OnePlus 12R First Impressions: Potential to Claim the Title of Best Sub-40K Smartphone

OnePlus recently launched two new smartphones in India - the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R. While the OnePlus 12 has flagship ambitions, the 12R 5G aims to take on the competition in the premium mid-range space.

OnePlus appears to be satisfied with the formula of its 'R' variant as not much has changed here from the OnePlus 11R. Before we take a brief look at the OnePlus 12R, here's a look at pricing.

OnePlus 12R First Impressions

The OnePlus 12R price in India starts from Rs 39,999 for the base 8GB/128GB variant, while the 16GB/256GB configuration will set you back Rs 45,999. Now, back to our OnePlus 12R first impressions.

Design & Build

Our variant of the OnePlus 12R came in the Cool Blue shade, although it is also offered in an Iron Gray color option. The phone itself features a more traditional design with a curved screen and rounded edges. One of the big differences here is the Alert Slider, which now sits on the left.

The Cool Blue variant has a glossy finish, which feels a little slippery, but the case included in the box fixes that issue. For a premium mid-range smartphone, the OnePlus 12R features a solid build with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front as well as unnamed glass on the back.

Additionally, the OnePlus 12R also features an aluminum frame, giving it a premium feel. Moreover, the IP64 rating helps with mild resistances to splashes and dust. The volume and power buttons on the OnePlus 12R 5G are positioned to the right, while the SIM tray and USB Type-C port sit at the bottom. Despite its premium build, the OnePlus 12R isn't too bulky, weighing 207 grams and 8.8mm thick.

Display

The OnePlus 12R is equipped with a new 6.78-inch 1.5K (1264 x 2780 pixels) AMOLED Pro-XDR display with a pixel density of 450 PPI. The panel uses LTPO 4.0 technology, offering an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate (1Hz - 120Hz) and an instant 1,000Hz touch response.

The display also has an impressive peak brightness of 4,500 nits (1,600 nits HBM), although we haven't been in a scenario yet where that level was required. However, to ensure eye protection, the screen also supports 2160Hz PWM Dimming. The display on the OnePlus 12R also features excellent viewing angles with vibrant colors.

To sweeten the deal, the panel also supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats. It is also rated A+ by DisplayMate, guaranteeing a panel of the highest standards. Despite only a brief interaction with this display, it is safe to say that the screen on the OnePlus 12R is easily of the best, if not the best, in the segment.

Performance

For performance, the OnePlus 12R 5G gets a new and improved Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, which is easily the best chip in the segment. The chip is paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip here can run just about any title on the OnePlus 12R effortlessly. In our brief period with the device, we only tested Call of Duty: Mobile, which ran smoothly despite the settings being maxed out. Multitasking was also a breeze, with the handset offering seamless transitioning between apps.

But OnePlus doesn't stop there with a new Cryo-velocity cooling system on the 12R to improve peak sustained performance. The system incorporates a large 9140mm2 VC cooling area for 41% better heat transfer and over three times high heat dissipation. We will dive deeper into performance in our full OnePlus 12R 5G review, but our initial impressions all point to flagship-grade performance.

Cameras

Moving on to optics and the 12R 5G features a triple-camera setup on the back with a 50 MP Sony IMX890 sensor at the helm with OIS support, PDAF, and an f/1.8 aperture. The main camera is paired with an 8 MP Sony IMX355 ultrawide sensor and a 2 MP macro lens. Up front, there's a 16 MP selfie camera with an f/2.4 aperture.

We did run the OnePlus 12R's rear cameras through a few scenarios. In daylight, the main camera captured shots with a ton of detail and good dynamic range. The camera system also performed well in dim-lit indoor spaces with night mode capturing some detailed shots.

And while the ultrawide camera had minimal edge distortion and maintained good color consistency. We dive deeper into the camera system in our full OnePlus 12R review, but for now, our early impressions of the main camera were generally positive.

Battery

In terms of battery life, the OnePlus 12R 5G packs a massive 5,500 mAh battery. Despite only a limited time with the device, it is safe to say that the battery here will easily survive the all-day trial under heavy usage. Additionally, there's a 100W charging adapter included in the box, which can take the phone from 1% to 100% in just 26 minutes.

The OnePlus 12R also features an advanced Battery Health Engine that is touted to offer fluid performance, maintaining over 80% of its capacity, for four years. The OnePlus 12R 5G offers some of the best battery life and charging of any smartphone under Rs 40,000.

Software

For software, the OnePlus 12R 5G runs on Android 14 out of the box with OxygenOS 14. OxygenOS 14 comes with features like the new Trinity Engine to help improve performance and game visuals. OxygenOS 14 is clean for the most part with a generally bloat-free experience.

The AI features aren't as good as those on the Pixel 8 but the OnePlus 12R also features plenty of customizations. Lastly, OnePlus promises three years of major OS updates and four years of regular security updates with the 12R 5G.

OnePlus 12R First Impressions: Our Initial Thoughts!

Our initial impressions of the OnePlus 12R 5G are mostly positive. There's a lot of things to like about this phone. The OnePlus 12R leads the way in terms of performance, display quality, and battery life in the sub-40K segment. OnePlus has also improved the build quality on the 12R 5G.

However, the cameras don't really stand out and feel pretty average, while the same can be said about the design. It would have been nice to see a second 50 MP camera instead of two inferior sensors. That being said, the price of the OnePlus 12R 5G is the same as its predecessor at launch, so it is difficult to complain.

In our opinion, the OnePlus 12R 5G will excel in battery life, gaming, and entertainment. For a sub-40K smartphone, this feels like a sweet deal, but we'll withhold our final judgment for the full OnePlus 12R review. So stay tuned to Gizbot for that!