OnePlus 12R review

Software and performance

The OnePlus 12R boots Android 14 with a proprietary layer of OxygenOS on top - another name for what is called ColorOS on Oppo phones, and Realme UI on the that third brand's models. The 12R is promised 3 OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches - the OnePlus 12's numbers are 4 and 5, respectively.

Save for a few OnePlus specific clock faces and similar superficial bits, the UI is indeed the same between these three brands and we'd say that's no bad thing, even if long-time OnePlus enthusiasts may disagree. ColorOS and its reincarnations have all the polish, features and customizeability you could think of. And, at this level, all phones are plenty smooth in real-life use, so lamenting over the OxygenOS of old in that respect is really unwarranted.

We're working on a more detailed look at ColorOS 14 and we'll be sure to link it here, once it's finished.

The OnePlus 12R uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 - that would be last-year's top-tier chip, as opposed to the Gen 3 in the OnePlus 12. While the new chipset is undoubtedly superior, the previous version is plenty powerful too.

The OnePlus 12R can be had in one of two memory options - 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage or 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (our review unit's spec). The base version's storage is UFS 3.1, while the 256GB variant uses the faster UFS 4.0 chips.

Update, 16 Feb, 2024: OnePlus 12R 256GB official specs pages now list the storage used by the phone as UFS 3.1 instead of UFS 4.0. The company has issued a statement on the matter.

GeekBench 6

• Multi-core
• Single-core

iQOO 12

6953

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM

Asus Zenfone 10

5698

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 512GB, 16GB RAM

Motorola Edge 40 Pro

5352

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 512GB, 16GB RAM

OnePlus 12R (perf. mode)

5245

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 16GB RAM

OnePlus 12 (perf. mode)

5124

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM

OnePlus 12

4784

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM

Xiaomi 13T Pro

4518

Dimensity 9200+ 512GB, 12GB RAM

OnePlus 12R

4451

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 16GB RAM

Pixel 8

4404

Google Tensor G3 128GB, 8GB RAM

Nothing Phone (2)

4219

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 256GB, 12GB RAM

Galaxy S23 FE

3964

Exynos 2200 128GB, 8GB RAM

Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)

3947

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 128GB, 8GB RAM

Pixel 7a

3631

Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM

iQOO 12

2277

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM

Asus Zenfone 10

2028

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 512GB, 16GB RAM

OnePlus 12R (perf. mode)

2007

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 16GB RAM

Motorola Edge 40 Pro

1996

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 512GB, 16GB RAM

Xiaomi 13T Pro

1939

Dimensity 9200+ 512GB, 12GB RAM

Nothing Phone (2)

1725

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 256GB, 12GB RAM

Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)

1672

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 128GB, 8GB RAM

Pixel 8

1668

Google Tensor G3 128GB, 8GB RAM

Galaxy S23 FE

1611

Exynos 2200 128GB, 8GB RAM

OnePlus 12R

1581

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 16GB RAM

Pixel 7a

1443

Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM

OnePlus 12 (perf. mode)

1429

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM

OnePlus 12

940

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM

AnTuTu 10

iQOO 12

2107464

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM 1260 x 2800 px

OnePlus 12 (perf. mode)

1821801

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM 1440 x 3168 px

OnePlus 12

1775565

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 512GB, 16GB RAM 1440 x 3168 px

Asus Zenfone 10

1583804

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 512GB, 16GB RAM 1080 x 2400 px

OnePlus 12R (perf. mode)

1518552

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 16GB RAM 1264 x 2780 px

Xiaomi 13T Pro

1470464

Dimensity 9200+ 512GB, 12GB RAM 1220 x 2712 px

OnePlus 12R

1329993

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 16GB RAM 1264 x 2780 px

Pixel 8

1158631

Google Tensor G3 128GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2400 px

Galaxy S23 FE

1134250

Exynos 2200 128GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2340 px

Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)

1129280

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 128GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2340 px

Nothing Phone (2)

972126

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 256GB, 12GB RAM 1080 x 2412 px

3DMark (offscreen)

• Wild Life (1440p)
• Wild Life Extreme (2160p)
• Solar Bay (1440p)

iQOO 12

18352

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1260 x 2800 px

OnePlus 12 (perf. mode)

18168

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1440 x 3168 px

OnePlus 12

17633

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1440 x 3168 px

OnePlus 12R (perf. mode)

14101

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1264 x 2780 px

Asus Zenfone 10

13507

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2400 px

OnePlus 12R

13220

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1264 x 2780 px

Motorola Edge 40 Pro

12230

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2400 px

Xiaomi 13T Pro

10967

Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px

Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)

9919

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2340 px

Nothing Phone (2)

8809

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px

Pixel 8

8638

Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px

Galaxy S23 FE

8494

Exynos 2200 Xclipse 920 1080 x 2340 px

Pixel 7a

6646

Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px

OnePlus 12 (perf. mode)

5007

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1440 x 3168 px

OnePlus 12

4972

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1440 x 3168 px

iQOO 12

4331

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1260 x 2800 px

OnePlus 12R (perf. mode)

3732

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1264 x 2780 px

Asus Zenfone 10

3682

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2400 px

Motorola Edge 40 Pro

3660

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2400 px

OnePlus 12R

3640

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1264 x 2780 px

Xiaomi 13T Pro

3567

Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px

Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)

2557

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2340 px

Pixel 8

2450

Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px

Nothing Phone (2)

2449

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px

Galaxy S23 FE

2356

Exynos 2200 Xclipse 920 1080 x 2340 px

Pixel 7a

1859

Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px

OnePlus 12

8637

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1440 x 3168 px

OnePlus 12 (perf. mode)

8604

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1440 x 3168 px

iQOO 12

7760

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Adreno 750 1260 x 2800 px

OnePlus 12R (perf. mode)

5381

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1264 x 2780 px

OnePlus 12R

5375

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1264 x 2780 px

Xiaomi 13T Pro

5005

Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px

Galaxy S23 FE

4612

Exynos 2200 Xclipse 920 1080 x 2340 px

When it comes to sustained load handling, the 12R reuses the dual vapor chamber solution of the the 12 with a total area of 9,140sq.mm. It does quite well under long-term CPU load and ramps down performance fairly gradually posting a 72% rating in the CPU Throttling test. The 65% stability score in 3DMark Wild Life Stress test isn't half bad either.

CPU Throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test