24 hours with OnePlus 12: Here are our first impressions

OnePlus’ flagship phones have come a long way from the CyanogenOS bearing OnePlus One. Over a decade later, the brand has ventured into other areas, including audio, keyboards, and even smartwatches. However, the focus on a yearly flagship phone has been as steady as ever.  

This year, this flagship takes shape in the form of the new OnePlus 12. With the brand leaving behind its ‘regular and Pro model’ approach, there’s just the OnePlus 12 – the culmination of the brand’s peak hardware and software. We used the phone for 24 hours, here are our OnePlus 12 first impressions.  

OnePlus 12 design

The OnePlus 12 comes in two colours, Flowy Black and Silky Emerald, and we’re very glad to have spent time with the latter. This sleek Emerald colour is not the best smartphone shade we’ve ever seen, but it’s the intricate pattern on the back of the phone that makes this phone pleasing to look at, even when it’s simply placed face-down on a desk.  

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This is coupled with a metallic body and the glass sandwich design you’d associate with most flagships today. The phone feels slender in the hands, and unlike the new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the curved edges on either side of the screen are still here.  

A big part of the design is the large camera island on the back of the phone. While we’d still pick a centre-aligned camera over an off-set one, this camera island is beautiful to look at. OnePlus has clearly taken steps to put in details in every square-inch of this phone, and this is no different for the camera. 

However, this doesn’t change the fact that like most camera islands, this module doesn’t let the phone sit flat on a desk, so table-typing is unfortunately still going to be a wobbly experience. That said, the phone still manages to balance the weight of the camera with the rest of the body well.  

The trusty three-way alert slider is still here, but on the left side. Those coming from older OnePlus phones will need to get used to the slider being on the other end, and frankly, we preferred it when you could access the alert slider with the right thumb.  

OnePlus 12 display

The OnePlus 12 comes with a large 6.8-inch panel that is bright and looks crisp. You can do things like turn up the resolution to QHD+ and lock the refresh rate on this LTPO panel at 120Hz, to make the OxygenOS 14 run buttery smooth across the UI.  

The curved edges of the screen also make the phone look stunning, while really helping with the gestures of Android 14. For instance, going back by swiping from either edges is much easier on this phone than on any device with a flat display.  

OnePlus 12 performance

In our brief time with the phone, the OnePlus 12 felt snappy, which isn’t exactly a surprise. The phone is powered by specs like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, up to 24GB RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. We expect multitasking or heavy games to not be a problem for this device, but we’ll save our thoughts for when we have more time with the phone.  

ALSO READ: OnePlus 12 may get its own AI features to rival Galaxy AI after all

OxygenOS 14’s Trinity Engine also seems to be doing its magic here, as elements like the animations on the phone feel fluid in a way I have yet to experience on many Android devices. 

OnePlus 12 cameras

While we’ve said enough about the design of the camera module, it also looks like a pretty capable overall setup. With a 50MP main camera, a 64MP periscope camera and a 48MP ultrawide sensor, the OnePlus 12 is stacked with big numbers no matter which camera mode you’re on.  

This should result in high-res images throughout, and with Hasselblad’s colour science thrown in, photos should have a tint of natural-looking drama in them. However, we will reserve our judgement for when we can test out this camera extensively.  

OnePlus 12 battery life and charging

OnePlus phones are known for their good battery life and phenomenal charging speeds, and the OnePlus 12 is a good showcase of how far the brand has come in this regard. The 5,400mAh battery on the phone was quite literally a pain to bring to 0 per cent for our charging test, which should make this a two-day phone for most users, and a one-day phone under intensive use. 

ALSO READ: OxygenOS 14’s best features

With 100W wired charging, the phone can be juiced up from 0 to 85 per cent in about half an hour and even a quick 10-minute charge at any point of the battery cycle should give most users enough juice for a full day.

Those are our thoughts on the OnePlus 12, and we can’t wait to try out the phone for a more in-depth look into all the new capabilities of the phone and of course, OxygenOS 14.