OnePlus 12

The OnePlus 12 is in many ways an underwhelming new phone. It isn’t doing much that’s exciting: It doesn’t introduce a special new chip technology or deliver huge material upgrades and a revamped design. But none of this stops it from being great. The hardware inside is robust, letting it keep up with even high demands for a phone. Its screen is excellent and serves as a powerful viewfinder for a respectable camera system that may have its faults but is still good all around.

Between last year’s OnePlus Open and this year’s OnePlus 12, it’s clear that OnePlus is back on track. The company’s return to making no-compromise, value-focused flagships is a welcome and refreshing change in strategy, and we’re here for it. Starting at just $799, the OnePlus 12 brings superb value to the flagship segment, alongside a gorgeous display, excellent cameras, and outstanding battery life.

The OnePlus 12 isn’t flashy but it is very good in most of the areas that count.

OnePlus has beefed up its latest flagship with wireless charging and a powerful processor. While the OnePlus 12 is more expensive than the OnePlus 11 was at launch, the specs are still mighty impressive for the price, with a gorgeous design, punchy performance and capable cameras. It’s a great buy.

With an impressive display, long battery life, speedy charging, and premium performance, the OnePlus 12 offers most of the features found on other flagship phones for a more affordable price.

There are still good reasons to consider one of the aforementioned incumbents. The Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 series both include IP68 ratings for resistance against full water immersion and seven years of promised OS upgrades. They come with full-featured ecosystems of earbuds, tablets, and smart watches — something that OnePlus is still building out.

Excellence on the fundamentals should go without saying at this level. Even in this context, however, the OP12 is among the better ones in terms of battery life, charges faster than just about anything else mainstream, and has a display that does more HDR than a lot of competitors.

The OnePlus 12 has plenty to justify its lofty price tag. It's extremely powerful, its battery life is superb, and the vibrant, bright screen makes your games and videos pop. It's also got a slick design that looks stylish yet still smart.