OnePlus 12 | On solid foundations

Without being a fireworks display of functions, the brand new OnePlus 12 impresses with its power, its large, bright screen and its battery life. Its small flaws: its camera is not the best despite its manufacturer’s claims and it is not water-proof.

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OnePlus has carved out an enviable place for itself in North America, after Apple and Samsung, by offering devices with features worthy of high-end models at very competitive prices. The economy is still there here with the OnePlus 12, sold from $1,199.99 for the model with 16 GB of RAM that we tested, cheaper than competitors like the Pixel 8 Pro or the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

First test: calibration with Geekbench 6 to see what the OnePlus 12 has under the hood. No doubt, it has its place among the leading models and even offers remarkable graphics processing capacity which makes it very efficient for gaming or video streaming.

What it gives us in concrete terms is an ultra-fast phone that reacts instantly, connects via Bluetooth almost instantly to our headphones, closes and opens apps in the blink of an eye and has no moments of downtime. hesitation to start a video. Its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is the one that equips the best Android models, and the management of its 5400 mAh battery is efficient. In one full day of testing, it dropped to 47% and it took us a second day to clear it.

It also accepts fast charging at 80 watts (with charger provided, a rarity in 2024) and even magnetic charging at 50 watts, if you have such a charger.

At 80 watts in wired mode, we recharged our phone from 0% in 31 minutes for the purposes of the test.

Its 6.8-inch screen, larger than the standard, is worth the detour. This model, called ProXDR 2K, offers a refresh rate of 1 to 120 Hz and reaches a maximum brightness of 4,500 nits, “the brightest screen ever seen on a smartphone”, we are told by OnePlus, a claim which we could not contradict. This screen is magnificent, no doubt, and the animations that OnePlus added for the startup and the wallpaper highlight it at all times.

A good mark also for the general design of the OnePlus 12, which has significantly more character than that of previous models, which are often very generic.

Let’s talk photos

OnePlus has gone bold with a set of lenses on the back grouped in a large circle of glass, which gives a very futuristic, but very visible look. The main lens is Sony’s 50 MP LYT-808, with an OV64B telephoto lens capable of giving 3x optical zoom and 64 MP photos and 48 MP ultra-wide angle.

The question now: what does this system developed in collaboration with Hasselblad give? We compared it to an iPhone 15 Pro and a Pixel 8 Pro and solicited some expert opinions.

The good news for OnePlus: it handled low-light photos much better. Too often, however, it has tended to produce washed out, bland colors. Here are two examples that illustrate its qualities and flaws. The differences are less obvious here than with the original formats, due to the optimization of the photos for publication on LaPresse.ca.

The big winner in our tests is the iPhone 15 Pro. The Pixel 8 Pro and the OnePlus 12 came in tied, which is still honorable for the OnePlus.

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The OnePlus 12 has an IP65 rating, which makes it safe from water jets and dust, but not from full submersion. However, it has become a basic feature in high-end models. The Pixel 8 Pro, for example, has a significantly higher rating of IP68.

OnePlus guarantees four years of updates on its Android-based operating system, called OxygenOS, and a fifth year for security updates. This is a little less than its competitors, Google and Samsung, which offer up to seven years.

One buys ?

The OnePlus 12 is a good buy, offering the best of the best components found in more expensive models at a competitive price. It doesn’t have the aura of a Samsung Galaxy or an iPhone, its photos aren’t stunning, but it does its job well and the efficiency of its processor is remarkable.