OnePlus 12R: First impression

OnePlus 12R is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with up to 12GB RAM, 256GB storage and a massive 5,500mAh battery.

OnePlus earlier in the day (February 6) rolled out the OnePlus 12R series phone in India.

It comes with big upgrades in terms of processor, camera, and more with prices starting at Rs 39,999. I spent a few hours with the OnePlus 12R and here are my thoughts on the the latest OnePlus phone.

Design and display

The new OnePlus 12R retains most of the design elements of the predecessor. It flaunts a curved display on the front and on the back, it has a massive camera module fused beautifully to the back and a frame at the top left corner with LED flash.

It has a glossy panel on the rear side. To an extent, it can hide the fingerprint marks. But, in certain angles, it becomes too noticeable. Thankfully, the company offers a free matching cover, which is soft and sturdy, enough to protect the device during accidental drop.

The side rail around the display is sturdy and comes with a matte finish, which offers a good grip for the fingers to hold on the device.

On the front, the OnePlus 12R sports a beautiful 6.78-inch full HD+ (2780×1264p) LTPO AMOLED display. It supports up to 4,500 nits peak brightness. It comes in handy while reading news articles or messages outdoors.

The screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2 shield. It also features an in-display fingerprint sensor and a Type-C port.

Processor configuration

OnePlus 12R is powered by Qualcomm's reliable Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor with Adreno GPU. It supports up to 12GB RAM, 256GB storage, and runs on Android 14-based OxygenOS 14 OS.

The user interface is clean, almost vanilla Android on Pixel phones. It has a few apps of its own and the rest are Google's core applications. It is really easy to get the hang of the device in a few hours for a rookie.

In the brief time I spent with the device, it was smooth while performing day-to-day tasks such as app loading and switching between apps. I am very keen to test OnePlus 12R on how it fares while playing graphics-rich games.

OnePlus 12R series.

It houses a 5,500mAh battery, the highest capacity for a OnePhone to date. This is more than enough for the phone to run for two days under normal usage. With extreme usage involving binge-watching multimedia content on OTT or doom scrolling on reels on Instagram via cellular connectivity, it still be able to with 100W SuperVOOC fast charging.

Photography hardware

OnePlus 12R boasts houses a triple-camera module-- main 50MP (with OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) with an 8MP ultrawide sensor, and a 2MP macro lens with LED flash.

OnePlus 12R camera sample photo.

On the front, it features a 16MP selfie camera for selfies and video chat.

The device does an amazing job in the sunlight. It manages to capture minute details and enhance the colour temperature to make the subject, particularly the flowers brighter and better.

Also, the portrait mode works great on flowers. The edges around the petals are captured correctly without any smudges. The front and the background are clearly defined with the blurred bokeh effect behind the subject.

OnePlus 12R camera sample.

However, it needs to be assessed on how it performs in other light conditions indoors and at night. Do return for the full review next week.

OnePlus 12R camera sample.

OnePlus 12R comes in two options-- 8GB RAM + 128GB and 16GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 39,999 and Rs 45,999, respectively.

Even OnePlus Buds is now available in India for Rs 5,499. The company is offering new Buds earphones in two colours--splendid blue and metallic grey.

It boasts a sliding tracker that promises to offer accurate control over volume adjustments. This eliminates the need for the owner to take the phone out to adjust the volume.

OnePlus Buds 3 series.

The user has to slide the finger up or down on the earbud's stem to control the volume of the music track.

Inside, it houses new dual dynamic drivers with coaxial design. It has a 10.4mm woofer paired with a 6mm tweeter to ensure a broad frequency range from 15Hz to 40KHz. It promises to deliver powerful bass, crisp treble, and deeply resonant vocals.

It also supports advanced noise cancellation technology, offering up to 49dB of noise reduction.

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