Expected release date and what we want to see

Updated, November 27, 2023 (02:26 AM ET): We’ve updated this OnePlus 12 rumor hub with official device images of the OnePlus 12.

Original article: OnePlus has thrown us a lot of curveballs over the past few years. Most recently, the company launched the OnePlus 11 and simultaneously announced it would not release a OnePlus 11T. It also will no longer make Pro models (which means no OnePlus 11 Pro is on the way). This was interesting when you remember that, in 2022, the company released a OnePlus 10 Pro and a OnePlus 10T and didn’t release a OnePlus 10! It’s all a bit wacky. Regardless, the OnePlus 12 is what we’re looking toward next, but what can we expect?

Below, we’ve rounded up all the credible OnePlus 12 rumors we’ve seen so far. We also have some speculation based on the history of the company’s launches. At the end, we also have a few things we hope to see, even if we haven’t heard any rumors about them yet.

Will there be a OnePlus 12?

Despite the previously mentioned curveballs, OnePlus has consistently released a new flagship numbered device every year since it started. The name and number of devices might change a little here and there, but there’s always a new number. OnePlus has confirmed the launch of the OnePlus 12 in China on December 4, 2023. While the company has not announced anything yet for global markets, we can reasonably expect the OnePlus 12 to launch globally in early 2024.

In 2023, OnePlus eventually launched a OnePlus 11R with limited availability (mostly in India). The phone cut some corners compared to the OnePlus 11 but also got some surprising quality-of-life improvements, making it quite the exciting phone for its price bracket. Given that these are the only two phones in the 11-series launching this year, it’s reasonable to expect an “R” phone in 2024, as well. In fact, we already have a design leak for the OnePlus 12R, so it’s nearly assured.

• OnePlus 9 series: March 23, 2021
• OnePlus 10 Pro (China): January 11, 2022
• OnePlus 10 Pro (Global): March 31, 2022
• OnePlus 11 (China): January 4, 2023
• OnePlus 11 (Global): February 7, 2023

Prior to 2022, OnePlus launched its latest flagship phone during one event. In 2022, though, it started doing two events: one for China and one for its other global markets. The OnePlus 10 Pro China launch happened first, and the global launch came almost three months later. In 2023, OnePlus repeated this strategy for the OnePlus 11.

Now that we’ve had two years of this, we feel pretty certain that OnePlus will do the same thing in 2024. OnePlus revealed on Weibo that its next flagship will follow this pattern, with the China version launching on December 4. However, the company didn’t reveal when the global launch will be.

Yogesh Brar claimed the global launch could happen in February. In saying so, long-time tipster Max Jambor has refuted Brar’s suggestions of a February launch, asserting that the OnePlus 12 will actually launch globally in January. Jambor later reiterated in November that the global launch would happen in January. So users outside China might get the device even earlier than expected.

Interestingly, there have been only a few differences between the China version of these phones and the global variants, usually around the charging spec, as that is region-dependent. In other words, the only thing we won’t know about the OnePlus 12 when we get to the second launch is how much it will cost. Specs, design, camera features, etc., will all be confirmed at the China launch. That means you’ll be able to start off 2024 knowing pretty much everything there is about the OnePlus 12 — even if you won’t be able to officially buy it until January, February, or even March. The US version of the device may have slight changes around its charging speeds, though it should still be plenty fast, as has been the tradition with OnePlus.

What specs and features could the OnePlus 12 have?

OnePlus isn’t very consistent with what it offers with its flagship smartphones. For example, it finally got on board with wireless charging with the OnePlus 8 series but then dropped it with the OnePlus 11. Likewise, it has introduced high-end camera hardware and then abandoned it, and forked out for official IP ratings before stopping that practice. As such, there are a lot of wildcards surrounding the OnePlus 11 launch.

OnePlus has released official device renders of the OnePlus 12, and they give us the best and final confirmed look of the device.

In China, the OnePlus 12 has been confirmed by the company to come in three colors: White, Green, and Black. However, OnePlus usually sticks to releasing only Green and Black colors globally, so that could turn out to be the case this year too.

