While there are plenty of upcoming phones to be excited about, OnePlus’ next handset is right around the corner. The OnePlus 12 will be the brand’s latest flagship, and is expected to pack in some impressive upgrades. But what exactly should you expect from the device, when will it arrive, and how much will it cost?
OnePlus has now officially started spilling the beans ahead of the phone’s launch, as has been the firm’s strategy for years now – but there are still unanswered questions. So we’ve scoured the web for all the latest OnePlus 12 leaks and rumours, and have nailed down what’s really important. Here’s everything we know so far about the upcoming Android smartphone.
OnePlus 12 release date
It’s official: the OnePlus 12 will make its debut on the 5th of December. At least in China, where the new flagship is expected to go on sale first. The news was confirmed by OnePlus China president Li JieLouis on the Weibo social network, who said the event would follow the 10-year anniversary of the OnePlus brand the day before.
A global launch likely wouldn’t happen for a month or two after, but that still gives OnePlus a big lead over rivals that look set to launch their new phone generations in early 2024. That includes Xiaomi, who has yet to bring the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro to Western audiences, and Samsung, whose Galaxy S24 line-up is rumoured for January.
That lines up with previous rumours we’d heard about the OnePlus 12 making its debut at the end of the year. Yogesh Brar mentioned that he expects the device to be released in China in December 2023, with a global release in February 2024.
The February global launch lines up with the OnePlus 11‘s release outside of China, so that makes sense. The initial launch in China looks to be brought forward a month this time around. Most western customers should keep an eye out for the new handset in February.
OnePlus 12 estimated price
2023’s OnePlus 11 saw a price hike from the previous-gen OnePlus 10T. The earlier smartphone started from $649/£629, while the newer model started at a higher $699/£729.
With the new features on the way to the upcoming OnePlus 12, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar price hike again. It’s difficult to guess how much the new phone will go for, or what international pricing might look like. But our money’s on a pricing starting at $749/£799.
OnePlus 12 design
OnePlus took to Weibo to reveal the OnePlus 12’s fresh new design – although “fresh” and “new” may be stretching things somewhat. The new phone takes its styling cues from the outgoing OnePlus 11, including a huge asymmetric rear camera bump. Three colours were shown off: black, seemingly in the firm’s familiar textured matte coating, a glossy white, and a marble-like green hue that we think is the star of the line-up.
These closely match earlier renders produced by OnLeaks and MySmartPrice, which carried the same rounded corners frame with a round camera bump on the rear as this year’s phone.
The biggest differences appear to be with the rear camera lenses, with a periscope lens sitting at the bottom of the stack. That should help it take more zoomed-in shots than the OnePlus 11. Above is the Hasselblad logo and the other two camera lenses. Helpfully the camera bump is labelled with aperture and focal length measurements for each lens. That means we can expect an f/1.6 23mm main snapper, an f/2.2 14mm ultrawide, and an f/2.6 70mm telephoto.
OnePlus’ official pics don’t show the front of the phone, so we’re relying on leaks here. They appear to show that the punch-hole selfie snapper has moved from the corner of the screen to the centre. If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the bezels around the screen have got thinner. How true this will be to the final retail product remains to be seen, though.
We should expect dust and water resistance (IP64 is currently rumoured, which is decent if not class-leading), and an IR blaster. The OnePlus Open foldable shipped with one, despite OnePlus having previously only fitted them to its more affordable Nord models, and OnePlus China president Li Jie has confirmed the OnePlus 12 will also get one.
He also reiterated the phone will launch as “OnePlus 12”, with no “Pro” branding – though it will very much be a pro-level product.
OnePlus 12 expected hardware specs
We already knew the OnePlus 12 would pack a 6.82in screen, which is slightly larger than the current model’s 6.7in display. While well-known leakers such as Yogesh Brar initially reported the OnePlus 11’s screen would carry over, panel producer BOE since confirmed that wouldn’t be the case.
The firm is supplying OnePlus with its ‘X1’ AMOLED screens, which will be among the brightest on sale: a peak 2600 nits is promised, which is plenty high enough to see things clearly outdoors in bright sunshine. We can also expect a 3186×1440 resolution, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and A+ certification from image quality experts DisplayMate. Company co-founder Pete Lau showed off the front side of the phone at a recent event, so we know the dimensions are legit.
Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is confirmed to be powering the OnePlus 12. The silicon was only recently unveiled, so OnePlus’ upcoming handset will be one of the first phones to ship with it. Based on 4nm technology, the new processor should improve performance by 20% compared to last year’s Gen 2 chip and add lots of AI-assisted cleverness. In the OnePlus 12, it’s expected to sit beside 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage – though it’s not clear if this is the base model or a higher spec. A model with 1TB of storage is rumoured.
Looking at battery life, Twitter tipster Yogesh Brar reckons we’ll see a 5000mAh cell, but SmartPrix disagrees. It expects a larger 5400mAh battery. While the battery’s capacity might be up for debate, there’s no doubt that the smartphone will easily breeze through a day’s usage. Both sources agree that 100W wired fast charging will return, and Brar reckons we should watch out for 50W wireless charging speeds. OnePlus China president Li Jie later confirmed wireless charging would appear in some form in a Weibo post, but didn’t reveal exact speeds.
OnePlus previously confirmed it teamed up with Sony for the OnePlus 12’s main snapper. It will use a LYTIA stacked sensor that should capture more light than similarly-sized sensors that use a simpler configuration. The one seen on Sony’s Xperia 1 V impressed us with its night-time abilities, but this is rumoured to be a different sensor. We’re expecting a 50MP pixel count.
The periscope zoom lens will be the biggest change, bringing a 64MP sensor capable of 3x optical zoom. This isn’t as impressive as Samsung’s 10X zoom using the same tech, but you’ll still see vastly improved zoom shots compared to the OnePlus 11’s 2x zoom snapper. It’ll apparently sit alongside the same 50MP ultrawide lens that appeared on previous OnePlus devices.
Oppo and OnePlus are working together on this generation’s camera hardware, which it calls HyperTone. The image processing will apparently deliver 60% reduced noise and 30% better clarity than last year’s handsets.
OnePlus 12 feature wish list
The OnePlus 11 was arguably the phone to beat in early 2023; it comfortably kept pace with Samsung’s best efforts on performance and battery life, took a solid snap and didn’t cost the earth – even if the price did climb compared to the previous generation. There’s still room for improvement, though. Here are the few areas we’d like to see OnePlus improve for the OnePlus 12.
Bring back wireless charging
Given the OnePlus 10 Pro could refuel at a zippy 50W on a compatible wireless charging pad, it was a real shame to see OnePlus remove the feature for the OnePlus 11 – especially when the price went up, rather than down. Bringing wireless charging back in any form would be a smart move, and if it can deliver speedier top-ups than Samsung, Google or Apple, OnePlus will have landed a slam-dunk.
Stronger zoom abilities
As much as we liked the OnePlus 11’s camera trio, it was undeniable that a 2x optical zoom wasn’t going to cut it against rivals with 3x or 5x lenses. All signs point to the firm fixing that misstep for this new generation, with at least 3x optical from a periscope telephoto lens.
