OnePlus 12 goes official with 24GB RAM, 4,500 nit display, higher price

Ben Schoon | Dec 5 2023 - 6:50 am PT

The OnePlus 12 has been officially announced, at least over in China. Here’s the full specs of the brand’s 2024 flagship ahead of the global debut.

Today’s launch of the OnePlus 12 in China tells us a lot about the device as, generally speaking, differences between the Chinese model and the global model are minimal if there are any at all. So, while we don’t know anything about pricing in the US and other countries, any region-specific changes, and more, we do know pretty much all of the important stuff.

The OnePlus 12 will be a powerhouse flagship for 2024, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 leading off the specs. Qualcomm’s latest chip looks promising so far, and the OnePlus 12 will be among the first to bring that chip to the global market (Xiaomi 14 has already debuted with the chip in China).

Paired with that new Snapdragon chip, the OnePlus 12 will be available with up to 24GB of RAM, up from the 16GB available on the top-end OnePlus 11. All variants of the device will use UFS 4.0 storage, with options including 12GB+256GB, 16GB+512GB, 16GB+1TB, and 24GB+1TB.

As for the camera system, the OnePlus 12 will have a trio of sensors on the back. A 50MP Sony Lytia sensor serves as the main shooter, with a 64MP sensor behind a periscope telephoto lens, and ultra-wide shots are handled by a 48MP sensor. OnePlus says the new setup can do 3x optical zoom, 6x “optical quality,” and up to 120x digital zoom, just like the OnePlus Open. There’s also a 32MP front-facing camera with no autofocus.

Next up is the display, which contains another big figure.

The OnePlus 12 is using a BOE AMOLED QHD+ display that measures 6.82-inches with a 120Hz refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 4,500 nits. Like other panels, that’s based on a very small portion of the display, but it’s a staggering figure nonetheless. For comparison, the Pixel 8 Pro maxes out at 2,400 nits, and is currently the brightest display sold on a non-folding smartphone in the US. Outside of those huge peaks that you’d likely only ever see in HDR content, the OnePlus 12 hits around 1,600 nits.

The battery and charging systems also get an update this year, with a bigger 5,400 mAh battery that charges at up to 100W over a wire (which is still USB-A). And then there’s also the return of wireless charging, which hits up to 50W on OnePlus’ own stand.

Rounding things out there’s IP65 water resistance, a SIM card slot, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 over the display, and another under-display fingerprint sensor too. All in all, it looks good.

But, we also know that OnePlus has a considerable price increase in the books for OnePlus 12. In China, pricing starts at ¥4,299, about ¥300 over the OnePlus 11. That translates directly to around $600 in the US, which was the starting price of OnePlus 11, but OnePlus’ prices in China usually aren’t directly reflective of the prices internationally.

OnePlus 12 will be available in green, white, and black in China.

When with the OnePlus 12 launch globally? That remains to be seen, but there’s some evidence out there. According to a page on OnePlus’ website, it’s looking like we can expect a debut in late January.