As we can see, the OnePlus 12 has a design that is very similar to the outgoing OnePlus 11 and the OnePlus 10 series before it. There are some changes, but overall, the company has established its design language and is sticking to it.

For notable changes, the OnePlus 12’s camera island looks significantly bigger than the OnePlus 11’s. It also looks like it protrudes a bit more, with the camera island sporting a distinct ring edge. The Hasselblad branding is a simpler “H,” though the camera island now has the camera specs laid out. It’s still not immediately clear what the fourth sensor is, though.

The camera LED has been moved out of the camera island. Within the camera setup, we can clearly see a rectangular sensor, which is usually associated with periscope zoom cameras.

The button placement on the OnePlus 12 has also changed. The volume rocker and the power button are on the right edge of the device, while the alert slider is present on the left side. For reference, the OnePlus 11’s right edge houses the power button and alert slider, while the volume rocker is on the left edge.

If you look closely, you can spot that the OnePlus 11 has an IR blaster on the top. The screen also looks slightly less curved on the edges

Evan Blass has leaked the official cases for the OnePlus 12. We see a Fiber case, a Sandstone case, and a Wood case. It remains to be seen which of these will be released in global markets.

Before OnePlus’s official render release, we had leaked renders from OnLeaks. These leaked quite some time before the official look of the device, so they are early and inaccurate.

Reliable leaker Steve ‘OnLeaks’ Hemmerstoffer and SmartPrix revealed renders of the OnePlus 12 on July 12. These images (seen above) are based on a prototype and suggest that OnePlus is sticking to the same design language as the OnePlus 11. Save for what appears to be a periscope zoom camera at the bottom of the camera island. In saying so, we also get a center-aligned punch-hole cutout this time rather than a left-aligned cutout. We can also make out an alert slider here, which should please long-time OnePlus users.

It’s worth noting again that these images are based on a prototype rather than 3D CAD designs, as is usually the case for Hemmerstoffer.

In September, we were treated to a few more renders obtained by OnLeaks and MySmartPrice. These renders are based on real-life images of pre-production units.

Unlike the previous renders, these images show a device without a periscope zoom lens (though, as we know, OnePlus is now using a periscope zoom lens). There also appears to be an unknown component sitting with the cameras in the camera bump’s fourth spot.

In October, we got our first real-world picture of the OnePlus 12. Shared by tipsters Abhishek Yadav and Ice Universe on X (formerly Twitter), the handset made an appearance at the official OnePlus-OPPO-BOE event.

Meanwhile, we’ve also seen some leaked renders of the India-exclusive variant, the OnePlus 12R:

The 12R will likely cut back on a few specs to keep the price down. Most notably, we expect the 12R to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. That’s state-of-the-art today, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will likely debut with the OnePlus 12, so the 12R will be a generation behind.

The latest OnePlus numbered flagship always comes with the newest Qualcomm 8-series chipset. In 2024, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will grace the OnePlus 12.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC has a new core setup in a 1+3+2+2 configuration. This means you can expect one big core, five medium cores, and two little cores. Essentially, this makes the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 more powerful than its predecessor and more capable regarding multi-core benchmarks.

Outside of the SoC, OnePlus rarely downgrades specs from previous models. According to the Smartprix leak, we could be in store for 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of storage based on the UFS 4.0 standard. It’s likely we’ll also see an 8GB RAM variant with 128GB of internal storage. The leak also claimed the battery could be 5,400mAh and offer a wired charging speed of 100W (50W wireless). It also appears a charger will be included in the box, making OnePlus one of the few remaining holdouts with this practice.

The display will be one of its star features with a high resolution and pixel density. Brar claims that the display could be a 6.7-inch QHD OLED screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz. In contrast, the Smartprix leak says it will be a 120Hz 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 2K resolution and LTPO display technology.

Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station posted more apparent OnePlus 12 display specs on October 12. The tipster claimed that the phone would have a 6.82-inch 120Hz LTPO display made by Chinese firm BOE. They added that you can expect a 3,168 x 1,440 resolution, up to 2,600 nits of peak brightness, and 2,160Hz PWM dimming. Either way, this suggests that the OnePlus 12 screen will be bigger than initially thought. OnePlus has now confirmed that the phone will feature a “ProXDR” display with 2K resolution, but stopped short of confirming anything else.

