Estimating the Global Pricing of the OnePlus 12 Based on Chinese Pricing
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After many leaks and teasers, OnePlus officially released the OnePlus 12 in China yesterday. This launch confirmed many of the phone's specifications and features, along with its price in China. It's common for the global version of the phone to have some changes. However, can we use the Chinese pricing of the OnePlus 12 to estimate its price in global markets?
What's new in the OnePlus 12
Going with the device's details first, and so with little surprises left, the OnePlus 12 does share some design with the OnePlus 11 (review). It has the same curved display at the front and a familiar off-centered camera island with four cutouts on the glass back.
The frame is also still constituted by aluminum material, but the entire package is now slightly thicker and heavier with exactly 6.4×2.98×0.36 inches in dimension and 7.23 ounces in weight.
In addition, the OnePlus 12 does bring a small improvement in ingress protection with an IP65 rating, which means the device can handle more water splashes than its predecessor with IP64.
The extra bulkiness could likely be the result of new components and the larger battery cell at 5,400 mAh. To compensate for this, the screen estate is now larger at 6.8 inches wide. The panel with an unchanged refresh rate at 120 Hz is also much brighter than before as it has 1,600 nits of peak brightness and 4,500 nits in HDR.
While the back houses the same layout, the sensors on the camera module are new. The old telephoto is replaced by a 64 MP periscope with 3x optical zoom. As for the primary shooter, it is headlined by a 50 MP Sony LYT-808 sensor similar to the OnePlus Open (review) and coupled with a 48 MP ultrawide. There is also a larger 32 MP sensor that supports 4K video recording.
As with the internals, the OnePlus 12 boots on Android 14 OS and is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. Unfortunately, there is fancy AI features or overclocked processor mentioned by the Chinese company. The memory configurations start at 12/256 GB for the base model and tops at 24 GB/1 TB, although it's unknown whether these options will make their way to other countries.
The 5,400 mAh battery capacity is now the biggest ever seen on a OnePlus handset. Surprisingly, the wireless charging has returned after being omitted from the OnePlus 11. This is rated at 50 watts and complemented by a 10 watts reverse wireless and 100 watts wired charging.
How much the OnePlus 12 could cost outside China
The base variant of the OnePlus 12 with 12/256 GB retails for ¥4,299 ($605), which is a modest increase from the OnePlus 11 priced at ¥3,999 ($565) with the same amount of memory.
The next configuration with a 16/512 GB combination costs ¥4,799 ($675) and a slightly cheaper than the OnePlus 11 at the same level. Meanwhile, the fully loaded with 24 GB RAM and 1 terabyte storage is priced at ¥5,799 ($817).
| Memory | OnePlus 12 | OnePlus 11 |
|---|---|---|
| 12/256 GB | 4,299 / $605 | ¥3,999 / $565 |
| 16/512 GB | 4,799 / $675 | ¥4,899 / $690 |
| 16 GB / 1 TB | ¥5,299 / $745 | - |
| 24 GB / 1 TB | ¥5,799 / $817 | - |
It should be noted that OnePlus only sells the versions of OnePlus 11 with 8/128 GB and 16/256 GB in other countries. These variations respectively cost $699 and $799 in the USA.
With a higher sticker price in China, it's likely that this will translate into the global pricing of the OnePlus 12. So here are our estimations:
- 12/256 GB Model: The OnePlus 11 equivalent was not sold internationally. But using the Chinese price increase trend, if the OnePlus 11 was sold at around $699, the OnePlus 12 could be around $720-$740.
- 16/512 GB Model: If the OnePlus 11 equivalent was around $799, following the modest increase trend, the OnePlus 12 could be around $820-$840.
- High-End Models: The 24 GB / 1 TB model has no direct OnePlus 11 comparison, but following the trend, it could be priced above $850.
OnePlus didn't disclose the global announcement of the OnePlus 12. However, rumors suggest this will happen on January 23.
How much do you think the OnePlus 12 will cost? Would it be reasonable for OnePlus to command a higher price tag? We look forward to your comments.
