year, so it can be a little hard to predict. With the OnePlus 12, though, we could be in for a significant camera upgrade.
According to some leaks, the OnePlus 12 could have a 50MP primary sensor, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 64MP periscope telephoto lens. On the front-facing camera, it may be a 32MP lens.
A more recent leak from October suggests a 48MP ultrawide lens rather than 50MP. However, the primary camera and telephoto should still be 50MP and 64MP, respectively. The telephoto lens could also be identical to the one in the OnePlus Open, with 3x optical zoom.
OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 12 will have the new Sony Lytia camera, which also uses the same stacked pixel design found on the OnePlus Open. This means more light can be taken in for each scene, improving the overall brightness and picture quality without overexposure.
Finally, to continue the ongoing partnership, the OnePlus 12 will feature Hasselblad’s signature color science.
OnePlus 12: battery life
Leaks have indicated that the OnePlus 12 will have a large 5,400mAh battery with wired charging speeds up to 100W, but that’s not the most impressive part. OnePlus seems to be bringing back wireless charging — which was omitted with the OnePlus 11 — and it will be up to 50W wireless speeds.
Of course, while OnePlus usually offers very fast wired charging speeds, it also depends on the region. For example, while the OnePlus 11 has up to 100W wired charging speeds, you’d only get up to 80W speeds in the U.S., while everywhere else was 100W. As such, we aren’t sure if the OnePlus 12 will be any different, but it will definitely still be one of the faster-charging phones available in the U.S. market.
It also seems like OnePlus will include a charging adapter in the box with the OnePlus 12. This has largely been phased out by competitors, so OnePlus is one of the few remaining holdouts.
OnePlus 12: software and updates
There haven’t been any rumors about the software that we should see on the OnePlus 12, but it’s safe to say that it will probably have some form of Android 14 on it. OnePlus also has its own custom UI, so we should expect OxygenOS 14 on the OnePlus 12.
As far as updates, OnePlus recently committed to delivering four years of major Android OS updates and five years of security patches. The OnePlus 11 was the first phone to fall under this plan, so the OnePlus 12 should also see four major Android OS updates and five years of security updates.
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