Review Summary
Expert Rating
Last year’s OnePlus 11R (review) was a value-for-money flagship phone that nailed several aspects to make it a compelling buy for fans who couldn’t afford the more premium OnePlus 11. The company seems happy with its strategy of launching a premium flagship and a value flagship, which is why it announced the OnePlus 12R and OnePlus 12 together a couple of weeks ago. While the OnePlus 12 is a true-blue flagship with all the premium bells and whistles, the OnePlus 12R is a flagship for the masses, even if it doesn’t attain the “flagship killer” tag.
Table of Contents
Verdict
The OnePlus 12R is a terrific value flagship phone, offering solid upgrades in almost every aspect compared to the OnePlus 11R. You get a brighter display, better battery life, and faster performance. However, the cameras remain untouched, for better or worse.
Design and display
- 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED ProXDR LTPO 4.0
- 4,500 nits peak brightness
- Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection
- IP64 rating, Alert Slider, NFC, Dual-nano SIM slot, Stereo speakers
- 207 grams
OnePlus hasn’t skimmed on the design or display of the OnePlus 12R. It looks premium all around, with curved glasses on the front and back and a solid matte aluminium frame (an upgrade over the plastic frame of the OnePlus 11R). I received the Cool Blue variant which features a glossy finish on the rear glass and camera module, except for a matte finish accent that bleeds into the frame. Because this is an affordable version of the OnePlus 12, the OnePlus 12R misses out on the Hasselblad branding.
One obvious change to the design is the placement of the Alert Slider, which is now on the left side of the frame instead of the right. This is instantly better as it places the power button and volume keys on the same side for easier accessibility. There’s an IR sensor on the top, allowing you to control various appliances, such as your TV, AC, air purifier, and more right from the IR Remote app preloaded on the device.
The OnePlus 12R’s display is terrific and doesn’t leave you wanting. It is a vibrant panel that delivers good sharpness and viewing angles. And considering it can go up to a whopping 4,500 nits brightness, you won’t face any issues viewing the screen under the harshest sunlight. On top of this, you get features like Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support which only help to improve the visuals of content that support these formats on streaming apps like Netflix and Prime Video.
Performance and software
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC
- 8GB/16GB LPDDR5X RAM
- 128GB UFS 3.1/256GB UFS 4.0 storage
- OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14
Much like the display, the performance of the phone is equally impressive. The OnePlus 12R is powered by the same chipset that powered 2023 flagships like the OnePlus 11, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and iQOO 11, to name a few. This should give you a pretty good indication of the performance that can be expected. Still, below is a quick look at some benchmark scores for the OnePlus 12R.
A quick look at the AnTuTu and Geekbench results and you’ll know that these are impressive scores and in line with what the chipset delivered on last year’s flagships. While the CPU Throttle test shows some performance throttling, it wasn’t as severe as compared to the OnePlus 11, which suggests OnePlus has improved optimisations with the OnePlus 12R.
In real-world performance, the OnePlus 12R breezes through pretty much any app you might use on a day-to-day basis. And with up to 16GB RAM, you won’t feel any slowdown during multitasking. The OnePlus 12R is also a terrific gaming phone, running graphically intense games without lags and significant heating.
The display’s 120Hz refresh rate makes the UI look all the more smooth. There were a few instances where I noticed stuttering while scrolling through Instagram at default 120Hz, but you can change the refresh rate for specific apps through Display settings. Dropping the refresh rate to 90Hz for Instagram solved the problem.
Coming to the software side of things, the OnePlus 12R ships with Android 14 with OxygenOS 14 on top. Anyone familiar with OxygenOS knows that you get a fairly clean UI with very few pre-installed apps, giving you a clutter-free experience out of the box. OxygenOS is customisable in many ways to suit your taste. OnePlus is promising 3 years of software updates and 4 years of security updates for the OnePlus 12R, a year less than what the company is offering with the OnePlus 12 which is a bit of a bummer.
Cameras
- 50MP Sony IMX890 primary with OIS
- 8MP ultra-wide
- 2MP macro lens
- 16MP front camera
The camera department is perhaps the only place the OnePlus 12R doesn’t feel like a flagship. OnePlus has used the same set of cameras it did on the OnePlus 11R, so the results are similar as well. The main 50MP IMX890 camera does a reasonably good job capturing details and colours with ample lighting around. However, if you’re someone who loves to capture the sunrise or sunset, the OnePlus 12R will disappoint as the camera tends to blow out the sun to boost the contrast.
The main camera does hold up well in low light though, offering good balance without blowing out the highlights in ambient lighting conditions. Thanks to a fast shutter speed and OIS support, you’ll be able to capture steady images. This also means you can record fairly steady videos at up to 4K 60 fps.
The 8MP wide-angle lens is mainly effective in daylight conditions, although you should expect loss in detail and some colour-shifting when compared to the main sensor. The 2MP macro lens is just about average. Overall, both the 8MP and 2MP cameras are nothing to write home about and OnePlus likely chose not to upgrade them in order to maintain the phone’s sub-Rs 40,000 pricing.
The 16MP front camera does quite well in capturing detailed facial features and skin tones in good lighting conditions. Selfies look softer and grainier in low light.
Battery
- 5,500mAh battery
- 100W charging support
- 0-100% in 30 minutes
- 6-7 hours screen on time
The OnePlus 12R has the biggest battery seen in a OnePlus phone to date. This naturally translates to a terrific battery life, especially thanks to an optimised chipset. On days with heavy usage that involved an hour of gaming and a couple of hours of video streaming, I was still left with roughly 20 percent battery in the tank by the end of the day. On lighter days, the OnePlus 12R can stretch it to one and a half days on a single charge thanks to good standby time. Either way, you can get a solid 6 hours of screen-on time. The phone also delivered an impressive 20 hours in the PCMark battery test.
In addition to an impressive battery life, the OnePlus 12R also supports 100W SUPERVOOC fast charging, which can go from 0 to 100 per cent in about 30 minutes. If you enable Smart Rapid Charge Mode, the charging time reduces further to about 25 minutes.
Final verdict
The R series in OnePlus’ lineup has reached a point where you question whether it makes sense to invest in the brand’s premium flagship. The OnePlus 12R gets several terrific upgrades which would make me suggest it over the OnePlus 12 purely for the value it offers. It gets a flagship-grade display that can get plenty bright, a well-optimised Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, a premium glass and metal design language, and a terrific battery life with the convenience of 100W fast charging.
OnePlus has left the camera system largely untouched, which is one of the only downsides to an otherwise terrific phone. While the primary camera is generally reliable, the accompanying sensors are pretty average. Simply put, I would recommend the OnePlus 12R to anyone looking for a fast Android phone with a clean software experience and good battery life, but not to someone looking for pro-grade cameras.
Editor’s rating: 8 / 10
Reasons to buy:
- Premium glass and metal build combined with a bright and vivid AMOLED display.
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC delivers consistently smooth performance, and you get a clean OxygenOS experience.
- The OnePlus 12R gets the biggest battery in a OnePlus phone yet, offering around 6 hours of screen on time combined with super fast 100W charging.
- Stereo speakers, IR blaster, and Alert Slider all help towards offering a better user experience.
Reasons not to buy:
- While the main camera is decent, the wide-angle and macro lenses are quite average.
- There’s no wireless charging, but this won’t be a deal-breaker for many people.
- OnePlus is offering only three major Android updates, a year less than what the OnePlus 12 will be getting.
 | Rs. 39,990.00 | Go To Store |
