OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 12R: Don't fall into a trap

The OnePlus 12 and the OnePlus 12R are the never-settling company's latest duo of flagship offerings for 2024. The OnePlus 12 is the phone that brings the best features, with all the high-end hardware and the unmatched OnePlus user experience.

However, the flagship isn't coming alone: joining forces with the OnePlus 12 is the OnePlus 12R, a slightly more affordable device, albeit with slightly less-impressive specs that still delivers the core OnePlus experience. 

How do these two compare, and which one should you consider? Is the OnePlus 12 the go-to choice, or is the OnePlus 12R the pleasant surprise? Let's explore!

Both the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R look quite similar, with sleek aluminum and glass sandwiches and rather thin bezels at the front, with punch-hole selfie cameras and imposing rear camera islands. The signature and loved OnePlus ring switch is found on both phones, allowing you to quickly and effortlessly switch between the different ring modes. 

However, the OnePlus 12R is just a smidgen smaller than the OnePlus 12. It's shorter, narrower, and thinner, and on top of it all, it's also lighter. At the same time, both phones have 6.8--inch displays, so no matter how you look at it, it's a win-win situation for the OnePlus 12R. 

Both devices employ the general design language that OnePlus devices have employed for a few years now, and that's perfectly okay––having a recognizable design language these days is pretty important. That said, the OnePlus 12R does look a bit mundane and ordinary, failing to excite with its rather drab exterior. 

The OnePlus 12 is available in Silky Black and Flowy Emerald colors, whereas the OnePlus 12R can be yours in Iron Gray and Cool Blue. The OnePlus 12 looks a bit better in person, especially the Flowy Emerald color variant, but the affordable OnePlus 12R isn't that much worse in comparison. 

As we mentioned, the OnePlus 12 comes with a slightly larger 6.82-inch OLED display with a 1,440 x 3,168-pixel resolution and super-smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate thanks to the LTPO 3.0 tech on board. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are also part of the package, as well as PWM dimming of 2,160Hz, which means that the screen is essentially flicker-free and will exhaust your eyes as little as possible.

That's not all––the OnePlus 12 screen is exceptionally bright, rated for up to 4,500-nit peak brightness (likely at nearly 0% APL). We measured lower maximum brightness, but it all boils down to how the different benchmarks are taken. The same 4,500-nits brightness is also advertised for the OnePlus 12R, but again, we measured lower levels in our benchmark tests. Interestingly, the OnePlus 12R appears brighter in our tests, but such a difference would be impossible to see in real life. 

Speaking of the OnePlus 12R, it comes with a 6.78-inch OLED display with a slightly lower 1,264 x 2,780-pixel resolution. This one also comes with up to 120Hz refresh rate, as well as HDR10+ support, Display P3, and full sRGB support.  

Display Measurements:

The OnePlus 12 comes along with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is the best chipset available to Android phones right now. Learning from its past mistakes with the OnePlus 11, the company has seemingly invested quite a lot in the thermal management of the phone, which should hopefully lead to less throttling under heavier loads. 

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 12R will come along with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, the best one available last year. It will remain a mighty fine chipset that shouldn't be overshadowed by its successor. Performance on that one is still top-notch, but again, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is superior. 

Moreover, you probably wouldn't notice a major difference in everyday performance between the two phones, even gaming and heavier tasks shouldn't leave the OnePlus 12R majorly disadvantaged. 

The OnePlus 12 trots along with either 12 or 16GB of speedy LPDDR5X RAM, as well as 256 or 512GB of super-fast UFS4.0 storage. The OnePlus 12R, on the other hand, comes along with just a single 16GB RAM/256GB variation, and also relies on a slightly slower UFS3.1 storage. 

The OnePlus 12 employs the innovative Sony LYT-808 dual-stacked 1/1.43-inch sensor with f/1.6 aperture, which should provide drastically better low-light sensitivity. The ultra-wide camera weighs in at 48MP. Finally, OnePlus returns to the roots and scores a 3X 64MP telephoto camera. Up front, we have a 32MP selfie camera. 

Meanwhile, the OnePlus 12R comes along with a 50MP main camera with a 1/1.56" Sony IMX890 sensor with f/1.8 aperture. The ultra-wide is seemingly an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture, while the third camera is a mostly useless 2MP macro, sadly. At the front, there's a 16MP selfie camera for the ultimate quality selfies and video calls. 

Our camera benchmark scores, which are based on objective in-house testing, reveal a rather logical story. The OnePlus 12 has the better overall camera setup, but the OnePlus 12R holds its own and actually beats the OnePlus 12 in main camera performance. The key takeaway here is that despite its not-as-premium status, the OnePlus 12R is one very adept cameraphone. 

Zoom Quality

A lot of emphasis was put on the OnePlus 12's "invisible" features, like audio quality and haptic feedback. Which is great for us, as the OnePlus 12 delivers excellent audio quality, as well as superb haptic feedback.

The OnePlus 12R is slightly less impressive, but you will only notice this if you listen to the two phones one after the other. The OnePlus 12R sounds great, too, and its haptic feedback is quite decent, too. 

The OnePlus 12R has a 5,500mAh battery on board, while the OnePlus 12 relies on a 5,400mAh unit. Such a minuscule difference doesn't help the OnePlus 12R's case, as it loses to the proper flagship in our custom battery tests. 

No surprises: the OnePlus 12 beats the OnePlus 12R in our custom battery tests, both thanks to its larger battery and more efficient newer chip on board. All tests were conducted at 200 nits, so an equal leveling field for all parties here. 

In terms of charging, both phones employ super-fast 100W SUPERVOOC wired charging. The OnePlus 12 technically beats the OnePlus 12R by some 10 minutes, but the OnePlus 12R still juices up quite speedy, in less than 40 minutes, which is much faster than most flagships out there. 

No wireless charging support on the OnePlus 12R, but the OnePlus 12 scores speedy 50W wireless charging with the company's dedicated wireless charger, sold separately. 

Overall, the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R are certainly two pretty decent offerings for the ultra high-end and upper mid-range markets, respectively. 

While the OnePlus 12 is an unapologetic flagship, the OnePlus 12R rivals regular flagships like the Pixel 7 and the Galaxy S24. It's an extremely decent offering that should be considered if you're not willing to shell out a lot of cash on a phone. 

Overall, the verdict is clear: if you want a real flagship, look no further than the OnePlus 12. Meanwhile, those on a tighter budget might consider the OnePlus 12R, which cuts some of the extra corners but still delivers the exemplar OnePlus experience.