OnePlus is working to prepare the world for the release of both the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R at the end of January. So far we've seen a cascade of leaks and reveals about both phones, but we had no idea how much they're supposed to cost. However, it seems that might have changed due to a recent report from TechPlus.
According to the report, it appears that the OnePlus 12 will cost around $799 for 12 gigabytes of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Meanwhile, it seems that a higher-specced model with 16GB and 512GB of storage will cost about a hundred dollars more at $899. This may be a bit of a surprise considering the OnePlus 11 was released at only $699, but only came with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. So the improved hardware may explain this year's price hike.
The OnePlus 12R is said to cost around $499 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There is apparently another variant of the OnePlus 12R that will be released with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage which will cost around $599 overseas. Interestingly it appears that the 12R has already been released in China, but is instead called the OnePlus Ace 3.
A price hike is not ideal, and if accurate it means that the OnePlus 12 will start at the same price as the Samsung Galaxy S23. Which is odd for a company like OnePlus, that has a reputation for undercutting the competition.
The real question is whether this new price would still be good value for what the OnePlus 12 series will be able to offer. It is speculated that the OnePlus 12 will be released with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 as well as a 5,400 mAh battery. This means that we could expect a long-lasting, powerful phone considering the Snapdragon series has managed to score top spots in our last few end-of-year battery comparisons.
Meanwhile the Galaxy S23 came with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in its cheapest configuration and a smaller 3,900 mAh battery. With price hikes rumored for the Galaxy S24 series, it could give OnePlus an advantage on paper.
The OnePlus 12 will also reportedly come with three rear cameras, including a 50MP main camera and a 64MP 3x telephoto lens. If the leaks are correct then the OnePlus 12 will certainly have a great selection of cameras and will be able to display them on its 6.82-inch OLED 2K screen. It seems that there is plenty on offer, so the rumored price looks like it might be a great deal. However, the situation surrounding the OnePlus 12R is more complicated to answer.
The OnePlus 12R doesn’t look all that impressive, at least in terms of the basic stats. But some interesting specs make the price seem more reasonable. The phone will reportedly run with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is a great chipset to work with and powers most of the best phones from 2023. The confirmation that it'll have a 5,500 mAh battery means this phone will last for a long time. It will also have a reasonably good set of cameras that make the price seem much more reasonable.
Hearing about the cost of phones ahead of an official announcement should always be taken with a grain of salt. While these prices seem like they could be accurate, it is possible that there will be some changes over the next few weeks, or that the supposed leak is completely wrong We will not know for sure until we see the release later this month.
The OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R will both officially launch outside of China on January 23. In the meantime be sure to check our OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R hubs for the latest news and rumors.
