OnePlus 12R Review: A Budget Flagship of 2024

The OnePlus 12R is a cheaper alternative that shares some of the visual cues of its pricier sibling, along with a decent battery and solid performance. Several vital compromises must be made to achieve a cheaper starting price.

The OnePlus 12R runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor instead of the OnePlus 12’s new 8 Gen 3 chip, but it’s still a powerful performer. The OnePlus 12R also has a scaled-down camera setup, including a 50-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2-megapixel camera with a macro lens.

It can take decent photos in mixed conditions, but those looking for a more full-featured photography experience will opt for the flagship.

What’s unique about the OnePlus 12R?

The OnePlus 12R pushes the boundaries of power and offers the longest-lasting battery of any OnePlus phone. The all-new 5500mAh battery combines ultra-fast 100W SUPERVOOC charging with an advanced battery health engine. You can spend less time plugged in on a single charge and more time staying calm.

Should you buy the OnePlus 12R?

The OnePlus 12R is significantly cheaper than the flagship and still has any exciting features. The processor performance is more than enough for most people, the battery life is solid, charging speeds are surprisingly fast, and the camera is ideally suited for everyday photographers.

It’s disappointing that OnePlus doesn’t offer more extended software support. If you’re looking for a decent all-round Android phone that won’t break your budget, the OnePlus 12R will deliver.

Advantages:

• Excellent battery life
• Supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+
• Powerful performance
• Fast charging
• Budget phone

Disadvantage:

• No dedicated telephoto camera
• No wireless charging

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OnePlus 12R Review

Design and Display

The OnePlus 12R looks similar to the more powerful and pricier OnePlus 12. However, it features a regular glass back instead of a marbled one. The design and camera module makes the phone stand out from other brands. The design is similar to last year’s One Plus 11.

The familiar sizeable circular camera module is in the top left corner of the back panel. We’re reviewing the Cool Blue model, which features a smooth, glossy back panel. The curved sides and display make the phone comfortable to hold.

However, the matte finish panel of the Iron Gray variant should offer more grip. Since the frame is metal and both the front and back panels are glass, the phone also has excellent weight. The phone weighs 207g, giving it a premium feel.

With the OnePlus 12R, the company has changed the location of the alert slider. It is now placed on the left spine of the phone. This was the original placement of the iconic alert slider when OnePlus first introduced it with the OnePlus 2.

The right spine of the phone houses the volume and power buttons. The bottom has access to a speaker, USB Type-C port, microphone, and SIM tray tool, while the top has a second microphone, speaker, and IR blaster.

The OnePlus 12R has a curved display on the front with relatively thin bezels. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and although OnePlus includes a screen guard with the phone, the quality is poor, so we recommend installing a tempered glass guard. The phone gets an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance, cheaper than phones offer nowadays.

The phone features a 6.78-inch LTPO 4.0 AMOLED panel with 1.5K resolution and an active 120Hz refresh rate. The panel features a touch response speed of up to 1000Hz and other features such as 10-bit color and HDR10+ support.

The phone’s display offers a high brightness mode of 1,600 nits. This means that everything is suitable, even under direct sunlight. It’s a great display that performs very well both indoors and outdoors. The colors are excellent, and there are a few modes in the Settings app.

We recommend using Cinematic Color mode in Pro mode in Display Settings for the most accurate color reproduction.

Camera

If you don’t push too hard, the OnePlus 12R camera produces some excellent images. The lovely lined 50-megapixel primary camera’s stan-primary 1x shooting mode produces gorgeous, detailed images with rich colors. The 2x setting is surprisingly proper, considering it is a digital zoom, not a lossless crop zoom.

I used this product in dim indoor lighting and magotlear photos of my child and his friend getting ready to fry Beanie Babies on the kitchen stove. Despite the lighting conditions, the system maintained a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action, which is no small feat for a cell phone camera.

