OnePlus 12 Vs. OnePlus 12R: The Main Differences،
Chinese tech giant OnePlus launched the 2024 flagship, the OnePlus 12, in China earlier in December 2023, followed by its global debut in January 2024. On the other hand, the OnePlus Ace 3, a phone under flagship which uses last year's flagship chipset, debuted in the Chinese market on January 4. It will arrive in global markets as the OnePlus 12R and will launch alongside the OnePlus 12. Both devices belong to the same “12 series” and share many features including vapor chamber, RAM and storage, battery and charging, among others.
The question is: how do you decide which one to consider? How can you decide which one will be best for you? Who wins between OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R? If these are the kinds of questions you want answered, here's a comparison between the two.
OnePlus 12 vs. OnePlus 12R – Specifications at a glance
- 6.82″ 2K OLED vs. 6.74″ 1.5K OLED display
- Snapdragon 8 Gen3 vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen2
- Maximum brightness of 4,500 nits vs. Even
- 256/512/1TB storage vs. 128/256 GB
- 12/16/24 GB vs. 8/16 GB of RAM
- 5,000 mAh vs. 5,500mAh
- 50+64+48MP vs. 50+8+2MP
- Steam chamber of 9140 mm2 vs. Even
Design
Let's say you own both the OnePlus 12 and 12R. Guess which is which? Without any hesitation, I would say that the two are too similar. The OnePlus 12R is packaged in an aluminum frame with glass on the front and back, there are slim bezels and both have four circular rings (for three cameras plus an LED flash) in a circular island giant that connects to the left side of the frame.
You might be able to tell the two apart by screen size since the flagship OnePlus 12 is slightly larger than the 12R, although we're talking about marginal differences.
Both phones follow the general design language of the OnePlus 12 series, so it's hard to tell these offerings apart unless you're using the phone.
You can always check out the color options for the one vivid differentiator. You see, the OnePlus 12 comes in Ever Green, Rock Black, and White, while the OnePlus 12R has Black, Blue, Gold, and Gray colors. The Indian variant (which is still a few days away) could benefit from more color options.
Display
Coming to the display technology, the OnePlus 12 uses a 6.82-inch BOE X1 OLED panel with a resolution of 1440 × 3168 pixels. There is a variable refresh rate of 120Hz as well as HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The screen lights up at 4,500 units of localized maximum brightness.
On the contrary, the OnePlus 12R uses a slightly smaller 6.74-inch BOE X1 OLED HDR10+ display. The screen has a variable refresh rate of 120Hz. It's limited to 1.5K resolution, giving it a flagship feel without dominating the OnePlus 12. It achieves similar brightness levels to the OP12 , which is a good thing.
Both phones benefit from Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on top, which keeps the screen protected from scratches and drops.
Performance
When it comes to specs, the OnePlus 12 and 12R are among the best, although the former triumphs in this individual comparison.
OnePlus 12 is equipped with a leading Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC with up to 24GB LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB UFS 4.0 storage. On the contrary, the OnePlus 12R (also known as OnePlus Ace 3 in China) uses last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage. As can easily be seen, the OnePlus 12's flagship chipset (SD 8 Gen3) and 24GB of RAM give the OnePlus 12 a significant advantage over the 12R.
Before you can say how much of a difference having two generations of chipsets from the same manufacturer would make, the answer is HUGE! The AnTuTu v10 score for SD8 Gen3 is around 1.96 million (which can easily exceed 2 minutes) while SD8 Gen2 is between 1.52 million and 1.74 million. The story on GeekBench v6 is the same with an 11% and 39% increase in single-core and multi-core tests (respectively. Both of these scores are impressive but you can see the winner here.
Thermal management is another strong point of the OnePlus 12 series (including 12R). Both phones use a cutting-edge 9140mm2 which helps both devices achieve insane performance compared to their particular segments.
Software
Turns out there isn't much difference when it comes to software. OnePlus 12 arrives with OxygenOS 14 running Android 14 for international markets. It uses ColorOS 14 for China. On the other hand, the OnePlus 12R uses the same software configuration. The exception will be the number of Android upgrades both phones receive over their lifetime. The OnePlus 12 is the clear winner, taking the title of “flagship”.
Camera
Well, from the looks of it, it looks like both phones are rolling out a triple camera setup, right? But trust me, the two devices are very different in terms of camera setup.
The OnePlus 12R uses the same configuration as the OnePlus 11R. That means the same Sony IMX890 50MP main camera with OIS plus an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro camera. On the front, there is a 16 MP shooter. You can record up to 4K at 60fps on the 12R.
On the other hand, OnePlus 12 uses a 1/1.43″ dual-stack Sony LYT-808 sensor with OIS and f/1.6 aperture. It is equipped with a 48 MP ultra-wide camera and a rear camera 64 MP OV64B periscope telephoto lens with OIS and 3x optical zoom capabilities OnePlus 12, as has been the case for a few iterations, comes with Hasselblad (5th Gen) color calibration that ensures powerful mobile photography chops.
Battery
The thing is, the OnePlus 12R uses a 5,400mAh battery paired with a 100W SuperVOOC charger. According to OnePlus, this should charge the battery from zero to hero in 27 minutes. It is also equipped with a SuperVOOC S power management chip with a discharge efficiency of 99.5% (the highest).
The OnePlus 12, on the other hand, uses a 5,400mAh battery paired with a 100W SuperVOOC charger. I won't say there are many changes between the two so far. The OnePlus 12 also has 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging which you won't find on the 12R. Again, this is fair considering the target price of both devices.
All other features
When it comes to all other features, OnePlus 12 breaks the bank. It features a three-step alert slider, dual-band Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.4, GPS, NFC, IR port, USB-C 3.2, an optical fingerprint scanner under the display and a stereo speaker to name a few. .
The OnePlus 12R still manages to get many of these features like an under-display fingerprint scanner, NFC, an IR port, and a stereo speaker setup. You get Bluetooth v5.3, dual-band Wi-Fi 6, and USB-C 2.0 as a differentiator between the two phones.
OnePlus 12 vs. OnePlus 12R: which one should you consider?
It all comes down to watching should be your choice out of the two, right? I would choose the OnePlus 12 over the 12R given its faster chipset, better display, wireless charging, and faster Wi-Fi, among others. However, if you consider “price” as a deciding factor, the OnePlus 12R is a worthwhile buy given that it uses last year's flagship SoC and still manages to keep the price within a range that I would call “affordable”. “. Still, if you can splurge a little more, you get a flagship with better cameras.
In the end, price is undoubtedly the deciding factor. If you're short on funds, opt for the OnePlus 12R and you'll have a few more years on the phone. Likewise, you can splurge more with the OnePlus 12 and get through those “few years” with ease.
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