OnePlus 12R Hands-On, First Impressions

OnePlus is set to release the OnePlus 12 and the OnePlus 12R in the Philippines later this month. Between the two, the OnePlus 12R is positioned for the more price-conscious Filipino market despite having flagship-level hardware.

We managed to snag a review unit before the launch, which is still to be announced. Our review unit is this Iron Gray colorway, which is more subdued by its all-metal frame and back panel. Compared to the OnePlus 11 5G from last year, the 12R is a bit thicker and heavier.

Having used the OnePlus 11 as my main daily driver for about 13 months, I’ve grown accustomed to the device, and the decision to move on to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra took weeks to finalize. The OnePlus 12R reminded me once more how well-balanced this series is.

The OnePlus 12R is reminiscent of that balance between simplicity and beauty with elegance and power. Not much has changed in terms of aesthetics — the metal chassis feels cold but solid on the hands. It has a very polished surface so it can be slippery without a case slapped on.

As usual, we also liked the curved glass up front and the tapered edges of the back. However, you will notice that the meeting point between the two is a bit sharp so you can feel the bite when gripping the phone in your hands. Nothing too disconcerting but you will really notice the difference especially if you’ve been using OnePlus 11 for a very long time, just like in my case.

The AMOLED display has a full HD+ (1.5K) resolution of 2780 x 1264 pixels with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. You will not notice the difference in pixel density between the OnePlus 11 even if the latter has a higher 2K (3216 x 1440 pixel) resolution. What’s obvious though is that the brightness of the OnePlus 12R is evidently higher, both at the mid-level and the maximum brightness.

While the OnePlus 12 used the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the OnePlus 12R used the same chip as the OnePlus 11 from last year.

Nevertheless, the OnePlus 12R scored better than the OnePlus 11 in our synthetic benchmarks (they use the same chipset). It managed to eke out 1,343,195 points in Antutu v10 but in PCMark Work 3.0, they their scores are pretty (10,232).

Further testing for Storage speeds revealed that the OnePlus 12R only uses UFS 3.1 and not UFS 4.0, as originally advertised during their launch back in January. OnePlus has since changed this minute detail in its materials.

So now, we’re getting read and write speeds of 1714Mb/s and 1641MB/s, respectively. That’s not as fast as the UFS 4.0 of the OnePlus 11 that got 3,317MB/s (Read) and 2,650MB/s (Write). Nevertheless, there’s very little to no noticeable difference when launching apps or moving files around the device.

Another huge difference here is the absence of the Hasselblad branding for the rear cameras. This will definitely mark the distinction between the 12 and the 12R. We will look into the difference in image quality or treatment once we get a hold of the OnePlus 12.

Nevertheless, the OnePlus 12R managed to cop a Sony IMX890 sensor for the main camera. Here are some initail shots we too with it so you’ll know the 12R still has very good optics:

It’s the same sensor as the OnePlus 11 so let’s look at the difference here:

Despite all this fat trimmings, the OnePlus 12R managed to get a higher battery capacity at 5,500mAh — slightly better than the 5,400 of the OnePlus 12 and the 5,000mAh of the OnePlus 11. That should give you a little longer battery life. We’ll know more about that in our full review and after doing all the benchmarks.

It is obvious that OnePlus is positioning the 12R as the more affordable version of the series. The older chipset, slower storage tech and the absence of the Hasselblad branding are enough to make that gap significant and we will see that once their retail price have been revealed.

OnePlus 12R specs:
6.78” 1.5K LTPO ProXDR AMOLED display
2780 x 1264 pixels, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate
Up to 1000Hz touch response rate, 4500 nits (peak) brightness
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen2
8GB, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM
128GB, 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
Triple rear cameras:
– 50MP f/1.8 Sony IMX890 main, OIS, EIS
– 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 112° FoV (fixed focus)
– 2MP macro
16MP f/2.4 front-facing selfie shooter, EIS (fixed focus)
Dual nano-SIM
5G, 4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be
Bluetooth 5.3
GPS, BDS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS
USB Type-C (USB 2.0)
NFC
In-display fingerprint sensor
Dual Cryo-velocity 9140mm² VC
Alert slider, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, IR blaster
OxygenOS 14.0 (Android 14)
5500mAh battery
100W SuperVOOC wired charging
163.3 x 75.3 x 8.8 mm (dimensions)
207 grams (weight)
Cool Blue, Iron Gray

We reckon the OnePlus 12R will be priced under Php40k while the OnePlus 12 will follow the previous pricing of under Php45k. That’s just our hunch but, if that is the case, then they should be placed well within the competitive margins.

Watch out for our full review and price reveal soon.