Digital Chat Station posted a comprehensive OnePlus 12 leak on August 22, but two hitherto-unseen features are “high-frequency dimming” (presumably PWM dimming) for the screen and up to 24GB of RAM. The earlier SmartPrix leak mentions 16GB of RAM, so 24GB would be a major upgrade. In saying so, we aren’t holding our breath for this top-end variant to be available outside China.

Finally, on October 23, Digital Chat Station revealed in a Weibo post that a few creature comforts could return to the OnePlus 12. Reiterating that wireless charging could be brought back to the forthcoming flagship, the leaker also claims that the phone will bring an IR blaster and USB 3.2. The latter would be a considerable upgrade, considering the OnePlus 11 is stuck on USB 2.0. A “high-quality periscope” camera is also expected. We delve deeper into specific imaging rumors below.

OnePlus tends to switch up its strategy regarding cameras with every new year. Although the configuration of cameras remains relatively constant — primary, ultrawide, telephoto, and sometimes a fourth — the types of sensors and the star features of those sensors vary wildly. For example, the OnePlus 10 Pro had a crazy-wide ultrawide camera that was almost a fisheye lens. OnePlus used software trickery to “unwarp” the image, but the results weren’t super impressive and prevented it from becoming one of the year’s best camera phones. The company abandoned this lens style for the OnePlus 11, opting for an ultrawide with a normal field of view — while simultaneously dropping the sensor quality of this lens significantly.

Will the OnePlus 12’s camera be another cost-cutting affair, or will the company finally step up and offer flagship-level hardware? It appears it will be the latter, as OnePlus officially confirmed the camera specs for the phone.

According to the official OnePlus Weibo account, the highlight will be the new Sony LYT-808 sensor. This sensor is said to be a variation of the foldable-centric Sony LYT-T808 on the OnePlus Open. The firm claims this LYTIA sensor is the most powerful camera sensor in its class. OnePlus’s president actually showed off snapshots taken with the 50MP IMX 966 sensor, which you can see below.

We also learned from OnePlus that the secondary camera will be a 64MP periscope zoom camera with a 1/2-inch sensor, f/2.6 aperture, and OIS, It will be capable of outputting 3x optically zoomed images.

OnePlus revealed a few OPPO image algorithms it will use for the OnePlus 12, namely an Ultra-Clear Image Quality Algorithm for clear and accurate photos, a Hyperlight and Shadow Algorithm for balanced contrast, and a Natural Color Algorithm with Hasselblad’s natural color optimization. How these algorithms play out on the actual device in real-world scenarios remains to be seen.

We’re curious to see results from the periscope camera as it follows a formula adopted by OPPO and HUAWEI. That is, a relatively short-range periscope camera combined with a high-resolution sensor. This could offer decent low-light results compared to 5x cameras, but we’ll need to wait and see.

Regardless of hardware, you can expect a continued partnership with Hasselblad, as OnePlus has made a massive deal of that over the past few years. This partnership brings Hasselblad’s signature color science to OnePlus phones.

• OnePlus 8 Pro (2020): $899
• OnePlus 9 Pro (2021): $969
• OnePlus 10 Pro (2022): $899
• OnePlus 11 (2023): $699

The OnePlus 11 landed at a shocking price of just $699. Although it lacked the word “Pro” in its name, OnePlus assured us that it is the top-of-the-line company flagship for 2023. Compared with the previous Pro-level phones, the OnePlus 11 was hundreds of dollars cheaper.

Obviously, the company needed to make enormous sacrifices to land that price point (wireless charging, an IP rating, a high-quality ultrawide camera, etc.). The question is whether or not OnePlus found this to be effective. The company doesn’t frequently release sales numbers for its phones, so we have no idea how well the OnePlus 11 sold compared to older OnePlus phones of its pedigree.

