Affordable smartphones can be hard to get excited about in a world filled with high-end monsters like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. The OnePlus 12R has me just as excited as any top-of-the-line phone because it offers almost as much power and performance as those phones but for a fraction of the price.
Every detail of this phone seems well thought out. The OnePlus 12R’s cameras take incredible pictures, it runs graphically intense games at high settings with ease, and the screen is bright, vibrant, and fast. Add in the high-speed charging, and you have a phone that makes you forget it isn’t the more expensive OnePlus 12.
OnePlus 12R
Recommended
Reading the OnePlus 12R’s spec sheet might make you forget that this is the company’s affordable phone. It’s that good.
- Stellar performance for the price
- Fast charger included in the box
- Solid cameras in good light
- Lacking software update policy
- Low-light photography is a letdown
Price, Specs, and Availability
You can order the OnePlus 12R for $500 from most major retailers right now. It launches on February 13th in Iron Gray and Cool Blue, both of which are relatively subdued color options.
OnePlus 12R
- Brand
- OnePlus
- SoC
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Display
- 6.78-inch ProXDR LTPO, 2780 × 1264 (450ppi), 120Hz adaptive refresh
- Battery
- 5,500mAh
- Operating System
- OxygenOS 14 w/ Android 14
- Front camera
- 16MP
- Rear camera
- 50MP f/1.8 Sony IMX890 main w/OIS, 8MP ultrawide Sony IMX355 (112°), 2MP macro
- Connectivity
- 5G (no UWB), 4G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC
- Dimensions
- 163.3 × 75.3 × 8.8mm
- Colors
- Iron Gray, Cool Blue
- Weight
- 207g
- Charge speed
- 80W wired SUPERVOOC
- IP Rating
- IP64
- Price
- $500/$600
- RAM and Storage
- 8/128GB, 16/256GB
- Security
- In-display fingerprint sensor
What makes the OnePlus 12R so darn good
Processing power to spare
The thing that stands out about OnePlus 12R is how well it performs relative to its price. Sure, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 isn’t as powerful as the Gen 3 version found in the OnePlus 12, but it’s still an extremely capable processor that was more than strong enough to power $1,200+ phones just last year. Now, you get that same level of power and performance in a phone with a $500 starting price — talk about tremendous value.
For the review, OnePlus sent us the $600 model, which doubles the RAM from 8GB to 16GB, and it definitely feels like a worthwhile way to spend an extra $100. That extra RAM opens up buttery smooth multitasking, though I’ve used more than enough phones with 8GB of RAM to know that quantity will still run very well.
I used GeekBench 6 — a benchmark app that mimics routine tasks and measures the phone’s performance — to compare its processing power to other phones on the market. The OnePlus 12R netted 1,566 on the single-core test and 5,119 on the multi-core benchmark, which are fantastic numbers for a mid-range handset.
Does it lose to more powerful phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3? Of course, it does. The top-of-the-line Galaxy S24 Ultra scored 2,238 on the single-core and 7,102 on the multi-core, according to a recent GeekBench 6 test. Still, the numbers aren’t so far apart that you will notice a substantial difference between daily tasks and even hardcore gaming.
Genshin Impact has long been the standard-bearer for Android games that push hardware to the limit, so naturally, I downloaded the game, cranked the graphics to max (which prompted the game to warn me that it may cause overheating and lag), and played. Despite the warnings, the game ran perfectly with no noticeable framerate drops or hitches, which is fantastic for a phone running what is essentially last year’s chip.
A reliable camera, with proper lighting
One place where OnePlus had to make some cuts from the 12 to the 12R is the camera, and that’s to be expected. However, don’t let the cuts make you think the company skimped because this phone still takes some stunning photos, especially when the light is good. While it has a night photography mode, images captured in semi-dark areas could be better. With this phone, you get three lenses on the back, including a 50MP main, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 2MP macro.
The selfie camera is also quite good. It’s only 16MP, but images captured with it look sharp and vibrant. Again, low-light photos lack the same oomph, but they’re still passable.
Value out the ears
From a pure value perspective, you can’t beat the OnePlus 12R’s $500 starting price. As I spent a few days using the phone, I had to remind myself I was using a budget-friendly mid-range phone, not a $1,000 flagship. Anyone who wants an affordable phone that won’t feel affordable should get the OnePlus 12R right away.
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