ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The OnePlus 12 is on sale now for a starting price of $799. For a restricted time, OnePlus will provide double the storage (from 256GB to 512G), together with a 50W wi-fi charging dock, free of charge.
- It is the corporate’s most full handset up to now, with the quickest charging speeds in the marketplace (each wired and wi-fi), a flagship digicam system, premium construct high quality, and dependable efficiency.
- The shortage of generative AI options is felt, however for a lot of, that will not be an issue.
OnePlus is launching its first smartphone in 2024, using the momentum of final yr’s distinctive OnePlus Open foldable. However the timing is considerably awkward; not as a result of the OnePlus 12 was already unveiled in China again in December, however as a result of it is being launched to the US viewers only one week after Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series debut.
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Samsung Unpacked was unquestionably all about AI — it is the mobile trend of the year, and can doubtless be entrance and heart of each telephone, pill, and laptop computer launch we see shifting ahead. The OnePlus 12 has a few of that, too. Nevertheless it’s unabashedly a telephone first, AI companion second sort of gadget. And I favor it that manner.
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OnePlus 12
The latest OnePlus phone features a 4,500-nit display, an improved camera system, and features that fans have been longing for.
My fondness for the OnePlus 12 is a part of a much bigger story. The gadget is probably the most full handset from an organization infamous for settling in small however invaluable areas — whether or not it is the omission of wi-fi charging, a greater low-light digicam, or an official IP score. The OnePlus 12 has all three of these options, by the way in which, and at a worth that is very aggressive in at this time’s market: $799, to start out.
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Whereas that worth is a $100 bounce from final yr’s OnePlus 11, the distinction in person expertise is very noticeable, from the texture and polish of the marble-like FlowyEmerald end to the way in which the gadget optimizes its RAM, of which it has loads of (as much as 16GB). On my desk proper now sits the OnePlus 12, Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, and Google Pixel 8 Professional — amongst different telephones that I am unable to discuss simply but — and the OnePlus appears to be like and feels one of the best to me. The perimeters of the gadget are curved in a manner that makes it sit easily in my hand, and I am not struggling to press any of the buttons.
Correction: I am not struggling to press any of the buttons besides for the alert slider, which has now been moved to the higher left aspect of the telephone. For one thing that requires a toggle as an alternative of a press, bodily switching from “Ring” to “Vibrate” to “Silent” feels extra cumbersome than it ought to. In any other case, I am a fan of OnePlus’ industrial design, which feels a little bit extra distinct now that each Samsung and Google have formally ditched the curved glass type issue.
Internally, the OnePlus 12 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which brings improved day-to-day efficiency and higher effectivity of on-device AI functions. I’ve had no downside placing the telephone via its paces, whether or not it is enhancing movies on Premiere Rush, taking part in demanding video games like Fortnite and Genshin Affect, or multitasking with a PiP (Image-in-Image) video taking part in. Whereas the marketed peak brightness of 4,500 nits places even the Galaxy S24’s 2,600 value to disgrace, I solely discovered it to be barely brighter when open air.
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Except for Google’s inventory AI options, akin to Magic Compose and Photomoji, there’s actually no killer generative AI service with this mannequin, as I alluded to within the introduction. That is not a nasty factor, particularly if generative AI is not factored into your life-style anyway. Having cycled between the OnePlus and Samsung’s AI-heavy Galaxy S24 collection, I have not discovered myself lacking the assisted options all that a lot.
When requested about its stance on AI, OnePlus instructed me it is “dedicated vital R&D sources to the developer of each on-device AI and cloud AI options,” and “(will) be introducing much more modern AI options later in Q1 2024, together with self-developed AIGC-related options.”
One space that I do want OnePlus flexed its machine-learning muscle mass extra is with the cameras — particularly, the telephoto lens. Whereas the Sony LYT-808-backed, 50MP major digicam does a incredible (and dependable) job of reproducing lighting and colours in a really pure tone, the telephoto lens falls brief for me in two methods: distance and edge detection. As a result of the telephoto lens is capped to 3x optical zoom, capturing topics which might be additional away tends to supply footage that seem extra washed out and missing intimately. You may view a few of my camera samples here.
For pictures captured with Hasselblad Portrait Mode, the telephone can battle to use a bokeh impact behind folks with fuzzy and springy hairstyles. In each circumstances, a visible engine that may assist amplify or higher detect topics would assist immensely.
Finally, probably the most compelling causes to purchase a OnePlus telephone is its battery life and charging pace. For the previous, the OnePlus fields a 5,400mAh battery, the most important on a mainstream smartphone. I’ve comfortably gotten a great day and a half’s value of utilization earlier than needing to cost the gadget.
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For the latter, the OnePlus 12 is the quickest in its class, each wired and wi-fi. The 80W charger that is included within the field has spoiled me, and the 50W wi-fi charging help — which solely works with OnePlus’ first-party dock, to be clear — outpaces the wired charging price of competing flagship telephones.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
At a beginning worth of $799, the OnePlus 12 could also be one of the best telephone that you could purchase at its worth level, with its most well-rounded characteristic set ever, 5G help for each main provider (Verizon included), the quickest charging in the marketplace, and an industrial design that screams premium. It is also a terrific telephone for customers who aren’t totally purchased into the AI craze.
The trade-offs are extra of a blur this time round, however from my weeks of utilization, I would nonetheless checklist the scarcity of generative AI options, the subpar telephoto lens, and the IP65 score — which simply misses the mark for the business normal for water and mud resistance — as probably the most notable causes to suppose twice concerning the gadget. However in case you can shoulder the compromises, that are extra delicate than ever, then I’ve no downside recommending the most recent telephone from OnePlus.