In other words, it’s possible that OnePlus saw great success with the OnePlus 11, and the OnePlus 12 will land at a similar price point with similar sacrifices to get there. On the other hand, it’s possible the OnePlus 11 didn’t sell well at all, and OnePlus will return to a higher price point with fewer sacrifices on the OnePlus 12. Given the rumors we’ve seen so far related to the display, cameras, and other specs, we can only imagine the phone being much more expensive than the OnePlus 11. However, that’s just speculation for now.

Judging from what we know so far, the OnePlus 12 is likely to look a lot like the OnePlus 11 but feature a better processor and, possibly, a better camera system. If these two things are important to you and you’re a die-hard OnePlus fan, then yes: you should wait for the 2024 release.

However, if you’re not beholden to OnePlus and want most of the specs and features it offers, there are phones available today that will satiate you. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ($1199.99 at Samsung) is one of the best Android phones you can get. The only things you won’t get with that phone that you would from a OnePlus 12 are ultra-fast wired charging speeds, a charger in the box, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The Galaxy S23 Ultra will meet or exceed the OnePlus 12 in all other areas.

If Samsung isn’t your bag, the Google Pixel 8 Pro ($999 at Amazon) is very exciting. It has a slew of AI-based tricks that the OnePlus 12 will certainly not have, not to mention a promise of seven years of software support.

The bottom line here is that we only suggest folks who refuse to switch brands wait around for the OnePlus 12. There are some amazing phones on the market now that will offer plenty of value if you’re OK leaving OnePlus behind.

OnePlus 12: What we want to see

Above, we’ve told you all about the latest leaks, rumors, and historical data to suggest what we’ll likely see with the OnePlus 12. Below, we have a few things that we hope to see. Please note that these differ from leaks and rumors in that we have no evidence these things are coming. We just would really like to see them happen.

It took six years for OnePlus to finally launch a phone with wireless charging: the OnePlus 8 Pro, which landed in 2020. After finally getting the feature, we lost it in 2023, as the OnePlus 11 lacks wireless charging, and we don’t expect any other flagship phones from OnePlus this year (at least outside of the foldable phone realm). It seems we’re right back where we once were, with buying a OnePlus phone requiring the user to not care about wireless charging.

We really hope this problem goes away in 2024. All flagship phones should come with wireless charging — full stop. With sub-$500 phones like the Google Pixel 7a now having it and every modern iPhone supporting it along with the advantages of MagSafe, there can’t be any excuses anymore. Wireless charging may have been a nice perk a few years ago, but it’s increasingly become a standard feature. If you plan on owning your OnePlus 12 for many years, you’re going to want it to be able to charge wirelessly, either now or in the future.

Thankfully, early rumors suggest we will see wireless charging on the OnePlus 12, so we’re cautiously optimistic. We’ll be more certain as we get closer to the end of the year.

Every year, we anticipate the newest OnePlus flagship camera experience. And every year, we walk away slightly disappointed. The closest we’ve gotten to a true win was the OnePlus 9 Pro. But even that phone had a superfluous fourth lens (a 2MP monochrome sensor) that didn’t do much for the user besides increasing the phone’s price. For whatever reason, OnePlus refuses to do what we actually want, which is to offer a triple-lens system with high-quality primary, ultrawide, and telephoto sensors. No extra lenses, no old/sub-par hardware, and no weird gimmicks.

We truly hope the OnePlus 12 bucks this trend. The fact that we’ve heard OnePlus could be testing a periscope telephoto lens is undoubtedly encouraging. OnePlus also revealed the OnePlus 12 would be the first phone to feature Sony’s new Lytia sensor. However, we’ve been burned so many times before. We are cautiously optimistic but not getting our hopes up too high for this one.

As with wireless charging, a full IP rating was a thing we always wanted from OnePlus and didn’t get until 2020 with the OnePlus 8 Pro. Eventually, IP ratings went away as well, with the OnePlus 11 lacking it (at least for the unlocked model).

Once again, as with wireless charging, a full IP68 rating should be a standard for any flagship phone. Getting this certification takes time and costs more money, but skipping it isn’t an adequate solution. This is especially clear when even mid-rangers can at least get IP67 ratings, as is the case with the Pixel 6a and Pixel 7a. Even if OnePlus doesn’t want to fork out for an IP68 rating for the OnePlus 12, it should at least give us IP67.