This OnePlus flagship costs half the price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max – and charges twice as fast

What’s the matter?

Ahead of Black Friday, OnePlus is teaming up with major retailers to prepare $250 off your flagship phone. The offer applies to both 256GB and 512GB models.

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While smartphone makers have undoubtedly focused on artificial intelligence this year (it’s the mobile trend of the year), OnePlus 12 it is, of course, a phone first and an AI companion second. Instead of prematurely jumping into the AI ​​market by promoting its phones with unavailable features, the Shenzhen-based manufacturer has prioritized aspects that matter more, such as charging technology, battery life and performance.

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Result? A smartphone that excels at doing what you really want and need. Now, with a Black Friday price of $550 (for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant), I find it very difficult to recommend any other phone this holiday season.

My love for the OnePlus 12 is part of a larger story. It’s the most advanced phone yet from a company notorious for taking up small but precious real estate, be it the lack of wireless charging, an improved low-light camera, or an official IP rating. By the way, the OnePlus 12 has all three of these features, and at a price that is very competitive in today’s market: $799 (without deals) to start.

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Although this price is $100 higher than last year’s OnePlus 11, the difference in user experience is very large. Very noticeable, from the feel and polish of the Flowy Emerald marble finish to the way the device optimizes its RAM, of which it has plenty (up to 16GB). For example, the OnePlus 12 looks and feels better than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Google Pixel 9 Pro. The edges of the device are curved in such a way that it fits smoothly in my hand without me having to struggle to press any buttons.

Correction: I don’t find it difficult to press any buttons. except for the alert slider, which has now been moved to the top left side of the phone. For something that requires a toggle instead of a tap, physically switching from Ring to Vibrate to Silent feels more cumbersome than it should. Otherwise, I’m a fan of OnePlus’ industrial design, which has become a little more distinct now that both Samsung and Google have officially abandoned the curved glass form factor.

OnePlus 12 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which delivers improved day-to-day performance and on-device AI app efficiency. I had no problems testing the phone, whether it was editing videos in Premiere Rush or playing demanding games like Fortnite And Genshin Impactor multitasking with PiP (Picture in Picture) video playback. While the claimed peak brightness of 4,500 nits puts even the Galaxy S24’s 2,600 nits to shame, I found it to be slightly brighter outdoors.

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Aside from Google’s standard AI features like Magic Compose and Photomoji, this model doesn’t have the amazing generative AI service I mentioned in the introduction. This isn’t a bad thing, especially if you’re not factoring generative AI into your lifestyle anyway. Switching between OnePlus and Samsung’s AI-intensive Galaxy S24 series, I didn’t find myself missing much in the way of assistive features.

However, the latest Android 15 update for the OnePlus 12 introduces some familiar generative AI tools that bring the device closer to the competition, such as Circle to Search, AI Unblur, AI Notes Assistant, and more. The new version of the software also brings Open Canvas to the phone, a multitasking feature that expands floating windows for faster navigation between apps.

One area where I’d like to see OnePlus stretch its machine learning capabilities more is with the cameras, particularly the telephoto lens. While the Sony LYT-808-based 50MP main camera does a fantastic (and reliable) job of reproducing lighting and colors with a very natural tone, the telephoto lens doesn’t work for me for two reasons: distance and edge detection.

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Because the telephoto lens is limited to 3x optical zoom, images that are farther away will appear blurry and lack detail. You can view some samples of my cameras here.

In images shot in the Hasselblad’s Portrait mode, the phone struggles to apply the bokeh effect to people with fuzzy or bouncy hairstyles. In both cases, a visual mechanism that can help enhance or better detect objects will be of great help.

Ultimately, one of the most compelling reasons to buy a OnePlus phone is battery life and charging speed. Regarding the former, OnePlus is equipped with a 5,400 mAh battery, the largest among a regular smartphone. I comfortably got through a day and a half before I had to charge the device.

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Regarding the latter, the OnePlus 12 is the fastest in its class, both wired and wireless. The included 80W charger spoiled me, and the 50W wireless charging support only works with OnePlus. main docking stationto be clear – ahead wired charging speeds of competing flagship phones.

ZDNET Buying Tips

With a starting price of $550 OnePlus 12 It’s the best phone you can buy at its price point, with the most comprehensive feature set, 5G support for all major carriers (including Verizon), the fastest charging on the market, and an industrial design that screams premium. It’s also a great phone for users who aren’t completely sold on AI.

The trade-offs are more blurred this time, but given months of use, I’m still listing the subpar telephoto lens and IP65 rating, which only Doesn’t meet the industry standard for water and dust resistance, which is the most notable reason to think twice about this device. If you’re willing to make compromises that are more subtle than ever, then I have no problem recommending the latest phone from OnePlus, especially at the Black Friday price.

This article was originally published on January 23, 2024 and updated on November 21, 2024.