The OnePlus 12R arrived alongside its premium sibling, the OnePlus 12, in January, promising a "Smooth Beyond Belief" experience. While the phone does deliver on its promise of fluidity, what’s truly unbelievable is its price tag. For a starting price of Rs. 39,999, the OnePlus 12R offers an enticing blend of high-performance features and an impressive design. But does it truly strike the perfect balance between affordability and flagship-level prowess? Let’s delve deeper and uncover what makes this OnePlus device stand out from the crowd.
OnePlus 12R Price in India
The OnePlus 12R is available in two configurations in India:
- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage: Rs. 39,999
- 16GB RAM + 256GB storage: Rs. 45,999
While the higher storage variant provides ample space, the base model’s limited 128GB storage might feel restrictive for some users. It’s a bit of a missed opportunity to not offer at least 256GB on the base variant.
The OnePlus 12R comes in two alluring colors: Iron Gray and Cool Blue. The Iron Gray model boasts a sophisticated matte finish back glass, while the Cool Blue variant is a dazzling mirror-like surface that reflects your surroundings.
The retail package includes a generous assortment of accessories:
- Protective Case: Provides protection for your phone
- Stickers: For those who prefer a bit of personalization
- 100W Fast Charger: A powerful charger to quickly power up your device
- USB Type-A to USB Type-C Cable: Necessary for fast charging
- SIM Ejector Tool: Essential for accessing the SIM tray
- Red Member Club Membership: Offers exclusive benefits and perks
User Manual and other Documents: Contains essential information about the phone
Notably, the included 100W charger is surprisingly large, even surpassing the dimensions of many laptop chargers.
OnePlus 12R Design: A Familiar Yet Refined Look
The OnePlus 12R shares a strikingly similar design language with its more premium counterpart, the OnePlus 12. However, it opts for a standard glass back panel instead of the eye-catching marble glass found on the flagship.
The phone’s design stands out from the competition thanks to its distinctive camera module, reminiscent of last year’s OnePlus 11. The large circular module prominently sits on the top left corner of the back panel, adding a touch of visual flair.
The Cool Blue variant, which we had the pleasure of reviewing, boasts a smooth and glossy back panel. The curved edges of both the display and the sides lend the phone an ergonomic grip, but also contribute to its slipperiness. The Iron Gray variant, with its matte finish back, should offer a more secure hold.
The OnePlus 12R feels premium in hand, thanks to its sturdy metal frame and glass front and back panels. Weighing in at 207 grams, it strikes a satisfying balance between weight and durability.
One noteworthy design change is the repositioning of the iconic Alert Slider, now situated on the left spine of the phone. This harkens back to its original placement on the OnePlus 2. The right spine houses the volume rocker and power button, while the bottom edge features a speaker, USB Type-C port, microphone, and SIM tray. The top edge accommodates the second microphone, speaker, and a convenient IR blaster for controlling your home electronics.
The front of the OnePlus 12R features a curved display with relatively slender bezels, offering an immersive viewing experience. Though OnePlus has included a screen protector, it’s of subpar quality, prompting the need for a tempered glass protector for optimal screen protection.
The OnePlus 12R holds an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance. Although this rating is generally considered as a basic level of protection, it’s a welcomed feature considering its price point.
OnePlus 12R Specifications and Software: Power Packed with a Familiar OS
Let’s delve into the internal workings of the OnePlus 12R. Under the hood, it boasts impressive hardware that closely resembles a flagship phone.
At the heart of the OnePlus 12R lies the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. While it’s last year’s top-tier chipset, it still delivers powerful performance. OnePlus offers up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 4.0 onboard storage. However, the base variant makes do with 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage, which is slower compared to its higher-end counterpart.
In terms of connectivity, the OnePlus 12R is well-equipped, offering dual-band Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and comprehensive GPS satellite support. It also features dual nano-SIM support with dual-5G standby, although eSIM functionality is absent. The phone is equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner strategically placed at the bottom of the display, providing a reliable and responsive unlocking experience.
The OnePlus 12R boasts the largest battery ever incorporated in a OnePlus phone, with a 5,500mAh cell supporting 100W fast charging. The included 100W charger enables blazing-fast charging speeds, capable of recharging the battery from 10 to 100 percent in just 30 minutes. Although this is slightly longer than the advertised 26 minutes, it still surpasses the charging speed of most other phones in its price range.
The OnePlus 12R operates on Android 14, layered with OxygenOS 14 out-of-the-box. During our review period, OnePlus released an update that enhanced both performance and camera capabilities. The company has made a commitment to providing three years of software updates and four years of security updates for the OnePlus 12R.
OxygenOS 14 is a familiar interface for OnePlus users, but it borrows several elements from ColorOS, offering a plethora of customization options. The operating system incorporates a wealth of new features, including:
- File Dock: Streamlines sharing content across different apps and devices.
- Fluid Cloud: Displays customizable information on the status bar.
- Smart Cutout: Provides real-time updates from various apps on the lock screen, status bar, and notification drawer.
- Smart Touch: Offers intuitive gestures for easy navigation.
