Home
News
You are here

OnePlus 12: The secret to beating Samsung and Pixel is striking the perfect balance?

By Martin Filipov

Published: Dec 09, 2023, 11:21 AM

23comments

This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

OnePlus 12: The secret to beating Samsung and Pixel is striking the perfect balance?

The OnePlus 12 - it’s finally here! Well, not here at PhoneArena but over there (in China), but it’ll be here sooner or later… (allegedly January 24)

The new OnePlus 12 is wearing sister company’s Oppo’s flagship armor both on the inside and outside, and the reason why this is important is because it means the “China-grade” flagship hardware that used to be exclusive to Chinese flagships is finally coming to the US, UK, and Europe (soon).

There are two reasons why this is an important moment in smartphone history:

After the 2019 US trade ban on Huawei, premium Chinese flagships in the US, UK, and Europe were never the same

This allowed phone-makers like Samsung, Apple, and Google to become somewhat complacent - less competition is always a bad thing for the customer, and with only three major players on the international smartphone market scene, it’s no surprise the Galaxy S23 looks like the Galaxy S22 and the iPhone 14 looks like the iPhone 13

But things should start changing soon, and it all starts with the foldable OnePlus Open (if you care about foldables), and the OnePlus 12, which is the phone most people might be willing to buy.

Can the OnePlus 12 become the reason the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro won’t be the best Android flagships of 2024? Surprising or not… yes, it can!

OnePlus 12: The secret in making a better Android flagship than Samsung and Pixel is in striking the perfect balance?

From left to right - Xiaomi 14, Vivo X100 Pro, OnePlus 12, iPhone 14 Pro (Image courtesy of Vincent Zhong)

It seems OnePlus has gone above and beyond with the OnePlus 12 by paying special attention to details such as the vibration motor, which is now much stronger; the RAM, which is at least 12GB no matter which model you choose (and up to 24GB with the top tier spec), and have you seen that design? I mean, it’s going to divide a room for sure, but I happen to like it a lot. The phone looks distinct but premium at the same time.

See, while being Android’s “flagship-killer” used to feel important, this title began losing some of its value after the likes of Xiaomi and even Samsung managed to get close to it with phones like the Galaxy S21 FE years ago. I suppose too many flagship-killers means no real flagship-killer?

Of course, this meant OnePlus (the OG, self proclaimed flagship-killer) lost what was special about it, and what also didn’t help was that OnePlus didn’t seem to have a clear strategy at making “the perfect” flagship.

Well, the OnePlus 12 now wants to challenge Samsung and Google flagships by becoming at least as premium as them, or even more so - all while striking a balance that even phones like the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 might struggle to match, and I think that might be the key to winning against the big dogs.

Watch out, Samsung, Google, and Apple! The OnePlus 12’s spec sheet looks intimidating…

The OnePlus 12’s record-breaking 4,500-nit BEO display (left) makes the Xiaomi 14’s panel look bad, especially when viewed off-angle.

I won’t get too deep into the whole specs talk, but they are indeed very impressive on the OnePlus 12, and make it clear that this is a flagship phone that’s at least on the same level as the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro, and even more impressive in certain areas:

The display of the OnePlus 12 comes from BEO, and it matches (or surpasses) the likes of the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro with whopping, record-breaking brightness (4,500 nits), smoothness (1-120Hz variable refresh rate) and size, at 6.8-inches

The SoC on the OnePlus 12 might soon make it the very first internationally available phone to ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is already proving to be stellar in both performance and efficiency, coming the closest to Apple’s chips Qualcomm has ever been, and surpassing the iPhone in GPU power

Once the phone becomes available in the US, UK, and Europe, the battery situation on the OnePlus 12 might actually be the best there is; we’re talking a massive 5,400 mAh cell with up to 100W of wired charging (able to charge your phone in about 25 minutes), 50W of wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging - good luck matching that, Galaxy S24 Ultra!

All in all, while the (excellent) $700 OnePlus 11 lacked in certain “premium” areas like wireless chagrin, water-resistance, and and zoom capabilities, the OnePlus 12 more than makes up for this with some of the fastest 50W wireless charging available on the market (including Reverse wireless charging); an IP65 rating, which should protect your phone from water jets coming from any direction; and one of the best and most versatile zoom cameras in the business. Now, that’s an upgrade!

Since the OnePlus 12 isn’t launching globally until January 24, my only way of giving you an idea of what to expect from it (in practice) is to go by one of China’s most renowned reviewers Vincent Zhong, whose review of the Chinese variant of the OnePlus 12 talks about great improvements in several areas, including zoom quality, portrait mode, video quality in the dark, performance, vibration feedback, and a design that feels more robust and sturdy. Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to the global variant of the OnePlus 12, and can’t wait to review it.