But the 12R beats the skis at the 5x zoom setting. Even when there is ample outdoor lighting, photos look a bit messy due to improved digital zooming. Portrait mode is surprisingly useful, and wisely, OnePlus limits it to a 1x zoom setting.

There’s a pointless 2-megapixel macro camera, which I’m sure OnePlus included only to round out the number of lenses on the rear camera bump. Video recording is excellent for everyday clips. 1080/30p is the default, but you can boost it up to 4K/30p without noticeable tearing.

Performance

Performance is one of the most vital reasons for the OnePlus 12R, especially considering its price/performance value. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC makes everything smooth on the phone. The benchmark results may not be the highest in its price range, but you’ll never feel like it’s not good enough. On AnTuTu, the phone mascored5,11,642 points in performance mode. With the mode disabled, the phone scored 12,82,842 points.

The OnePlus 12R is also a great gaming phone. I know that OnePlus doesn’t realize this, but the gaming experience on the phone is excellent. Gaming on the OnePlus 12R was also enjoyable, thanks to the gorgeous display.

The phone also has a feature called Aquatouch, which uses the CPU to detect when the screen is wet and increases touch response to prevent mistakes. This is a hit or miss as it worked sometimes, although there were still a lot of errors when I tried to use the phone in the shower.

OnePlus has also packed a good pair of speakers in the phone. You get good voice separation, decent bass, Dolby Atmos support, and it gets deafening. Streaming content on the OnePlus 12R is enjoyable.

Battery and Charging

The OnePlus 12R features the largest battery ever included in a OnePlus phone. It features a 5,500mAh cell that supports 100W fast charging using the 100W brick included in the box.

The battery performance of the OnePlus 12R is pretty good and could be improved by lowering the refresh rate and screen resolution. During our review, we achieved 7 hours of screen-on time with an hour of gaming, using the camera, watching YouTube and Netflix, and other daily tasks.

The 5,500mAh battery can easily last two days, even under heavy usage. The 100W charger could charge the phone from 10% to 100% in 30 minutes. This is a bit longer than advertised, going from 1 to 100% in 26 minutes, but 30 minutes is still very impressive.

Connectivity

The OnePlus 12R offers dual-band Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and the usual set of GPS satellite support. It also supports dual nano-SIM with dual 5G standby, but no eSIM exists. The phone has an in-display fingerprint scanner at the bottom of the screen. It worked well throughout the review period.

Software

Moving on to the software, the phone runs OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14. During our review, OnePlus released an update to the phone that brought some performance and camera improvements. The company promises three years of software and four security updates for the OnePlus 12R.

There are a lot of software features here. Various OxygenOS features, or chlorosis, will help you customize your OnePlus 12R to your liking. OxygenOS 14 has many new features, such as File Dock, Fluid Cloud, Smart Cutout, Smart Touch, and Multi-Screen Connect 2.0. File Dock makes sharing content easy across apps and devices, and Fluid Cloud displays customizable information in the status bar.

There is also a feature called Smart Suggestions that provides real-time updates from apps like Zomato, Swiggy, etc. You can see these updates on your lock screen, status bar, or notification shade. The Always-On Display (AOD) feature also works.

The OnePlus 12R and even the OnePlus 12 are missing out on AI features that are strangely available on phones sold in China. Let’s hope that OnePlus can introduce these features to the phone through a software update.

Is the 12R worth buying?

The OnePlus 12R is an excellent premium-range smartphone that punches well above its weight. For a price starting at $600, you get a device with the performance of last year’s flagship phones, a good AMOLED display, and excellent battery life with fast charging speeds.

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Conclusion

OnePlus started its journey as a flagship killer, and you can see that legacy in the OnePlus 12R. The phone makes the most of its more expensive variant, the OnePlus 12, such as a stunning display with a new technology from OnePlus that makes it easier to navigate when the phone gets wet.

There’s also the fact that it has a great main camera and a primary camera that produces satisfactory images in most cases. That means there’s no dedicated telephoto camera, and there’s also the fact that it only offers three years of software support at a time when most manufacturers start offering at least four years of software support.

