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| OnePlus 12 Review |
So my colleague has been using the OnePlus 12 as his primary device for quite a while now. I asked him how many apps he has on the phone, and he said around 200. That’s proof enough that he’s actually been testing it thoroughly. But when I asked him to describe his experience with this phone in two words, he said "Boringly perfect." Let's delve into the detailed review of this handset and know how good it is.
Battery Life and Charging
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| OnePlus 12 battery |
First things first, the OnePlus 12 is definitely a battery monster. It offers the best battery life we’ve seen on a flagship phone yet. This is exactly what I said in my initial review of the phone—the OnePlus 12 is a battery champ. In line with my findings, my colleague also reported similar results with 8 hours of screen-on time on average. Even after multiple updates, the battery life remains fantastic. We checked the battery health, and it’s still at 100% after about 4 months, which is definitely good. The phone can charge from 0 to 100% in about 30-31 minutes using the 100W charger that comes in the box. You can also charge the phone wirelessly. I mostly used my car’s wireless charger, but you can also buy a faster 50W wireless charger from OnePlus for Rs 4,000.
Also read: CMF Phone One Review- A Fantabolus Package!
Performance and Throttling
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| OnePlus 12 offers good performance |
Now, all this great battery life comes from throttling performance. Despite using the Snapdragon AG Gen 3, LPDDR 5X RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and a massive vapor cooling chamber, our CPU throttle scores were not that great. When we ran the test back at launch, it was in the low 60s, and it remains in the low 60s. This tweet from my friend Dan also supports the fact that OnePlus is being very conservative with performance, especially for gaming. Essentially, OnePlus throttles the performance once the phone hits about 40-42°C in body heat. If you’re a gamer and looking for a phone in this price bracket, it might be better to go with the iQOO 2, as it has a flat display which is generally better for gaming compared to the extremely curved display on the OnePlus 12. However, if you don’t need the absolute best gaming performance and only care about occasional gaming and excellent daily performance, then the OnePlus 12 won’t disappoint. Updates have actually improved animation performance, making it extremely smooth and fast, very similar to OnePlus’s DNA of the past.
Display and Audio
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| OnePlus 12 has a great display |
The OnePlus 12 features a large 6.82-inch curved panel display. It’s bright whether used indoors or outdoors, and it still supports Dolby Vision, so Widevine L1 support hasn’t been removed after an update, which is common with many phones. You also get Dolby Vision support on Netflix. The display is good, but so are the speakers. The stereo speakers support Dolby Atmos, and our usage revealed that they are loud, rich, and very good. If you’re an audiophile, it supports LDAC and LHDC, and I even tried a few USB DACs, which all worked absolutely fine.
Camera Performance
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| OnePlus 12 offers commendable camera performance |
Let’s talk about the cameras on the OnePlus 12. While I won’t delve into the depths of it as we’ve already reviewed it extensively, I will discuss the long-term usage of the camera. It’s definitely improved with updates and features a proper 3x periscope lens and up to 6x zoom. The color consistency between the primary, ultra-wide, and periscope lenses is good. My wife even uses a portrait shot from the OnePlus 12 as her profile picture due to the positive feedback she’s received. Updates have not degraded camera performance, and the addition of Master Mode allows for high-quality photos, though you need some understanding of settings. One thing I hoped OnePlus would fix is the low-light performance, as shadows can still be very dark. In a comparison with the OnePlus 12R, the 12R took better low-light shots. The 32 MP selfie camera has also been upgraded and is one of the better selfie cameras I’ve used, offering crisp images and 4K 30 FPS video recording.
Haptic Feedback
One of the best parts about the OnePlus 12 is the haptic feedback. Whoever engineered it deserves a raise—it’s absolutely incredible. It’s tight, crisp, and ranks among the top three best haptic feedback systems on smartphones.
Weight and Build Quality
However, there is one problem with the phone: its weight. This is something I mentioned in my review, and it continues to be an issue. The weight distribution isn’t great despite the phone being relatively light, and if you use it for a long time, it can weigh you down. That said, the structural integrity of the phone is pretty good, and it has held up well despite multiple drops. If you’re clumsy like me, a case is included in the box, which helps protect the phone from damage.
Network Performance and Bugs
Regarding network performance, it’s generally been great with excellent 5G connectivity on Airtel and Jio. However, we noticed a peculiar bug where the Wi-Fi signal would drop if you covered the top portion of the rear, particularly around the camera area. This happened during gameplay in Call of Duty Mobile, causing a significant increase in ping. Another bug my colleague encountered was that the phone would constantly ask which SIM to use even when only one SIM was inserted. He had to disable SIM 2 to use SIM 1.
Software Experience
The OnePlus 12 runs OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14, and OnePlus promises 4 years of software updates. We’ve already received more than 2-3 updates, and the phone is currently on the April security patch, though it should have been on the May patch by now. The software is generally well-tuned with great animations and a clean experience. However, the lock screen wallpaper customization is limited compared to other brands like Xiaomi and Apple. The inclusion of a Dynamic Island-like feature in OxygenOS makes it resemble iOS more, which may result in OxygenOS losing some of its unique character.
Bugs and User Experience
During our time with the phone, we encountered a few bugs. One annoying bug was a hard stop when swiping up from the home screen to view the app drawer, instead of a smooth, sweeping motion like on most other Android platforms. Overall, the software experience is mostly clean but has had some ups and downs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the OnePlus 12 is a “boringly perfect” phone because it doesn’t take too many risks, and sometimes that’s enough for most users. Brands like Apple, OnePlus, and Samsung have likely realized that boring phones are the ones that sell a lot, whether you like it or not. Despite being a bit dull, this is still one of the best OnePlus flagships ever made. If there are any OnePlus 12 users reading this blog, let’s do something fun—review your phone in the comments below. I’ll definitely read your review, and it will help others who are considering buying the OnePlus 12.
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