OnePlus 12R Review: Bridging the Gap Between Affordable and Flagship?

OnePlus 12R was launched alongside its huge brother, the OnePlus 12, in January at the Smooth Beyond Belief occasion. While the telephone is easy, it is definitely not past perception. What’s past perception is its price ticket. The telephone is now out there for buy in India with a beginning price ticket of Rs. 39,999. And for that value, you get loads of telephones. However, there are nonetheless some areas that want some enhancements.

So, does the OnePlus 12R bridge the hole between reasonably priced and flagship efficiency? Let’s discover out.

OnePlus 12R value in India

The OnePlus 12R is obtainable in two variants in India. The base variant is priced at Rs. 39,999 and will get 8GB RAM with 128GB of storage. You even have the 16GB RAM and 256GB storage choice, which is priced at Rs. 45,999. I feel OnePlus ought to have provided at the very least 256GB of storage on the base variant, which might make it simpler to suggest.

As for color choices, the OnePlus 12R is obtainable in Iron Gray and Cool Blue. The former has a matte end again glass, whereas the latter may very well be used as a mirror since it is very reflective.

OnePlus supplies a case, some stickers, a 100W quick charger, a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, a SIM ejector software, a Red Member Club membership, and the common set of paperwork. The cost is large, even larger than my laptop computer charger.

OnePlus 12R Review: Design

OnePlus 12R appears much like the extra highly effective and dearer OnePlus 12. However, it includes a common glass again as a substitute of a marble glass again. It’s design and makes the telephone stand out from different manufacturers due to its digital camera module. The design is much like final 12 months’s OnePlus 11.

You get the acquainted giant round digital camera module that is positioned on the prime left of the again panel. We’re reviewing the Cool Blue variant of the telephone, which has a easy, shiny again panel. The sides and the show are curved, making the telephone snug to carry whereas additionally being slippery. However, the matte end panel on the Iron Grey variant ought to supply extra grip. The telephone additionally has a wonderful weight to it, as the body is metallic and each entrance and again panels are glass. The telephone weighs 207 grams and feels premium.

With the OnePlus 12R, the firm has made a change to the Alert slider location. It is now positioned on the left backbone of the telephone. This was the unique placement of the iconic Alert slider when OnePlus first launched it on the OnePlus 2. The proper backbone of the telephone options the quantity and energy buttons. A speaker, USB Type-C port, microphone, and a SIM tray software can be found on the backside, whereas the prime homes a second mic, speaker, and an IR blaster.

The OnePlus 12R has a curved show on the entrance, getting comparatively slim bezels throughout. The show is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and whereas OnePlus has included a display screen guard on the telephone, it’s of poor high quality, and I’d suggest putting in a tempered glass guard. The telephone will get an IP64 ranking for mud and water resistance, which is one thing that is provided in even cheaper telephones today.

OnePlus 12R Review: Specifications and software program

Alright, let’s get to the internals. The OnePlus 12R is nearly like a flagship, and it is because it homes the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC from final 12 months. OnePlus presents as much as 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM on the telephone and as much as 256GB of UFS 4.0 onboard storage. However, the base variant presents 128GB UFS 3.1 storage, which is slower.

OnePlus 12R will get three years of Android OS updates

For connectivity, the OnePlus 12R will get dual-band Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and the common set of GPS satellite tv for pc assist. It additionally will get twin nano-SIM assist with dual-5G standby, however there is not any eSIM right here. The telephone options an in-display fingerprint scanner positioned at the backside of the display screen. It labored effectively all through the period of the overview.

The OnePlus 12R packs the largest battery ever included in a OnePlus telephone. It includes a 5,500mAh cell that helps 100W quick charging utilizing the 100W brick included in the field.

Moving on to software program, the telephone runs Android 14-based OxygenOS 14 out-of-the-box. During the overview, OnePlus launched an replace for the telephone that introduced some efficiency and digital camera enhancements. The firm guarantees three years of software program and 4 years of safety updates for the OnePlus 12R.

In phrases of software program options, effectively, there are many them right here. You get loads of OxygenOS options, or ought to I say ColorOS, that provide help to customise the OnePlus 12R to your liking. There are additionally loads of new options in OxygenOS 14, corresponding to File Dock, Fluid Cloud, Smart Cutout, Smart Touch, and Multi-Screen Connect 2.0. While File Dock makes it straightforward to share content material throughout apps and units, Fluid Cloud reveals you customisable data on the standing bar. There’s additionally one thing known as Smart Suggestions, which provides you real-time updates from apps corresponding to Zomato, Swiggy, and others. You’ll have the ability to view these updates on the lock display screen, standing bar, or in the notification drawer. It additionally works with the AOD (always-on show) characteristic. The OnePlus 12R, and even the OnePlus 12, miss out on AI options, that are weirdly out there on telephones bought in China. Hopefully, OnePlus will deliver some AI options to the telephones through a software program replace.

OnePlus 12R Review: Performance

Performance is one in every of the strongest causes to purchase the OnePlus 12R, particularly when you think about price-to-performance worth. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC makes the whole lot easy on the telephone. While benchmark outcomes will not be the highest in the value phase, you’ll by no means really feel prefer it’s not sufficient. On AnTuTu, the telephone managed a rating of 15,11,642 factors in efficiency mode. With the mode disabled, the telephone scored 12,82,842 factors.

