OnePlus has just revealed the OnePlus 12, its latest flagship, but how does it compare to the stellar iPhone 15 Pro?
While the iPhone 15 Pro undoubtedly delivers a strong flagship smartphone experience, the OnePlus 12 looks to one-up team Apple in smartphone hardware, particularly when it comes to elements like display tech and charging speed.
We’ve thoroughly reviewed the iPhone 15 Pro and we’ve spent a lot of time with the new OnePlus 12 too. With that in mind, here are five key differences between the OnePlus 12 and iPhone 15 Pro.
The OnePlus 12 has a larger, brighter display
The iPhone 15 Pro has an exquisite 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen with Apple’s ProMotion tech delivering a 120Hz refresh rate with LTPO tech that lets it drop down to as little as 1Hz in a bid to save battery life. It’s also bright and detailed, with an FHD+ resolution and a brightness of 1000 nits that can be boosted to 1600 nits for HDR content and 2000 nits outdoors.
However, it pales in comparison to the OnePlus 12 display. More specifically, the OnePlus 12 sports a large 6.8-inch (0.1 inches bigger than the OnePlus 11) OLED panel with the same LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate as the iPhone, but with one key difference: brightness.
The OnePlus 12 can manage a stellar 1600 nits in everyday use, but that can be boosted to a retina-burning 4500 nits when watching compatible HDR content or outdoors. That’s miles brighter not only than the iPhone, but most flagship smartphones.
The iPhone 15 Pro is faster
One of the OnePlus 12’s key upgrades is the inclusion of Qualcomm’s new flagship mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It was only revealed at the end of October 2023, making the OnePlus 12 one of the first phones to use the souped-up processor.
However, benchmark results from the OnePlus 12 are surprisingly close to 8 Gen 2 alternatives, which means that Apple’s iPhone has an easy win here.
That’s because the iPhone 15 Pro sports Apple’s top-end A17 Pro chipset, exclusive to this year’s Pro models. It’s a 3nm chipset that boasts serious gains, even compared to the capable A16 Bionic, and gives the Snapdragon chip a run for its money in most benchmark tests too.
The OnePlus 12 has faster charging
Apple has never been one to truly jump on the fast-charging bandwagon. Sure, the charge speeds jump incrementally each year, but that still means the top-end iPhone 15 Pro can only charge at a maximum of 25W, with a full charge taking around an hour and a half in our tests.
That’s also if you’ve got the official 30W charger from Apple, something that doesn’t come in the box. Using less powerful charging bricks will lengthen the time the iPhone takes to charge.
You can wirelessly charge the iPhone via Qi and MagSafe, but at 7.5W and 15W respectively, it’s an even slower charging experience.
The OnePlus 12, on the other hand, sports the same 100W SuperVOOC charging as its predecessor, along with 50W wireless charging capabilities – a new feature to the OnePlus 12 after it was removed a couple of generations ago.
In fact, with 100W charging, we’ve seen that the OnePlus 12 can go from flat to full in just 26 minutes, with a 50% charge taking little over 13 minutes. The iPhone 15 Pro, on the other hand, took just over 90 minutes to regain a full charge in testing.
The iPhone 15 Pro is lighter
The OnePlus 12 might be a good-looking phone with a unique patterned rear based on a photo of Dart River taken by the OnePlus team on the smartphone, but that doesn’t mean it’s lightweight. In fact, at 220g, the OnePlus 12 is heavier than its predecessor and the iPhone 15 Pro.
While that might not’ve been the case just 12 months ago, Apple switched up its choice of materials with this year’s Pro selection, ditching the weighty stainless steel chassis for a Titanium alternative. That makes the iPhone 15 Pro pretty lightweight at 187g.
The iPhone 15 Pro also has better water resistance at IP68, even with a jump from IP64 to IP65 with this year’s OnePlus 12.
The OnePlus 12 is more affordable
While the OnePlus 12 has several key features that could well top that of the iPhone 15 Pro, it’s actually cheaper than Apple’s £999/$999 Pro model at £849/$799 – even if it represents a £130/$100 price hike compared to its predecessor.
The iPhone 15 Pro is readily available to buy now, while the OnePlus 12 is up for pre-order now ahead of release on 6 February 2024.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