10 years later, OnePlus’ latest OnePlus 12 flagship brings the premium camera you’ve been waiting for

If you’d like to take a look at what the camera system in the OnePlus 12 is capable of, check out our OnePlus Open review - the foldable with the best camera on the market has the same camera as the OnePlus 12. But bear in mind that the two phones run on a different SoC, which means the newer chip in the OnePlus 12 will most likely help it take greater advantage of the same camera system.

And just when you thought the OnePlus 12 couldn't get more impressive, you find out that OnePlus is finally giving us the top flagship camera system we’ve always wanted by practically bringing over the OnePlus Open’s excellent camera array to the OnePlus 12.

This includes Sony’s next-gen primary 50MP Lytia 808 Sensor; a high-rest 48MP ultra-wide shooter, and the stellar 64MP 3x periscope snapper from the OnePlus Open, which takes stunning portraits, and awesome 6x zoom photos with lossless quality.

Another notable camera upgrade in the OnePlus 12 is the 32MP selfie shooter, which (wait for it…) lets it record 4K videos - unlike the OnePlus 11, and just like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Pixel 8 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro.

In the samples above (coming from Vincent Zhong), you can see the OnePlus 12 is bringing much brighter, more detailed videos than the OnePlus 11; far greater detail in zoom photos (the close-up crop with the purple top), and superior HDR in ultra-wide-angle photos.

OnePlus is finally giving the deserved attention to the camera system on its flagship phone, which makes it feel like a much more complete device when compared to the likes of the iPhone and Galaxy.

You don’t have a “perfect” Android flagship without a “perfect” price: Can OnePlus become the new Google?

The OnePlus 12 looks like it’s wearing the armor the OnePlus 11 left at home.

In the end, I must address the elephant in the room, and that’s the price of the OnePlus 12, which starts at the equivalent of $600 in China. Of course (and unfortunately), this doesn’t mean the OnePlus 12 will cost $600 once it debuts in the US, the UK, and Europe.

One thing’s for sure - with all the upgrades on the inside and outside, there’s absolutely zero chance the OnePlus 12 will launch at the same $700 as the OnePlus 11 once it becomes available outside of China. But the more important question is whether OnePlus can still maintain a “flagship-killer” price point with a premium flagship that comes with almost no compromises.

If OnePlus manages to price the OnePlus 12 at $800 in the US (that’s $100 more than the OnePlus 11), this phone immediately turns into the premium flagship-killer Google has been trying to make for years now (emphasis on “premium”). What a golden opportunity to step in and steal this spot from Google who voluntarily gave it up by launching the Pixel 8 Pro at $1,000…

$800 would be the dream price for the OnePlus 12, but $900 sounds fair too

However, what if the OnePlus 12 starts at $900? Does that make it overpriced (for a OnePlus phone), and does it make people consider a Galaxy, a Pixel, or even an iPhone instead?

Well, given what the OnePlus 12 promises to bring to the table, I’d say $900 would be a reasonable price, especially when put into the context of the upcoming $1,000 Galaxy S24+ and the existing Pixel 8 Pro. But it’s the “mental barrier” that might make some people go: “Hold on… $100 more and I get something from a better recognized brand like Samsung/Google?”.

Either way, you’d have to wait for our full OnePlus 12 review to decide how good of a phone the OnePlus 12 is before spending any money on it at all. But with all the hardware on board and OnePlus’ experience in delivering some of the smoothest, fastest software experience (now, with a promise of 4 years of OS upgrades), I have a feeling the OnePlus 12 has a solid shot at becoming one of the best-value phones of 2024.

And if it can do that, WHILE being $100-200 cheaper than the competition… Well, then we’ve got a “best value flagship phone of 2024” candidate right at the beginning of the new year. Because you can bet Samsung, Google, and let alone Apple won’t make a more affordable flagship that’s as premium as the OnePlus 12.

In other words, the OnePlus 12 is a premium flagship that might still manage to undercut the competition, and that might be even more impressive than making a $700 “flagship-killer” that always leaves a little to be desired.

View Full Bio

Martin, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, brings a unique blend of humor and insight to his work. His fascination with smartphones began with a Galaxy Young and evolved through a series of trades and upgrades, making him a self-proclaimed smartphone nerd. Martin's content often combines current analysis of market trends with historical references and future predictions. Whether it's a deep dive into technical issues or a first-person commentary on industry events, Martin's articles are designed to inform and engage. His critical perspective is driven by genuine curiosity and a desire to keep readers informed, not by any corporate sponsorship.