You can play just about any recreation on the OnePlus 12R

The OnePlus 12R can also be an incredible gaming telephone. I do know OnePlus would not actually promote this as one, however the gaming expertise on the telephone is superb. I attempted COD, BGMI, and Genshin Impact, and the whole lot ran easily on the highest settings and graphics out there. The telephone provided wonderful body charges and solely acquired barely heat after a 40-minute-long session of BGMI. Touch sensitivity can also be nice, and it helped me eat a number of rooster dinners.

Gaming on the OnePlus 12R was additionally a pleasure, due to the sensible show. The telephone includes a 6.78-inch LTPO 4.0 AMOLED panel that provides 1.5K decision and an adaptive 120Hz refresh fee. The panel has a contact response fee of as much as 1000 Hz and different options corresponding to 10-bit colors and HDR10+ assist. The telephone additionally will get a characteristic known as Aquatouch that makes use of the CPU to detect when the display screen is moist and will increase the contact response in order to keep away from mistouches. This is a hit and miss, as after I tried to make use of the telephone underneath the bathe, there have been nonetheless loads of mistouches, but it surely did work at occasions.

The OnePlus 12R presents 1,600 nits in excessive brightness mode (HBM)

The show on the telephone presents a excessive brightness mode of 1,600 nits, which implies that the whole lot is eligible, even underneath direct daylight. It’s an incredible show that performs very effectively each indoors and outside. The colors are good, too, and you get a few modes you possibly can select in the Settings app. I’d suggest utilizing the Cinematic color mode underneath Pro mode in Display Settings for the most correct color copy.

OnePlus has additionally packed in pair of audio system on the telephone. You get good voice separation, respectable bass, Dolby Atmos assist, and they get very loud as effectively. Streaming content material on the OnePlus 12R is joyful.

The battery efficiency on the OnePlus 12R is fairly good, and it may be even higher when you flip down the refresh fee and display screen decision. During the overview, I used to be capable of obtain 7+ hours of screen-on-time with an hour of gaming, digital camera use, watching YouTube and Netflix, and different day-to-day duties. The 5,500mAh battery can simply final two days, even with heavy utilization. The 100W charger was capable of prime up the telephone from 10 to one hundred pc in half-hour. That’s barely longer than the marketed 1 to one hundred pc in 26 minutes, however half-hour remains to be very spectacular.

OnePlus 12R Review: Cameras

Now, let’s lastly get to the half that almost all of you have been ready for. The OnePlus 12R includes a triple rear digital camera setup that features a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, and OIS. This is the identical main digital camera from final 12 months’s OnePlus 11. You additionally get an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor with a 112-degree discipline of view and a 2-megapixel macro digital camera. On the entrance, there is a 16-megapixel selfie digital camera.

The OnePlus 12R has a 16-megapixel selfie digital camera

The Camera app packs in loads of options however is straightforward to make use of. Several modes are hidden in the More menu, which incorporates choices corresponding to Hi-Res mode, Macro mode, Night mode, Pano, Time-lapse, Long publicity, and Slow movement.

Before I discuss the digital camera efficiency, I’d like to simply say that that is the solely non-flagship characteristic on the smartphone. The main digital camera can shoot good images with loads of element, sharpness, and respectable color accuracy. You get 1x, 2x, and 5x choices in the normal Photo mode. They’re all simply crops from the important sensor. In good lighting and outside, the 2x shouldn’t be unhealthy, however there’s not loads of element in the 5x crop. When the solar units, the important digital camera can take respectable images, however there’s an apparent lack of element.

Top: 0.6x utilizing the Ultrawide, 1x and 2x from important digital camera: Bottom: Lowlight samples

Coming to the 8-megapixel ultrawide, I observed one thing unusual when taking footage of landscapes. Even in good lighting, there was all the time some blur in the pictures. When the topic is nearer, the ultra-wide produces good pictures with none blur. However, the ultrawide performs poorly in low gentle. Photos have loads of noise and aren’t actually usable.

Macro mode makes use of the 2-megapixel sensor

OnePlus may’ve finished away with the 2-megapixel Macro digital camera, however when you prefer to take close-up images of objects, you possibly can. The macro digital camera produces adequate pictures. The selfie digital camera shoots good footage with sufficient particulars for social media. However, it will possibly typically wrestle in low gentle. Luckily, you get a display screen fill gentle characteristic that helps. The Portrait photographs have good edge detection, however there aren’t any 1x or 2x choices.

Video efficiency on the OnePlus 12R is nice however not nice. You can shoot movies at as much as 4K decision and 60fps; nevertheless, the Ultra regular mode is simply out there in 1080p and 60fps. The video high quality is fairly good in daylight circumstances, and the stabilisation is nice as effectively. In low gentle, you’ll discover some glitching and noise. The colors and dynamic vary are good from the main rear digital camera. Ultra-wide performs okay throughout the day, and movies shot with the digital camera in lowlight eventualities have loads of noise. The selfie digital camera can shoot 1080p 30fps movies and performs effectively throughout the day.

OnePlus 12R Review: Verdict

The OnePlus 12R is a wonderful smartphone with a good digital camera. A few different equally priced telephones in the phase could supply a greater digital camera, however as an total bundle, you can’t go unsuitable with this telephone. It has an incredible show, wonderful efficiency, good audio system, quick wired charging, and a long-lasting battery; it would not warmth up a lot when gaming and the main digital camera performs effectively in daylight.

So sure, the OnePlus 12R does bridge the hole between reasonably priced and flagship. I’d completely suggest it to anybody who’s searching for a style of flagship efficiency and options however would not wish to spend flagship-like cash. At a beginning value of Rs. 39,999, it is a blind purchase.