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Is this our first look at the OnePlus 12?

Side profile of OnePlus 12
SmartPrix

The next flagship from OnePlus might not serve much of an aesthetic surprise, but it just might win over mobile photography enthusiasts. SmartPrix (in collaboration with @OnLeaks) has shared purported renders of the upcoming OnePlus 12 “based on real-life pictures of a testing unit prototype.”

Now, before we dig further into the juicy details, here’s the standard disclaimer. The leak comes from a reputed source, but the renders depict a testing stage device, of which there could be multiple iterations. That means the final device hitting the shelves could look slightly – or much – different.

Leaked OnePlus 12 render
SmartPrix

The OnePlus 12 is evidently built atop the OnePlus 11‘s design foundations, with minor changes. You still get the signature sandstone black finish at the back, a metallic frame on the sides, and a curved display. The selfie camera, however, has been moved from the left corner and shifted to a center-aligned position on the OnePlus 12.

The half-wrap-around camera island is here to stay, but the ring over it has a slightly rearranged lens array. And it’s not just an aesthetic makeover, it seems. At the top are two 50-megapixel cameras for regular and ultra-wide capture. But the lens below has a rectangular cutout, which suggests it’s a periscope-style telephoto camera that delivers a higher optical zoom range — hopefully, considerably more than the 2x optical zoom offered by the OnePlus 11.

Leaked renders of OnePlus 12
SmartPrix

We’ve already seen this system produce some stunning results on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it might also appear on iPhones soon. In the case of the OnePlus 12, rumors suggest the folded lens telephoto zoom camera employs a 64MP sensor.

The rest of the innards are your typical top-end Android phone affair. Qualcomm’s yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset will reportedly run the show under the hood, while a fairly large 5,000mAh battery should keep the lights on.

Interestingly, the report mentions support for 150W wires charging on the phone. I would advise some caution believing into this, but Chinese smartphone makers have showcased charging tech as quick as 200W, so there’s a sliver of possibility here.

display and rear profile of OnePlus 12
SmartPrix

For comparison, the OnePlus 11 maxed out at 100W wired charging (80W in the U.S.). As far as wireless charging goes, the OnePlus 12 will reach 50W output, which is still faster than the wired charging output of Samsung, Apple, and Google flagships.

As far as a potential launch date goes, the OnePlus 12 is still a healthy few months away. The OnePlus 11 was launched in February 2023, and considering the fact that there are no plans for a OnePlus 11 Pro down the road, the OnePlus 12 is still at least two quarters away by the safest estimates.

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Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
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