We already know the specs for the OnePlus 12 since China got the phone early. Most phones from Chinese companies are released in China a few months earlier since the phones don’t have to undergo Google Mobile Services (GMS) certification, and they can go into mass production earlier. It also takes time to export units, and the marketing, software, and camera tuning for global units are generally different.
The OnePlus 12 has respectable upgrades from the OnePlus 11, and the specs make it appear more like a successor to the OnePlus 10 Pro than the OnePlus 11. The flagship OnePlus lineup has been inconsistent since the 10 Pro. There was a 9R and a 9RT later, but there was no 9T. There was a OnePlus 10 Pro but no standard OnePlus 10. However, we still have the 10R and 10T.
In 2023, we got the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 11R, but there was no Pro model. And for 2024, we have the OnePlus 12 but no 12 Pro. We are still getting a 12R alongside it, though. The OnePlus 12 has a major upgrade in every single component.
The display is a flagship BOE panel with a 1440P resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and Dolby Vision HDR. It goes 1600 Nits bright in High Brightness Mode and up to 4500 Nits peak, which is an unrealistic figure. Alongside the standard upgrades like a chip bump to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Android 14 out of the box, the major upgrade is to the camera system.
The main is up from a rather mid-range IMX890 to a flagship LYTIA808 sensor, which is 1/1.43″ in size, up from 1/1.56″. The ultrawide stays the same at 1/2″ and still has autofocus. The main issue with the OnePlus 11’s camera system was the telephoto camera. The 2X lens did not have OIS, and it didn’t perform very well, even at slightly longer ranges.
To change that, the OnePlus 12 brings a large 1/2″ sensor, and it’s now a 3X periscope. The OnePlus 11’s front camera hardware was also poor, but the 12 scales it up to a better sensor that is capable of 4K video recording as well. It gets the IP65 certification and also 50W wireless charging.
With all these upgrades, there’s going to be an obvious price increase. The OnePlus 11 in India started at 56,999. But the trend in 2024 is to go 256GB for base storage on flagships, so the OnePlus 12 will mostly not get a 128GB variant. It’ll start at 256GB, and the price is surely going up.
OnePlus 12 leaked price in India
According to a reliable leaker on X, the price of the OnePlus 12 in India will start at 64,999 for the 256GB/ 12GB variant. It’ll go up to 69,999 for the 512GB variant with 16GB RAM. Considering the amount of hardware upgrades it packs, the price is fair.
However, it’s still much more expensive than the price in China. A 100$ markup for import taxes is understandable, but OnePlus is charging 200$ more than the Chinese price. In China, the OnePlus starts at only 50,000 INR (converted from 4299 Yuan). That doesn’t make it a bad phone, but the pricing could’ve been lower. Since OnePlus is aiming to target a higher price segment with flagships and wants to build an even more premium brand image, the company probably decided to increase the prices.
OnePlus 12 vs the competition
The strongest competition to the OnePlus is the iQOO 12. It has the same 3X periscope and a weaker ultrawide camera. It also has a worse selfie camera. However, the main sensor is larger at 1/1.3″. That’s the same size as the main sensors of the iPhone 15 Pro, S24 Ultra, and the Pixel 8 Pro, and it’s excellent for the price class.
The iQOO 12 is 45,000 INR in China, and it’s only 50,000 in India with discounts. That’s a much more reasonable price, and it’s obvious that OnePlus is charging a premium for brand perception. However, the iQOO has a lower-resolution 1.5K display panel, no wireless charging, and no USB C 3.2 transfer speeds, so it has a fair amount of cost-cutting. FunTouch OS is also generally regarded as a worse software experience than Oxygen OS.
The next phone is out of the picture for now since it isn’t out yet, and that’s the Xiaomi 14. It has one thing that even the OnePlus misses, and that’s the IP68. However, it targets a more compact phone audience at 6.33″ and doesn’t feature a periscope lens. The phone’s key strength is Leica imagery.
We have two popular options; the iPhone 15 and the Galaxy S24. Neither of these offers enticing hardware for the prices, and they are only for people with hardcore software preferences or ecosystem lock-ins. The same applies to the Google Pixel 8, and it can’t compete well on paper since it lacks a zoom lens and uses a weak Tensor G3 chip.
Finally, there’s the Vivo X100, which is a no-brainer option for those who want the best cameras in this price range. However, the chip is known to run hot, and it does cut some flagship features. The software isn’t quite flagship-level, either.
Conclusion
The OnePlus 12 is an excellent option for anything under 65,000 INR. However, 70,000 is a bit steep for the image processing capabilities of the phone. Note that the tuning for the global variant is different, so we cannot draw conclusions from samples of the Chinese variant.
