OnePlus 12 tipped to get massive camera upgrade, may come with a periscope lens

OnePlus 12 specifications (Expected)

This is the first that we're hearing about the OnePlus 12 so it's best to not jump into any conclusions yet. As for this tip, it comes from Digital Chat Station (via Android Authority), a Weibo leaker who is known for correctly leaking one of Qualcomm's Snapdragon naming plan before it was officially out.  

• According to this tipster, OnePlus is currently testing a periscope camera on an "SM8650" product which is said to be the model number for Qualcomm's next flagship mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. 
• Although the leaker doesn't explicitly say it's the OnePlus 12, the possibilities are very likely. 
• The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will release end of this year, and going by OnePlus' flagship launch timeline, we should see the OnePlus 12 debuting early next year. 
• Tipster Max Jambor also said that OnePlus has been testing periscope cameras for quite some time now. 

With a periscope camera on the OnePlus 12, the smartphone will be able to offer much better zoom capabilities. This is one hardware that is present in most premium flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro that offer 10x optical zoom and 5x optical zoom, respectively. It's too early to say since there's still a long time to go for the next OnePlus flagship smartphone but this would definitely change the camera game for the OnePlus 12 among its competitors. 

We should start seeing more on the OnePlus 12 soon but the expected launch of the smartphone would happen early 2024 unless the company has some change in plans.