OnePlus 12R review: A return to form

The new OnePlus 12 arguably signals a return for OnePlus to the world of offering flagship-tier phones that undercut much of the competition in price. But alongside the OnePlus 12, the company launched another, arguably much more exciting phone — the OnePlus 12R. The 12R is built to even further push the boundaries of top-tier phone price, coming in at just $499.

Of course, OnePlus had to cut some corners to hit this price. The most obvious of these is the last-generation chip — one generation older than that found in the OnePlus 12. Did OnePlus cut the right corners? I’ve been using the OnePlus 12R for a while now to find out.

OnePlus 12R specs

OnePlus 12R design

2023 and 2024 have seemingly been the years of large, circular camera modules. Many of Oppo and OnePlus’ phones have followed this trend, and the OnePlus 12R is no exception to that rule. Compared with the OnePlus 12, the OnePlus 12R’s camera module is a little smaller and slimmer than that on the more expensive device, but it’s still big and circular.

I don’t mind the look by any means. Sometimes, it can be a little much, but on the OnePlus 12R it looks fine — and you probably won’t notice it much if you use a case anyway. I do like the fact that the camera module is slimmer than some other new devices though.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The rest of the design of the device is more or less to be expected. There’s a USB-C port on the bottom and a volume rocker and power button on the right side. OnePlus has stuck with a ringer switch on the left side — making it one of the few device makers that still offers this as an option.

The front of the phone has slightly curved sides, which not everyone will appreciate. I do prefer a flat front display, but it’s also not the biggest issue in the world.

The OnePlus 12R is a fine-looking phone, and it generally feels well-built too.

OnePlus 12R display

One area in which the OnePlus 12R doesn’t skimp out is in the display. The OnePlus 12R has a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a 1264 x 2780 resolution. It supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 4500 nits.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

It looks excellent. The display is very high-tech and actually isn’t all that different in specifications from the more expensive OnePlus 12. Sure, the resolution is a little lower, but you can hardly tell. Watching movies on the device was a joy — as was playing games. If you want a high-end display experience, the OnePlus 12R is a great choice.

OnePlus 12R performance

Performance is one area in which OnePlus has cut the price a little — but you’ll still get an incredibly high-performing phone. The OnePlus 12R may not have the latest-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, but it does have last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is also a also very high-performing processor.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The end result? device that can competently handle everything you can throw at it in 2024. Games load quickly, multitasking is easy, and so on. The only real difference you might see from the performance of this phone versus the standard OnePlus 12 is at the end of the life-span — when the phone may slow down a little quicker than the higher-end device. For now, if you’re looking for flagship-tier performance, you’ll still get it from the OnePlus 12R.

OnePlus 12R battery and charging

Powering the device is a pretty huge 5,500mAh battery, which I found easily through a day of use, and well into a second day. That’s true even under heavier use. In a video playback test, the device didn’t quite reach the heights of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, or even the OnePlus 12, but it wasn’t far behind. That makes the OnePlus 12R one of the best-performing phones in terms of battery from the past year or so.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The phone supports fast charging too. You can charge the device at up to 100W, though in North America you’ll only reach speeds of 80W. This should fully charge the phone in around 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t support wireless charging, which is a pretty huge miss, especially considering the fact that the OnePlus 12 does support wireless charging.

OnePlus 12R camera

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The camera is perhaps the main difference between the OnePlus 12R and the OnePlus 12. The OnePlus 12R still comes with a triple camera array — however, one of those cameras is more or less pointless. On the back of the phone, there’s a 50-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera with a 112-degree field-of-view, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. I was complaining about low-quality macro cameras three years ago, and it’s disheartening to see them still showing up.

The other two cameras are pretty good though. They’re vibrant and bright, and there’s good detail even in low-lighting situations. In fact, for the most part, these photos look almost as good as those taken on the OnePlus 12. That is, unless you start zooming — considering the fact that the OnePlus 12 has a dedicated telephoto camera.

As expected, the macro photos look terrible. You might play with it once or twice, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll avoid it after that.

OnePlus 12R software

OnePlus phones have OxygenOS, but it’s pretty similar to ColorOS on Oppo phones. Generally, the operating system is pretty easy to navigate, and things are more or less where you would expect. I like the fact that the operating system is quite scaled-back, at least compared to Android skins like Samsung’s One UI.

That said, given the fact that it’s so similar to ColorOS, I do feel like the software could be a little cleaner and simpler. But again, there aren’t too many extra apps, and for the most part, anyone who has used an Android phone will have no problem navigating this one.

Conclusions

The OnePlus 12R is a killer phone for the price. At $499, you really can’t do much better. The device performs excellently, has a solid camera, a stunning display, and more.

The competition

The biggest competition to the OnePlus 12R, at least in North America, comes from the Google Pixel 71, which is the same price. The OnePlus 12R performs better than the Pixel 7a, however, the Pixel 7a has a better camera, and that beloved Google software. You’ll have to decide for yourself what you prefer, but you can’t go wrong. I personally would still get the Pixel device, but that’s due to the software more than anything else.

Should I buy the OnePlus 12R?

Yes. The OnePlus 12R is an excellent phone for the price.