Nonetheless, we think the pros outweigh the cons in this particular case, and we can recommend this OnePlus midrange as it offers more than it asks for.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the  R series from OnePlus?

The OnePlus R series offers some of the same features that the mainline OnePlus flagships provide, but it is the same in that it uses older hardware or is priced lower by missing some of the key features found in the top-end OnePlus phones.

Is the OnePlus 12R enough?

The OnePlus 12R is significantly cheaper than the flagship and offers many exciting features. The processor performance is enough for most people, the battery life is solid, charging speeds are surprisingly fast, and the camera is ideally suited for photographers.

Does the OnePlus 12R have a cooling system?

The OnePlus company claims a cryogenic cooling system 76% larger than the system inside the OnePlus 11R.

How is the display quality of the OnePlus 12R?

OnePlus has added a stunning 6.78-inch AMOLED display to the OnePlus 12R. Boasting curved edges and a resolution of 2780 x 1264 pixels, this display is eye-catching with its clarity and supports a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 10+, and Dolby Vision.

Is the OnePlus 12R waterproof?

On the other hand, the relatively cheaper OnePlus 12R has a slightly lower IP64 water and dust resistance rating. This means that dust cannot enter the phone’s enclosure,  and the 12R is protected from water splashes from all directions.

How fast does the OnePlus 12R charge?

The largest smartphone battery evarged from 1-100% in 26 minutes with ultra-fast 100W SUPERVOOC. Spend less time plugging in and transforming your digital life.

What is the primary camera on the OnePlus 12R?

The OnePlus 12R has a 50MP main shooter, an eight primary ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2MP macro lens on the back. The selfie camera is only 16MP, which is better than other phones in this price range but falls short of the OnePlus 12.

Does the OnePlus 12R support Dolby Vision?

Eye Saver Mode adjusts the screen temperature based on ambient light to reduce fatigue and uses 2160Hz PWM to help minimize fatigue in dark environments. It also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+, so you can watch all your content of the highest quality without worry.

Does the OnePlus 12R have a telephoto lens?

Since the OnePlus 12R doesn’t have a telephoto lens, it uses digital zoom.

How much does the OnePlus 12R weigh?

The phone weighs 207a, and the weight of the screen protector may add another 3g. The size and weight of your phone may vary depending on its configuration, manufacturing process, and measurement method.

Does the OnePlus 12R come with a screen protector?

Although the quality isn’t the best, it comes with a pre-applied screen guard so that you might want a tempered glass protector instead.

What is the radiation level of the OnePlus 12?

The highest SAR values were reported in the head SAR at 1.18 W/kg and the body SAR at 0.68W/kg.

What is the Trinity Engine on the OnePlus 12R?

The OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition is optimized for the gaming experience. Accelerate game loading speeds and reduce latency by leveraging Trinity Engine’s HyperBoost technology and custom tuning.

What is the SAR value of the OnePlus 12R?

The highest SAR values were reported in the head SAR at 1.187 W/Kg and the body SAR at 0.824W/Kg.

Does the OnePlus 12R have an IR blaster?

The OnePlus 12 and 12R share a very similar design, including a round camera module and curved edges on the back, while the fan-favorite alert slider has now been moved to the left, and the IR blaster is also present at the top of each side.

Does the OnePlus 12R have a glass back?

The cool blue glass back of the OnePlus 12R reflects light like a winter lake, giving it a dazzling look of pure elegance. Understated luxury flows like liquid metal, and delicate metal particles convey the boundless energy of pure speed.

How long does the OnePlus 12R battery last?

The OnePlus 12R now comes with a 5,500mAh battery, the largest battery ever in a OnePlus phone. The larger battery and more efficient chipset underneath mean that the OnePlus 12R offers excellent battery life, consistently delivering 8-9 hours of screen on time (SOT) during use.