Formally unveiled in China last week and active in the rumor mill for many months now, the insanely bright, extremely sharp, outstandingly powerful, and predictably premium-looking OnePlus 12 finally has an official global launch date attached to its name… that was more or less etched in stone since late November.
Of course, the time of this highly anticipated international shindig was under wraps prior to today, and so was the “horizon-expanding” aspect of the slightly lower-end and presumably lower-cost OnePlus 12R. That’s right, both of these Android high-enders are set to go global on January 23, 2024 at 7:30 pm IST (9 AM EST), although we don’t yet know exactly where the 12R will go on sale and when.
All that OnePlus is ready to share about that as-yet-unannounced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powerhouse with a rumored 120Hz OLED 6.74-inch screen in tow is that it will be the first R-branded handset to make it “outside of India and China.” While US availability continues to seem unlikely, a commercial release in select European markets could definitely happen in late January or February.
The super-premium OnePlus 12, meanwhile, is obviously guaranteed to reach American shores in addition to the old continent, although regional price points remain up in the air as far as that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 beast with a jumbo-sized 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display is concerned as well.
The screen size, resolution, and 120Hz refresh rate support seem to have clearly taken a backseat to the OnePlus 12’s boundary-pushing peak brightness in terms of key selling points, followed by a hefty 5,400mAh battery with bonkers 100W wired and 50W wireless charging capabilities and three exquisite Hasselblad-optimized rear-facing cameras leveraging 50, 64, and 48MP sensors.
The OnePlus 12R is believed to be humbler across the board… save for the battery capacity department, where the overall smaller device could somehow go up to 5,500mAh while also supporting blazing fast 100W wired charging and ditching wireless charging altogether.
It’s hard not to view both products as strong contenders for the title of best Android phone in 2024, but ultimately, their price tags and availability details will go a long way in securing their global success… or not.