- Multi-Screen Connect 2.0: Enhances multi-device connectivity.
While the OnePlus 12R and OnePlus 12 lack AI features, this absence is likely due to the phones being sold in markets outside China. Hopefully, OnePlus will introduce these features via a software update in the future.
OnePlus 12R Performance: A Powerhouse for Everyday Tasks and Gaming
The OnePlus 12R excels in performance, making it a reliable choice for both everyday tasks and demanding applications. The potent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC ensures a smooth and responsive user experience.
Benchmark scores may not be the highest in its price segment, but real-world performance is consistently impressive. The phone achieved a score of 15,11,642 points on AnTuTu in performance mode, and a respectable 12,82,842 points with performance mode disabled.
The OnePlus 12R shines as a gaming phone, despite not being explicitly marketed as one. The gaming experience is phenomenal, seamlessly handling demanding games like Call of Duty, BGMI, and Genshin Impact on the highest settings and graphics. The phone sustains impressive frame rates, with only a slight temperature increase after a prolonged 40-minute session of BGMI.
The high touch sensitivity of the display is a boon for competitive mobile gamers, providing a responsive and accurate gaming experience.
OnePlus 12R Display: A Visual Delight for Immersive Viewing
The OnePlus 12R boasts a striking 6.78-inch LTPO 4.0 AMOLED panel with a 1.5K resolution and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. The display also features:
- 1,000Hz touch response rate: Ensures seamless and rapid interactions
- 10-bit colours: Offers a vibrant and rich color palette
- HDR10+ support: Delivers exceptional picture quality with enhanced dynamic range
- Aquatouch: A feature designed to improve touch response when the screen is wet, although its effectiveness can vary.
The display boasts a peak brightness exceeding 1,600 nits in high brightness mode (HBM), making it easily legible even under direct sunlight. The OnePlus 12R provides an exceptional viewing experience both indoors and outdoors.
The color reproduction is accurate and impressive, with options to customize the display color settings. We recommend using the Cinematic Color mode under Pro mode in the Display Settings for the most natural and accurate color representation.
The OnePlus 12R further enhances the multimedia experience with a pair of high-quality speakers. These speakers offer good voice separation and decent bass, coupled with Dolby Atmos support for immersive audio. Streaming content on the OnePlus 12R is a pleasure, thanks to its vibrant display and impressive audio output.
The battery performance of the OnePlus 12R is commendable, and can be even further extended by adjusting the refresh rate and screen resolution. During our review, we achieved over 7 hours of screen-on-time with a mix of gaming, camera use, and other everyday tasks. The 5,500mAh battery can easily last for two days with moderate usage.
OnePlus 12R Cameras: A Mixed Bag of Performance and Capability
The OnePlus 12R sports a triple rear camera setup:
- 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 primary sensor: Features an f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, and OIS. This is the same primary sensor found in the OnePlus 11.
- 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor: Provides a 112-degree field of view, offering a wider perspective.
- 2-megapixel macro camera: For capturing close-up shots.
On the front, the phone features a 16-megapixel selfie camera.
The Camera app is packed with features yet user-friendly, with additional modes like Hi-Res mode, Macro mode, Night mode, Pano, Time-lapse, Long exposure, and Slow motion hidden within the More menu.
While the primary camera takes impressive photos with great detail, sharpness, and decent color accuracy in daylight conditions, it falls short in low-light scenarios. Notably, the ultrawide camera exhibits a peculiar blurriness in landscape photos, even in good lighting. However, it performs better when capturing closer subjects. Low-light performance on the ultrawide camera is underwhelming, with excessive noise and unusable images.
The 2-megapixel Macro camera serves its purpose for close-up shots, delivering decent quality. The selfie camera captures good photos with sufficient detail for social media usage, but struggles in low-light situations.
Video recording capabilities are good, with support for up to 4K resolution at 60fps. However, the valuable Ultra steady mode is only available in 1080p resolution at 60fps. Video quality is noteworthy in daylight, with excellent stabilization. In low-light conditions, however, there is noticeable glitching and noise. The front-facing selfie camera can capture 1080p 30fps videos and performs adequately in daytime usage.
Overall, the cameras on the OnePlus 12R are a mixed bag. While the primary sensor performs well in daylight, the ultrawide camera’s performance is inconsistent, and low-light performance across all cameras needs improvement.
OnePlus 12R Verdict: A Value-Oriented Choice with Minor Shortcomings
The OnePlus 12R is a compelling smartphone with a solid overall package. It delivers a great display, powerful performance, impressive speakers, fast wired charging, lengthy battery life, and a capable primary camera. However, the camera performance isn’t flawless, and some users may find the base storage option to be lacking.
For those seeking a phone that delivers flagship-level performance and features without breaking the bank, the OnePlus 12R is a highly recommended choice. At a starting price of Rs. 39,999, it’s a fantastic value proposition for tech enthusiasts and everyday users alike. While its camera performance may not be perfect, the OnePlus 12R excels in many other areas, making it a worthy contender in the competitive mid-range segment.
