After much anticipation, OnePlus is set to introduce its latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 12, following the success of the well-received OnePlus 11. With high expectations surrounding the upcoming release, here’s a comprehensive overview of everything you should know about the OnePlus 12 ahead of its scheduled launch in China on December 5.

Design & display

OnePlus is opting for a relatively straightforward approach without introducing significant alterations to the current design. The phone retains its quad-cutout circular camera module, albeit with notable internal detailing. The brand indicates drawing inspiration from classic timepieces, evident in the grooves encircling the camera module, resembling minute lines on a clock. The power button and volume rockers are still on the left side, and the right side features the power button and an alert slider.

The brand has unveiled three color options through official teasers, namely Blank (white), Green, and Rock Black. In addition to that, a recent leak claimed that the phone could come with a wood texture back, paying homage to the OG OnePlus One Walnut Wood Edition.

On the front, the phone will showcase a large 6.82-inch BOE AMOLED Display, boasting a resolution of 3168 x 1440 pixels and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The 2K+ display gently curves towards the edges, incorporating advanced features like 2160Hz PWM dimming and a pixel density of 510, facilitated by a diamond-shaped pixel arrangement.

According to the brand, the phone achieves an impressive maximum brightness of 4500 nits, surpassing the current flagship standard ranging between 2400-2600 nits. Oppo’s Display P1 chip is integrated into the device, promising enhanced quality and efficiency for an optimized viewing experience. A teaser also talks about a new in-screen fingerprint scanner which is slimmer and more responsive than previous iterations. Lastly, the phone’s display will feature OnePlus’s Rain Water Touch feature which eliminates ghost touches and false touches.

Performance & specs

The OnePlus 12 will be powered by the cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip out of the Qualcomm camp. The processor comes with some noteworthy improvements to its performance thanks to the new chip structure and a peak clock speed of 3.3GHz. It also has a new Adreno 750 GPU onboard that helps improve graphics performance.

The brand has shared an insane AnTuTu benchmark score of 2,333,033 points which will put it in contention for the best-performance smartphones. However, sustained performance is usually the key, and for that, the brand plans to incorporate a massive 9140mm² vapor chamber cooling system. Overall, the cooling system will cover a vast 38,547mm² area, making sure that the high-power chip can sustain its performance without throttling.

The phone will be available in multiple LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage configurations including a 24GB + 1TB option. The battery will be getting a boost in capacity, bumping it up to 5,400mAh. 3C certification has revealed 100W wired and 50W wireless charging support. There will also be a new vibration motor onboard which the brand is calling the “Bionic Vibration Motor Turbo”. It claims to be 18% more powerful and 60% faster. As for software, the phone will debut with Android 14-based ColorOS 14 (OxygenOS 14 in the global market).

Camera

Camera is another department that’s getting major upgrades. Moving on from the IMX890 sensor of the OnePlus 11, the OnePlus 12 will debut with the shiny new 50MP Sony Lytia dual-layer stacked camera sensor. This sensor is said to be a collaboration between OnePlus and Sony, however, other reports have mentioned that the device will feature a 50MP Sony LYT-T808 sensor with an aperture of f/1.6 and a focal length of 23mm. One thing is for sure users can expect some significant improvements over last year’s camera.

Other than the primary sensor, the phone will feature a 48-megapixel Sony IMX581 ultra-wide lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a focal length of 14mm and a 64-megapixel OmniVision OV64B periscope telephoto camera, with aperture of f/2.6 and a focal length of 70mm, enabling 3x optical zoom.

Global availability

While the China launch is happening on December 5, customers outside of China will have to wait a bit more. A recent report has mentioned that the OnePlus 12 will start its global journey with its launch in India on January 23. Stay tuned for our coverage of the OnePlus 12 launch on December 5. In the meantime, you can check out our ColorOS 14 review, which is the operating system onboard the OnePlus 12.