OnePlus 12R review in 5 points: Flagship-grade but some compromises too

New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 7, 2024 18:26 IST

In our recent review of OnePlus 12R, we welcomed back the flagship killer. The phone went on sale on February 6 and for anyone looking to buy a flagship-grade phone without taking a loan, the OnePlus 12R is at the top of our recommendations. Why? As we said in our review the OnePlus 12R is a truly powerful Android phone with a catchy design, fast performance, a long battery at a reasonable price.

In fact, in our OnePlus 12R review, we called it a flagship killer as it can do almost everything that the premium Android flagships can do. Or as we said, the new OnePlus 12R offers "90 per cent of what most flagship Android phones do at just 50 per cent of the price". You can read our full review here.

But that's a review with a lot of words, and while we daresay that those are all necessary words, a lot of you may not have time to go through 2000 words. So, here we have a quick bite-size review for you. Just 1100 words, especially written to inform you, yes you dear reader who is in a hurry.

Point 1: Shiny and tough

The OnePlus 12R looks similar to the OnePlus 12 and its predecessors. I have two things two highlight here. One, I find the design distinct, its blue shade - which I reviewed - funky and its build quality impeccable. The frosty, almost metallic, finish of the back cover looks totally cool. The frame is made of aluminium, and the camera module is part of the frame. The camera as, however, have a glass top that is shiny and has a shimmering finish to it. This gives the camera module look like an expensive watch dial with jewel finish. Two, the materials used to make the OnePlus 12R are obviously a step down from what we get in (much) more expensive OnePlus 12. Although, the 12R still gets a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover on the front and IP64 rating.

The phone has a curved display, and curved edges. Both are somewhat old-fashioned now. Some users may find it too usual looking. But what is good about the OnePlus 12R is that it is not unwieldy or unbalanced. Despite a huge battery inside it, the phone is not too heavy. And even with one hand-hand use, your fingers can reach the entire screen with ease.

Point 2: Vibrant display and clear audio

If you want a phone which offers a clear, vibrant bridge display with good speakers then the OnePlus 12R has got you covered. The phone features a large 6.78-inch AMOLED display with curved edges. This is a fantastic display given the price of the phone. It is vibrant, extremely bright and smooth with 120Hz refresh. In other words, the display on the 12R is total flagship-grade. The OnePlus 12R also has an under-display fingerprint sensor and a fast face unlock feature, which make it convenient to use. While reviewing a phone, I enjoyed streaming video on the 12R, thanks also to its Dolby Atmos stereo speakers, which produce clear and loud sound.

Point 3: Fast and runs cool

The OnePlus 12R is a performance powerhouse. With its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset it offers ample grunt to make multitasking and gaming smooth. The good part is that even with the powerful performance, the device stays cool during long gaming sessions, due to its effective heat management. The 12R also uses AI RAM acceleration and the Live Lock feature to optimise RAM usage, which enables seamless app switching and consistent performance over time.

The performance is also complemented with Oxygen OS 14, which has a clean interface and minimal bloatware, and provides a user-friendly experience with useful customizations and features like the OnePlus Store and Community apps.

Point 4: Battery beast

Along with the display and performance, battery life is another area where the OnePlus 12R puts many other top phones, even some flagship phones, to shame. The smartphone has a 5500mAh battery, which easily lasts one full day with moderate usage. The battery can also be quickly recharged with the 100W SUPERVOOC charging that comes in the box. How quickly? Well it goes from 0 - 100 per cent in about 25-30 minutes.

Point 5: 1 lens good, 2 lenses not

Compared to the OnePlus 12, the cameras in the OnePlus 12R are clearly more modest and downmarket. For example, it doesn't have the same Hasselblad tuning and colour science that the more expensive OnePlus phone has. Despite that, the main 50-megapixel camera in the OnePlus 12R is by all counts fabulous. The main camera captures rich details and vibrant colours in optimal lighting conditions, although I also found that sometimes it produced oversaturated colours. In low light, the performance drops somewhat but not in an alarming way. In fact, in this price segment the main camera of the OnePlus 12R is one of the most capable one in low light, capturing images with vibrant colours and tons of details.

The phone has two more rear cameras: an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera and 2-megapixel macro lens camera. The Ultra-wide camera is good in decent light or sunlight, although edges are often softer. The macro camera is not good at all.

I also found that the OnePlus 12R camera can be occasionally sluggish, which makes it difficult to get razor sharp images of things or people that are moving.

Yet, overall, the OnePlus 12R camera gets a thumbs up from me. For more on camera and to see image samples: read our full OnePlus 12R review.

OnePlus 12R review: Should you buy it?

Yes. If you are looking to get a flagship grade phone without spending Rs 60,000 or Rs 80,000, the OnePlus 12R gives you almost everything at a more modest price. Of course, it is a Rs 39,999 phone so it does have its share of - not so many - compromises. But despite some compromises, it is safe to say that the OnePlus 12R is a true flagship-killer, and arguably the best value for money phone in India right now.